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.

On Wednesday 16th of May, 2018, two student researchers of the LAPP, Hanna Leisti and Heidi Kaarto, had an opportunity to take part in the High Level Debate ‘Can the Blue Economy Save Our Ocean?’. The event was organised by the Sky and WWF in the premises of the European Parliament in Brussels with…

Lecture, Studium Generale

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…

Esther Kentin wrote a blog for the Leiden Law Blog about the EU Plastics Strategy: ‘Recycling as panacea for plastic pollution: the EU Plastics Strategy.’

‘De aanpak van microplastics zit vol haken en ogen’

‘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…

The African Studies Centre Leiden’s Research Programme for 2025-2029 is called ‘African Trajectories: Past Dependencies and New Directions’. Building on its former programme, it extends the recognition of Africa’s pivotal role in world affairs. The continent’s global significance has become increasingly…

Improving environmental risk assessment of pesticides in surface waters

How have human-environmental entanglements changed in the Gulf of San Miguel, Darien, Panama, from the first traces human practices through to the present?

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Dr Kim Duistermaat (NVIC) en Niels Groot (TU Delft)

This 48-month project is to contribute to a solid, accessible, domestically owned knowledge base for people-centred interventions aimed at strengthening access to justice in Libya (A2JiL), and to disseminate such knowledge among stakeholders, enhancing awareness and the capabilities required to provide…

The ties between Leiden University and South East Asia, especially Indonesia, have been strong for centuries.

The relationship between States and foreign corporations are regulated by international economic law and international investment law in particular. Any disputes between States and foreign corporations must therefore also be solved by reference to this body of public international law, for example when…

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

The purpose of eLaw's Working Groups is to stimulate a productive working environment for cooperation within the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University.

It’s Not Easy Being Green – but we’re here to help! Do you want to live more sustainably but have no idea where to start? Are you interested in making the world greener and do you want to get to the bottom of hot topics? Or are you sceptical about climate change and do you want to hear about the…

Research at the Macromolecular Biochemistry group is comprised of the following research themes:

Core Facilities are shared resources that provide access to instruments, technologies and services to researchers across the Institute of Biology. They are staffed by scientists with vast experience in their field, ensuring that all researchers can count not only on the latest available technology…

Following the Beirut explosion, BBC's podcast series The Foodchain explores the chemical that caused the blast: ammonium nitrate. A compound that is widely used to produce fertilizer. Professor of Environmental sustaibability Jan Willem Erisman tells about the effects of nitrogen on the environment.

A plan for the future from green farmers.

Marcel Cobussen is professor of Auditory Culture at ACPA. Recently he has published a report (in Dutch) commissioned by the city government of Leiden (NL) on the sonic redesigning of a public space (the Garenmarkt) in Leiden. He is also one of the founders of The Journal of Sonic Studies, an Open Access…

Project leader Esther Kentin has published an article on the European chemical regulation REACH and the restriction of microplastics in a physics journal.

LAPP was invited by the Plastic Soup Surfer to attend the premiere screening of SOURCE 2 SEA, a documentary following the Plastic Soup Surfer on his journey along the Rhine.

The Netherlands-Flemish Institute is offering an internship in Cairo from March 2018 onwards. If you are interested please apply before February 15, 2018. (See the details in Dutch only)

The Netherlands-Flemish Institute is offering an internship in Cairo from January 2019 onwards. If you are interested please apply before 20 December, 2018. (See the details in Dutch only)

The Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo is offering an internship from September 2019 onwards. If you are interested please apply before 15 July, 2019. (See the details in Dutch only)

Every Sunday you can help fish plastic and other floating garbage out of the Leiden canals. You can use your own canoe or loan one from Plastic Spotter and join the garbage-fishing fleet. Annetje Ottow, President of Leiden University, was one of the crew on Sunday 4 July.

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…

Three international research projects involving Leiden University researchers will receive funding from the Una Europa university alliance.

Fleur Visser was awarded a Veni grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). She is one of seventeen promising young Leiden scientists, who get the opportunity to develop their own ideas over a period of three years. Veni-funding is part of NWO's Talent Scheme, concerning…

As climate change and ecological degradation’s effects on our mental health becomes more severe, we must all do our best to protect not just the environment, but also our mental well-being. Therefore, on this Sustainability Day, we have collaborated with Healthy University Leiden to focus on the relationship…

It’s Not Easy Being Green – but we’re here to help! Listen via the link in our bio! Do you want to live more sustainably but have no idea where to start? Are you interested in making the world greener and do you want to get to the bottom of hot topics? Or are you sceptical about climate change and…

The Plastic Soup Foundation and Parley for the Oceans hosted the very first Plastic Heath Summit in Amsterdam on 3 October, covering the most relevant and pressing health concerns surrounding plastics and human health. Beyond discussing the latest findings in the field we asked the urgent question:…

The coming two years the Van Vollenhoven Institute (VVI, Leiden University) and ICEL (the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law) will collaborate to improve environmental regulation in Indonesia.

Environmental organisation Greenpeace wants to see a drastic reduction in nitrogen deposition on the Netherlands’ most vulnerable nature conservation areas. This would extend beyond the nitrogen targets that the Dutch government is currently striving to meet. Rogier Kegge, Assistant Professor of Constitutional…

Face masks and plastic gloves are supposed to protect us from corona, but they are becoming an increasing problem for the environment. In a special series of the New York Times, Leiden biologist Liselotte Rambonnet and alumnus Auke-Florian Hiemstra talk about their research and the special website they…

Time and again synthesised substances have been shown to pollute the environment more than lab tests predicted. In her inaugural lecture on 16 November, professor of Ecotoxicology Martina Vijver gives a warning for the risks of new, man-made chemical substances and nanomaterials. Various media payed…

Meet our team

Urbanisation is steadily increasing with estimates expecting that 68% of the global population will live in cities by 2050. To accommodate the rural to urban transition, large quantities of land are transformed from natural to urban lands.

We would all like to live in a world in which individuals feel safe, conflicts are resolved peacefully and the interests of future generations are taken into consideration. At Leiden University legal scholars investigate to what extent public international law meets the needs of a globalised society.…

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?

At the recent UN summit in Geneva, representatives from more than 180 countries failed to reach a global plastics agreement. Esther Kentin, a lecturer at Leiden Law School, spoke to media outlets on the issue: ‘Human health is at stake.’

Herman Berkhoudt (former employee of the IBL, then EEW) organized the course, while Merijn de Bakker and Hans Slabbekoorn spoke about the latest insights in their disciplines.

Emily den Boer of LAPP visited the Canal Cups Expo, displaying the plastic cups cleaned up by students after Leidens Ontzet.

Each year the LUF Committee for Academic Expenditure awards grants to research and education projects. These grants for academic talent are often an important step towards grants from NWO and other institutions.

Lecture, Studium Generale