The Vrouw Vennepolder near Oud Ade has been transformed into the Polderlab. Scientists and students from Leiden University, together with farmers and citizens, investigate how to manage peatland in a sustainable and profitable manner. A great opportunity for students to experience how scientific knowledge…

‘The climate crisis is the greatest threat we face,’ says Leiden University environmental scientist Paul Behrens. ‘And yet, there is hope. In the near future, I think we will wonder why we didn’t make these changes earlier.’

Each year a staggering 18 billion chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows either die or are killed without making it onto someone's plate. Environmental scientists Juliane Klaura, Laura Scherer, and Gerard Breeman were the first to calculate this number on a global scale. 'Reducing these numbers…

Sustainability challenges don’t just call for environmental scientists – they require expertise from many academic fields. Thijs Bosker and Paul Behrens have made it easier for university lecturers to integrate sustainability into their courses. Their initiative, Local Actions, offers ready-made teaching…

The effects of sustainability projects on poorer, marginalised people should be considered at a much earlier stage. This is the opinion of Marja Spierenburg, Professor of Anthropology of Sustainable Development and Livelihood, who will give her inaugural lecture on 25 February.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system.

A group of astronomers led by Leiden PhD student Sebastian Zieba has discovered using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that the rocky exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 c has a thin atmosphere. Although the planet is nearly identical to Venus in size and temperature, and was expected to have a thick atmosphere,…

The night side of exoplanet WASP-43b, to the surprise of astronomers, does not appear to contain methane. It is likely that extreme winds do not allow enough time for methane to form in detectable amounts. This is the conclusion of an international team of scientists, with Leiden and Amsterdam contributions,…

To look for atmospheres around planets outside our solar system is to look for extraterrestrial life. Astronomist Sebastian Zieba used data from the James Webb Space Telescope to study small rocky exoplanets but found no aliens yet. However, his findings are still very interesting for future observations.…

A team led by Leiden University in the Netherlands and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory have, for the first time, robustly detected semi-heavy water ice around a young sunlike star. In this ice, some of the ordinary hydrogen atoms have been replaced by deuterium, a heavier variant of hydroge…

While investigating 16 years of images of young stars from a retired astronomical camera, Leiden master's student Sam de Regt discovered that two of those stars were still enveloped in birth clouds. Never before has anyone captured these two stars in so much detail. He publishes his data-cleaning method…

Astronomers and surgeons from Leiden are collaborating with industry to develop an optical instrument that delivers faster, more accurate imaging of tumour tissue and abnormal blood flow during surgery.

Green spaces boost mental health—especially in busy cities. A new study from Leiden and Stanford University reveals how nature benefits urban well-being and offers low-cost ways to make city life healthier for everyone.

Many protoplanetary discs in which new planets are formed are much smaller than thought. Using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) scientists of the Leiden Observatory looked at 73 protoplanetary discs in the Lupus region.

The James Webb Space Telescope continues to surprise us with stunning pictures, but of what exactly? Astronomer Nienke van der Marel shows with three images how massive stars lead short but explosive lives.

The many thousands of small celestial bodies beyond Neptune’s orbit may have ended up there due to a star that passed close to the solar system billions of years ago. This is shown by Leiden simulation expert Simon Portegies Zwart, along with his German and Dutch colleagues. ‘We are answering several…

In supermarkets, consumers are drowning in a sea of sustainability labels. Confusing for them, but also farmers can't see the forest for the trees. Obtaining these labels demands an enormous amount of time and effort. Berent Baris is investigating ways to simplify this process, benefiting both farmers…

‘Yamila Miguel brings along immense enthusiasm that sparks over to the students in the lectures,’ her students say about her. ‘She inspires us as scientists-to-be.’ The astronomer teaches master’s students with great passion and interactivity about exoplanets. She has been nominated for the faculty…

Buurtlab 070 is a new Leiden University project in which residents, researchers and students from The Hague work together on climate, sustainability and biodiversity solutions. What do they expect of the lab?

Leiden students working to solve a sustainability problem at the request of an external party: that is the Sustainability Challenge. During a recent symposium, 28 groups of four to five students unveiled their solutions. The commisioners expressed great enthusiasm.

How do molecules originate and evolve in space? And how does that ultimately determine the chemical composition of planets and their atmospheres? The Dutch Astrochemistry Network (DANIII) receives 1.6 million euros from NWO to find out. A large group of Leiden astronomers and chemists is contributing:…

An international team of astronomers, led by Will Rocha of Leiden Observatory, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered that the key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds are present in early-stage protostars, where planets have not yet formed.

A team of scientists, including Leiden Astronomer Alice Booth, has discovered silicon monosulfide molecules in the dust disk around a young star. Such molecules indicate planet formation. The team made the discovery using the ALMA telescopes. This method provides an alternative when direct observation…

Eight early-career researchers from around the world have been awarded a 51 Pegasi b Fellowship – a prestigious opportunity for astronomers. Julia Santos, a PhD candidate at Leiden Observatory, is one of them. We asked her four questions about this remarkable fellowship.

Although there is considerable evidence that nature in the city is beneficial to both people and animals, we still do not have an overall picture of those benefits. To rectify that, a Leiden PhD candidate and a student – armed with a cargo bike – are using The Hague as a life-size laboratory.

Research, Social

Debate

Conference, Symposium

The board of the Pastoor Schmeits Prize for Astronomy Foundation has awarded the Pastoor Schmeits Prize 2025 to two individuals: Yamila Miguel, affiliated to the Leiden Observatory, Leiden University and SRON, and to Else Starkenburg, affiliated to the Kapteyn Institute, University of Groningen. The…

From telescopes to science fiction: in just one semester, students with no background in physics or astronomy get to explore the universe. The first group of students started last month in the new minor Our Universe.

How do you progress from an immense gas cloud somewhere in the universe to a star with planets? Research by Astronomy PhD student Martijn van Gelder sheds more light on the earliest phases of this process. He will receive his doctorate on November 24th.

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded an Advanced Grant to six Leiden researchers. It awards these significant grants to established principal investigators for ground-breaking, high-risk research.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Vidi grants to Leiden researchers.

Master’s students in Industrial Ecology and Governance of Sustainability have helped answer organisations’ questions about sustainability

Life cycle assessment (LCA) reveals the total environmental impact of products or production processes, and EU rules are going to make this even more important.

The Sustainability Monitor 2023 shows that Leiden University is taking its sustainability efforts seriously.

The year 2023 saw the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Wagner Group rebellion and wildfires and floods as all the weather records were smashed. Our most-read stories were about the climate crisis and the elections: here’s the list.

Astronomers at Leiden University have detected rare isotopes of carbon and oxygen in our neighbouring stars for the first time, providing a new window to better understand the chemical evolution of the cosmos.The results are published today in the journal Nature Astronomy.

For her research into migration policy under different political regimes, Katharina Natter has been awarded the Gratama Science Prize for young, talented researchers.

Leiden University has secured fifth place in SustainaBul, the sustainability ranking for universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands.

Education, Research

Leiden University will confer an honorary doctorate on astrophysicist Sara Seager for her work on exoplanets.

Space telescope Euclid is capable of unravelling the secrets of the universe. That is what the images published by ESA today show, according to astronomers working with the telescope's data. The images exceed all expectations. Scientists within the Euclid consortium, including astronomers Henk Hoekstra…