Gerard van Westen has been appointed full Professor or Artificial Intelligence and Medicinal Chemistry. This chair has been jointly created by the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) as part of SAILS, the university stimulus program in Artificial…

Tackling key challenges of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry to aid drug discovery is one of the focus areas of Leiden University. To this end, the Leiden Early Drug Discovery & Development network (LED3) was established by the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), the Institute of Biology Leiden…

Researchers of the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry have made an important discovery about the commonly used anti-cancer drug doxorubicin. They have found a way to reduce its side effects without sacrificing the effectiveness of the medication. This is encouraging…

In photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT), a biologically active compound is caged by a light-cleavable protecting group.

Our educational team has been awarded an ICTO-grant of €12000 for the LACDR for flipping the Biochemistry 2 classroom.

Twenty years from now, the world population is estimated to be around 8.7 billion people, compared to the current 7.3 billion. In combination with the improvements in living standards and the corresponding growth in consumption, this will result in an enormous increase in the demand for food, consumables,…

The main goal of the research described in this thesis was the development of new photoactivated chemotherapy (PACT) ruthenium(II) complexes bearing a non-toxic photolabile ligand.

In this thesis, we consider various (electro)chemical phenomena at surfaces and nanoparticles and their underlying atomistic processes, which we studied using first-principles methods such as density functional theory.

This thesis introduces the concept of

This thesis advance our understanding and the application of molecular catalysts relevant to the reduction of oxygen as well as reduction of nitrite.

Cyclic peptides are investigated as a platform to induce different orientations between various ligands.

Understanding the formation and preservation of Pleistocene fire traces through laboratory-based experimental research

Having a bachelor's, a master's and a PhD in Chemistry, Elena Sánchez López shifted to a more biological field of research for her postdoc. She completed all her studies at the University of Alcala, in Spain, before applying for a LEaDing fellowship at Leiden University, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Cofund…

Leiden Professor of Molecular astrophysics Ewine van Dishoeck has been awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). She has been awarded 2.3 million euros in research funding for the MOLDISK programme. Within this programme, Van Dishoeck wants to connect chemistry and physics in…

Promotor: E. Bouwman, Co-promotor: S. Bonnet

With great sadness we share the news that Prof. Harold Linnartz passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday 31 December 2023. We are all in shock, and our thoughts are with his wife and children, other family, and friends. Harold was at the heart of our institute, as a researcher, as a supervisor,…

Since May, Assistant professor BioTherapeutics Lu Su works in our faculty. Although she is still young, she already worked in many different fields and co-operated on two publications in big scientific journals. How did she become so successful and what motivates her to keep researching the possibilities…

Before researchers can develop targeted drugs, they need to know exactly how a disease works. Biochemist Bert Beerkens created molecules that allow them to find out. He used caffeine as the basis for new molecules that enable research into certain receptor proteins on cells.

Despite being the second largest transmembrane protein family after GPCRs, the SLC superfamily has only gained significant attention in early drug development over the past decade.

This thesis describes the use of an activity-based proteomics method to study the endocannabinoid system.

Less than 1 in 10 drug candidates that enter phase 1 clinical trials actually gets approved for human use.

The channel through which two cell components exchange material appears to form at the edge of their contact surface, and not in the middle. This was discovered by the Leiden physical chemists Jelger Risselada and Edgar Blokhuis together with researchers from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.…

This thesis describes the use of bioorthogonal proteins in immunological settings. It provides an introduction towards the field of protein modification, which was used throughout the thesis for the expression of proteins containing unnatural amino acids.

Synthesis and application of chemical biology tools to study immunomodulatory signaling lipids.

Although Sander Wezenberg just started working in Leiden in March this year, he already managed to win a Vidi grant from NWO. Inspired by nature, Wezenberg wants to bring synthetic molecules to life and teach them to communicate. But who exactly is Wezenberg and what drives him?

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa is a Gram-negative bacterium which can form biofilms, increasing its resistance against antibiotics and the host immune system. Polysaccharides are an integral part of this biofilm, one of these polysaccharides is called Psl. PslG is a glycosidase, able to cleave this polysaccharide,…

Alumnus Vincent Renken studied Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences in Leiden and is now co-founder of an outdoor escape room company. ‘I asked myself: do you want a standard life or an adventure?’

Which molecules go into forming planets? PhD candidate Christian Eistrup and his colleagues have created new models to research this question. Their findings could change our idea of which molecules were forming Jupiter or even Earth.

Large parts of the research described in this Thesis aims at the development of oligopeptide-masked toxins and their in situ immunoproteasome-mediated activation.

Possibly spending three years at university and following the entire Dutch Studies programme is not an option for you. In that case, we are pleased to offer you an alternative. We have created a challenging and highly valuable one-year programme, where you will still learn to speak Dutch and delve into…

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

Metal complexes and 2D materials like graphene were combined to produce structures that can function as sensors.

Research training projects in the MCBIM group - Bachelor and master students of all chemistry related studies are more than welcome to take part in our research activities. We have various research projects, all in one way or another involving transition metal ions. Daily supervision in the laboratory…

Promotores: P. Stevenhagen, A. Enge Co-Promotor: T.C. Streng

Bachelor and Master students of all chemistry related studies are more than welcome to take part in our research activities. We have projects on design and synthesis of biologically relevant compounds within an ongoing research project. Supervision, following the apprentice/teacher model, is one of…

The LUC Fund is part of the Leiden University Fund (LUF). The Fund is managed by LUC’s administrative staff and overseen by a Spending Committee consisting of staff and alumni. Together they are responsible for the allocation of available resources, identifying funding opportunities, and developing…