News
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Eleven Open Competition Domain Science ENW XS grants for Leiden researchersGrant 09 December 2025Eleven researchers from Leiden University have been awarded an Open Competition Domain Science ENW XS grant by the Dutch Research Council for their re...
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Triturus newts reveal a genetic balancing actEvolutionary biology 09 December 2025An evolutionary 'trap' that has haunted crested and marbled newts for 25 million years: Leiden researchers have uncovered a mysterious DNA error that ...
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Can birds imitate Star Wars robot? Yes – and some are surprisingly good at itParrot research 10 November 2025Scientists have discovered that starlings and parrots can imitate the complex sounds of Star Wars droid R2-D2 remarkably well. Their study reveals how...
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Researchers unravel mystery behind rare pregnancy disorder31 October 2025Leiden researchers have found clues to why a rare pregnancy disorder is mild in some babies but life-threatening in others. Their discovery opens the ...
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What does the Wadden Sea sound like? New research sheds light on porpoises and underwater noiseGrant 24 September 2025‘Wadden Sea Sounds’ is the name of a new project launched by the Waddenvereniging in collaboration with researchers from Leiden University and the Uni...
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Lights off, sound on: Leiden University opens artificial river to study fish migration17 June 2025On 16 June, Leiden University opens the MIGRADROME: a unique, seven-metre-long artificial river. Researchers will use it to study how light and sound ...
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Bold and anxious fish help in the hunt for medication for ADHD and depressionBiology 04 April 2025Personality is genetic in zebrafish: risk-taking parents have risk-taking children. These are the findings of research by Christian Tudorache and his ...
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Students discover chimpanzees make rhythmic sounds (despite limited sense of rhythm)17 January 2025How can chimpanzees, so closely related to humans, have almost no sense of rhythm? ‘The best students ever’ and behavioural biologist Michelle Spierin...
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A tail with a twist: how the tokay gecko grows a completely new body part13 December 2024When the tokay gecko loses its tail, a new one grows from resident stem cells at the stump. Each tissue type - muscle, bone, blood vessels and skin - ...
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‘A good teacher always has multiple ways to explain the same concept’29 November 2024Assistant professor Joost Willemse firmly believes that as a teacher, you’re never done learning. ‘Students ask questions about things you’ve never th...
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Leiden biologists find nanoplastics in developing heart28 May 2024Nanoplastics can accumulate in developing hearts, according to a study by biologist Meiru Wang from Leiden University. Her research on chicken embryos...
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Simulation of infant gut makes predictions about optimal milk25 April 2024David Versluis successfully simulated an infant gut virtually. This is crucial for research on improvements in formula milk. Currently, such research ...
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Grant opens door to decipher the secret sensory world of plants04 April 2024Plants 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 d...
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Embryos of the bitterling perform a somersault. This teaches us something new about natural selection20 February 2024Even embryos can become embroiled in an evolutionary arms race with another species. Leiden biologists demonstrate this with larvae of the rosy bitter...
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PhD candidates deserve special attention: their new confidential counsellor Annemarie Meijer explains why23 January 2024She studied biology in Leiden and never left. Now, as Professor of Immunobiology, Annemarie Meijer has taken on the role of the new confidential couns...