419 search results for “plastic pollution” in the Public website
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India at a Crossroads: SDGs and Cooperation with the EU
Shah recently wrote an op-ed for the Commentaries series of the Istituto Affari Internazionali in Rome, which has been published online. The piece is on India’s performance and priorities regarding the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and collaboration with the EU.
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An ERC Grant to predict the toxicity of nanomaterials in the ecosystem
Environmental researcher Martina Vijver is over the moon with her ERC Consolidator Grant. This prestigious grant is recognition, she says, of the study of the behaviour and possible toxicity of new nanomaterials in ecosystems.
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Katharina Riebel
Science
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Awards and Grants 2023
On this page you will find an overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2023, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.
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Single-use water bottles? Not on our watch.
We, as LUGO, believe that with simple everyday actions we can prevent large amounts of single-use plastic water bottles from entering our oceans.
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Afternoon of Discoveries for children
As a prelude to the Night of Discoveries, an Afternoon of Discoveries will be held in Leiden on 21 September for children from the age of eight. Researchers will tell exciting tales and the children will get to do experiments.
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Archive
View all our Alumni newsletters below.
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Respiratory health and disease in the Netherlands
Studying the impact of urbanisation on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations (1200-1850 CE).
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Student team invents Suckerspheres: sustainable alternative for microplastic
A Leiden Groningen student team has reached the European finals of the BISC-E competition. In this annual competition students have to come up with a sustainable solution to a major social problem. The team invented Suckerspheres: a natural alternative to the plastic microbeads that are still widely…
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Listen to the new LUGO podcast episode: 'Challenges of Packaging in our Contemporary Society'
What is the history of plastic packaging in human society?
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'In an ideal world we would recycle everything'
Merijn Tinga hit the headlines in 2016 as the Plastic Soup Surfer. In force six winds, the Leiden biologist ventured across the English Channel on a hydrofoil kiteboard made from plastic bottles. Interview with this Leiden artist who is fighting the mountain of plastic waste and finding his feet as…
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Participation in UN Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastics
Last week Esther Kentin participated in the Second Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-Ended Expert Group on Marine Litter and Microplastics organized by UN Environment in Geneva.
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University to switch off lights during Seeing Stars Leiden – Care to join us?
Artist Daan Roosegaarde, together with UNESCO and Leiden University, wants to make the stars come out during Seeing Stars Leiden. The University will therefore switch off the lights in most of its buildings on Sunday 25 September from 22:00 to 23:30 and is asking the people of Leiden to follow suit.
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Topic: Novelty and enrichment
One of the most crucial aspects of our behaviour is our motivation to explore novel environments and interact with new people. This became painfully clear during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when many people suffered from lack of new experiences and real-life social interactions. The relevance of novelty…
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The role of auxin in somatic embryogenesis
What is the role of auxin in the initiation and process of somatic embryogenesis?
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Design for the Future: Wicked Environmental Problems in Sustainability and Health
How do we approach education that facilitates creative confidence for students that leads to innovative solutions to society’s present day and future sustainability challenges? This education research project tackles a sustainability dilemma faced by households in everyday life viz.
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Water
Leiden University is committed to reducing our water consumption.
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Plant ageing, rejuvenation and life history strategy
What are key regulators of plant ageing that can reverse ageing in plants (rejuvenation), and how can we use this knowledge to improve crop plants?
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Applied Cognitive Psychology (MSc)
In the specialisation Applied Cognitive Psychology, part of the Master in Psychology, you develop all the practical and academic skills necessary to apply psychological knowledge to real-life problems in working environments and organisations.
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What we can learn from hi-tech nature
Biodiversity in the Netherlands is having a tough time. Professor of Natural Capital Koos Biesmeijer combines research with practical advice: from the greening of industrial parks to solutions inspired by hi-tech nature. Inaugural lecture 9 March.
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BioSustain
Examining the sustainability aspects of biotechnology, especially those related to the production of ethanol from biomass.
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Anthropogenic effects on links between macro-invertebrate diversity and ecosystem functioning
How are links between macro-invertebrate diversity and ecosystem functioning influenced by anthropogenic pressures?
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Group interests: rights of indigenous peoples
Industrialised countries extract natural resources in the territories of indigenous peoples, and appropriate the knowledge and culture of these peoples. Leiden anthropologists work to protect the rights of indigenous peoples. Their knowledge and advice enable governments to source sustainable produc…
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Measuring water life
Human activity, such as pollution, may disturb the balance of living water systems, which has consequences for biodiversity, but also for other functions such as water purification. Leiden University maps living water systems using the most advanced technologies.
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About NVIC
The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo is an academic centre providing services for scholars and students from the supporting universities.
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Plundering of knowledge and territory
Industrialised countries mine raw materials in areas inhabited by Indigenous Peoples and appropriate the knowledge and culture of these peoples. Leiden anthropologists work to protect their rights.
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Telescopes
The Old Observatory houses four historical telescopes. On this page you can learn more about them.
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Policy-Relevant Indicators for National Consumption and Environment (PRINCE)
PRINCE (for Policy Relevant Indicators for Consumption and Environment) was a three-year project set up to explore ways to improve and expand the set of indicators used to estimate the environmental impacts linked to Swedish consumption, both within Sweden and abroad. Any new methods and indicators…
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Public International Law (LL.M.)
Public International Law is a one-year Master’s specialisation at the internationally acclaimed Leiden Law School at Leiden University. The programme focuses on the legal framework that governs international relations in an increasingly complex global society.
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Law and Society (MSc)
MSc Law and Society brings together students from law and social sciences to examine the dynamic relationship between legal norms and social reality. Its global orientation, interdisciplinary approach, and focus on social justice make this master’s programme unique in its field.
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Research and current affairs: 2022 in six stories
Life returned to something resembling normal after Covid but other crises soon took its place. These great challenges are also being felt at the University and our researchers are working on solutions. The nitrogen crisis, problems with young people’s services and an increasingly urgent climate crisis:…
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With these small adjustments we can reduce nitrogen loss in peat meadows
Relatively simple adjustments can reduce nitrogen losses on dairy farms in peatland areas. That’s the conclusion of the PhD research by by Leiden environmental scientist Jeroen Pijlman at the Louis Bolk Institute. Protein-poor grass species and narrow-leaved plantain in the grassland can limit nitrogen…
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FestiWell en EUniWell
Festival, FestiWell | Event vanuit EUniWell
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Publications
Recent publications
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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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Dancing for science: Annebelle Kok finalist of Dance Your PhD
Explaining your PhD research to others can be quite difficult, especially without talking! PhD student Annebelle Kok of the Institute of Biology Leiden was one of the finalists of the 'Dance Your PhD' competition of scientific journal Science. ‘You have to understand your own research well if you are…
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Start of new sound impact project on fish
On the 1st of October a new project funded by the Joint Industry Programme (JIP) started at the IBL on the potentially negative effects of sound on fish. Behavioural biologist and bioacoustic specialist Dr. Hans Slabbekoorn leads the international research team.
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Measuring sulfur with satellites
Seagoing vessels may emit fewer and fewer harmful substances, but how do you measure whether they comply with the standards? The Dutch Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT) and the universities of Leiden and Wageningen are starting a joint study to detect the emission of sulfur and nitrogen dioxide…
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Photo reportage: international students get to know Leiden
At Orientation Week Leiden, a record 1,378 new international students got to know the city and one another. From a cracking karaoke party to fishing plastic out of the canals – see what they got up to in the photos!
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Sustainable futures
How can we organise society so as to keep our planet habitable for us and for all other life forms around us? To answer this question, Leiden researchers collaborate across disciplines, from biology to data science, and from environmental economy to archaeology.
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Lights out, stars on: Daan Roosegaarde on Seeing Stars Leiden
‘What if we switch off all the lights one evening? That idea crossed my mind from time to time. And when I mentioned it to a taxi driver one day, he said: “Oh, you mean: lights out, stars on!” That’s not completely true, of course, because the stars are always on, but his phrase summed up the idea n…
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Leiden experiments in DWDD University
Prof. Robbert Dijkgraaf used experiments and models from Leiden University for his tv lecture on symmetry. The lecture was broadcast live on channel 1. He showed that our DNA only twists in one direction using a plastic DNA model and he used a Chladni plate to show the symmetry of sound.
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Microplastics in artery plaque linked with higher risk of heart attack, stroke and death
You can't see them with the naked eye, but they are highly likely to pose a threat to our health: microplastics. These tiny plastic particles are present everywhere in the environment, including within our bodies. On science platform The Conversation molecular biologist Meiru Wang offers valuable insights…
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From beach waste to a new product
Nederland Circulair! is organising the week of the circular economy, for the second time. This is a great setting for Leiden University to promote several of the university’s circular initiatives. We will kick off with an initiative by alumna Noortje Schrauwen: Raw material beachcombing.
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Global problems, local actions: Leiden professors help teachers, students and citizens to engage with environmental issues
In 2021, Thijs Bosker and Paul Behrens — both Associate Professors in Environmental Sciences at Leiden University — received funding from the Leiden University Fund and the Gratama Foundation to develop tangible and practical exercises that help people to deal with environmental issues from a local…
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Butterflies’ wing patterns change with the seasons
Tropical butterflies adapt to their environment to improve their chances of survival. The changes are triggered by hormone signals that transmit information about temperature to the butterflies' tissues. Biologist Ana Rita Mateus shows how a complex combination of environment, physiology and genetics…
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A water pipe from here to Africa
It may not seem necessary to install special tap water stations in University buildings, but it is very useful: every tap here also means a tap in a developing country. With the the 35 tap water stations that Leiden University installs, the slum area of Madoya in Nairobi will soon have clean drinking…
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Hoe beïnvloedt de fysieke leefomgeving de gezondheid van mensen?
The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) has received a 4m grant for the ECOTIP project. In this project researchers will study how our physical environment affects our health. The aim is to find tipping points: at what point is there a real lack of greenery, healthy food or clean air in a neighb…
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Older Publications
Overview of the publications of the department of Industrial Ecology (1982-2015)
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Determining global distribution of microplastics by using citizen science
The objective of this study is to better understand the distribution of microplastics in the environment. More specifically, we will quantify the abundance and distribution of microplastics on beaches.