Promotor: J. Aarts

Promotor: J.W. van Holten

Promotor: I. A. G. Snellen, Co-promotor: M. A. Kenworthy

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.J.J. Groenen

Promotor: E. Bouwman, Co-Promotor: S. Bonnet

Electrons in a crystal lattice have properties that may differ from those of a free electron in vacuum.

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Photosynthesis is the origin of life on earth, but it is a phenomenon that is still barely understood. Take, for example, the extremely efficient mechanism of electron transport. Leiden researchers demonstrate for the first time where one particular cause of this might be found.

Triplet superconductivity refers to a condensate of equal-spin Cooper pairs (pairs of electrons with equal spin).

The elementary excitations of magnets are called spin waves, and their corresponding quasi-particles are known as magnons. The rapidly growing field of Magnonics aims at using them as information carriers in a new generation of electronic devices, (almost) free of electric currents.

Promotor: C.W.J. Beenakker, Co-promotor: M.T. Wimmer

This thesis focuses on amyloid proteins, a class of proteins that convert into amyloid fibrils.

Pulsars were first discovered in 1967 and since then the population has grown and expanded over several wavelengths.

A deceptively simple, complicated paper

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Aarts, Prof.dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek

Materials are either gas, liquid or solid, based on how their molecules respond to temperature and pressure. But what if the building blocks are self-spinning particles instead of ordinary molecules? Theoretical physicists found out what determines the phase of those artificial materials. Publication…

The Dutch biotech spin-off In Ovo is the first company to develop a large-scale solution for determining the sex of a chick while it is still in the egg. This fast and cheap technique can be applied mechanically at hatcheries, which was not possible before.

An international team led by Leiden astronomers has discovered why the two stars of binary star DI Herculis rotate so strangely around one another, which once even proved problematic for Einstein's theory of relativity. Their findings were published in Nature.

Bike Labyrinth is international market leader in providing virtual reality exercising for elderly care.

The documentary Einstein’s Light by director Nickolas Barris shows in a dazzling manner what scientific breakthroughs resulted from the special friendship between Albert Einstein and the Leiden physicist Hendrik Antoon Lorentz. The documentary premiered at the Leiden International Film Festival on 2…

Promotor: T.H. Oosterkamp

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

Leiden biotech company In Ovo, a spin-off of Leiden University, has received a European Innovation Council Accelerator Pilot Grant. In Ovo will use this 2.5-million-euro grant in its mission to stop the culling of male chicks.

First author Rubin Dasgupta, PhD student at the Biophysical Organic Chemistry & Macromolecular Biochemistry groups at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry has made the cover of the June edition of Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

Siemens recently took over the Leiden software company Culgi, founded by professor and inventor J.G.E.M. (Hans) Fraaije. We spoke to him about the algorithm that made him successful, the role of a university in our society and his ambitions at Siemens. ‘I was looking for Siemens, and they were looking…

Metal complexes and 2D materials like graphene were combined to produce structures that can function as sensors.

Leiden astronomers and ecologists are developing an instrument that lets people measure the quality of surface water with a smartphone.This international citizen science project, MONOCLE, is a collaboration between scientists and local people in Tanzania, Brazil and four European countries.

Promotor: Prof.dr. M. Ubbink

To gain more insight into the evolutionary development of orchid flowers and fruits, the orchid species Erycina pusilla was studied. The evolutionary origin of the median petaloid sepal, the callus on the labellum, and the stelidia was studied.

PhD defence

Promotores: Prof.dr. H.J.M. de Groot, Prof.dr. J. Matysik (Universitaet Leipzig)

PhD defence

Siemens recently took over the Leiden software company Culgi, founded by professor and inventor J.G.E.M. (Hans) Fraaije. We spoke to him about the algorithm that made him successful, the role of a university in our society and his ambitions at Siemens. ‘I was looking for Siemens, and they were looking…

PhD defence

MRFM combines the principles of magnetic resonance and atomic force microscopy.

PhD defence

A lot of our research is performed at temperatures close to absolute zero, among other reasons because this increases the sensitivity of the measurements. 

In this thesis, we describe the latest advances in SQUID-detected Magnetic Resonance Force Microscopy (MRFM).

Complaints against decisions not to prosecute in socially sensitive issues.

In Quantum mechanics, particles can be in multiple positions simultaneously. Yet, when a measurement is made, the particle is found only in one place. Technology has come to a point where we may design experiments that will tell us how.

Promotor: R. Gill, Co-promotor: P. Massart

We find ourselves in an era of transition, not just towards a more computing- and data-driven society but also away from unsustainable fossil fuels as an energy source.

Our cantilevers have a low intrinsic damping rate: this enables us to measure with low noise, since damping is proportionate to noise. However, when the magnet is close to the surface of a sample we want to study, we measure a much higher effective damping rate. This is caused by magnetic interaction…

An examination of academic organization at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution

Beenakker

By detecting the tiny forces between a micrometer sized magnet and the spins of hydrogen nuclei, we can do MRI with a volume resolution that is approximately 12 orders of magnitude better than a conventional MRI.  

Α-synuclein, a protein associated with Parkinson’s disease, proves to bind with membranes in a surprisingly efficient way. It confirms scientists’ suspicion of the protein’s leading role in the transmission of neurotransmitters between nerve cells in the brain. Publication in PLoS ONE.