Dominique Moïsi, a professor at King’s College London, will be the first holder of the Owada chair. ‘In the present international context of polarisation and divisions within societies and amongst nations, any effort at bringing Asia and Europe closer to each other is truly important.’

Assistant Professor Maarten Schrama works at Leiden University’s living labs, where biology, environmental sciences and knowledge about agriculture and policy come together. We met him at the new Polderlab to ask him about his research.

One used 3D cell models to study colorectal cancer, while the other used machine learning for more efficient blood donation. For these achievements, Marieke Vinkenoog and Simon Christian Hansmann were awarded the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award on Tuesday 2 September.

The purpose of the Leiden Empowerment Fund (LEF) is to ensure an environment in which researchers and students at Leiden University can fully realise their ambitions, regardless of their gender, cultural background, sexual orientation or physical disabilities. It does this by creating equal opportunities.

Following his own path from a young age, taking on challenges, asking for advice and inspiring others with the insights he’d gained: that was Laurent van Vugt’s (1939-2019) path in life. In his will he left a bequest to LUF, which his wife established as a named fund: the Camino Laurent van Vugt Fund.

Military veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder often have symptoms that are both chronic and complex. Professor by Special Appointment Eric Vermetten is looking for new ways to help them deal with these. One possible medicine: party drug MDMA.