During post-embryonic development into adults, animals face an environment that fluctuates constantly. For example, in nutrient availability, temperature, and osmolarity (e.g., salt concentration).

A new research line is the development of liquid biopsy fingerprints to predict early Alzheimer’s disease (AD) stage in human in readily accessible body fluids in human (in collaboration with: Dr. Geert-Jan Groeneveld, CHDR; Prof. Elga de Vries, Free University Medical Center; and others).

Promotor: Carel J. ten Cate, Co-Promotor: Hans W. Slabbekoorn

Early Childhood Community Practitioners’ analyses of new mother’s challenges in Alexandra Township South Africa: a collaboration between academics and practitioners

In Reframing the Diplomat Albertine Bloemendal offers a unique window onto the unofficial dimension of Cold War transatlantic relations by analyzing the diplomatic role of the Dutch Atlanticist Ernst van der Beugel as a government official and as a private diplomat.

The cannabinoid CB2 receptor (CB2R) represents a promising therapeutic target for various forms of tissue injury and inflammatory diseases. Although numerous compounds have been developed and widely used to target CB2R, their selectivity, molecular mode of action and pharmacokinetic properties have…

On February 20th, Gulnaz Sibgatullina succesfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Gulnaz on this great result.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotores: Dr. ing. M.G. Vijver, J.P.M. Vink

How did people across Central and Eastern Europe imagine the future during the transitions of the 1980s and 1990s? The umbrella term ‘post-communism’ does not provide an answer to this question. This project explores how writers and cultural theorists saw the potential future of their societies during…

'Community Involvement in Conservation and Livelihood Initiatives in the Eastern Himalayas Reflections on Practices and Policies' is a critical reflection written by academic and societal partners included in the Futuring Heritage project consortium, published by the Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI)…

Source: Nature Biotechnology, Volume 2014, Issue June (2014)

This is a chapter from the project publication: 'Community Involvement in Conservation and Livelihood Initiatives in the Eastern Himalayas Reflections on Practices and Policies', which is a critical reflection written by academic and societal partners included in the Futuring Heritage project consortium,…

This project aims to develop advanced data analysis methods for monitoring and increasing our understanding on biodiversity dynamics in nature reserves such as the Oostvaardersplassen.

Avian Cognition describes the full range of avian cognitive abilities, the mechanisms behind such abilities and how they relate to the ecology of the species. Synthesising the latest research in avian cognition, a range of experts in the field provide first-hand insights into experimental procedures,…

From the virtuosic songs of a nightingale to the various alarm calls of a great tit, bird sounds are incredibly diverse. They are among the most complex sounds in the animal kingdom and, according to Darwin, resemble language more closely than the vocalisations of other animal groups. But what do we…

This article by Malte Reimann and Antonio Cerella explores how politics and medicine have become deeply intertwined, using the thought of Roberto Esposito to reimagine this relationship through the lens of an affirmative biopolitics.

The availability of indicators based on social media has opened the possibility to track the online interactions between social media users and scholarly entities.

From spiders in the bathroom to mice in the kitchen, we share our homes with far more species than we realise (whether we like it or not). Researchers at Leiden University and the University of Helsinki are collecting stories about how people live alongside these non-human housemates.

What are the patterns and processes of human mobility in the pre-colonial circum-Caribbean as revealed by burial populations and what are the underlying motives and socio-cultural principles on both micro- and macro-scales?

Astronomer and science communicator Pedro Russo is awarded the K.J Cath Prize and € 2,500 for his outreach efforts that bring science to the general public. ‘There are so many bright scientists, and so few people communicating about science.’

Fluctuations in individual plant communities contribute to the stability of an ecosystem as a whole, a study published in Ecology Letters shows. Nadia Soudzilovskaia and colleagues for the first time used data from plant communities across five continents to prove this hypothesis.

Local perceptions, attachments and knowledge are often not considered in the methodology of archaeology when researching a site, argues PhD-candidate Tomomi Fushiya. She proposes a broader integration of local perceptions in an archaeological narrative. PhD-defence on December 2.

Personality is genetic in zebrafish: risk-taking parents have risk-taking children. These are the findings of research by Christian Tudorache and his team published in BMC Neuroscience.

From bedtime stories about mathematics to podcasts about microplastics and games on weeds: master students from the Science Communication & Society track presented the real-life products they developed during their final presentations on 20 December. Many of the products are already implemented by c…

On 30-31 October 2025, the University of Coimbra will host the workshop 'Small Communities Facing Danger. Strategies of Solidarity and Resilience Before the Modernity'. Deadline for submission of papers on 31 May.

Two Leiden University science communication projects have been awarded a WECOM grant through the Dutch Research Agenda (NWA). One project is a study of the history of the deaf community in the Netherlands and the other is of a condition that causes people to lose their way.

The mission of our group is understanding how science communication works to improve the interaction between science and society. We believe better science communication can improve our society and engage many different groups with science, also improving science.

Being a better neighbour to the nature around you

A new treatment for atherosclerosis showed promising results in isolated cells but proved to be less effective in initial animal tests. Bachelor student Biopharmaceutical Sciences Willemijn van der Heijden aimed to understand why. She investigated whether the formation of a protein layer around the…

No hearing in court, but at the community centre. Does this local approach help keep people with various problems such as debts or school absenteeism away from crime?

Spaanse Water

Can the venom of snakes, scorpions and other animals be sources of new antibiotics?

Insights in diet, climate and ecology

Watch and talk along with today’s science of the past during weekly Let’s Plays of popular games and vodcasts on the livestream platform Twitch.

In 2015 the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed that German car manufacturer Volkswagen had illegally installed software to produce fake NOx-emissions results. This study aims to analyze how the German news media framed VW’s role.

The Executive Board of Leiden University has appointed the new Board for the Faculty of Archaeology. Read more about their plans for the future of the Faculty.

Lots of efforts are being made to promote open science practices in scholarly publishing. However, information on the openness of scholarly journals is highly fragmented. There are various data sources that provide information on specific aspects of openness, but there is hardly any integration of these…

A diverse team of Leiden archaeologists applied for, and was awarded, the KNAW ‘Appreciated!’ grant, meant to further their science communication endeavours. We speak with Dr Maikel Kuijpers, who is the main contact person of the application.

The discussion on employability of higher education graduates has been around for several years, with more emphasis in the 21st century. Yet, universities are still challenged in the pursuit of providing work-ready graduates who can meet industry expectations.

Five talks will be given during the Leiden Science Family Day: two children's lectures and three lectures for adults. Will you be there ?

Due to the increasing resistance to certain antibiotics, the life-threatening condition sepsis is becoming harder to treat. For her PhD project, Leiden pharmacologist Feiyan Liu used mathematical modeling to find out how antibiotics can be used more effectively to cure sepsis.

As a bachelor student of Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences, Femke Vlaswinkel wrote a research proposal she was allowed to carry out in her master’s BPS. Femke subsequently graduated with honors. Her research was published in the journal Scientific Reports, she won an award from the Dutch Pharmacy Society…

The role of domestic and wild resource exploitation in Bronze Age subsistence