Many researchers of the Faculty of Science are members of a research school related to their area of expertise. Research schools aim at collaboration of researchers from different faculties in the same university (interfaculty schools) or in different universities (interuniversity schools).

Would you like to know more about our research using laboratory animals or our studies on alternatives to animal testing? If so, take a look at the news articles on the right-hand side of the page (for mobile users, see the bottom of the page).

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading global cause of mortality. Endothelial dysfunction, an early reversible stage of CVD development, is marked by decreased nitric oxide production linked to Ca2+ influx in endothelial cells.

Promotores: H.S. Overkleeft, G.A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: B.I. Florea

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Hankemeier, Co-promotor: Dr. Theo Reijmers

The research described in this thesis focused on the use of bioorthogonal antigens to investigate immunological processes in antigen presenting cells. Bioorthogonal antigens are antigenic proteins produced through recombinant expression in a methionine auxotrophic E. coli strain.

The aim of this research was to develop an effective, generative, and practical approach to enhance students’ structure-property reasoning (SPR).

Promotor: G.A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: J.D.C. Codée

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,…

Electrocatalysis allows for storing electricity or converting it into chemical bonds, producing chemical building blocks and fuels using renewable resources.

On this page you can read about our keynote speakers.

This thesis discusses the physical and chemical processes than influence the composition of forming planets.

This research focuses on the distribution of chemical elements in protoplanetary disks, the birthplaces of planets. These disks form around young stars and contain gas and dust, from which planets grow. Ice plays a crucial role in planet formation, aiding the clumping of dust particles and influencing…

Promotores: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg & Dr. M.G. Vijver

This PhD-thesis presents a study on micron-sized particles, so-called colloids. By controlling the chemical and physical properties of these particles, such as the interparticle interaction and the particles’ shape, colloids can act as building blocks that self-assembly into larger structures.

Carbohydrates, or sugars, are the most diverse and most abundant biomolecules known. However, the isolation of carbohydrate samples in sufficient amounts and purity is often impractical or even impossible, so the chemical synthesis of glycosides becomes relevant. The glycosylation reaction, in which…

Promoter: J.G.E.M.Fraaije, Co-promotor: A. Kros

Research in the Lars Jeuken group focusses on redox-active proteins and membranes enzymes, aiming to understand bacterial respiration at the molecular level for the development of antimicrobials and semi-artificial photo-synthetic cells.

This Thesis focuses on the design and synthesis of ADP-ribosylated compounds that can be applied in biological studies.

Bacterial biocatalysis constitutes a sustainable alternative for high-value chemicals production by enabling the utilization of renewable feedstocks.

This thesis is about the study of hydrocarbons via infrared spectroscopy.

Can we link multiple components from herbal extracts with their biological activities?

Carbonaceous asteroids preserve a record of early solar system processes, where minerals and organic molecules, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), offer clues to planetary evolution and prebiotic chemistry.

Microscopic insight on lipid-based nanomedicine in vivo remains limited to the perception of the knowledge that could be obtained: if we interpret only what we see, then we only believe to know. Although believing to know encapsulates an undefined amount of uncertainty in the exploration of lipid-based…

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. van Dishoeck, Co-promotor: S. Bruderer

Supramolecular polymers are class of materials that are formed by non-covalent interactions such as hydrogen bonding, π-π interactions, electrostatic interactions and the hydrophobic effect.

N-acylethanolamines (NAEs), which include the endocannabinoid anandamide, represent an important family of signaling lipids in the brain. The lack of chemical probes that modulate NAE biosynthesis in living systems hamper the understanding of the biological role of these lipids.

Due to the modern techniques of combinatorial chemistry and high-throughput screening, data on the biological activity of many millions of compounds is known. However, it is still very difficult to transfer this data into knowledge: if we know that compounds A and B bind to a certain protein with high…

A key step in the synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates is the formation of the glycosidic bond.

This dissertation explores new chemical strategies for the synthesis of self-adjuvanting peptide conjugates and immunomodulatory ligands aimed at targeted activation of the immune system.

This work describes the use of click-to-release chemistry to get spatiotemporal control over immunocytokine activity. Until now, immunocytokines (cytokines coupled to a tumor-targeting-moiety) remained active throughout the body, being able to bind their respective receptors, causing mild to severe…

The goal of target discovery is to identify and validate proteins and biological pathways that are involved in the disease process. Modulating these target proteins and pathways with small molecules, therapeutic proteins or other biomolecules (e.g. mRNA) could deliver an effective and safe drug or v…

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) have enabled the success of mRNA vaccines but remain limited in broader therapeutic use by challenges in delivery efficiency, targeting, and mechanistic understanding.

Gaucher disease is a rare metabolic disorder, in which a mutation of the enzyme glucocerebrosidase (GBA1) causes buildup of its substrate glucosylceramide and the deacylated counterpart glucosylsphingosine in lysosomes.

The drug BIA 10-2474 inhibits fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH), a lipase that degrades a specific endocannabinoid. On the basis of this activity, BIA 10-2474 was being developed as a potential treatment for anxiety and pain. In a phase 1 trial of the drug, one subject died, and four others suffered…

A high-end label: Cyclophellitol aziridine-type activity-based probes allow for ultra-sensitive visualization of mammalian β-glucosidases (GBA1, GBA2, GBA3, and LPH) as well as several non-mammalian β-glucosidases (see picture). These probes offer new ways to study β-exoglucosidases, and configurational…

Three at the same time: a ligation strategy combining tetrazine–norbornene cycloaddition, Staudinger–Bertozzi ligation, and copper(I)-catalyzed click reaction was used to label the three catalytic activities of the proteasome simultaneously in a single experiment. The orthogonality of the three ligation…

A new technique using fluorescent imaging to track the actions of enzymes might aid drug design for new anti-cancer, inflammation and kidney disease treatments. Researchers at the University of York and Leiden University have published these findings in Nature Chemical Biology.

PhD defence

Through metabolism, biochemical processes give rise to the complexity of life. Acquired and inborn errors in metabolism underlie many diseases occurring in man. The challenge for present day medical biochemistry is to find, and integrate, pieces of information at molecular, cell and organismal level…

How can we understand the material instability of photographic (mixed media) artworks (1960s - present) from an integrated approach of Art History, Conservation Science and Chemistry in order to preserve these works for the future?

The thesis describes the development, synthesis and biological evaluation of several proteasome inhibitor designs. Mainly, this work focusses on designing proteasome inhibitors that selectively inhibit the immunoproteasome, while leaving the constitutive proteasome mostly, if not completely, untouch…

This thesis describes the design and synthesis of novel small molecules based on sulfur-containing heterocycles for the inhibition of glycosidases and glycosyltransferases related to Fabry and Pompe disease.

A deceptively simple, complicated paper

Design and synthesis of two 3-substituted swainsonine derivatives with the aim to improve the potency and selectivity towards Golgi alpha-mannosidase II.

Synthetic methodlogy is described, aiding in the synthetic preparation of putative inhibitors of retaining and inverting glycosidases and glycosyl transferases. All constructs are cyclophellitol-based cyclitols.

The chemical synthesis of inhibitors and probes targeting endo-glycosidases.

The aim of the research described in this thesis was to use structure-based design to optimise multiple properties of aryl sulfoxide monoacylglycerol lipase inhibitors as anti-inflammatory analgesics.

Inaugural lecture