Coordinator: Vasiliki Kosta, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law

Other participating institutions: Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, Freie Universität Berlin, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, KU Leuven

Coordinator: Anna Mosna, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law

Other participating institutions: KU Leuven, Freie Universität Berlin, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, University of Edinburgh, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna

Coordinator: Martijn Sijbom, Assistant Professor, LUMC. 

Other participating institutions: KU Leuven, University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Participant: Francien Dechesne, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law 

Other participating institutions: Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, University of Edinburgh, University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, KU Leuven

Participant: Joeri Reinders, Assistant Professor, Leiden University College 

Other participating institutions: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, KU Leuven, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna

Participant: Elske Sitsen, Leiden University Medical Centre 

Other participating institutions: Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie, University of Edinburgh, KU Leuven

Participants: Yiya Chen, Professor, and Katrina Li, Postdoc, both from the Faculty of Humanities

Other participating institutions: University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, University of Edinburgh, Universität Zürich

Coordinator: Joachim Van Guyse, Assistant Professor at the Leiden Academic Center for Drug Research.  

Other participating institutions: Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet, KU Leuven, Universität Zürich

*Project funded by Leiden University

This project studies citizens’ willingness to pay for climate mitigation and adaptation projects domestically and abroad. Specifically, our project aims to study the difference between what citizens state they are hypothetically willing to pay and their revealed willingness to pay for climate change policies domestically and abroad. Comparing hypothetical choices with actual donations will yield useful insights into an intention-behavior gap in support of climate change policies.

Coordinator: Hendrik Vrijburg, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law

Participating institutions: University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie

The goal of this project is to create an interdisciplinary teaching pathway that helps students to understand, assess, and interpret systemic risk in our contemporary world. We aim to craft an interdisciplinary undergraduate syllabus to be shared among our partner institutions, create a series of training guidelines for instructors, and launch a common online environment to support the learning of risk production and resilience. 

Coordinator: Dario Fazzi, Professor by special appointment Transatlantic Environmental History, Faculty of Humanities 

Participating institutions: University of Edinburgh, KU Leuven

This one-year workshop series is focused on multimodal and artistic research methods (MAR), building on the 2023 Kiem-funded ReCNTR Lab. During three workshops, participants will develop, experiment, and distribute their multimodal projects. The series empowers researchers at disciplinary margins through community-building and training in applying MAR to social sciences and humanities. Guided by guest tutors, participants refine their projects, culminating in final presentations. The program fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, advancing innovative knowledge production and dissemination in multimodal research methodologies.

Coordinator: Francesco Ragazzi, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences 

Participating institutions: Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna, KU Leuven

Human emotional expression research faces challenges due to reliance on staged datasets and a narrow focus on WEIRD populations, limiting ecological validity and global applicability. These biases affect scientific understanding and AI systems reliant on emotion recognition. Existing databases often exclude diverse cultural norms and emotional states, leading to flawed conclusions and perpetuating biases in AI applications. This project aims to create a comprehensive, culturally diverse database of genuine emotional expressions, spanning Africa, Europe, and Asia, from infancy to late adulthood. It will enhance AI fairness, mitigate biases, and improve emotional intelligence tools, aligning with Una Europa’s Data Science goals.

Coordinator: Mariska Kret, Professor, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences 

Participating institutions: KU Leuven, Universität Zürich

Researchers at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) are advancing a groundbreaking approach to discover antiviral agents targeting complex SARS-CoV-2 RNA structures. Utilizing a high-throughput competitive binding assay developed by the Medical Biochemistry Department, the team will identify ligands for the SARS-CoV-2 pseudoknot in collaboration with the advanced compound screening facility at LUMC. Identified hits will be validated through functional assays and further analyzed using NMR techniques and computational studies. This interdisciplinary research will deepen our understanding of RNA-ligand interactions and accelerate the development of innovative antiviral therapies to combat viral infections.

Coordinator: Marta Artola, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science 

Participating institutions: Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Alma mater studiorum - Università di Bologna

This project investigates the impact of affirmative actions on scientific collaboration networks and knowledge flow, utilizing network science and machine learning techniques. Countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil have implemented policies such as scholarships, fellowships, and exchange programs to enhance research output and foster global collaboration. This study models and evaluates the long-term effects of these initiatives on co-authorship networks, collaboration dynamics, and scientific development at both national and individual levels. The findings aim to provide critical insights into the effectiveness of affirmative action policies, helping policymakers refine strategies to promote equitable and impactful scientific progress worldwide.

Coordinator: Akrati Saxena, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science

Participating institutions: University College Dublin/An Coláiste Ollscoile Baile Átha Cliath, University of Edinburgh, Universität Zürich

This project investigates the impact of affirmative actions on scientific collaboration networks and knowledge flow, utilizing network science and machine learning techniques. Countries like China, India, Indonesia, and Brazil have implemented policies such as scholarships, fellowships, and exchange programs to enhance research output and foster global collaboration. This study models and evaluates the long-term effects of these initiatives on co-authorship networks, collaboration dynamics, and scientific development at both national and individual levels. The findings aim to provide critical insights into the effectiveness of affirmative action policies, helping policymakers refine strategies to promote equitable and impactful scientific progress worldwide.

Coordinator: Rosanne Govaarts, Researcher, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Participating institutions: KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid

Music is an incredibly powerful stimulus, that both figuratively and literally moves people. With increasing application in health settings, including movement rehabilitation, more knowledge of underlying mechanisms is required. Collaborating across disciplines including psychology, neuroimaging, music, and medical specialisms, we will combine findings from music-based motor learning across the life span and acquire data from people recovering from a stroke with music. We specifically focus on motivational mechanisms, which are generally important for learning but crucial in rehabilitation settings, taking a holistic approach to health. By personalizing interventions, well-being may be increased, potentially supporting both process and outcome of rehabilitation. 

Coordinator: Rebecca Schaefer, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences

Participating institutions: Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet, University of Edinburgh

Language description is vital: it informs school materials and books, enhances understanding of cultural heritage and history, and informs our insight into language structures. Despite its importance, only around half of the world's approximately 7,000 spoken languages have been properly described and a third are endangered. Local experts often lack the necessary training to tackle the vast task of language description. The ELSEA project aims to overcome this gap by training early-career linguists in East Africa.  

Coordinator: Jenneke van der Wal, Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), Faculty of Humanities

Other participating institutions: African university chairholder: Saudah Namyalo, Makerere Universities. Helsingin yliopisto/Helsingfors universitet, University of Edinburgh.

The world population is expected to peak at approximately 10.5 billion within the next 50 years. Most of this growth will occur in Africa. PEAKSOLVE will consider how to respond to this global challenge and related challenges, such as access to safe drinking water. 

Participant: Martina Vijver, Institute of Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science.

Other participating institutions: University of Edinburgh (project coordinator: Margaret Graham), Uniwersytet Jagielloński w Krakowie.

This project will investigate the impact of solid waste burning on air pollution and chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs). Focusing on two dump sites in Kenya, RESPIRA_ABEP aims to reduce air quality inequity and improve CRD care. It will do this by involving communities in devising waste management strategies for more sustainable urban planning.  The project will also partner with local stakeholders.

Participant: Marleen Dekker, African Studies Centre Leiden

Other participating institutions: African university chairholder: Margaret Ngima Machiara Kedogo, University of Nairobi. KU Leuven, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Université de Kinshasa.