The Biology programme offers 4 research-oriented specialisations corresponding with the research themes within the three institutes involved. You can choose a more practical-oriented specialisation if you would like to combine Biology with education, management business, or science communication.

The programme is structured along learning lines on environmental sustainability, governance and skills.

How do you engage society to stop biodiversity loss? How do you create political and social involvement around climate change? And how do you balance the economic needs of the industry with the negative effects of pollution? If you find these kinds of questions interesting, then this Pre-University…

The Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) is an internationally oriented institute for research and education in biology. We are part of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University.

On Thursday 9 September, the mayor of Leiden officially launched a unique ten-year research project in the polder near Oud Ade. During a festive opening in the countryside, he and all the parties involved ceremoniously planted the first trees. Because one thing is certain: the traditional grass landscape…

In light of climate change, it is crucial to determine whether plant species can adapt to future climates to avoid extinction. Plants adapt to various conditions by altering their functional traits, such as leaf size or photosynthetic rate. Some traits appear linked and vary together between species,…

Promotores: Prof.dr.G.R. de Snoo and Dr. R. Heijungs

Promotoren: G.F.A. Kersten, W. Jiskoot, Co-promotor: J-P. Amorij

The study of orchid flowers, fruits, and inflorescences is crucial due to the remarkable diversity of orchid species and their unique adaptations to pollinators and seed dispersers. However, our understanding of the evolution and development of these organs within the orchid family remains limited.

Promotores: Prof. dr. G.R. (Geert) de Snoo, Dr. E. (Ester) van der Voet

Organisms often need to adapt more efficiently and devise new strategies for surviving difficult ecological circumstances.

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: R. Heijungs

Modern receptions of Graeco-Roman Antiquity are important ideological markers of the ways we envisage our own twenty-first-century societies. An urgent topic of study is: what kinds of narratives – sometimes controversial – about Antiquity do people create for themselves at this moment in time, and…

Predictive maintenance (PdM) is a maintenance policy that uses the past, current, and prognosticated health condition of an asset to predict when timely maintenance should occur.

Promotor: M.L. van Hecke, Co-Promotor: B.P. Tighe

Streptomyces are bacteria abundant in soil that participate in diverse and complex interactions. These bacteria are the main producers of the antibiotics we currently use in the clinic.

Research on the process and construction of news stories about human rights issues in Latin American newspapers.

Understanding how galaxies form, interact, and evolve comes largely from comparing theory predictions with observational data. Numerical simulations of galaxies provide the most accurate approach to testing the theory, as they follow the non-linear evolution of gas and dark matter in great detail and…

Ömer Gürlesin defended his thesis on 28 November 2018

In this opinion article published in World Development, the authors present five research and policy priorities. While it is clear that ‘pluriversal’ designs need to guide the way forward (Kothari et al 2019), defining a set of key pillars can provide direction and purpose across this pluriversality.…

On 18 December 2019, Mikhail Antonov defended his thesis 'Formalism, Realism and Conservatism in Russian Law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. W.B. Simons.

Streptomyces are prolific producers of enzymes and secondary metabolites, including more than 50% of all clinical antibiotics. This makes them highly attractive for medical, biotechnological, and industrial purposes.

On February 20th, Gulnaz Sibgatullina succesfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Gulnaz on this great result.

In this paper, Sibgatullina and Abbas aim to illuminate the complex connections between the European right-wing movements and Islam and discusses how the adoption of Muslim identity may function as a politically strategic opportunity for European conservative forces.

On the 6th of July, Anthony Jakob successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Anthony on this achievement!

El Chorro de Maita, Cuba

Promotores: Prof.dr. P.M. Brakefield, Prof.dr. B.J. Zwaan (Wageningen Universiteit)

Leiden Journal of Pottery Studies 21, 2005

The PID-directed shift in PIN polarity has been broadly accepted as one of the essential mechanisms for the regulation of auxin transport polarity.

The Near East, situated at the nexus of Europe, Africa, and Asia, was central to the development of ancient societies in all three continents.

The book ‘Pesticides and the Environment’ gives a transparent overview of facts and figures concerning pesticide use in the Netherlands and the impact of pesticides on the environment.

Seasonal influenza vaccines provide protection against matching influenza A virus (IAV) strains mainly through the induction of neutralizing serum IgG antibodies. However, these antibodies fail to confer a protective effect against mismatched IAV. This lack of efficacy against heterologous influenza…

This collection of essays details the political life of one of the most prominent and gifted American statesmen of the twentieth century. From his early training in international law to his five terms in the US Senate, J. William Fulbright (1905--1995) had a profound influence on US foreign policy,…

In times of hardships or crisis, local people know how to deal with it using their resourcefulness. Although efforts are sometimes made by the government to help them, they are fully aware that community support is at least equally important.

For each living organism health is ensured by correct functioning of its cells. Cells therefore have elaborate methods for regulation of their proteins.

Kinase inhibitors are key therapeutic agents, particularly in oncology, yet their clinical efficacy is often hampered by off-target effects and limited understanding of their cellular target profiles.

Promotor: Carel J. ten Cate, Co-Promotor: Hans W. Slabbekoorn

Curiosity is the driving force behind the research of ecologist Michiel Veldhuis. The associate professor investigates ecosystems in relation to climate change in the savannahs of Africa. More and more, he is also looking at social factors such as the influence of population growth. The KNAW rewards…

NestWatch uses smart birdhouses to research how the city affects the development of young birds.

The thesis is about the study of shell evolution of the Hydrocenidae of the genus Georissa. This thesis started with a general overview on the evolutionary process of animals due to ecological changes.

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

In the Governance of Sustainability programme students will learn to become a future ‘change agents’ who can develop and inform governance solutions to complex environmental sustainability challenges.

Soil biodiversity is of great importance for the maintenance of multifunctionality in terrestrial ecosystems.

Leiden University is working on a green, circular campus, with a significant reduction in energy consumption by 2050 as its goal, as elaborated in the Route Map Energy Transition Buildings, published in 2022.

This thesis examines the impacts and challenges of water use of electric power system. This thesis found that there are large differences in water use of electricity technologies, with hydropower and thermal power being two large water users.

Green infrastrucuture (GI) like urban farm and green roofs could provide many beneficial functions in cities. These include for example food production, flood prevention or increasing biodiversity. MultiGreen project aims at developing an integrated modelling tool to support…

The use of N fertilizers has increased worldwide in the past century. While this increased input of N has increased food productivity, it has also contributed to decreases in biodiversity, soil quality and environmental health, including increases in greenhouse gas emissions.

We are a community of researchers from diverse backgrounds who explore becoming and being human, in relation to the world around us and other living beings.