Leiden Science - Universiteit Leiden

🎉Yay! No fewer than 5 Vidi grants for our Leiden Science researchers!👏 Congratulations to Francesca Arici, Sebastiaan Haffert, Melissa McClure, Renske Onstein, and Mirko Signorelli with your Vidi grant from NWO (Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek)🏅. From quantum domains to other planets, and palm trees to patient risk predictions, find out what topics these scientists will be exploring in the upcoming years. Which of these groundbreaking projects intrigues you the most? 👇 Francesca Arici (Mathematical Institute - Leiden University): ‘In the quantum world, objects behave very differently from what we're used to. We aim to understand these quantum spaces by focusing on a broad class, called quantum domains, and looking at the problem from different angles.’ Sebastiaan Haffert (Leiden Observatory): ‘The future European Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) promises groundbreaking discoveries, particularly in identifying Earth-like planets. Through initial testing on current telescopes, I aim to directly capture the atmospheric properties of Proxima Centauri b, our nearest neighbour. The results will inform the development of ELT instrumentation in the search for extraterrestrial life.’ 🔭 Melissa McClure (Leiden Observatory): ‘My team will use novel data from the James Webb Space Telescope to uncover when, where, and how planets start to form, in the process revealing the compositions of planets actively forming in a sample of young systems. These results will help scientists to interpret the diversity of exoplanets seen in the universe today.’ 🪐 Renske Onstein (Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL)): ‘Alarmingly, most megafauna have disappeared from the Earth in the last fifty thousand years. I will investigate how megafauna extinctions have affected the seed dispersal of megafruit palms, by evaluating which species co-evolved with megafauna, which ones are no longer dispersed and as a result threatened with extinction, and for which ones humans have replaced megafauna by dispersing the seeds in ecosystems today.’ Mirko Signorelli (Mathematical Institute - Leiden University): ‘Current statistical methods for dynamic prediction struggle with many complex features of real-world patient data, and make improper simplifications that can lead to inaccurate predictions. This project will tackle the limitations of existing methods by creating an innovative statistical method, empowering clinicians and patients with more accurate prognoses and advice for decision making.' 🧑⚕️

🏅 The Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to an AI model (and rightly so) Not experiments and lab coats 🥼 🧪 , but computers and artificial intelligence 💻 : this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to the inventors of the groundbreaking AI model, AlphaFold. This programme accurately predicts protein structures based on their genetic code—a crucial step in understanding biological functions and developing new medicines. At Leiden University, it has already become indispensable, say professors Remus Dame and Gerard JP Van Westen. Dame: 'AlphaFold learns from all known protein structures determined through experiments, allowing us to uncover protein functions more effectively.' 🧬 Van Westen adds: 'We use it to simulate how proteins behave and look for new targets for drugs. But also to design new medicines.' 💊 For more insights on how AlphaFold is revolutionising protein research and drug development, read the full article: https://lnkd.in/ejvUpaYf

🚀 Alice & Eve 2024 is coming to Leiden! 🌟 On 25 October, the Alice & Eve event will celebrate women in computer science, offering inspiring keynotes, a poster competition, and an exhibition showcasing role models like Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper. It's a great platform for female students and young researchers to share their work and connect with diverse talents in the field. Everyone, regardless of gender, is welcome! The event is organised by LIACS researchers Lu Cao, Olga Gadyatskaya, Eleftheria Makri, and Shuang Sun (in the picture). Suzan Verberne and Niki van Stein are two of the event’s speakers. Van Stein: 'For the next generation, we need to challenge the bias that computer science is for boys. Girls need role models to show them that this field is cool.’ 💡 Curious to learn more? Check out the full article: https://lnkd.in/eVn2n-ZC

💧 Did you know that a cocktail of chemicals in surface water can be more harmful than each substance on its own? Even when individual pesticides stay within legal limits, together they can pose a serious risk to aquatic life. 🌍🐟 A recent study by Leiden University and the Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu shows how these combined chemicals increase toxic pressure on ecosystems—without breaking any regulations! 🔬 The findings are now live on the Pesticide Atlas, an interactive tool for both the public and policymakers: Here’s what our researchers discovered: 👉 Pesticides, even at approved levels, can combine to create harmful effects 👉 Toxic pressures exceeded safe levels at 20% of monitored locations 👉 New data reveals the full scope of this threat and guides necessary action Marco Visser, theoretical ecologist and one of the researchers, notes: ‘When we look at individual substances, our surface waters seem to be gradually becoming cleaner. However, when we examine the combined effects of all toxic substances, less progress is visible, and high toxic pressure remains common.’ Want to learn more about how mixture toxicity is affecting our surface waters and the solutions being explored? 🌿🔗 https://lnkd.in/eQubD862

Het Jonge Alumni Netwerk (JAN) organiseert diverse activiteiten voor jonge alumni van de Universiteit Leiden. Het netwerk biedt hen de mogelijkheid om onderling kennis en ervaringen uit te wisselen, zich verder te ontwikkelen en hun netwerk uit te breiden. We zoeken enthousiaste jonge alumni, die voor twee jaar op vrijwillige basis willen plaatsnemen in het bestuur van dit netwerk. Het bestuur bedenkt, organiseert en neemt deel aan de activiteiten van het JAN. Wil jij je netwerk verbreden? En ervaring opdoen als bestuurslid? Solliciteer dan voor 21 november via https://lnkd.in/duQHmSh #vacature #bestuur #JAN #JongAlumniNetwerk #UniversiteitLeiden

🚨 Surprising new insight: a staggering 63% of the plastic waste imported by countries like Malaysia and Turkey is being recycled. This is far more than we previously thought, according to research by Kai Li and his colleagues at the Institute of environmental sciences of Environmental Sciences. 🌍♻️ But the reality remains troubling: while a significant portion is being reused, much of the waste is still being incinerated or landfilled, with severe environmental consequences. ‘It’s encouraging that more is being recycled,’ Li notes, ‘but we now need to determine how much is still polluting our environment.’ Li’s supervisor, Hauke Ward, adds: ‘If environmental pollution in developing countries had a price tag, those countries would recycle even more.’ The research findings, of course, do not change the mountain of plastic waste that we create together. The key takeaway: we must globally work to reduce plastic production. 📉 Less plastic means less waste. Read the whole story on our website ➡️ https://lnkd.in/e_8M9-i7

Win a Dutch children’s book for beta girls! 📖👩🔬✨ Getting girls excited about engineering cannot start early enough. From 2 to 13 October it is the Dutch Children's Book Week in and to celebrate, we are giving away a copy of ‘Met mama naar Mars'. This children’s book is written by our Leiden Science PhD candidate Karen van den Akker, together with Liselotte Nass and Nadine Duursma. Van den Akker: ‘We wanted to get more women into technology and decided that the problem begins when girls are still young. So we wondered: How can we reach girls? And the answer was a children’s book.’ Please note that the book is in Dutch! 🇳🇱 ✨ Want to win? ✅ Like this post and let us know which female scientists you would like to see in a children’s book ✅ Complete this form: https://lnkd.in/eAvpfEPU 🗓️ Give-away closes Sunday, 13rd October, 23:59. 📢 Winners will be announced on Monday, 14th October. Good luck! 🤞 Read the whole interview with Karen here: https://lnkd.in/e6TzH7QZ

📺 Viewing tip: A lesson on Governance of Sustainability for Zembla viewers 📺 Next Sunday, the Dutch investigative TV show Zembla - BNNVARA investigates the influence of the pesticide industry on the approval of glyphosate . The use of this controversial weed killer 🌿 was recently reauthorised in Europe for another 10 years, despite scientists' concerns about its potential link to cancer and an increased risk of Parkinson's disease. 🧪 Leiden students from the master's programme Governance of Sustainability ♻️ analysed the case, exploring how different stakeholder groups frame the debate around this pesticide. Professor of Ecotoxicology Martina Vijver and assistant professor at the institute of Public Administration (Leiden University - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs) Gerard Breeman: ‘You get a peek behind the scenes of our master’s course. It’s a unique blend of research and education, showcasing the intersection of science and governance.'(@fgga). 📺 Tune in this Sunday, 29 September at 22:05 for 'Glyfosaat, de PR-machine' - Zembla - on BNNVARA, NPO 2! (In Dutch) https://lnkd.in/eE9E2dka Ton van der Ham MSc Governance of Sustainability

🦙 🧫 Yeast, alpacas, and antibodies ??? They may seem unrelated, but within the project of the Leiden iGEM students, they come together perfectly. For the international synthetic biology competition iGEM, the iGEM Leiden team is working on an innovative method to produce nanobodies—a special form of antibodies—using brewer’s yeast. They aim to develop a more animal-friendly and effective approach for medical applications. 🥼 We spoke with team leader Nienke IJspeert and Outreach & Communications Manager Floortje van Ankeren. 'There's really no other opportunity in your studies where you can build a project from scratch like this. From coming up with the idea to setting up protocols 📄, to conducting lab work and writing the website.' 💻 Read the whole interview and help the team with their #crowdfunding! : https://lnkd.in/e_ekrrTK

‘You can’t resolve complex environmental issues by working only as a biologist or anthropologist. We need one another, and we need to approach these problems together,’ says Thijs Bosker, associate professor of Environmental Sciences. That's why Leiden University offers a new bachelor's programme: Science for Sustainable Societies. The programme starts in September 2025 and is a collaboration involving three faculties: Science, Leiden University -Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, and Leiden University - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs.   Educating bridge builders for a sustainable future 🌍💚, that's what this bachelor's programme is about. Students will examine how to tackle environmental challenges and societal transitions from an interdisciplinary perspective. ‘Different disciplines often operate in separate worlds. Our programme will bring these worlds together,’ Bosker adds. Interested in Science for Sustainable Societies? Read more: https://lnkd.in/eeQfj8An