The transition to new and renewable energy sources should be completed by 2050. Researchers in various disciplines at Leiden University are conducting unique research that will help us make this transition and reduce CO2 emissions.

Electrolysis is a technique that can be used to convert CO2 into fuels and other useful products. To do this efficiently and on a large scale, however, we need to understand exactly how electrolysis works. Professor Marc Koper is an expert in this field.

In the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group, we investigate how catalysis works on the molecular level. The group is divided in six subgroups, focusing on different aspects of heterogeneous catalysis, homogeneous catalysis and electrocatalysis.

Managing scarcity to serve the public interest is a classic government task. An important way to execute this task is by allocating individual rights that are only available in limited quantities, such as CO2 emission allowances, gambling licences, subsidies, radio frequencies, public contracts and…

The chemical industry must continue to innovate for a more sustainable, healthier society. The reseachers from the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) contribute by applying their knowledge to themes such as sustainability, energy and health.

The following master research projects are currently available.

PhD defence

The E2CB programme has been launched to bring CO2 emissions to zero by 2050. The goal: to produce all raw materials for the chemical industry from sustainable sources. Professor of Electrochemistry Marc Koper is involved in the project.

The chemical industry must continue to innovate for a more sustainable, healthier society. The reseachers from the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) contribute by applying their knowledge to themes such as sustainability, energy and health.

The local ordering of atoms at the surface of a metallic particle determines its catalytic activity and selectivity. As energy systems of the future will be based on efficient catalytic conversion of small molecules in closed cycles, we study how structural effects of catalysts can be used to our ad…

A large proportion of the University’s total carbon footprint under normal circumstances is caused by home-to-work commuting, home-to-study commuting, visitor traffic, business travel and goods transport to and between University locations.

Mission: The department of Industrial Ecology is dealing with research into the development of tools for decision making on sustainable production and consumption.

PhD defence

Lecture

Jan van de Streek is a tax scholar who conducts research into the taxation of multinationals. His appointment will commence on 1 January 2021.

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

Promotor: E.F. Smets Co-promotor: J. Geml

The world we live in is changing in many aspects at an ever-increasing speed. And it will continue to do so. How do we anticipate these changes, such as the increase in atmospheric CO2, the extinction of species and industrialisation?

How the global distribution of vegetation stands dominated by arbuscular and ectomycorrhizal plants relate to principle aspects of belowground carbon accumulation processes?

The Leiden University Green Office has some great news: you can now make the most environmentally-friendly search engine - Ecosia - your default on a public LU computer!

Leiden University is a integral part of the community and contributes to a sustainable society. Over the coming years our University will become even greener.

Paul Behrens and his team have won the Frontiers Planet Prize of half a million euros for their research into the effects of switching to a plant-based diet.

Can we use indigenous microbial rice communities to reduce methane production in agricultural settings?

As a virtually inexhaustible source, solar energy plays a major role in future global energy scenarios.

The SAPPAO project aims to optimise the accuracy and reliability of predicting scheduled flight times. The full name of the project is 'A Systems Approach towards Data Mining and Prediction in Airlines Operations'.

Everyone knows smoking is unhealthy, but did you also know that smoking is not good for the environment? In parternship with UFB, we are organising a number of action days to pick up cigarette butts, hand out sustainable ashtrays and inform people about how they can smoke more sustainably!

The sustainable production of hydrogen could potentially be made more efficient by adding a cleverly chosen salt to the process. Researchers at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), in collaboration with physicists at the University of Twente, have discovered that the type of salt present in the…

We would like to present to you a simple guidebook about living a sustainable life as a student in the cities of Leiden and The Hague. Whether you are a first-year student still trying to find your way around or already doing your masters – students wanting to explore more sustainable options and save…

To construct catalysts that can produce fuels from CO2 innumerable times, we need to learn much more about how catalysis works. Irene Groot is conducting groundbreaking research into catalysis at the atomic level.

The "Van Marum Colloquia" are a collaborative lecture series between the LION and LIC institutes, focusing on fundamental and applied surface science.

BioSolar Cells is a five-year research project in which ten knowledge institutions and 45 private industries work together.

What performance criteria does a new technology have to fulfill in order to be added to the list of future energy options and what constraints exist in terms of broad market penetration?

Research at the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) is foundational and curiosity driven. All our scientists share a desire to increase the knowledge of the world around us, in an open atmosphere of inquiry from which innovative ideas emerge that provide applications and value for society.

Lecture

Sustainably produced food reduces CO2 emissions during production and promotes the region’s economy. The University is working to increase the number of organic, fair trade, vegetarian and vegan products in its restaurants.

The main goal of the THEOR CHEM group, headed by Prof. Geert-Jan Kroes, is to characterize, and to accurately predict the outcome of chemical reactions at gas-solid and liquid-solid interfaces. Here the solid surface is typically a metal or an ice surface. These goals are important to many areas in…

Research carried out at Leiden University contributes to our knowledge of sustainability. This is essential if we want to work together to find solutions to pressing issues, such as the current climate emergency and the shortage of raw materials.

Crises like climate change and loss of biodiversity threaten our planet. That’s why sustainability is an important topic in research and education across Leiden University. On this website you read how scientists from many disciplines work together in researching sustainability.

For the first time, a court has ordered a company to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions. Lawyers see it as a landmark ruling that will have far-reaching consequences for Shell and possibly also other similar companies.

What is Leiden University doing to make its buildings future-proof and independent of fossil energy?

Marc Koper, Professor of Catalysis and surface chemistry, has won the Brian Conway Prize for Physical Electrochemistry of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE). The ISE jury chose Koper as the winner due to his outstanding contributions in the field of physical electrochemistry.

Despite the rapid progress in solar and wind energy, a completely clean energy supply remains a huge challenge. Heavy industry, aviation, shipping and road transport are not yet able to do without carbon-based fuels. To reach the climate goals, in these industries energy consumption should be CO2 neutral. In…

If you could convert CO2 into building blocks for other molecules with the help of electricity, you could make the chemical industry considerably more sustainable. Leiden chemists have unravelled a fundamental part of this process and applied this knowledge in a real device, as they write in Nature…

The following guide relays information on tips and tricks for travelling by train and bus, and which online tools you can use for sustainable travel and trip planning.

Isotopes on exoplanets, a more efficient memory for data centres or new molecules that work against the Zika virus and HIV. Which PhD candidate has written the most impressive dissertation of 2023? The jury of the C.J. Kok Jury Award faces the challenging task of deciding that. Meet the nominees of…

The NEASQC project brings together academic experts and industrial end-users to investigate and develop a new breed of Quantum-enabled applications that can take advantage of NISQ (Noise Intermediate-Scale Quantum) systems in the near future. NEASQC is use-case driven, addressing practical problems…

Even a small quantum computer should be able to simulate exactly the properties and behaviour of new molecules. This would take chemistry to an entirely new level. Better solar panels, more powerful batteries, saving lots of energy in the chemical industry: the applications have the potential to transform…