This dissertation explores how Large Language Models (LLMs) can effectively and responsibly contribute to complex decision-making processes. By combining AI and human intelligence, Hybrid Intelligence (HI) emerges, allowing the strengths of both humans and machines to be utilized.

The long-held desire - to link structure directly to function and to explain molecular mechanisms based on basic chemical or physical principles - is finally coming closer, satisfying not only our scientific curiosity but also offering new solutions to the many challenges in the field of health, energy…

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria pose a major health threat. Addressing this challenge requires among others the development of new antibacterial compounds. The research described in this thesis focuses on discovering novel antibiotics from soil bacteria, specifically Streptomyces and Paenibacillus.Despite…

This ecological community has long been known to affect host biology, and their diverse roles have been further clarified in recent years following numerous studies of animal:microbiota interactions in diverse systems.

Streptomyces are multicellular, Gram-positive bacteria in the phylum of actinobacteria which produce a high amount of bioactive natural products of which the expression is tightly coordinated with the life cycle.

Promotor: J.A. van Veen, Co-promotor: E.E. Kuramae

Promotores: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink & Prof.dr. P.C.W. Hogendoorn Co-promotor: Dr. M.J.M. Schaaf

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

The key characteristic of active matter is the motion of an emergent collection (such as a flock of birds), which is driven by the consumption of energy by its active components (i.e. individual birds).

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.P. Spaink, Co-promotor: Dr. M. van der Zee

Bacterial chemosensory arrays are protein assemblies that are the key structural and functional component for motile bacteria to sense their internal or environmental chemical signals.

Streptomyces are filamentous bacteria that produce more than two-thirds of known antibiotics.

This thesis aims to investigate the effect of tripartite interaction between microbial inoculants, the plant, and herbivore insects on the rhizosphere microbiome and volatilome. We investigated the rhizosphere microbiome and volatilome of tomato plants exposed to insect herbivory and/or inoculated with…

Every organisms in the tree of life faces the same challenge: the length of its DNA exceeds the volume of the cell it needs to fit in. Several strategies have evolved to solve this problem, one of them being the expression of proteins that bind and organize the DNA.

Promotor: H.P. Spaink, Co-Promotor: A.H. Meijer

Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Kuiper

The type-IV secretion system (T4SS) is a machinery able to transfer DNA and proteins between bacteria and in certain cases also to eukaryotic cells.

The filamentous bacteria Streptomyces are widespread inhabitants of terrestrial soils.

In populations with a seed-bank, individuals can temporarily become dormant and refrain from reproduction until they can become active again. The repository of all dormant individuals in the population is called the seed-bank. Seed-banks are observed in many taxa, including plants, bacteria and other…

Promotor: G.P. van Wezel, Co-promotor: Y.H. Choi

The soil ecosystem consists of the largest reservoir of biodiversity on Earth.

Soil is a home for an unbelievable diversity and abundance of microbial life that is essential for supporting life on our planet.

Congres/symposium

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

Glycoconjugate vaccines are composed of microbial poly- or oligosaccharides covalently linked to a carrier protein.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel, Co-Promotores: S.C.Hille, O.W. van Gaans

Tuberculosis is a major global health problem caused by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex, claiming more than a million lives annually.

This thesis is about augmented reality (AR). AR is commonly considered a technology that integrates virtual images into a user’s view of the real world.

Promotor: C.J. ten Cate

Human language is constantly evolving with its linguistic structure being shaped by language users at both individual and population levels. Focusing on the interplay between processes of language acquisition and communicative need in shaping human languages, this thesis introduces a novel computational…

Elk onderdeel van de kringloop op een melkveebedrijf heeft een specifieke bacterie- en schimmelsamenstelling. Dat ontdekten de Leidse postdoc onderzoeker Sofia Gomes en haar begeleiders Nadia Soudzilovskaia en Peter van Bodegom in samenwerking met het Louis Bolk instituut en Naturalis Biodiversity Centre.…

Promotor: M. Danhof, Co-promotor: E.C.M. de Lange

Misha Plagis, universitair docent aan het Grotius Centre of Public International Law, schreef samen met Dr. Nicole De Silva (Concordia Universiteit) een paper over NGO's, internationale rechtbanken en het verzet van staten tegen de verantwoordingsplicht inzake mensenrechten bij het Afrikaanse Hof voor…

Promotie

Op 2 juni heeft Mariana Gkliati deelgenomen aan het debat ‘Europe on Trial' in De Balie.

The stratum corneum is the outermost skin layer and consists of dead cells embedded in a lipid matrix.

Pharmaceutical companies, governments and the general public have become increasingly aware that animal models used in drug testing lack vital aspects to serve as an accurate representation of human biology. As models of the human body should become more physiologically relevant, animal models no longer…

Ariane Briegel wil bacteriën inzetten om vroegtijdig kanker te detecteren. Samen met postdoc Alise Muok ontwikkelt ze een methode om de urine van patiënten snel en goedkoop te kunnen testen op de aanwezigheid van verdachte moleculen. Ze ontvangen hiervoor een beurs van ongeveer 150.000 euro van KWF…

Wanneer een bacterie resistenter wordt voor het ene antibioticum, wordt het soms gevoeliger voor een ander. Om deze wisselwerking beter te begrijpen, brachten onderzoekers van het Instituut Biologie Leiden (IBL) en het Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) onder leiding van Daniel Rozen en…

De wetenschappers van Babylab Leiden zorgen ervoor dat belangrijke kennis verzameld wordt over de wijze waarop baby's de wereld om hen heen leren begrijpen. Ontmoet ons Babylab Team en leer onze onderzoekers kennen!

In Nature beschrijven onderzoekers van de universiteiten van Leiden en Utrecht hoe 47 tanden uit Zuid-China aantonen dat de anatomisch modern mens minimaal 80.000 jaar geleden in die regio aanwezig was. 40.000 jaar eerder dan in Europa.

Een nieuw onderzoek van de Leidse archeologe Anastasia Nikulina en een internationaal team uit Frankrijk, Denemarken, het Verenigd Koninkrijk en Nederland, weerlegt het idee dat jager-verzamelaars vóór de opkomst van de landbouw een verwaarloosbare impact hadden op hun leefomgeving.

Promotores: Prof.dr. E.A.L. Biessen, Prof.dr. T.J.C. van Berkel

While ecosystems have concrete benefits for human society, these benefits are typically overlooked in decision-making.