NewsEight out of ten experimental drugs do not make it past the test phase on patients. Piet Hein van der Graaf, Professor of Systems Pharmacology, would like to prevent this waste of time and money by using new measurement and calculation methods. Inaugural lecture on 27 May.
Of the 86 VIDI research grants awarded by NWO, thirteen were awarded to Leiden researchers. This represents about 15%, a very high score. Five of Leiden's thirteen laureates are women.
Our reflexes seem to be influenced subconsciously by the way we perceive what we see. Leiden cognitive psychologist Marnix Naber published an article on this subject in the Journal of Vision.
Not far from archaeological tourist attraction Petra in Jordan is Udhruh: a small but promising site. This is where Leiden archaeologist Mark Driessen will be excavating a Roman encampment, together with the local population. His project is fully funded by crowdfunding via CommonSites.
Researchers at the Laboratory for Astrophysics of the Leiden Observatory have succeeded in producing water under conditions similar to those found in space.
Science is all about extending borders, and that is precisely what Quentin Bourgeois, Jan Dalhaus and Kim de Jong will be doing. Thanks to a Rubicon Grant they will in the coming year be able to continue their research abroad.
How do you motivate people to strive for equal opportunities? According to social psychologist Serena Does, by appealing to their sense of morality. PhD defence 14 May.
Inadequate support from the family guardian is often the determining factor for foster families to end foster care. This is the conclusion of Leiden Clinical Child and Adolescents Studies expert Peter van den Bergh on the basis of literature research and a study among current and former foster parents.
How often and to whom do doctors prescribe medicinal cannabis? Arno Hazekamp, a pharmaceutical researcher from Leiden University, and Rob Heerdink, a pharmaco-epidemiologist from Utrecht University, investigated this. ‘The prevalence has been stable for ten years, so the patients seem to be satisfied.’
Parents and schools can steer children in how they learn, says clinical neuropsychologist Hanna Swaab. This is why she has developed a training course for teachers and parents. Primary schools that are participating in the TalentenKracht talk about their experiences: ‘We can see from the children that it works.’
Deaf and hard-of-hearing youngsters often grow up in a hearing environment. Does this have consequences for their socio-emotional functioning? Maartje Kouwenberg (Developmental and Educational Psychology) concludes that there is no simple answer to this question. Her PhD defence was on 18 April 2013.
Victims of sexual abuse often avoid gynaecological examinations, but they do go to urologists, is what Leiden PhD candidate Jack Beck has discovered. Knowing about abuse can help provide better diagnosis and treatment. 'It should be standard practice for urologists to ask about abuse, but this by no means happens in every case.' PhD defence 25 April.
‘Walking sixty kilometres a day, through man-high jungle vegetation and in 35° Celsius. It’s hard, but also amazing!’ Archaeologist Alex Geurds has been awarded a Global Exploration Grant by the National Geographic Society for his research in Nicaragua.
Quentin Bourgeois, Jan Dahlhaus and Kim de Jong will be going to a foreign university for one year to do research. The promising young Leiden researchers have been awarded a Rubicon grant for this purpose from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).
Nearly 50% of all parents with young children sleep at least one hour too little every night. This is one of the findings of a national survey on sleep and parenting, carried out in collaboration with Leiden researchers. ‘Parents should not make things too warm and cosy at night.’
The first test results are positive and test subjects are enthusiastic about SpraakZien, the glasses that project speech as subtitles on the lenses. The glasses offer hope for the deaf and hard of hearing. ‘I wish the glasses were already on the market.’
Leiden University is participating in the new Cyber Security Academy (CSA), a centre for research and education on the safety of cyberspace. Other partners include Delft University of Technology and The Hague University of Applied Sciences. Starting in 2013 or 2014, the Academy will be offering higher vocational education (HBO) and university programmes.
Serge Rombouts, Professor of Cognitive Neuro-imaging, works at Leiden University, both at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and at the LUMC: a perfect combination of his two specialist fields. He has been awarded a Vici grant for research on early-stage dementia.
In 1789 at Teyler’s Museum in Haarlem scientists managed for the first time to split water into oxygen and hydrogen. Leiden Professor of Surface Chemistry Marc Koper is now the first scientist to unravel the precise workings of ‘electrolysis’. This brings us a step closer to the hydrogen car.
Aggressive and criminal young adolescents end up a few years later using cannabis more frequently than their peers, concludes Leiden Education and Child Studies expert Merel Griffith-Lendering. The same is true for adolescents with an increased risk of psychosis. Defence 28 March.
