Majorana fermions in superconductors are the subgap quasiparticle excitations that are their own antiparticles.

Promotor: F.P. Israel, Co-Promoter: R. Meijerink

Promotor: J.M. van Ruitenbeek, Co-Promotor: S.J. van der Molen

We explored the Universe using weak gravitational lensing, a phenomenon that occurs when light from distant galaxies is bent by the gravitational fields of closer cosmic objects, much like how a lens distorts light.

In dit vierde rapport worden ontwikkelingen besproken ten aanzien van het beleid met betrekking tot personen die terugkeren uit jihadistische strijdgebieden, zogeheten ‘terugkeerders’, voor de periode januari 2017 tot medio december 2018.

Natural vanilla flavor is one of the most important in the world. However, the cost of this flavor is expensive. Production of this flavor by alternative methods, could reduce the cost.

Low-mass main-sequence stars like our Sun are continuous sources of outflowing hot magnetised plasma. In the case of the Sun, this is known as the solar wind, whereas for other stars they are called stellar winds.

Promotor: J.N. Kok, P.E. Slagboom Co-promotor: J.F.J. Laros

Atherosclerosis is the most important underlying process that drives cardiovascular disease, and is characterized by an accumulation of cholesterol which triggers an inflammatory response in the vessel wall.

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to affect marine animals in various ways, this may have fitness consequences at individual and population level. This thesis aims to increase insight into the quantification of sound-induced behavioural responses that are relevant to fitness, and into factors that…

To an algebraic curve C over the complex numbers one can associate a non-negative integer g, the genus, as a measure of its complexity.

Promotor: Prof.dr. R.M.H. Merks

My PhD thesis investigates the ecological significance of resistance against drought-induced air bubble formation inside the water conduits of plants (embolism), and the plasticity and functional aspects of stem anatomical traits in woody and herbaceous species.

Marine sponges are important members of reef ecosystems, as they play ecological roles that are essential for the health of the reef.

Sound is everywhere in the marine environment and hearing is therefore a very important for stimuli for fish. They use sound for orientation and communication, during migration, aggregation and spawning, but also for detection of prey and predators.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a subtype of breast cancer characterized by limited treatment options and unfavorable clinical outcomes. Therefore, the research described in this thesis focused on the exploration of novel targeted therapies for TNBC.

Promotor: Prof.dr. W.Th.F. den Hollander, Co-promotor: R. Fernandez.

Although nanoparticles are extensively used in various applications like consumer products and have most probably entered the environment, little is known about the effects of these particles on living organisms.

In my research, we developed a method to distinguish knots. A knot is a mathematical depiction of the everyday knot that occurs in ropes and cords.

The power of personalized nutrition lies in being able to conduct clinical research on healthy people while capturing metabolic markers sensitive to the impact of environmental and metabolic stressors (e.g. diet, changing sex hormones and the menstrual cycle).

The plant hormone auxin plays a central role in the growth and development of plants. Auxin acts in a concentration dependent manner and polar cell-to-cell transport of this hormone determines its distribution in the tissues of plants. This polar auxin transport is mediated by several families of auxin…

With increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and their detrimental effect on the global climate, modern society needs to push for more renewable energy sources. Storing widely accessible and abundant solar energy in chemical bonds in the form of molecular fuel via artificial photosynthesis…

This thesis describes the development and validation of new high-contrast imaging techniques, with the ultimate goal of enabling the next generation of instruments for ELT-class telescopes to directly image Earth-like extra-solar planets orbiting around nearby stars.

Promotor: D. Bouwmeester, Co-promotor: D. Kraft

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

Three major cosmology-focused missions are planned for the next decade: the Euclid space telescope, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, and the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

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…

De LUMC Alumni Vereniging is in 1996 opgericht om enerzijds de band tussen het Leids Universitair Medisch Centrum en zijn alumni te versterken, anderzijds om de band van de alumni onderling te versterken.

Spectroscopic studies on fluorescent single molecules in organic condensed matter does not only provide information about the molecule itself, but also its near environment. By suppression of phonon-induced broadening of spectral lines through cooling to low temperatures, small changes in the spectral…

Molecular materials have been a subject of interest in fundamental research and applications for decades, and have been studied as bulk crystals, (thin) films and as individual molecules, due to the large variety in their properties. This dissertation explores pentacene crystals near the two-dimensional…

Natural resources often stretch across borders that separate modern nation states. This can create conflict and limit opportunities for regulated consumption of their goods and services, but also provide opportunities for joint multinational efforts that exceed single country capabilities.

Schistosomiasis is an acute and chronic disease caused by blood dwelling parasitic trematodes of the genus Schistosoma, and it is classified as the second most socioeconomically devastating parasitic disease, second only to malaria.

The overarching goal of this thesis is to set the foundations, but also make the first essential steps towards establishing a comprehensive, mesoscopic, hydrodynamic theory of epithelial tissues. The stage is set by an exhaustive study of topological defects in passive p-atic liquid crystals, singularities…

Radiography is an important technique to inspect objects, with applications in airports and hospitals. X-ray imaging is also essential in industry, for instance in food safety checks for the presence of foreign objects.

A key step in the synthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoconjugates is the formation of the glycosidic bond.

Promotor: H.W. Lenstra

Promotor: Thomas Hankemeier, Co-promotores: Heiko van der Linden, Paul Vulto

More than 5,000 exoplanets have been found over the past couple of decades. These exoplanets show a tremendous diversity, ranging from scorching hot Jupiters, common super-Earths, to widely separated super-Jupiters on the planet/brown dwarf boundary.

This thesis discusses the physical and chemical processes than influence the composition of forming planets.

Promotor: Prof.dr. H.J.A. Rottgering

Promotor: J. Aarts

In this thesis integral points on affine del Pezzo surfaces are studied.

Streptomyces present a valuable platform for natural product discovery. Lugdunomycin is a novel angucycline-derived polyketide from Streptomyces sp QL37, with unprecedented skeleton and antimicrobial activity.

We have conducted a full spectral line survey of the 3-13 micron region of two massive protostars, AFGL 2591 and AFGL 2136, for the first time at high spectral resolution.

In this thesis, we develop a novel technique called Optical Near-field Electron Microscopy (ONEM), which aims to combine the advantages of both optical and electron microscopy: the high resolution of electron microscopy and the low sample damage of optical microscopy.

This thesis tackles the difficulty of predicting the liver’s clinical response to novel therapies, a challenge arising from interspecies differences and limitations of existing in vitro models.

Promotores: P.G.L. Klinkhamer, P.M. Brakefield, Co-Promotor: M. Bruinsma

Supervisor: P.J.J. Hooykaas

Human language is constantly evolving with its linguistic structure being shaped by language users at both individual and population levels. Focusing on the interplay between processes of language acquisition and communicative need in shaping human languages, this thesis introduces a novel computational…

Plants produce an astonishing variety of secondary metabolites (SMs) which are thought to play vital roles in the fitness of plants through ecological interactions.