Galaxies in the local Universe fall into two main categories of spirals and ellipticals. In this Thesis, we explore the structural evolution of galaxies into this bimodal distribution.

Cancer is considered the silent pandemic of the 21st century and the second leading cause of death worldwide.

Cardiovascular syndromes are the major cause of death in Western societies.

Promotor: E. F. van Dishoeck, Co-promotor: C. Walsh

Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) is one of the main reasons for drug attrition during pre-clinical and clinical phases of drug development as well as for drug withdrawal post-marketing.

This dissertation consists of two parts, each of which considers a different research area related to random interval maps. In the first part we are interested in random interval maps that are critically intermittent.

Promotor: S.J. Edixhoven, Co-promotor: R.S. de Jong

My work focuses on a class of astronomical objects called protoplanetary disks.

In this PhD study, I aim to deepen our understanding of the influence of major mycorrhizal types, namely arbuscular mycorrhizae (AM) and ectomycorrhizae (EM), on the global soil carbon cycle and their potential distribution changes under future environmental shifts.

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: C.J.M. Muster

The main focus of this thesis is the behaviour of two-dimensional materials, namely (anti)-ferromagnetic materials in the first two chapters, which show topological phases, and energetic square ice in the third and fourth chapter.

Principles of Environmental Sciences provides a comprehensive picture of the principles, concepts and methods that are applicable to problems originating from the interaction between the living and non-living environment and mankind. Both the analysis of such problems and the way solutions to environmental…

The main research question of this thesis was: Can nitrogen cycling on dairy farms on peat soil in the Dutch Green Heart area be improved by adapting management to the nitrogen supply from soil and by using other grassland species and crops without affecting milk production?

Combinatorial games are games for two competing players, moving in a turn-by-turn fashion, in which there is no chance nor hidden information⁠. Chess, checkers and the simpler tic tac toe are well-known examples of this class of games, as well as game of go⁠.

Promotor: S.M. Verduyn Lunel, Co-promotores: M.F.E. de Jeu, B. de Pagter

Including modelling as part of software development appears to have various benefits.

Promotor: Prof.dr. F.S. de Boer, Co-promotor: D. Clarke

Promotor: S.J. Edixhoven

“Temminck’s Order” is the scientific biography of Coenraad Jacob Temminck (1778–1850), a Dutch naturalist and the first director of ’s Rijks Museum van Natuurlijke Historie in Leiden.

Promotores: H. Schiessel, G.T. Barkema

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

A plasma is an ionized gas with very low electrical resistivity. As such, magnetic field lines are 'frozen in' and move with the fluid. Magnetic field lines that are linked, knotted and tangled, cannot be undone by the fluid motions.

Glucocorticoids are potent anti-inflammatory drugs widely used clinically to treat various inflammatory and immune conditions. However, two main clinical problems limit their use. GCs trigger severe side effects and they induce acquired glucocorticoid resistance, especially during chronic systemic treatment…

What is the current relevance of the ethics of counterterrorism and what is the added value of ethics support within the practice of counterterrorism?

Promotor: F.S. de Boer Co-promotor: P. T. de Gouw

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

Promotores: Prof.dr. M. Franx, Prof.dr. P.G. van Dokkum (Yale University)

With the dramatic growth of the image data on the web, there is an increasing demand of the algorithms capable of understanding the visual information automatically.

The focus of the dissertation

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

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Aarts, Prof.dr. J.M. van Ruitenbeek

Light-Harvesting Complex II (LHCII) is responsible for light absorption and excitation energy transfer in plants and photosynthetic algae, while in high light it undergoes conformational changes by which it quenches excitations to prevent photodamage.

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

In some condensed matter systems, such as the surface of a 3D topological insulator, the electrons are effectively massless and we must necessarily use the massless Dirac equation to describe them.

Promotor: Prof.dr. B.R. Katzy, Prof.dr. J. de Vries

The lipids in the uppermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), play an important role in the skin barrier function. The three main SC lipid classes are ceramides (CER), cholesterol and free fatty acids.

Promotores: J.A.van Veen, P.L.G.Klinkhamer. Co-promotor: E.E.Kuramae

Promotor: Prof.dr. P. Stevenhagen

The overall objectives of my thesis are to investigate the dynamics of the sorghum root microbiome and to explore the beneficial effects of the root microbiome on sorghum growth and stress tolerance.

Constraint multi-objective optimization with a limited budget for function evaluations is challenging. This thesis tackles this problem by proposing new optimization algorithms. These algorithms are applied on holistic ship design problems. This helps naval architects balance objectives like cost, efficiency,…

Pectin is a plant cell wall polysaccharide made of mainly D-galacturonic acid (GA) subunits. The potency of the filamentous fungus Aspergillus niger to naturally secrete high amounts of pectinases to degrade pectin has been utilized for the industrial production of pectinases.

Promotor: Johan Kuiper, Co-promotor: Saskia C.A. de Jager

In this thesis, we developed new ways to use a technique called electroextraction (EE) to extract charged molecules from one liquid into another using an electric field.

Promotor: K.H. Kuijken

This thesis applies data mining in commercial settings in the telecommunications industry.

A common method to solve expensive function evaluation problem is using Bayesian Global Optimization, instead of Evolutionary Algorithms.

In this thesis we have discussed several parameters that affect the electrochemical conversion of enviromentaly harmful molecules such as nitrates and carbon dioxide to more valuable and less deleterious compounds, in order to cast light onto the mechanism of the reaction to achieve an efficient and…

In this thesis we study bistable reaction-diffusion equations on lattice domains.

How can we develop and further improve life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation factors and normalisation factors?

This dissertation combines the use of defined microenvironments, high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, and time-resolved analysis, to study intracellular and cellular motility.