In order to analyze the challenges linked to data use in the context of nexus governance, Giest & Mukherjee use a policy design lens and more specifically the perspective of organizational policy instruments to look at the Mediterranean region.

An accurate description of reactive scattering of molecules on metal surfaces often requires the modeling of energy transfer between the molecule and the surface phonons. Although ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) can describe this energy transfer, AIMD is at present untractable for reactions with…

Scientists have long been puzzled why it is easier to produce hydrogen from water in an acidic environment than in an alkaline environment. Marc Koper comes with an explanation: the reason is the electric field at the surface of the catalyst, which is larger in an alkaline environment, as he writes…

In ancient times, the steppe in the hinterland of Petra (Jordan) was transformed into a green oasis. This project tries to shed insights in the agricultural, water management and societal processes resulting in this transformation. This will be accomplished by practicing an interdisciplinary research…

Graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) are used as a current carrying substrate in investigation of current-induced forces in a low-temperature STM (chapter 2).

Law

You might take photos and selfies with your phone's camera, or scan a QR code. But there is much more you can do with it. Astronomer Olivier Burggraaff developed a phone attachment that allows you to take measurements of surface water with your smartphone. He will receive his PhD on 13 December.

In surface science there is great effort to move from studying simple, flat model surfaces in vacuum to investigating more complex model catalysts in gas environments (in situ). This thesis gives three examples of such studies using microscopy and spectroscopy.

Indonesia is experiencing various environmental challenges related to its fast economic growth. Therefore, it is necessary to have measurable and applicable indicators to obtain accurate data and information regarding the costs of adverse environmental impacts arising from economic activities to support…

Ever did something for the first time and got an award for it? Sabine Wenzel did. Her research about the surface of zinc oxide won her the Surface Science Young Investigator award.

Training a robot in a real-life environment is more or less impossible. Computer scientist and psychologist Roy de Kleijn switched to training in a simulated, virtual one instead. ‘You do have a reality gap, but the more precisely you train the robot, the better it is in practice.’ His inspiration:…

“A partnership based on water” summarised Gerhard van den Top the relationship between the Netherlands and the Philippines in the 4th Louwes Lecture. He emphasised the significant role of international and intercultural cooperation in managing the complex challenges brought forward by climate change.…

Wouter Halfwerk and colleagues from Panama and the US published a paper on multisensory communication in Science. The authors provide compelling data on the consequences of multisensory perception on signal evolution in tropical frogs.

CML is an institute of the Faculty of Science of Leiden University.

The latest research from the Leiden outdoor laboratory ‘Living Lab’ shows that the insecticide thiacloprid strongly influences even the most common and robust dragonfly species in the Netherlands. The study was published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

Archaeologist Araceli Rojas has been invited to participate in the award-winning festival Let’s Talk about Water. This festival combines academic seminars, movies, and panel discussions around water issues around the globe.

It may well be possible to remove nitrate from polluted groundwater and at the same time produce ammonia in a sustainable way, according to PhD candidate Phebe van Langevelde and Professor Marc Koper of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry in Joule on 26 January. Together with a German colleague, they…

On January 5, Rosa Winter will obtain her doctorate in arithmetic geometry. She researched solutions of equations that define so-called ‘del Pezzo surfaces’. ‘I like geometry because I can imagine and draw the shapes and objects,’ says Winter. ‘That makes abstract mathematics feel more tangible.’

How do you study complex disasters like a nuclear explosion or a natural disaster? Who can help unravel the legal knot that Brexit has become? The important societal themes of the present day call for interdisciplinary collaboration. Leiden scientists pitched their research at a symposium at Leiden…

Leiden physicists use a new method to measure so-called surface plasmons. Researching these particles could lead to new light-based technology, including faster internet.

Researchers from the THEOR CHEM group at Leiden University strive to set new benchmarks in the accuracy of the prediction of interaction energies between molecules and metal surfaces.

The main goal of the THEOR CHEM group, headed by Prof. Geert-Jan Kroes, is to characterize, and to accurately predict the outcome of chemical reactions at gas-solid and liquid-solid interfaces. Here the solid surface is typically a metal or an ice surface. These goals are important to many areas in…

A small project grant from the Gerda Henkel Stiftung foundation has been awarded to Dr. Andrea Waters-Rist, a co-applicant on a project entitled

Leiden University has participated in an international study carried out by the CARMENES consortium, which has discovered two small, terrestrial planets around Teegarden’s Star. The planets have masses similar to Earth and their temperatures could be mild enough to sustain liquid water on their surf…

The Water Resources and River Management course (300-level) took a day long field trip to exotic… South Holland! Here students were able to examine a variety of ways in which densely populated deltas confront issues related to water management and flooding, from a Dutch perspective.

Research at the Catalysis and Surface Chemistry group is comprised of the following research themes:

A full overview of THEOR PhD theses.

Surface Reaction Barriometry: Methane Dissociation on Flat and Stepped Transition-Metal Surfaces.

A new regional atlas, with information about the presence of pesticides in surface waters, has been developed by the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) in collaboration with Royal Haskoning DHV. The aim of the regional pesticide atlas is to support decision making at local and regional levels,…

It may not seem necessary to install special tap water stations in University buildings, but it is very useful: every tap here also means a tap in a developing country. With the the 35 tap water stations that Leiden University installs, the slum area of Madoya in Nairobi will soon have clean drinking…

The

Dutch book about pesticides and waterquality

Promotores: Bas Edixhoven, Jean-Benoit Bost, Co-promotor: Robin de Jong

Paul Hudson, Associate Professor of Physical Geography at Leiden University College, examines human impacts on lowland rivers in his new book.

Leiden University will install over 30 tap water stations in the autumn of 2017 at the various University buildings. The first is already in use.

What is the effect of pesticides, fertilizers or plastic on water quality? And how do wind and rain affect the data? These are just some of the things that Leiden environmental scientists study in the 32 ditches of the Living Lab.

Science Magazine has published three back-to-back papers on an important discovery in solid state physics. Leiden physicist Jan Zaanen wrote a Perspective article on the subject in the same issue of 4 March.

A group of ten Indonesian scholars, NGO-members, and state officials coming from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry visited their Dutch colleagues, academic and practical experts, to discuss issues related to water management and environmental regulation .

The Real Estate of Leiden University has done a fantastic job at placing new water tap points at several new locations! Have you spotted the new ones within your faculty? We wish you a happy hydrated day!

Marc Koper’s research focuses on electrocatalysis and electrochemical surface science for sustainable energy and chemistry. Reactions of interest are the redox reactions of the oxygen/hydrogen cycle (water oxidation, hydrogen evolution), the carbon cycle (reduction of carbon dioxide, oxidation of small…

From treatment plants to hot showers, emissions from water use in the U.S. are equal to 50 million cars driving around for a year. In The Washington Post, staff writer Tik Root consults different experts to learn about ways to reduce our water consumption. He also speaks with Leiden environmental scientist…

They were called 'annoying brats', the group of campaigning scientists who in 1978 founded what is now an internationally acclaimed ecological research institute. Their stories and those of the current staff of the Institute of Environmental Sciences are described in the book 'Forty years of Leiden…

This thesis takes steps toward understanding the interaction between gas-phase and solid-state molecules in star- and planet-forming regions.

Yesterday, an article appeared in Biznews about the watershortages in California. David Zetland, university lecturer at Leiden University College, gives his opinion about this problem.

Scientists at Leiden University (Netherlands), Stuttgart University (Germany) and Ural Federal University (Russia) have successfully put forward a novel, computed, reaction mechanism that was experimentally tested and show that formaldehyde is formed at much earlier stages in the birthplaces of stars…