232 search results for “biology” in the Student website
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New education director for LST: 'I want to guard the quality of this unique programme'
Marco van Eijk is the new Educational Director of the Bachelor's Life Science and Technology (LST). Since 1 September he has been responsible for ensuring the quality of the programme. ‘LST is a unique programme and everyone has to keep working hard for that. That is my main task.’
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International students start a master’s thanks to a LExS
This academic year 49 promising international students will start their master’s degree here thanks to a Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS). The students, all from outside the EU, were welcomed in a special ceremony on 5 September. Who are they?
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Bacteria without cell wall gobble up DNA from environment
A bacterium hiding from the immune system and picking up bits of DNA from its environment. The result: gaining new traits, such as better protection against antibiotics. Fortunately, we have not found such a damning scenario yet. However, PhD student Renée Kapteijn did find the first clues, which…
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Mission successful: deposits on small plastic bottles
After years of lobbying by environmental activists, a deposit scheme for small plastic bottles is to be introduced on 1 July 2021. One of the leaders in the fight is alumnus Merijn Tinga. The university will have collection points for plastic bottles and is also supporting the Plastic Spotter citizen…
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Inspired teaching without the administrative hassle
In his inaugural lecture Dennis Claessen will explain how he wants to ensure that lecturers have less admin to do.
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Wood formation further explored by NWO-XL grant
Leiden researchers, Professor Remko Offringa and co-applicants Salma Balazadeh and Frederic Lens received an NWO-XL grant (2.5 million euros). Together with researchers in Wageningen and Groningen, they will study the genetic and environmental drivers of woodiness. From plant to molecule, the groups…
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Student discovers new shrimp species by chance
When biology student Mike Groenhof was making a phylogenetic tree of fifty shrimp species for his internship, one specimen turned out to be an undescribed species. The animal was collected by Naturalis scientist 18 years ago, and had been under the radar ever since.
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iGEM 2024 wants you!
Do you want to design your own scientific project? And be involved in its fundraising and execution? iGEM Leiden offers you a place to challenge yourself in every way imaginable.
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CSC-Leiden University Scholarship
PhD
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Gilles van Wezel steps down as SD of the IBL: Hubertus Irth appointed as temporary replacement
Gilles van Wezel will step down as Scientific Director (WD) of the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) as of June 17th. He has held this position since September 2018. Van Wezel will be temporarily succeeded by Hubertus Irth, the current WD of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR). Irth…
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‘When I leave the lecture and students are still discussing, I know I did a good job’
‘It was the biggest bunch of flowers I’d ever seen,’ says Emily Strange about the moment she won the Leiden Teaching Prize 2022. The judge praised the conservation biologist for her passion, engaging personality, and the way she motivates her students. On the Dutch Day of the Teacher, we get to know…
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Leiden students brew coasters from beer waste
Turning beer waste into a useful, sustainable product. That was the mission of students from Leiden at the international BISC-E event. The biology students challenged themselves and won third place in the Dutch finals of this competition. For this, they used the simple formula: Grain + fungus = coas…
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Life after the Grand Jamboree: Wrapping-up iGEM
‘A challenging rollercoaster, but also a very bonding and insightful experience,’ that’s how the team of iGEM Leiden 2022 wraps up their participation in the iGEM contest. The contest for synthetic biology climaxed during the Grand Jamboree in Paris. The team ended up in the top 10 of over 360 teams…
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Call for art and poetry contributions: LEAP (Leiden Graduate Periodical of Culture and Society)
Education
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Archaeologist Marie Soressi joins the discussion about the early use of bow-and-arrow technology in Europe
Nature News reported on the use of bow-and-arrow for hunting based on the research made on small points found in a 54,000-year-old cave site in southern France.
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Nominate your favourite teacher for the 2023 Leiden Teaching Prize
Education
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Rob Schilperoort Memorial unveiled at Leiden Bio Science Park
The Rob Schilperoort Memorial will be unveiled at the Leiden Bio Science Park on Saturday 16 September. This gigantic gate stands at the entrance to the park, which is also named after Schilperoort, its founder.
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Nominate your favourite teacher for the 2023 Leiden Teaching Prize: deadline 10 April
Education
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How cells talk by pulling on a fibre network
Mechanics play a larger role in blood vessel formation, and other developmental biology, than previously thought. Cells appear to respond to mechanical signals, such as pressure. Through the extracellular matrix, a network of fibrous proteins, cells can supposedly exchange those mechanical signals over…
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Tropical bananaquits lose song quality in the city
I think we should go this way. This way! THIS! WAY!! Making yourself heard in a city can be difficult. That is not only the case for humans, but birds seem to be hindered by urban noise as well. Researcher Hans Slabbekoorn of Leiden University already showed that great tits in Leiden communicate differently…
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Back to Faculty with Nikie Veld
Nikie Veld is an education coordinator at Biology. Her job now mainly revolves around getting students back to the Faculty. ‘In the corona era, we were constantly rearranging the timetables.’
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Big steps forward in reducing the carbon footprint
E-mails are not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about sustainability. Yet, your e-mails can add kilos of extra CO2 to the atmosphere each year. Students from the LDE Bachelor Honours Programme Sustainability tackled these and other sustainability challenges on behalf of partner organisations.…
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Spitting cobra leads to Science publication
Spitting cobra venom composition has been influenced by defensive behaviour according to an international research team. This may have originated from the arrival of human ancestors. Students at the Institute of Biology Leiden made an important contribution to the study. Publication in Science on 22…
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iGEM team wins multiple awards at Grand Jamboree
Leiden's iGEM team has won high honours at the Grand Jamboree in Paris. The biology students came second in the Overgraduate category with their project PHAse Out. They also took home awards for Best Biomanufacturing Project, Best Wiki and Best Entrepreneurship as well as a Gold Medal. To top it all…
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Grant opens door to decipher the secret sensory world of plants
Plants not only sense when they are touched, but they can also adapt to it. For example, by strengthening or defending themselves. But how do plants do this? The Green TE (Green Tissue Engineering) consortium has been granted a Gravitation grant of almost 23 million euros to investigate exactly this…
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What Darwin couldn’t see: Expedition to uncover invisible life in Galápagos
An international research team is to search for invisible life in the Galápagos Islands. The diversity of bacteria and other microscopic organisms may not be evident to the naked eye, but it is essential to nature. To the islands' giant daisies, for instance: unique endemic plants that are currently…
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A lifeline for Leiden research – TB solution a step closer thanks to this Indonesian university
Herman Spaink knows of many substances that may help combat tuberculosis. Lab space to study them safely is very limited in Leiden. A brand-new lab at Universitas Gadjah Mada in Indonesia will soon provide a solution. About time, says Spaink, ‘The disease is on the rise and is becoming less sensitive…
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Fighting gliobastoma brain tumours with two grants
Few researchers see potential in research on glioblastoma, an incurable brain tumour. Alexander Kros brought together colleagues who are up to the challenge. European research funder ERC recently made 10.6 million euros available, a year earlier NWO provided 3 million euros. ‘In six years, we certainly…
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DNA from a cup of pond water can reveal a lot: Kat Stewart will find out with a Vidi grant from NWO
She has had the idea for seven years, but now environmental scientist and conservation biologist Kat Stewart finally gets to work on it. She has been awarded a Vidi grant by NWO to find out how DNA from water can be used to shed light on invasive species and their impact on native populations.
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Artificial intelligence helps in the search for new antibiotics
With the search for new antibiotics becoming increasingly urgent, artificial intelligence offers valuable help. Smart software developed by Leiden PhD candidate Alexander Kloosterman searched genomes of bacteria and found clusters of DNA that code for proteins that have an antibiotic effect. ‘This new…
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LIFF director Ratna Lachmansingh: ‘Writing my thesis was so much fun!’
As a student, Ratna Lachmansingh wrote her thesis on horror films. Now she is the director of Leiden International Film Festival.
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Evolutionary change in protective plant odours
Plants can’t run away from enemies. Still, it would like to keep life-threatening herbivores at a distance. This can be done with odours. Klaas Vrieling of the Institute of Biology Leiden found out with his team how plants change odour production to keep the munchers at a distance.
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Alumni in Indonesia: ‘My experience in Leiden inspired me to try to change the situation here’
Alumni and researchers met at two well-attended alumni dinners in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. The alumni reminisced about their time in Leiden and got to see their lecturers once again.
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What does biodiversity mean to us? Honours students produce podcasts about extinction
For the Bachelor Honours Class 'Mass Extinction', students produced podcasts about the past, the present and the future of mass extinctions. What exactly is lost when a species goes extinct? What are the practical consequences? But also: does humanity have the moral duty to protect other species?
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Marcel Schaaf: 'Lecturers need to come off their islands'
Biologist Marcel Schaaf is one of four science faculty members who achieved the Senior Teaching Qualification in Leiden last year. How was that and what drives him? ‘Students receive way too often feedback that they cannot put into practice.’
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'If Asia doesn't work out, I'll go to Sweden'
It was a busy turn-out at the first Study Abroad Festival held recently at the Gorlaeus Laboratory on 30 October 2015. Students gathered here to orient themselves - albeit often in an early phase - on studies or work placements abroad.
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When does resistance to toxins evolve in animals? Students publish major review
Does a snake die when it bites its lip? Why will a mongoose survive a scorpion’s sting, but we humans perish? These questions occupied the minds of toxin-enthusiasts and Master’s students Biology Jory van Thiel and Roel Wouters. They collected information from many sources and published their findings…
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Wat is er te doen op de Leidse Museumnacht?
Op zaterdag 3 juni vindt de Museumnacht Leiden plaats. Ook dit jaar zijn Leidse wetenschappers en studenten onderdeel van de programmering.
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Research projects launched into biodiversity in food and horticulture production
Two Leiden research projects that focus on increasing the biodiversity of Dutch production systems for food and ornamental horticulture have started thanks to funding from the Dutch Research Council's KIC research programme.
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In Memoriam Kennedy Kaminju Kariuki 05/11/1988- 28/12/2023
On the 30th of December, we received the sad message that our Kenyan colleague, Kennedy Kaminju Kariuki died on December 28, 2023 in the NW hospital in Nairobi at the age of 35 years from organ and heart failure. Kennedy was a PhD candidate at the CML, Leiden University.
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Rose Vossen wins Young Star Award 2021
Rose Vossen has been named winner of the Young Star Award 2021. The Life Science and Technology student received the award on Monday from Ewine van Dishoeck, the founder of the award. Vossen wins a cheque for 2,500 euros for her exceptional results as a bachelor's student. During her final bachelor…
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New Master’s programme in Transfusion Medicine and Cellular and Tissue Therapies
LUMC and Leiden University will start the new two-year online master's program in Transfusion Medicine and Cellular and Tissue Therapies from October 2023.
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Special nanoparticles for cancer therapy! Will you help?
Developing a better treatment for patients with head and neck cancer, that is what Binanox, The 2022 iGEM Leiden team, want to achieve. They hope to raise at least 10,000 euros for this cause. Support their crowdfunding campaign today.
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Support the Rapidemic team and help them develop a mobile testing kit
A team of students from Leiden won the iGEM international biology contest in 2020 with their Rapidemic mobile testing kit. The kit makes it easy to detect viruses. The team has now been nominated for the Most Innovative Student in the Netherlands prize. Cast your vote and help them develop their inv…
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Sarah de Rijcke participates on a $1.2M grant awarded to DORA to accelerate research assessment reform
The project will further the development of policies, practices, and capabilities in responsible academic career assessment.
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Improve your study skills with the skills platform
How do you write a report, how do you use an agenda during a meeting and how do you pitch your research proposal to an expert panel? As a student you have to write, collaborate and present. But how do you do that? The e-learning skills platform is there to help with the skills you need during your s…
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‘We couldn't really celebrate our vaccine being approved, but we were over the moon’
On 11 March, pharmaceutical company Janssen received approval to launch its corona vaccine on the European market. This made Janssen the fourth company to be given the green light by the European Medicines Agency. As Lead of the Janssen Campus in the Netherlands, Biology alumnus Bart van Zijll Langhout…
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€10.6 million for innovative toolboxes to tackle brain cancer
Researchers at the Universities of Amsterdam (Uva) and Leiden together with the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oncode Institute have received a €10,6 million ERC Synergy Grant to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to target glioblastoma. This is a deadly primary brain tumour for which no curing…
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New protein inhibitors against cancer? Unilever Research Prize for Aukje Beers
Aukje Beers combined theory and practice, as well as chemistry, biology, and computer models. In this way, she discovered two protein inhibitors during her master’s project that could contribute to the development of a new cancer drug. For her research, Beers received the Unilever Research Prize on…
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KHMW graduation prize for research on superconducting qubits
Matthias Flór receives the KHMW Graduation Prize in Theoretical Physics for his master's thesis. His research on exotic superconductors at Leiden University and TU Delft struck a chord with the jury. The jury unanimously chose to award Flór noting that ‘he demonstrated impressive technical abilities…