Promotors: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Prof.dr. G.A. Persoon, Prof.dr.ir. H.H. de Iongh

For a first time the atlas maps the soil biodiversity of the entire planet, and provide s comprehensive analysis of human-induced threats to soil organisms and soil functioning, facilitating development of new policies to protect soil and soil organisms.

Soil is a home for an unbelievable diversity and abundance of microbial life that is essential for supporting life on our planet.

How soil microbial composition impacts structure and composition of the aboveground plant and animal communities?

We will study how inoculation of former arable land with soil (including the microbiome, soil fauna and seeds/rhizomes of ground flora) from old forests along with planting targeted tree species mixtures will improve productivity and more rapidly restore forest-adapted communities and ulttimately result…

In this thesis, the role of plant-mediated soil legacy effects in shaping aboveground plant-insect interactions was investigated.

The use of N fertilizers has increased worldwide in the past century. While this increased input of N has increased food productivity, it has also contributed to decreases in biodiversity, soil quality and environmental health, including increases in greenhouse gas emissions.

The soil ecosystem consists of the largest reservoir of biodiversity on Earth.

Which compounds and microorganisms that live near and inside plant roots are beneficial? Can we use this knowledge to improve the health and growth of crop plants?

Promotor: J.A. van Veen, Co-promotor: E.E. Kuramae

By growing in a soil plants change the biotic and abiotic properties of the soil in which they grow.

Promotores: Prof.dr. H. van Veen & Prof.dr. W. de Boer (Wageningen University)

How presence, abundance and enzymatic activities of AM and EM fungi differently affect soil carbon sequestration processes?

Plants and soils from natural ecosystems harbor great diversity of soil microorganisms, which could potentially contribute to the sustainability of horticulture. The knowledge about using wild plant species and soil from natural ecosystem to improve the crop health will advance the application of ecological…

Promotores: J.A.van Veen, P.L.G.Klinkhamer. Co-promotor: E.E.Kuramae

We examine how soil-derived legacy effects of plants structure natural ecosystems, determine aboveground plant insect interactions, and how we can use soil legacy effects to restore degraded ecosystems.

Archaeobotanic research by prof. dr. C. Bakels and students on agriculture.

We examine how soil inoculation influences aboveground organisms (i) directly, and indirectly via (ii) its effects on plant chemistry or volatile emission, or via (iii) mediating the effects of belowground pathogens on aboveground organisms via the shared plant.

Vinasse is a major by-product generated by the sugarcane biofuel industry. It is a source of microbes, nutrients and organic matter and often it is recycled as fertilizer.

On 6 December 2021, the University Council approved the Supplementary Implementation Plan for Quality Agreements, a follow-up to the original Leiden University Implementation Plan for Quality Agreements from December 2018.

The Faculty of Science stands for research of high quality. An honest and reliable practice of science is important to us.

Leiden University stands for high quality research. Integrity and reliability in the way we conduct research are core beliefs in Leiden.

ICLON offers support on all aspects of accreditation and quality assurance.

The project entails research by international comparison into the effects of commercialisation in heritage management on the academic relevance and quality of the results of work that is essentially applied research. The research is carried out by Prof. dr. W.J.H. Willems and dr. M.H. van den Dries…

CML researchers has contributed to development of the first-ever Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas , which has been published recently by the European Joint Research Centre (EU JRC) and the Global Soil Biodiversity Initiative (GSBI).

The Spanish Society of Soil Science has chosen as the best thesis of 2015 (call 2016) in Spain to the CML-researcher Daniel Arenas Lago, for his research at the University of Vigo that expands and deepens in new knowledge about adsorption and retention of heavy metals in soils, an issue increasingly…

The high standards set by the Academic Language Centre are attested by the following quality labels and memberships.

Soil bacteria can produce a wealth of antibiotics that are new to us, claims Gilles van Wezel, Professor of Molecular Biotechnology at the Institute of Biology Leiden. His research group has developed a method that can rapidly identify and produce these unknown compounds.

Promotores: E. van Dijk, G.R. de Snoo. Co-promotor: H. Staats

Music from a compostable cello, photographs and scents of fungi and a woven tapestry. With her upcoming multimedia project Super Organism, visual artist Suzette Bousema enables people to experience the underground fungal network with all their senses. Environmental scientist Nadia Soudzilovskaia and…

Open online education has become a highly popular method of education. The current project aims to further our knowledge of how open online courses can be best designed to be consistent with human learning mechanics and facilitate meaningful learning.

The focus of health care is rapidly changing. The need for maximum gains with minimal input requires tailored health care strategies and an ever more explicit evaluation of health benefits for the patient.

Gubbens

Can we establish a new quality control system for herbal medicines that is based on bioactivity rather than a few abundant chemicals?

Students searched for a student project about mycorrhizal fungi and soil aggregation

Leaf-eating caterpillars greatly enrich their intestinal flora by eating soil. Even effects of plants that previously grew in that soil can be found back in bacteria and fungi in caterpillars. Researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) and Leiden University write about this discovery…

A group of 12 LUC students went to the Eifel mountains for the annual field trip within the course 'Soils, Sediment, and Society' of Dr. Peter Houben. Dr. Peter Houben is Assistant Professor of Environmental Earth Sciences and Sustainability at Leiden University College The Hague.

What are the global relationships between environmental conditions and abundance of distinct types of mycorrhizal fungi in soil and plant roots?

Promotores: Prof.dr. T.H.W. Bäck, Prof.dr. M.R.V. Chaudron, Co-Promotor: M.T.M. Emmerich

‘What I find most alluring about soil life is that you can steer it,’ researcher Martijn Bezemer of the Institute Biology Leiden (IBL) reveals. ‘You can ask: What do you want? And then I can transform the soil into something you need. At least, that is what we thought.’

Government impartiality is considered a core feature of quality of government, and one that leads to favorable macro‐level outcomes. We have limited knowledge, however, of how impartiality affects citizens' perceptions of public service quality. In particular, we do not know how the impacts of impartiality…

Behrouz Karoubi defended his thesis on 15 June 2016

Freshwater is an important resource, but at a great risk of species decline due to habitat loss, pollution and over-exploitation, and invasive alien species.

It is well-known that humans have significantly transformed ecosystems since their adoption of agriculture. However, in a deeper past, prehistoric hunter-gatherers may already have altered and modified their niche in ways that had major impacts on ecosystems.