Medical oncologist and researcher Judith Kroep conducts research into ovarian cancer. She received €70,000 for her research project from the Willemijn Charity Golf Day crowdfunding campaign on steunleiden.nl.

Immunotherapy stimulates the cancer patient's own immune system to attack the cancer. However, this therapy is not effective in all patients. With a grant from the Nypels-Van der Zee Fund, Dr Noel de Miranda has developed a rapid, effective test to select suitable patients.

Femicide is a serious issue in the Netherlands: around 40 women are murdered each year. Yet the circumstances surrounding these deaths are not recorded. To change that, Marieke Liem, Professor of Security and Interventions, launched the Femicide Monitor. ‘To develop effective interventions, we need to understand what’s really happening.’

The Leiden University Thesis Prizes were awarded on Alumni Day on 15 February. The nominees came with their family and friends to the Kamerlingh Onnes Building for the award ceremony for these annual prizes for the best theses.

As a sixth-year medical student at Leiden University, Marianne van der Vaart got the chance to reseach pain perception in infants. With a LISF-scholarship, she travelled to Oxford to work on her computer model at the university's department of pediatrics.

Invasive aquatic plants are finding their way to the Netherlands with increasing ease. The same is true for mosquito species. This can endanger public health, for instance through mosquito-borne disease, and biodiversity. Ecologists Emily Strange and Michiel Veldhuis are researching whether there is a link between the increase in invasive floating aquatic plants and mosquitoes. With support from LUF, the researchers hope to implement their programme on an international scale.

On Thursday 9 October, a signing ceremony was held in the Alumni Room of the Academy Building for the Waaldijk Orientation Fund. With the signing of the agreement, the creation of this new fund was formally confirmed.