Biodiversity enables ecosystems to thrive through the synergy of functional differences among organisms. While human well-being strongly depends on biodiversity-driven ecosystem services, human actions are also at the root of current unprecedented biodiversity declines.

Binnen het brede netwerk van de Universiteit Leiden neemt het instituut deel aan onderzoek binnen de volgende profileringsgebieden:

Does knowledge of environmental performance change farmer's behaviour?

We have examined sequences from the ligand-binding domain of the nicotinic acetyl choline receptor (nAChR) in 148 vertebrate species. We are in interested in this receptor because the α-neurotoxins of many venomous snakes binds to this receptor in its location at the neuromuscular junction in all ve…

Course Program 2023-2024

Do e-waste workers display enhanced effects of adverse health effects due to informal e-waste processing in Nigeria? Is there a difference between the health outcomes of the exposed and the control groups? Are there difference in health effects within and between job groups (collectors, dismantlers,…

This project uses archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence to investigate urban development in Roman-period North Africa, compiling this in a GIS-linked database in order to analyse the development of urban settlement spatially over time.

This thesis describes the development and optimization of the first molecular tools to study the enzyme PLA2G4E.

Automated Machine Learning (AutoML) is widely used to automatically build a suitable practical Machine Learning (ML) model for an arbitrary real-world problem, reducing the effort of practitioners in the ML development cycle for real-world applications. Optimization is a key part of a typical AutoML…

This thesis is about augmented reality (AR). AR is commonly considered a technology that integrates virtual images into a user’s view of the real world.

A convolutional neural network (CNN) is a biologically inspired algorithm, highly capable at processing images and videos.

Promotor: E.F. Smets Co-promotor: J. Geml

Drug-target binding kinetics determine the time course of the central event in pharmacotherapy: Drug-target interaction.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel, Co-promotor: O. van Gaans

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Schmidt

With tomography it is possible to reconstruct the interior of an object without destroying.

Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) have been detected in objects across different stages of stellar evolution.

Promotores: J.N. Kok, H.J. Hoogeboom

Promotor: M. Danhof Co-promotor: O.E. Della Pasqua

Promotor: Prof.dr. A. P. IJzerman, Co-Promotor: L.H. Heitman

Promotores: K.J. Batenburg, B. Koren

Promotor: B.van de Water, Co-promotor: L.S.Price

Het doel van het RAISE Onderzoek is om te onderzoeken hoe veerkrachtige mensen omgaan met stress. We kijken specifiek naar hoe belangrijke biologische systemen, zoals de HPA-as en het immuunsysteem, samenwerken met de hersenen en de sociale omgeving om veerkrachtig functioneren na moeilijkheden in de…

Promotors: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Prof.dr. H. Leirs (Univ. Antwerpen)

Promotor: G.A. van der Marel, Co-promotor: J.D.C. Codée

The invention of neural networks marks a critical milestone in the pursuit of true artificial intelligence. Despite their impressive performance on various tasks, these networks face limitations in learning efficiently as they are often trained from scratch.

Carbohydrates, alongside proteins and nucleic acids, constitute a crucial and versatile family of biomolecules present in all life forms. They manifest as monosaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides, covalently bonded to proteins and fats. Carbohydrates are integral to plant and arthropod…

Promotor: P.D. Grünwald

Promotores: J.C. van Houwelingen, S.A. van de Geer

Plant diversity is essential for us and our planet as it sustains the stability of our ecosystems, provides vital materials and food to us and supports many ecosystem services.

Bacteria are highly complex and diverse organisms that have adapted to survive in ecological niches ranging from the most extreme to the most heterogeneous environments.

Explaining treatment response variability between and within patients can support treatment and dosing optimization, to improve treatment of individual patients.

The theoretical explanation of cosmic acceleration is nowadays one of the biggest puzzles in cosmology.

In this work, we attempt to answer the question:

Promotor: Prof.dr. W.J.G.M. Peijnenburg

Lipid signaling is an essential biological event/process in a plethora of pathophysiological conditions. The underlying idea of this thesis is that many of the roles and the complex interplay of the individual signaling lipids in inflammatory processes and related conditions in health and disease is…

Promotores: T.H.W. Bäck, A. Plaat, Co-promotor: F.J. Verbeek

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.N. Kok, Co-promotor: A.J. Knobbe

Promotores: B. van de Water; P. Hogendoorn; J. Bovée Co-Promotor: E.H.J. Danen

Protoplanetary disks are the gas and dust environments where planetary systems form around young stars. Using observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) this thesis analyses the gaseous molecular reservoir, using multiple tracers to resolve the 3D structure of protoplanetary…

We present an extensive study of methods for exactly solving stochastic constraint (optimisation) problems (SCPs) in network analysis. These problems are prevalent in science, governance and industry.

Actinobacteria are well known for the production of bioactive natural products, many of which have applications in the fields of human, animal and plant health. Subject of this thesis are the anthracyclines, glycosylated aromatic polyketides with potent anticancer activity.

Promotor: J.N. Kok, Co-promotor: C.M. Soares, A.J. Knobbe

A new environmental accounting framework using externality data and input-output tools for policy analysis.

Vancomycin is a last-resort antibiotic for the treatment of many Gram-positive bacterial infections, while remaining inactive against Gram-negative strains.

Glycosidases (GHs) are enzymes responsible for the degradation of carbohydrates and play many roles in human health and pathophysiology. Often, abnormal levels of glycosidase activity are markedly linked to human pathologies.

Thermodynamics is one of the founding scientific pillars that has helped us better understand heat engines, biology, ecosystems, and even black holes. While it fundamentally describes large systems by examining the bulk behavior of their constituents, it is anchored in the statistical equivalence of…

Promotores: Prof.dr. A.G.G.M. Tielens, Prof.dr. L. Kaper (UvA)

Promotor: K.J. Batenburg, Co-promotor: A.W. van der Vaart, B. de Smit