143 search results for “liveable planet” in the Staff website
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Discover plant-based food at the university during Meat- and Dairy-Free Week
Facility
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Honorary doctorate for Canadian-American astrophysicist Sara Seager
Leiden University will confer an honorary doctorate on astrophysicist Sara Seager for her work on exoplanets.
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More pubs on campus? Here's why students and staff care
There should be more social meeting places on our campus. That's one of the outcomes of to the second brainstorming session on the strategic plan. On Tuesday, education and the campus took centre stage during the meeting in Corpus. Professor and programme director Miranda van Eck and student assessor…
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White paper: we can’t just let smart cities happen
In a new Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities white paper, researchers and practitioners start the conversation that society desperately needs to have. ‘We’ve outsourced the visionary thinking to tech companies.’
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Astronomy through a pinhole
You can make some astounding images using just a box with a hole. Inspired by the celebration of Leiden as the European City of Science, Professor Matthew Kenworthy left several pinhole cameras across the Observatory over the course of 2021. This is how the simplest devices may uncover the greatest…
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Measuring water with your smartphone
You might take photos and selfies with your phone's camera, or scan a QR code. But there is much more you can do with it. Astronomer Olivier Burggraaff developed a phone attachment that allows you to take measurements of surface water with your smartphone. He will receive his PhD on 13 December.
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Is there oxygen on exoplanets? New telescope finds out
To what extent does exoplanet Proxima b resemble our Earth? And is there some form of life present? Astronomers hope to find answers to these questions with the new European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT). An NWO research grant of €18 million will allow a Dutch consortium to continue building instruments…
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Ecologist Emilia Hannula receives Gold Medal in Teylers Museum
Soil ecologists Emilia Hannula (Leiden) and Elly Morriën (UvA) received the Golden Medal of Teylers Tweede Genootschap on 5 November. They received the prize for their submission to a competition on sustainable soil management.
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From research in space to director on earth
After ten years and one day, Leiden Observatory has a new director. As of 1 September, Ignas Snellen will set the course for the astronomical institute. In this interview, you will get to know Ignas. Or at least a little. That is why we gave him five dilemmas and asked the people around him who he really…
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Research project into environmental tipping points receives €10 million
Arjen Doelman (Leiden University), Max Rietkerk (Utrecht University), Ehud Meron (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) and Isla Myers-Smith (University of Edinburgh) received an ERC Synergy grant of 10 million euros with their RESILIENCE project. The researchers will investigate whether and how tipping…
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Ewine van Dishoeck receives Fritz Zwicky prize for astrophysics & cosmology
The Fritz Zwicky Prize 2022 for Astrophysics & Cosmology has been awarded to Prof. Ewine F. van Dishoeck for her pioneering, decades-long work in astrochemistry and molecular spectroscopy, as well as for her leadership within the astronomical community. The award was announced today by the European…
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Changing our diet would help absorb global food shocks, such as during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
A plant-based diet could improve the resilience of our food system. Moving to such a diet in the European Union (EU) and United Kingdom (UK) alone could replace almost all the production losses from Russia and Ukraine. That’s what an international team of researchers conclude in Nature Food. Leiden…
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'I always consider: What would have worked best for me?'
Starting with the ‘why’, putting herself in her students’ shoes and providing structure. These are three ways in which environmental scientist Ranran Wang tries to make her course as interesting and manageable as possible. With success: she has been nominated for Science Teacher of the Year 2022.
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Diplomacy may look very different in space than on Earth
A symposium on space diplomacy for experts and the general public will take place in The Hague on Monday 12 June. Everyone has an interest in learning more about this topic, says Professor Jan Melissen. ‘The scope of international relations has expanded beyond our planet.’
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DSM-firmenich award now for best MSc graduate, best doctorate, and most promising start-up
Since 2020, the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Award has been annually presented by dsm-firmenich for the best master's or doctoral research at the Faculty of Science in the field of life sciences combined with data science. As of 2024, this award will be split into three prizes with a broader scope of research…
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Paul Behrens’ book on climate change launched in the US
The book ‘The Best of Times, The Worst of Times: Futures from the Frontiers of Climate Science’ by Paul Behrens has been launched in the US, a year after its original release in Europe. In his book, Behrens describes both hopeful and pessimistic scenarios for our planet.
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Grants to build large-scale research facilities
Five projects with researchers from Leiden University have received a grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to build or upgrade existing research facilities.
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Hunting for life’s building blocks at minus 250 degrees Celsius
James Webb life’s building blocks
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University elections: these are the staff parties you can vote for
The university elections are approaching. The commuting allowance, less bureaucracy, greater appreciation for teaching: what needs more attention? From 22 to 25 April, you can vote for who will represent you on the University Council. Meet the three staff parties.
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Leiden resident Ewine van Dishoeck wants to give something back to the city
In 2022, Leiden will be the European City of Science. The preparations are in full swing, so we would like to give you a look behind the scenes. This time we talk to Ewine van Dishoeck. She is the driving force behind the annual programme at the Faculty of Science. As far as she is concerned, there…
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Opening Academic Year
Academic ceremony
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‘When a student sees the light, that’s what fulfills me’
'Education has always been something I am very interested in,' says the passionate Michiel Hogerheijde. He was already chairman of the astronomy programme committee and has been teaching for many years. Since 1 October, he is also the new Programme Director of the astronomy bachelor. 'I really enjoy…
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Gaia data maps globular cluster, gravitational lensing and asteroids with great precision
The European Space Agency (ESA) has published an interim data release from Gaia, the space telescope mapping out the Milky Way in 3D. The first scientific papers published today reveal half a million stars in the Omega Centauri globular cluster, nearly 400 candidate gravitational lensers and the positions…
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Ewine van Dishoeck goes stargazing
From the birth of the universe to the molecules in a planet's atmosphere. The first five pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) show the enormous range in which the space telescope can operate. Ewine van Dishoeck, professor of molecular astrophysics, took a look at the first images Tuesday…
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The James Webb Telescope takes stunning photos. But what exactly are we looking at?
For over a year now, the James Webb Telescope has been sending stunning images that exceed astronomers’ expectations. The photos are fascinating to see, but what exactly are we looking at? Assistant professor Melissa McClure explains.
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'This course is a simulation of your professional work as an astronomer'
What if I completely changed everything? A subject without lectures or exams, where the right answer is not important and where students work with their hands. With this idea, Michiel Brentjens reformed the course Radioastronomy. His students are so enthusiastic about this approach that they nominated…
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Jasper's day
Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing? What kinds of things is he doing and what does his day look like? In each newsletter Jasper gives a peek into his life as dean.
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Biology brothers write book about nature and adventure in Eastern Europe: 'I didn't know there live pelicans in Romania'
With a self-converted red camper van, biologists and twin brothers Kevin and Marvin Groen go on a nature adventure in Eastern Europe. Together, they search for wild animals, beautiful nature and places to sport. From a long search for a bear in the Slovakian wilderness to the discovery that pelicans…
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‘All of Leiden will join in with the Seeing Stars experiment’
What will happen if the lights in a large part of the city are switched off? How many stars can you see without all that light pollution? This is what researchers, artists and the residents of Leiden are going to investigate during Seeing Stars Leiden on 25 September. ‘Leiden is the ideal place for…
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Motion of stars near Milky Way's central black hole is only predictable for few hundred years
The orbits of 27 stars orbiting closely around the black hole at the center of our Milky Way are very chaotic. As a result, researchers cannot predict with confidence where they will be in about 462 years. ‘That is astonishingly short,’ says astronomer Simon Portegies Zwart who collaborated on the r…
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Leiden Classics: Einstein & Friends
Museum Boerhaave commemorated the hundredth anniversary of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity with the exhibition ‘Einstein & Friends’. The exhibition shined light on the famous physicist’s Dutch friends and his love for Leiden. A review featuring seven images can be found below.
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Spectacular spectra
Festival, Kennis door de Wijken
- Futures from the frontiers of climate science
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Leiden University celebrates curiosity at 449th Dies Natalis
How has evolution shaped our curiosity? And how does that curiosity ensure that we now have the technological ability to discover whether we are alone in the universe? This was all covered during the celebration of Leiden University’s 449th Dies Natalis.
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Dies Natalis
University ceremony
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Seminar: POPNET Connects with Tamas David-Barrett
Lecture
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Dies Natalis for alumni 2022
Alumni event
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First photo of black hole at the heart of our Galaxy
Finally we know for sure that there is a black hole at the centre of our own galaxy. Today, astronomers unveiled the first ever photo of Sagittarius A*, a super-massive object at the centre of the Milky Way. This picture could only be taken thanks to the cooperation of telescopes worldwide.
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ESA presents first crystal-clear Euclid photos of the cosmos
The first full-colour images of the cosmos from ESA's space telescope Euclid were presented today. Never before has a telescope been able to take such crystal-clear astronomical images of such a large part of the sky and so far into the deep universe. The five images illustrate Euclid's full potential;…
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Opening of the Academic Year: ‘Take care of each other’
After a turbulent Covid year, the well-being of our students and staff has the highest priority. How can we prevent physical and mental health problems? This was the key question at the Opening of the Academic Year in Pieterskerk in Leiden on 6 September.
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Passionate debate on university’s fossil fuel ties
Should Leiden University cut its ties with the fossil fuel industry forthwith? This was the main question in a debate between students and staff. The answer was clearer for some than for others.
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The road to the beginning
Exhibition
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CEO of Tata Steel: ‘We have a debt of honour as a company’
Hans van den Berg, CEO of Tata Steel NL, is in the eye of the storm. He continues to believe in connection, debate and knowledge that will make green steel possible.