To be able to tell as many people as possible about the biological clock, we are developing a public activity and we need help from you. Could you please fill out this short (5 minute) questionnaire? With your answers we can improve and develop the activity further. Thank you very much! https://leidenuniv.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bNHeXMW02rqtFQO

Light is the main Zeitgeber for the circadian clock, of many organisms. The endless exposure to light, including during the nighttime, is disruptive for the function of circadian clocks everywhere in nature. This research is one of the pillars of the BioClock Consortium. Now, in June ’23, the high impact and world-renowned journal of Science has published a special issue on this topic: Light pollution. We are unable to share the papers here, but are definitely worthwhile...

On May 9th, 2023, the Dutch Society for Sleep-Wake Research organizes a symposium titled ‘Chronobiology meets sleep: from animal to human research’. The symposium will take place Tuesday the 9th of May from 13:00- 18:00 PM. During the meeting the BioClock founders (Joke Meijer, Laura Kervezee) and other chronobiology researchers will provide a translational perspective on recent and upcoming developments in the field of chronobiology. There will be a panel discussion...

Anneloes Opperhuizen Maandagochtend, het laatste weekend van maart, het moment dat de eerste week na het ingaan van de zomertijd weer begint. En daarmee ook het eerste moment dat we het vaak voelen dat de klok een uurtje is verschoven. Het heeft geleid tot een uurtje minder slaap, een verschuiving in de tijden dat je eet en kost mogelijk een paar dagen om aan te passen. Het zorgt er ook voor dat opnieuw de discussie oplaait: waarom doen we dit eigenlijk? En, als we ermee zouden stoppen,...

PhD candidate Hannah Broeckx provides us with an update of her first year. Insect-predator interactions in the spotlight By Hannah Broeckx I am one year into my research on the effect of artificial light at night (ALAN) on insect-predator interactions. What an interesting process it has been so far! ALAN has been shown to impact organisms in a variety of ways. Through species interactions, these effects can cascade throughout the whole ecosystem, amplifying the total impact...

PhD candidate Evelien Castrop has started a year ago on her project in which she studies plants; the base of all ecosystems. Are they affected by nocturnal artificial light? She wrote us an update: “The Luminescent Landscape: Understanding the Impact of Artificial Light on Plants” by Evelien Castrop Is ALAN changing the way our wild plants grow? If so, then how?  The project I have been working on for the past year focuses on investigating the effect of artificial light...

PhD candidate Sander Buddendorf has worked for the past year on his project to understand the bats in urban environments. Are they affected by nocturnal light exposure? That is what he tries to find out in his project. An update on his first year. Understanding the urban bat By Sander Buddendorf The bat is a mysterious flying nocturnal mammal. Many people I talked to in the “field” – in major Dutch cities such as Rotterdam and The Hague – come to me and tell me about bats in...