We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

We carry – and also feel – great responsibility for our laboratory animals. Animal welfare is very important to us. You can read below how we safeguard the welfare of our laboratory animals.

We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

NMR theory can be tough. Luckily, most NMR theory can be visualized to aid you in understanding. The animations below show precession with a 180 degree pulse, J-coupling and T1/T2 relaxation.

All biological and bio-medical research carried out at Leiden University is subject to strict conditions.

We only conduct research using laboratory animals if it is absolutely essential and we have no other means of answering the research question. Read here about how we assess and account for this research.

What does the interspecies interpretation of the equality principle mean for the liberal democracy, and is it possible to provide for an appropriate legal and political position for animals without defying the classic-liberal principles of the liberal democratic state?

In the theme Animal sciences and health research, we work with different species of animals to learn more about fundamental biological processes.

This part entails the analysis of an extensive sample of animal bone (c. 30,000 pieces) retrieved from well-defined archaeological contexts of the early period at Tell Sabi Abyad, c. 6800-6200 BC. It comprises aspects of taphonomy, ageing and osteometry, the reconstruction of the local spectrum of domestic…

The Animal Welfare Body is closely involved in all aspects of the research on laboratory animals.

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Development & Disease research theme include the mechanisms and evolution of embryonic development, the development of cognitive mechanisms, and animal models for understanding mechanisms of human disease.

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Evolution & Biodiversity research theme include evo-devo research, the evolution of cognitive and behavioural traits, and the evolutionary mechanisms of stress adaptation. This research involves both indoor and outdoor studies.

Keeping and breeding of test animals for the purpose of scientific research and education.

Animal Sciences’ contribution to the Bioactive Molecules research theme includes research on molecules from natural sources, such as plants, insects, and snake venom, with the aim to identify novel anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-diabetic agents.

Main challenges in skin vaccination are overcoming the stratum corneum (SC) barrier and targeting the antigen presenting cells (APC) in the epidermis and the dermis.

The eighth issue of the JLGC explores the diverse and interdisciplinary research on our multifaceted relationship with animals which is currently taking place, re-examining the relationship between humans and animals, and the definitions involved.

On 10 October 2019, Janneke Vink defended her thesis 'The Open Society and Its Animals'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.B. Cliteur.

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Host-Microbe Interactions research theme focus on the interaction of animal hosts with pathogenic microbes but also the beneficial role of the gut microbiome.

Can animal venoms yield novel antimicrobial peptides?

This thesis aims at thinking through the ethical position of animals in a way that differs radically from the manner in which this ethical position is thought within contemporary animal rights discourse.

Brendan Carroll promoted On Thursday October 30th Brendan Carroll successfully defended his PhD dissertation entitled:

Who is Economic Man? Every economic paradigm presupposes an anthropology, a theory of human nature. This project explores the anthropologies presupposed and produced by ancient Greek economic texts, and the specific knowledge forms that shape these anthropologies.

Mari Nakamura defended her thesis on 14 March 2017

My artistic practice deals with documents and, more specifically, with the use and the exploration of their narrative potential.

Appropriate animal models for intradermal vaccine delivery are scarce. Given the high similarity of their skin anatomy to that of humans, minipigs may be a suitable model for dermal vaccine delivery.

Did early farmers deliberately use animal manure on their fields?

PhD Defence

Leiden University investigates biodiversity not only in the Netherlands, but also abroad, with the goal of improving global nature conservation. We do so in collaboration with local universities. Education is also high on our agenda.

On 16 December 2019, Jan-Harm de Villiers defended his thesis 'The Anthropomorphic Hegemony of Subjectivity: Critical Reflections on Law and the Question of the Animal'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P. Cliteur.

The Animated Image addresses the entire range of contexts in which images were described by Roman authors as being animated, as well as the accounts that Roman writers produced to explain the animation of inanimate matter.

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to affect marine animals in various ways, this may have fitness consequences at individual and population level. This thesis aims to increase insight into the quantification of sound-induced behavioural responses that are relevant to fitness, and into factors that…

How is inflammation in tuberculosis controlled by interplay between autophagy and inflammasome signalling?

Hekmat Dirbas defended his thesis on 14 February 2017

In this episode, we talk with Mariska Kret about the expressions of emotions in humans and animals. Mariska explores the similarities and differences in emotion expression in humans and primates. Want to learn more about Mariska's research and discover why it's important that we learn more about animal…

We should assume that animals can have feelings too. From an ethical point of view this should inform our dealings with animals, researchers from Leiden University and Utrecht University argue in an opinion article that was published in the scientific journal Affective Science on Thursday 10 March.

The quality of vaccines is still often tested by using laboratory animals. That has to change, according to researchers from Leiden University and the vaccinological institute Intravacc. Together they went searching for a test method that makes animal testing unnecessary. The first promising results…

Speakers from all over the world offered their interesting views on the relationship between humans and animals during the LUCAS Graduate Conference, based around the central theme ‘Animals: Theory, Practice, and Representation’.

Legal proceedings conducted on behalf of apes and animals who are starved for the purpose of an ecological project. What position do animals actually have in the rule of law? And what changes need to be made? PhD candidate Janneke Vink defends her dissertation on 10 October.

A systematic approach to quantify impacts of food consumption on animal welfare has been developed by researchers of the Institute of Environmental Sciences, Leiden University in collaboration with ETH Zurich, and effective altruism organizations.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries artists were fascinated by how the animal kingdom was classified. They were in some instances ahead of natural historians.

Japanese animated films are often fantastic to watch. What's less known is that anime often has a political message. Mari Nakamura researched this phenomenon. PhD defence 14 March.

How do animals choose their partners? The answer is simple: it’s all about quality. While humans tend to wear clothes that happen to be in fashion, animals do nothing without a reason. Behind beautiful plumage or a deafening roar is only one message: I am in great shape. The evolutionary courtship displays…

The story of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian pharaoh, is world famous. But did you know that the Ancient Egyptians mummified not only people but animals too? The National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden recently put a bunch of animal mummies through a CT scanner. This was in collaboration with Canon Netherlands…

Testing chemical substances without using animals. It seems a utopia, but a European team is going to develop a way to make this a reality. The RISK-HUNT3R project, led by Leiden professor Bob van de Water, received 23 million euros from the European Commission for this purpose. The project was launched…

For the first time research has been done on species literacy in the Netherlands. Children in primary schools know about 1 in 3 native animal species. Publication in Biological Conservation.

There are miniaturisation beams, microrobots, and ice skaters who suddenly drop into a hole in the ice. Students of the local MBO Rijnland let their imagination run free while animating Leiden physics research. The result is eleven surprising and very diverse science animations.

The journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society – Biological Sciences published its theme issue ‘Conflict across taxa’ on 4 April, which was edited by Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology Carsten de Dreu. Together with researchers from other disciplines he provides more insight…

Two PhD defences on 9 June by behavioural biologist Errol Neo and underwater acousticianan Özkan Sertlek relate to measuring noise in the North Sea and the harm this noise can do to aquatic animals and their surroundings. Little is known about how harmful human noise can be to aquatic animals.