The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science congratulates alumnus Pepijn van Heiningen and the with the Technische Hochschule Köln shared PhD-student Samineh Bagheri. At the SSCI 2016 conference on computational intelligence in Athens last week, both of them won an award for the high quality of…

Historical linguist Lauren Fonteyn is awarded a substantial Digital Infrastructure grant as well as being selected as member of the prestigious Young Academy Leiden (YAL).

For decades, linguists have racked their brains over the question of precisely how the syntax of various languages is different. PhD candidate Martin Kroon has developed a computer system that brings us closer to finding an answer. His PhD defence is on 10 November.

Promotor: J.N. Kok, Co-promotor: H.J. Hoogeboom

At the annual World Computer Chess Championship, chess computers from all over the world compete with each other. This year, Leiden University hosted the event.

In a survey held last year by the publication Elsevier, Leiden's Computer Science programme was voted by students as the best university programme of its kind in the Netherlands. And the Rotterdam Economics programme was voted the best in its field. Leiden University now offers a combined study based…

Programming courses are often only available in English. All the more reason for the Programming Education Research Lab (PERL) of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS), Eindhoven University of Technology and University of Twente to translate the 'Beauty and Joy of Computing' programming…

Physicist Jelmer Renema will spend two years conducting research at Oxford University in Great Britain funded by a Rubicon grant from NWO.

Physicists have manipulated light with large artificial atoms, so-called quantum dots. Before, this has only been done so well with actual atoms. It is an important step towards light-based quantum technology. Publication on August 30th in Nature Communications.

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2022, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

On November 8, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) named Wessel Kraaij as one of the 2017 Distinguished Members. ACM Distinguished Members have made a significant contribution to the field of computing, computer science or information technology. This year, worldwide 43 scientists received…

The fact that scientists are increasingly better able to access molecular cell and tissue data also brings with it a new challenge: how can scientists find the information they need for research among the vast amount of data available?

Learning how computers can process and describe images just like human beings do. It is one of the key elements of the research of Michael Lew, who sees Deep Learning as a promising way to achieve this goal. On the 1st of January 2021, he was appointed Professor of Deep Learning at the Leiden Institute…

The most commonly used method for the taxonomic identification of tree trunks is wood anatomy. The number of experts in this area is decreasing, and education to become an wood anatomists takes many years. With the help of technology computer scientists of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science…

PhD defence

Computer skills are essential if you want to become part of Dutch society. Leiden University and Stichting Bestaanskracht, an organisation that helps the vulnerable, are therefore providing computer lessons for refugees who can use some extra digital help.

LUGO has some news: If you are using a public computer from Leiden University, you can now set your default search engine to Ecosia.

Data and information should be stored in a way that computers can understand, says Barend Mons, professor of Biosemantics at the Leiden University Medical Center and Chair of the High Level Expert Group for the European Open Science Cloud. We speak with him about FAIR data, knowlets and nanopublicat…

Stefano Pollas master thesis 'Quantum Digital Cooling' has been awarded the Lorentz Master thesis award. The award, 3000 euros and a certificate, has been awarded on 25 November at the Koninklijke Hollandse Maatschappij van Wetenschappen (KHMW) society in Haarlem.

The fact that scientists are increasingly better able to access molecular cell and tissue data also brings with it a new challenge: how can scientists find the information they need for research among the vast amount of data available?

This header image was once elected Image of the Week by De Volkskrant and won second place in the LION Image Award. The research behind it is no less successful if we’re counting prizes. Last August, group leader Tjerk Oosterkamp was awarded an NWO Projectruimte grant, and now NWO-TTW grants him an…

In high school, Tim van Erven read about an artificially intelligent algorithm that could solve mazes. From that moment on, he was sold: ‘There’s something magical about algorithms. With a list of fixed rules you can make them learn the most diverse things.’ This year, he won a Vidi grant, which he…

A mix of data research, artificial intelligence and archaeology led to lively discussions on 31 January. On that day the unique event 'AI & Data Science @ Archaeology' took place in which the Data Science Research Programme (DSRP), SAILS and the Faculty of Archaeology joined forces.

There is a growing concern that AI programmes like ChatGPT exacerbate existing biases concerning gender, age, race and sexual orientation. As individuals are increasingly integrating the impressive abilities of AI programmes into their companies, organisations and personal lives, it is useful to take…

Alumni event

A collaboration of physicists and chemists organized the LEELIS conference on new computer chip technology in Amsterdam on 10-11 November. Leiden physicist Joost Frenken is director of the organizing institute ARCNL.

Our language is adapted to the context in which we humans communicate. But computers ‘think’ differently. What would a language be like whose structure was optimally adjusted for use by humans and machines? Tessa Verhoef is trying to find the answer.

Our language is adapted to the context in which we humans communicate. But computers ‘think’ differently. What is the optimal form of a language for human-machine communication? Tessa Verhoef is trying to find the answer.

Promotor: Huub J.M. de Groot, Co-promotor: Francesco Buda

Promotor: Richard D. Gill

In Leiden, light particles march into Wolfgang Löffler’s experiments one by one. His research focuses on acquiring the fundamental knowledge needed to develop quantum computers and networks.

In this thesis we explore machine and deep learning approaches that address keychallenges in high dimensional problem areas and also in improving accuracy in wellknown problems. In high dimensional contexts, we have focused on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations.

A piece of corrugated rubber can function as a simple computer, displaying memory and displaying the ability to count to two. Leiden physicists describe the computing rubber in the journal PNAS. ‘Simple materials can process information, and we want to find the principles behind that.’

Two black holes, in close orbit around each other. Have they slowly drifted together, or did they emerge from two orbiting stars? Together with to colleagues form Amsterdam, Leiden astronomer Simon Portegies Zwart calculated that the second scenario is rather likely.

An integrated approach of physiological concepts, advanced statistical approaches and large clinical datasets.

The programme guarantees a thorough experience on the frontline of physics research with a practical training of communicative and computer skills.

The Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) is the coordinating partner in the Qluster research project, which was awarded a 2,9 million euro FET Open grant by the European Union. The three-year project, which started on 1 December 2019, aims to produce many photon entanglement to aid quantum communication…

With the dramatic growth of the image data on the web, there is an increasing demand of the algorithms capable of understanding the visual information automatically.

Design of a Linguistic System for Interstellar Communication Based on Logic

We study the interplay of topology and geometry with chirality for several passive and active systems, employing both analytical and numerical methods.

The deeper understanding of an organism's pathology is important for developing treatments. Over centuries of systematic research, clinical researchers have demonstrated that the more information they acquire about the cellular properties and their organisation in the tissue, the better they can understand…