Athletes always strive for the top. How can data scientists assist them in improving their performance? During the seminar Data Science and Sports, the possibilities and challenges of collaboration between these two worlds were discussed.

This thesis focuses on two processes involved in fighting infections: metabolism and immune cell motility and navigation.

The rapid expansion of research on human gut microbiome in recent decades has highlighted its role in human metabolism, immune regulation, and behavior.

This article examines the position of victims and those affected within communication theory. Current research has broadly been skewed toward reputation management and protecting brand value as primary goals of crisis communication efforts. The authors offer recommendations for crisis communication…

Since 2012, thousands of individuals have traveled from Western countries to join jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq. While much has been written about these individuals, only sparse attention has been paid to the social environment of these jihadist travelers and, more specific, the role of family members…

Biologists today have to be able to work with big data. Data analysis skills should be taught from the start of the degree programme, or - even better - in secondary school. This is the message of Vera van Noort, new Professor of Computational Biology. Inaugural lecture 22 January.

Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in the world. One of its symptoms is the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta.

This article provides an in‐depth assessment of lone actor terrorists’ attack planning and preparation.

Wessel Kraaij has been appointed Professor of Applied Data Analytics with effect from 1 March 2016. Kraaij will use new methods to analyse big data sets. He intends to use data from various data-intensive research fields to test these methods in practice.

D1.3 describes a set of five case studies relevant in the context of the EuDEco project. Case studies are considered relevant if they are initiatives focusing on the promotion of big data and data reuse or pilots facilitating data reuse in one form or the other. The case studies were expected to allow…

The emergence of complex diseases resulting from abnormal cell-cell signaling and the spread of infectious diseases caused by pathogens are significant threats to humanity. Unraveling the dynamic mechanisms underlying cell-cell signaling and infectious disease spreading is crucial for effective disease…

Today, March 15 2016, the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific data management and stewardship were formally published in the Nature Publishing Group journal Scientific Data.

Comparing individual health data with group data allows doctors to give personalised advice and patients to learn from one another's experiences. Wessel Kraaij, Professor of Applied Data Analytics, shows how personal data can have a valuable predictive function. Inaugural lecture 24 February.

How does stress influence cognitive performance? What is the role of selective attention to threatening information in this effect? Could we prevent stress-induced decline of cognitive performance with pharmacological interventions? Could we use resting state theta/beta ratio as a biomarker for cognitive…

Advanced mass spectrometry of glycosphingolipids takes the central stage in this thesis. Investigations focus on characterization of glycosphingolipid metabolism in health and disease with emphasis to the detection and accurate quantitation of known and so far unknown glycosphingolipids and closely…

Using EcoFab 2.0 devices and omics services at JGI, we will examine a plant growth promoting microbial community during interaction with different plant species.

This thesis focuses on the role of chemokine receptors CXCR3 and CCR2 in the inflammatory process and infection control using the zebrafish model.

The CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, is widely involved in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, no drugs for this receptor have made it to the pharmaceutical market yet.

Despite an increased EU role in the preparedness, monitoring and coordination of health emergencies over the past two decades, Member States’ responses to the first wave of COVID-19 were surprisingly uncoordinated. In light of calls to improve cooperation regarding future health emergencies, this article…

The authors examine the handling of cybercrime cases by law enforcement officers, focusing on bottlenecks and potential improvements noted by experts in the field.

Stars and planets form within cold, dense clouds of gas and dust drifting through interstellar space. Although dust makes up only a small fraction of this material, it plays a key role in shaping the chemical evolution of these environments.

PhD defence

Mirjam van Reisen favours big data built up from local inputs in developing countries and suitable for local use. The new Professor of Computing for Society at Leiden's Faculty of Science connects data science with development sociology. Inaugural lecture 10 March.

The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) received a grant award from NWO for a joint proposal with Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI, Amsterdam), Tata Steel (IJmuiden), BMW (Munich), and database company MonetDB. Within the NWO Data Science program ‘challenging big data‘, LIACS is…

This project is a collaboration between Sanquin, LUMC and LIACS. It focuses on the development of meta-modelling methods and tools for the exchange, analysis, and publication of anonymised patient data. Measures are being constructed to evaluate both the level of privacy and the extent to which an anonymized…

On Tuesday, January 30th, the first symposium of the Data Science Research Programme took place at the Sylvius Building.

Data science offers great opportunities for legal research, according to Simone van der Hof and Bart Custers (eLaw). But at the same time, we have to keep an eye on the unwanted side effects of big data - such as ethnic profiling.

On Monday, June 24th, 24 employees of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) received their certificates for completing Data Science courses, offered by the Leiden Centre of Data Science.

Today, CBS launches the Center for Big Data Statistics (CBDS), a cooperation of an unprecedented scale in the field of Big Data. Leiden University and HumanityX are key partners.

Winning gold in speed skating at the Olympic Games is not just a matter of training hard; data science can also lend a hand. Jeroen van der Eb of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) developed the measuring skate for this purpose, with which he recently won the Nationale Sportinnovator…

How can data analytics be used as a research method in the field of legal research? This question was addressed during the Research Lab Legal Data Science on 23 September, 2016.

Gathering and distributing patient data can make an important contribution to containing the coronavirus. But if we want to be successful, we need better data. With this objective in mind, Leiden data stewards have joined the Virus Outbreak Data Network (VODAN).

Language evolution, targeted drugs or archaeological interpretation. Researchers are making increasing use of supercomputers that can rapidly process large quantities of data. This is one reason why the University data centre will be extended and updated. ‘Datamining means we can get a better picture…

On the 24th of June, Martijn Wackers successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Martijn on this achievement!

Promotor: J.M. van den Broek Co-promotor: M.C. de Vries

Understand how the economy works and shapes today’s challenges

The combination of data science and sports is a hot topic. In a talk during the opening of the Academic Year at the Faculty of Science, Professor Joost Kok explained what data analytics can teach us about sports.

For optimization problems, it is often unclear how to choose the most appropriate optimization algorithm. As such, rigorous benchmarking practices are critical to ensure we can gain as much insight into the strengths and weaknesses of these types of algorithms.

On December 4th an agreement was signed between the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). Cor Veenman (NFI) will perform research in the field of Forensic Big Data Science at LIACS.