We developed the bitterling as a unique, well-studied model organism in the area of the evolutionary ecology of brood parasitism. The bitterling-mussel relationship, interspecific mussel host preference, and mussel gill structure are studied in detail, to help understand the developmental adaptation…

Striga hermonthica, commonly known as witchweed, infests major cereal crops in Sub-Saharan Africa causing severe yield losses and threatening the livelihood of millions of resource poor farmers.

This work describes the use of click-to-release chemistry to get spatiotemporal control over immunocytokine activity. Until now, immunocytokines (cytokines coupled to a tumor-targeting-moiety) remained active throughout the body, being able to bind their respective receptors, causing mild to severe…

The research described in this thesis centered on retaining exo-β-glucosidases implicated in health and disease, in particular the human inherited lysosomal storage disorder, Gaucher disease (GD).

The field of science communication is very broad. Below is a list of organisations where SCS students can fulfill internships or where alumni have found jobs.

Barrier function is the natural role of the skin. The lipid matrix present in the outermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum is important for this function.

This thesis describes a study from both a theoreticaL and an experimental point of view.

Promotor: A. Achúcarro Co-promotor: A. Boyarsky

In the first part, we introduce a new condition, called toric-additivity, on a family of abelian varieties degenerating to a semi-abelian scheme over a normal crossing divisor.

Promotor: Prof.dr. P. Stevenhagen, Co-promotor: B. de Smit

Cathodic corrosion is a relatively unknown phenomenon that can severely etch metallic electrodes at cathodic (negative) potentials.

This work is dedicated to interpreting in cohomological terms the special values of zeta functions of arithmetic schemes.

Promotor: J.M. van den Broek Co-promotor: M.C. de Vries

Cardiovascular diseases are among the most frequent causes of death in the world. The main underlying pathology of cardiovascular diseases is the development of atherosclerosis in the medium and large-sized arteries.

This research delves into a region of space known as the interstellar medium (ISM), which is essentially the area between the stars filled with gas and dust.

In human cells, a meter-long DNA is condensed inside a micrometer-sized cell nucleus. Simultaneously, the genetic code must remain accessible for its replication and transcription to functional proteins.

The field of exoplanet research is rapidly advancing through the development of new technology, observing techniques, and post-processing methods.

This thesis describes the role of pollution, specifically neonicotinoid insecticides, as an actor of the ongoing biodiversity decline.

The chemical and structural heterogeneity of toxoid vaccines makes their analysis challenging. However, detailed insights on a molecular level can be obtained by mass spectrometry.

One of the main challenges in the development of an effective anti-cancer vaccine is the generation of an adequate and directed cellular immune response.

The effective treatment of tuberculosis (TB) remains a major challenge to global health.

This thesis investigates how quantum, quantum-inspired, and hybrid quantum-classical computation can enhance key points of the automated machine learning (AutoML) pipeline under the constraints of noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices.

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) constitutes a small subtype (~15%) of breast cancer, but causes the majority of breast cancer-related deaths.

The sequence-dependence of biomolecular interactions involving nucleic acids and proteins is essential for numerous processes inside the cell. Insights into the underlying molecular mechanisms have been obtained using various biochemical and biophysical methods on two different levels — bulk and sin…

This research focuses on the distribution of chemical elements in protoplanetary disks, the birthplaces of planets. These disks form around young stars and contain gas and dust, from which planets grow. Ice plays a crucial role in planet formation, aiding the clumping of dust particles and influencing…

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. Smets, Co-Promotor: L.W. Chatrou

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

Obesity may alter how a person absorbs, distributes, metabolizes or excretes medication. This thesis describes how obesity affects drug levels in the blood for antimicrobial agents, such as ciprofloxacin and fluconazole.

LCA has become an important method to study environmental impacts of human activities. Still, there are several methodological issues in LCA that can adversely affect the results reliability.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body, makes treatments less effective. It is important to unravel the mechanism of metastasis.

Surface acoustic waves (SAWs) are mechanical waves that travel along the surface of a material and find many applications in modern technologies due to the ease of excitation on piezoelectric substrates via interdigital transducers (IDTs).

Promotor: J.N. Kok, Co-Promotor: A.J. Knobbe

Promotores: Prof.dr. G.F.A Kersten, Prof dr. J.A. Bouwstra

Promotores: Prof.dr. H. van Veen & Prof.dr. W. de Boer (Wageningen University)

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

When observing star-forming galaxies, we are not only seeing stellar light, but we also see how this interacts with galactic gas and dust. This thesis contains studies of the stellar, nebular and dust properties of low mass star-forming galaxies.

Promotor: Prof.dr. S. Portegies Zwart

Subproject of the ERC project 'Challenging the Liberal World Order from Within: The Invisible History of the United Nations and the Global South'.

Promotor: Bas Edixhoven, Promotor: Qing Liu

Real-life processes are characterized by dynamics involving time. Examples are walking, sleeping, disease progress in medical treatment, and events in a workflow.

Increasing the efficiency of gene targeting (GT) as a genome editing tool in plants has been an important goal in plant biotechnology.

Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) is a group of acute diseases caused by highly infectious viruses including Ebola, Lassa, Dengue viruses. Its high mortality rate poses high risk to public health, however, studies on VHF have been hampered due to the non-availability of proper models and incomplete knowledge…

Statistical considerations guide the design and implementation of the experiments that scientists perform. For instance, in a clinical trial about a the efficacy of a treatment, its effect in a certain minimum amount of patients has to be observed in order to make confident assertions about the efficacy…

Promotores: F.H. van Lunteren, F.P. Israel

Humans can see the world through the eyes of other humans and imagine what they know, want, and intend. This competence is known as Theory of Mind.

De Faculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen is gevestigd op verschillende locaties in het Bio Science Park Leiden.

Op 13 januari 2022 verdedigde Pie Habimana het proefschrift 'Harmful Tax Competition in the East African Community'. Het promotieonderzoek is begeleid door prof.dr. H. Vording en prof.dr. S.C.W. Douma (UvA).

Promotor: P. J. J. Hooykaas, Co-promotor: R. Offringa

Classical statistical methods, such as p-values, are difficult for researchers to apply correctly. They for example do not allow drawing conclusions from a study early, or for extending a study with extra research groups that want to make their data available later.

Promotor: A. Kros