PhD Defence

By reforming agriculture in targeted areas, we can protect the Natura 2000 areas much more effectively. This is what Jan Willem Erisman of Leiden University and Ton Brouwer of Gispoint consultancy write in a new report. They have created a special, nitrogen map of the Netherlands that shows the areas…

Speakers that have accepted to participate:

The main research theme in the group of Dennis Hetterscheid is to understand and mimic bioinorganic multi-electron processes that are relevant to our future energy infrastructure. Reduction of protons generates hydrogen that can be used as a chemical fuel. Alternatively to gaseous hydrogen, the reduction…

Research of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry into the development of a sustainable fuel cell has accidentally resulted in an exceptionally efficient catalyst for the production of hydrogen peroxide. The catalyst, discovered by Dennis Hetterscheid and PhD candidate Michiel Langerman, may lead to a more…

Bicarbonate buffer is largely found in nature due to its ability to regulate pH variations around neutral values. As the pH changes, so does the speciation of the buffer.

This project, under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Hans van der Plicht, comprises several studies aimed at the use of isotopes occurring naturally in organic material as tracers for both the climate change and its cultural impact at about 6200 BC. The research will be carried out by the co-applicant at…

This dissertation focused on computational methods based on first principles calculations using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) framework. Emphasis was laid on affordable methods that can provide a tradeoff between computational expense and accuracy.

The central theme of Rik Mom’s research group is to identify what the electrode-electrolyte interface looks like when electrocatalysis is taking place. Using specialized forms of Raman and X-ray spectroscopy, we study the chemical state and bonding environment of the electrode surface and near-surface…

Cultural Anthropologist Jasmijn Rana argues in the opinion piece ''Black', 'white', or 'of colour' is not about purity' in the Leiden University Weekly Mare to use uneasiness about being reduced to skin colour and gender to fight racism.

Chemotherapy that does nothing until you irradiate it with light. Sylvestre Bonnet receives a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros for the development of this treatment. The Leiden chemist wants to build a new molecule to fight tumours that are at the time still difficult to treat.

Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) have managed to culture human heart muscle cells on a massive scale. This is an exceptional achievement because it is very difficult to replicate heart muscle cells outside the body. Using a special technique, the researchers have now created…

PhD Defence

Lecture

The electrochemical reduction of a group of organic compounds on platinum is strongly dependent on the arrangement of the atoms in the platinum surface. Christoph Bondue, postdoc in Marc Koper's group, published this in Nature Catalysis on 4 March. The reduction of such compounds is an important process…

PhD Defence

Opponents of drastic nitrogen measures argue that the nitrogen calculation model is not reliable enough. Nitrogen professor Jan Willem Erisman: 'It is now much more important to discuss the choices we make on the basis of the outcome. The differences are much bigger than the uncertainties in the mod…

Dana Rademaker has won the Unilever Research Prize, which she received together with 2,500 euros at the Unilever’s Foods Innovation Centre on 12 December. She received the prize for her master’s thesis, which she wrote last year for the master’s programme Chemistry.

This thesis discusses the physical and chemical processes than influence the composition of forming planets.

Planets are formed in disks of gas and dust around young stars.

The local ordering of atoms at the surface of a metallic particle determines its catalytic activity and selectivity. As energy systems of the future will be based on efficient catalytic conversion of small molecules in closed cycles, we study how structural effects of catalysts can be used to our ad…

Astronomers from, among others, SRON and Leiden Observatory have discovered long-sought intergalactic gas with ESA’s space telescope XMM-Newton. This gas is one of the pieces of the puzzle to map the total amount of ‘normal’ matter in the universe. The research will be published in Nature on 21 June…

This is a facility where research groups or small companies can apply for space if they need to culture human or animal cells.

Assuming everywhere good reduction we generalize the class number formula of Taelman to Drinfeld modules over arbitrary coefficient rings.

The thesis describes experimental steps towards reduction of friction on the macroscopic scale by scenarios of thermo- and superlubricity well-known on the nanoscale.

The research described in this thesis focused on the preparation of S/N functionalized carbene ligands and their transition metal complexes, and the exploration of their application as electrocatalysts for proton reduction.

Electrolysis is a technique that can be used to convert CO2 into fuels and other useful products. To do this efficiently and on a large scale, however, we need to understand exactly how electrolysis works. Professor Marc Koper is an expert in this field.

Science, Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC)

Koper

Promotor: M.T.M. Koper, Co-Promotor: L.B.F. Juurlink

How does the photoregulation mechanism work in detail?

Certain cichlid fish in Lake Victoria seem to have adapted super-fast to changing circumstances. Dr Frans Witte from the Integrative Zoology section has been awarded an NWO subsidy (approx. € 240,000) to carry out PhD research into the rapid changes apparent in this fish species.

This thesis concerns the relation bettween the good reduction of Shimura varieties and the associated loop groups.

Long Island, an islet of Antigua in the northern Lesser Antilles forms the major source for flint in the Lesser Antilles. A survey by Hofman, Hoogland and van Gijn in 1989 has indicated the presence of various raw material sources. Test-excavations at the major flintknapping site of Flinty Bay show…

Lineke is a Master’s student in European Law.

Direct radiocarbon dating of human remains is crucial for the accurate interpretation of prehistory. Yet given the scarcity of prehistoric human remains, direct dating is often too destructive for important fossils. The reduction of sample size necessary for dating bone is therefore of great interest…

An important feature of atopic eczema (AE) is a decreased skin barrier function. The stratum corneum (SC) lipids - comprised of ceramides (CERs), free fatty acids (FFAs) and cholesterol - fulfill a predominant role in the skin barrier function.

To limit the effects of climate change, global average temperature since pre-industrial measurements are to be kept well below 2 °C preferably even at 1.5 °C.

The research aim of the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group headed by Prof. Marc Koper is to probe and understand chemical reactions on well-defined, mostly single crystalline, surfaces at the molecular level.

PhD Defence

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel

Lecture

Lecture

Cool Little Kids is a research project that investigates the effectiveness of two programmes on the prevention and reduction of anxiety problems in shy and withdrawn children aged 2-6 years. For more information about the project please visit our Dutch website or contact us via clk@fsw.leidenuniv.n…

The Institute of Environmental Sciences has carried out and participates in several projects that deal with the analysis of energy systems.

‘I am a student Mathematics and Computer Science and my bachelor project was about the game Cherries. This is a two-player game in which the players repeatedly remove cherries of their own colour of a segment of black and white cherries. Played as a combinatorial game (players alternate taking turns),…

The Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society offers PhD candidates the possibility to enroll in the VVI PhD track.

Key publications of the Systems Pharmacology group

PhD Defence