Nineteen researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Veni grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The grant provides creative space for adventurous, talented, pioneering researchers to develop their own line of research over the next three years. Each researcher receives up to €320,000
Read on to find out more about what these researchers are going to investigate.
Making change stick: Unlocking the potential for habit formation
Pam ten Broeke - Institute of Psychology/Health Campus*
Maintaining healthy behaviours is hard. The solution, according to psychologists, is habit formation. Popular media often claim that it takes 66 days to form a habit, but research shows a different picture: some habits form within days, others take many months and some never form at all. In this project, Ten Broeke will study which behaviours are most likely to become habits, and how people can deal with setbacks along the way. She will deliver a practical guide and evidence-based strategies to support researchers, healthcare professionals, and citizens in using habit formation for lasting behaviour change.
The role of the body in responsive public service delivery
Lianne Visser - Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs/Health Campus*
Many citizens feel unheard by public organisations or even get trapped in bureaucratic procedures, while professionals face stress, burnout or leave the field. To understand why, Visser will study how citizens and professionals communicate through posture, gestures and voice, make judgments about bodily demeanour or conduct, and experience emotions that leave bodily traces. The findings will show how the body shapes citizens' experiences of the state, affects citizen and professional well-being, and steers decisions, offering ways to make public services more responsive.
Health across generations in Dutch and Belgian Limburg
Nienke Slagboom - LUMC/Health Campus*
Since the closure of the coal mines in Belgian and Dutch Limburg, the health and life expectancy of families on either side of the border have differed strikingly. Slagboom will investigate how three generations experienced the mine closures, how communities responded and how pathways of health are shaped across generations - and what this means for future transitions.
Lianne Visser, Pam ten Broeke and Nienke Slagboom are affiliated with Health Campus The Hague and work on our interdisciplinary Health and Well-being theme.
AI as a tool for scientific discovery in quantum physics
Anna Dawid-Lekowska (Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science/Leiden Institute of Physics)
AI and neural networks are powerful tools for predicting protein structures. Anna Dawid-Lekowska will investigate whether neural networks can help us make breakthroughs in understanding new quantum phenomena. By combining neural networks that explain their reasoning with highly controllable quantum experiments, she aims to explore new ways in which quantum particles organise and to uncover the physical rules behind these behaviours.
The physics behind the first living structures on Earth
K.K. Nakashima
Protocells are chemical models of the first living structures on early Earth. Nakashima aims to fine-tune liquid droplets that can move or divide, advancing our understanding of the physical principles that govern life.
Forgotten grains of the West Indies
Margret Veltman - Hortus botanicus
The transatlantic slave trade transported millions of Africans and their crops to the New World. African grains such as sorghum and millet were essential foods for enslaved Africans working on Caribbean plantations, but little is known about their origins. Veltman will explore how these grains were introduced to the West Indies and adapted to their new environment by comparing their DNA with that of their African relatives, and aims to reconstruct the forgotten diversity of these crops, their cultural significance and their importance for food security.
Verified analysis for infinite-state systems
Emily Yu - Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Subtle design errors can have severe societal and economic consequences. Yu aims to produce verification tools for software that provide mathematical guarantees of correctness. The current verification tools are complex and must largely be trusted without independent validation.
Heat-resistant catalysts turn plastic waste into raw materials for detergent
F.J. de Zwart
Zwart aims to develop molecules that can break down plastic and convert it into soap. The challenge is to design special molecules that survive the high temperatures of molten plastic and selectively cut it without breaking down themselves. Understanding which molecules do this is a fundamental scientific challenge which, if we can overcome it, could help to convert plastic waste into something useful, such as raw materials for detergent.
Investigating resilience of transhumance systems in Turkic countries
Gül Aktürk Hauser - Archaeology
Hauser will analyse transhumanance, a pastoral system in which humans move their livestock seasonally between lower and higher pastures. Although this way of life has existed for centuries, climate change, biodiversity loss and changes in land use are placing ever-greater pressure on pastoralist communities and the landscapes on which they depend. How are pastoralist communities adapting to a changing climate? And what can we learn from their centuries-old knowledge of living with uncertainty in the natural environment?
From reactive to proactive administration
Fatma Çapkurt - Institute of Public Law
Many citizens live at or below the poverty line, but fail to claim governmental income-support benefits they are legally entitled to. Administrative law assumes citizens can actively apply to access benefits. However, they are often unaware of their rights, unsure how to apply, or discouraged by complex procedures. Capkurt will develop a principle of proactive administration, exploring how authorities can identify and assist non-claiming citizens while respecting data protection laws.
How authoritarian powers challenge Europe's democratic foundations through international media
Aiden Hoyle - Institute of Security and Global Affairs
Russia and China use international digital news platforms not only to spread outright falsehoods, but also to subtly reshape how democratic principles are understood, applied and justified. But how exactly do Russia and China construct these messages, and how do Europeans respond to them? By analysing Russian and Chinese international news coverage and conducting survey experiments across several European countries, Hoyle will develop a framework for understanding how such influence operates, informing efforts to strengthen democratic resilience in Europe.
From numbers to reality: the metaphysics of dimensions
Caspar Jacobs - Institute for Philosophy
When scientists measure a quantity, such as mass, they must always use a unit, such as grams or ounces. The property that determines which units can be used for a particular quantity is called the 'dimension' of that quantity. Why do the quantities used by physicists have such dimensions? This is a philosophical question about the foundations of physics. Jacobs aims to see if it is possible to understand the dimensionality of a quantity as a kind of space in which objects are located. This will help us understand the fundamental order of the physical universe.
Towards better treatment of childhood social anxiety
Anke Klein - Institute of Psychology
Childhood social anxiety is highly prevalent, has a major impact and increases the risk of social difficulties, school dropout and suicidality. More than half of children continue to experience substantial symptoms after treatment. Klein will investigate which distinct patterns of social anxiety symptoms occur in children and how these are related to treatment outcomes. She aims to contribute to more tailored and effective care for young people with social anxiety.
Tracking how the mind loses and regains focus
Steven Miletić - Institute of Psychology
Staying focused over time is crucial to safe driving, monitoring complex systems and everyday work. Yet we still do not understand how mental effort rises and falls from moment to moment. Miletić will develop mathematical models that treat effort as a hidden process that changes over time and leaves traces in the speed and accuracy of our reactions, pupil size and brain activity. By precisely and quantitatively 'reading out' effort from these signals, he aims to predict lapses before they happen and support safer, healthier and more sustainable work.
The past and present of the Hindustani community
Sanjukta Poddar - Leiden Institute for Area Studies
Discussions on migration ignore the fact that the presence of several migrant communities is a direct result of the Dutch colonial past. Highlighting migrant voices will create a better understanding of the reality of migration. An apt case is that of the Hindustani community, who were brought as indentured labourers from India to the Dutch colony of Suriname, and subsequently migrated to the Netherlands. By exploring the experiences of migrants and intergenerational memories of descendants, Poddar will examine how the past shapes the current identity of the community.
Heritage on the move: Reimagining the protection of displaced heritage in international law
Sophie Starrenburg - Leiden Law School
When communities are displaced, their heritage is at risk, either in the form of the tangible heritage they leave behind or the intangible heritage which travels with them to their new homes. Yet international heritage law offers insufficient protection to the heritage of displaced communities due to its state-centric structures. Starrenburg will examine how displacement disrupts core assumptions in international heritage law and develop an alternative legal framework to better protect displaced heritage.
Vaccine response in the spleen
Dennis Hoving/LUMC
Vaccines are the most effective method to prevent infectious diseases, but how long they provide protection varies and often decreases over time. Memory cells are important for long-lasting protection, yet it is still unclear why some vaccine responses last longer than others. In this project, Hoving will study how the human spleen contributes to lasting vaccine protection and what features of the memory cells and their environment make this possible.
On the road to curing APS
Thijs van Mens/LUMC
Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease that causes blood clots, with devastating consequences. There is no cure. In this project, Van Mens will lay the foundations for a new treatment that transforms patients' own blood cells to eliminate their disease-causing immune cells. They will do this by mimicking the protein to which the autoimmune cells respond on the therapeutic cells, as bait. This approach would represent a revolution for APS patients.
Why type 1 diabetes patients and their disease differ
René van Tienhoven/LUMC
Type 1 diabetes patients need insulin because their insulin-producing beta-cells are destroyed by immune cells. Insulin is not a cure, and immune intervention trials have partial and non-durable effects. Van Tienhoven will address why stressed beta-cells trigger immune attack and why patients differ in response to therapy. New knowledge should guide future treatments to the right patient, improving therapeutic outcomes.
