54th volume- External edition

Nobel Prize Teaser Beschrijving Chemistry Lithium ion batteries Teaser Beschrijving Majors explained Teaser Synthesis, Materials Beschrijving and Technology On Stage Visiting our Northern neighbours

Thema Buitenleden Chimica Acta Lugduni Xe ejaargang 54 jaargang- -Derde Buitenleden editie editie 20XX-20XX 2019-2020

Buitenleden editie Praesidiaal 3 Chemisch Journaal 4 CDL Integraal 6 In de toren 9 Onderwijs: Majors 10 Gadgets 12 Fotopagina 14 Gadgets 16 Katalise 18 On Stage 19 Study Trip 22 BB 24 Interview 26 Lijn 43 28 Corona-update 29 Onderwijs 30

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The Chimica Acta Lugduni is the magazine for the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden (CDL). Chemisch Dispuut Leiden is the study association of the bachelor Molecular Science & Technology and the master Chemistry.

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Editorial Board Christine Visser (Editor in chief)

Maartje Zweers

Lise van den Bos (Editor in chief)

Pepijn Lammers

Chemee Parree

Renate de Vreede

Joeri Schoenmakers

Sterre de Lange

Lies Levering

Jitske Hubert (QQ)

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Dear reader, First and foremost, I hope that you and your family are well and have navigated through these challenging times in good health. The past academic year, and with that our board year, has come to an end. Therefore, the editorial committee has created this edition of the Chimica for you to learn what has happened in the past year. A lot of activities have been organised and quite some other matters have been altered within the CDL. However, a considerable number of events had to be cancelled, not only for students, but also for you, our external members. There was only one external member’s activity organised this year, as the bonbon making workshop and the summer drinks had to be cancelled.

In this edition of the Chimica you can read about the developments in the CDL. The most evident change for this magazine is our new policy to only paper-print it for those who opt in, in the name of increasing sustainability. Furthermore, a lot of sustainable decisions have been made this year regarding the new Gorlaeus building. At the beginning of this year they decided, instead of deconstructing the entire high-rise block of the old building, to keep the structure of the last few stories to remake into a bike parking area with a lot of greenery and wildlife like bees. Also, the rest of the campus area will be designed with high sustainability standards.

Besides, in January we have welcomed the new dean of the Leiden Faculty of Science, Michiel Kreutzer. He is not only a chemist by trait, he is also an honorary member of one of our sister associations, which tell us that he appreciates study associations and is open to work with us. Incidentally, this year the CDL has included Prof. dr. Lies Bouwman as an honorary member. We believe she has meant a lot to particularly master students of Chemistry and Life Science & Technology over the past years with her personal attention for student wellbeing and her involvement in our master committee.

This only leaves me with introducing Lise, Jasmijn, Joeri, Maartje and Pepijn, who took over as the 88th board of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden. Further on in this Chimica you can learn more about them and how they are doing so far this academic year.

On behalf of the 87th board of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden ‘Exhilarate’ Lara van der Poll h.t. praeses der Chemisch Dispuut Leiden

Lieve buitenleden, Hier is hij dan eindelijk: de Buitenleden Chimica! Hij heeft wat vertraging opgelopen, omdat wij door de corona maatregelen niet op de universiteit aan de Chimica mochten werken.

Desalniettemin vinden wij het belangrijk dat de buitenleden natuurlijk niet vergeten worden.

Bij deze Chimica vind je ook een uitnodiging voor de eerste online buitenleden activiteit! Daarnaast zal later in het jaar (hopelijk fysiek) de reünistendag plaatsvinden.

Hier zijn jullie natuurlijk allemaal van harte welkom.

Het zal je in deze Chimica misschien opvallen dat sommige

teksten in het Nederlands en andere in het Engels zijn. Dit komt omdat wij in het afgelopen jaar een switch hebben gemaakt van de Nederlandse naar de Engelse taal als voertaal in de Chimica.

In deze Chimica vind je een verslag van veel activiteiten die afgelopen collegejaar hebben plaatsgevonden, daarnaast lees je verschillende artikelen geschreven door onze redactie en kan je lezen over minors en stages in het noorden van Europa!

Veel leesplezier!

Lise van den Bos Editor in chief Chimica Acta Lugduni

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Elektronen erin...

De wekker gaat weer eens veel te vroeg, dus je besluit om nog even vijf minuten te blijven liggen. Zoals we allemaal wel eens hebben meegemaakt, worden die vijf minuten een compleet uur.

Je rent uit bed, propt een boterham in je mond, stapt op je fiets om vervolgens je telefoon te vergeten. Met groot geluk heb je die ‘s nachts aan de oplader gehangen, dus die kan in no-time mee. Maar hoe komt het dat we tegenwoordig elektronica overal mee naartoe kunnen nemen? Het antwoord is ergens heel simpel, stop er een batterijtje in en gaan. Gelukkig is dat batterijtje sinds 1800 alleen maar verbeterd, maar dat is geen makkelijke taak geweest. Laten we eens gaan kijken waarom in 2019 de Nobelprijs voor Scheikunde naar iets ging wat zo triviaal lijkt.

Geschiedenis Het verhaal van de batterij begint allemaal bij de Italiaan Alessandro Volta.

Deze professor stelde in 1800 de eerste ‘batterij’ op. Deze bestond uit een grote stapel schijven van koper en zink die Figuur 1, Basis opbouw van een batterij weer gescheiden werden door in zoutoplossing gedrenkte kartonnetjes. Met dergelijke opstellingen liet Volta zien dat zijn apparaat een continue stroom kon laten lopen. Zo was de Zuil van Volta de voorloper van de moderne batterij. Zijn onderzoek ontketende een weidse interesse voor elektrochemie en leidde tot veel nieuwe ontdekkingen in de sector.

Verdere ontwikkelingen van de batterij gingen echter langzaam en waren ontmoedigend. De eerste batterijen waren goed voor experimentele doeleinden maar konden niet voor lang gebruikt worden. De eerste bruikbare cel was geïntroduceerd door de scheikundige Daniell, vandaar

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de zeer bekende Daniell cel. In deze cel kwamen de twee materialen weer terug waarmee Volta de basis legde, Zn en Cu. Daniell’s cel had wel een zeker nadeel. Door het gebruik van een vloeibaar elektrolyt, waren ze vrij vatbaar voor lekkage. Het voorbeeld van langzame progressie komt ook terug in de lood zuur batterij die we nog steeds vinden in auto’s. Deze batterijen zijn ondertussen al meer dan 150 jaar bekend.Rond 1950 waren de batterijen redelijk uitontwikkeld, de maximale energiedichtheid en capaciteit was bereikt.

Een nieuwe uitvinding moest maar eens komen, dus het derde element van het periodiek systeem werd nog eens onder de loep genomen. Het lage reductie potentiaal (-3,05 V vs SHE) van lithium maakte het geschikt voor batterijen met een hoog voltage. Dit metaal heeft echter nogal vervelende eigenschappen. Het reageert heftig met water en lucht, daarom was het van uiterste essentie om lithium te beheersen.

Op naar de nobelprijs In het begin van deze potentiële batterij werd aangenomen dat metallisch lithium de dienst zou uitmaken als anode.

Daarom ging de focus voornamelijk uit naar het ontwerpen van een bijpassende kathode.

Omdat de kathode goed bereikbaar moest zijn voor Li+ ionen, moest het materiaal aan veel eisen voldoen. Om een paar te noemen: een grote capaciteit voor de ionen zonder veel van structuur te veranderen, onoplosbaar in het elektrolyt en moest kunnen opereren onder standaard condities.

In dit veld komt onze eerste Nobelprijswinnaar tevoorschijn.

M. Stanly Whittingham et al. toonde aan dat een lithium-ion chemisch plaats nam tussen de lamellen van het materiaal TiS2 om zo LixTiS2 (0<x≤1) te vormen. Deze veelbelovende

en gas! studies spoorde Whittingham aan om de eigenschappen van zulke gelamineerde materialen te onderzoeken in de elektrochemie. In 1973 werd vervolgens de eerste herlaadbare batterij gedemonstreerd op basis van een metalische lithium anode en de bovengenoemde kathode. Het mooie aan deze batterij was de eigenschap van volledige reversibiliteit van de redoxreactie. Verdere tests met andere opstellingen lieten 1100 laad/ontlaad cycli zien. Echter, het o zo reactive lithium werd met deze opstelling niet compleet tot bedaren gebracht. Door de opbouw van lithium pieken op de anode kon het membraan helaas doorbroken worden, waardoor er mogelijke brandgevaren konden ontstaan. Het idee om zo een lithium batterij op te bouwen, werd verworpen.

Vervolgens ging de zoektocht naar goed functionerende batterijen verder en een ‘ion transfer cell’ werd steeds meer voorgesteld. Het idee is om ionen elektrochemisch heen en weer te bewegen tussen de anode en de kathode. Op deze manier zou je dus geen metallisch lithium nodig hebben, wat natuurlijk veiliger zou zijn. Beide elektrodes zouden van een gelamineerd materiaal gemaakt moeten worden om zo de ionen te kunnen huizen. Een voorbeeld van een dergelijk materiaal is grafiet, wat per zes koolstofatomen één lithiumion zou kunnen opnemen. Dit type cel zou daarentegen wel een kleinere capaciteit hebben en een kleinere drijfkracht, de verbeterde veiligheid weegt aar tegenop. In de zoektocht, naar een dergelijk betere kathode, maakte de volgende Nobelprijswinnaar begin jaren 80 zijn verschijning, John B. Goodenough van Oxford University. Hij stelde dat een materiaal MX2, met de X een klein elektronegatief element, kon worden geassocieerd met een verlaagde roosterenergie en een hoge celpotentiaal wanneer een kation wordt opgenomen. Een materiaal wat Goodenough gebruikte was CoO2 en dit vertoonde dan ook een zeer hoog potentiaal ten opzichte van Li+/Li. Door het gebruik van deze materialen, kon het onderzoek naar andere materialen dan metallisch lithium voor de anode van start.

Zoals eerder genoemd kon grafiet dienst doen als gelamineerd materiaal, maar dit was in de huidige opstelling onstabiel. Vijf jaar na Goodenough maakte de groep van Akira Yoshino een doorbraak op dit gebied. De groep vond dat petroleum cokes stabiel waren onder de chemische condities die

nodig waren. De cokes stonden bekend een mix te hebben van kristallijne en amorfe domeinen. Bepaalde gradaties van kristalliniteit correspondeerden met goede stabiliteit van de anode en gave hoge prestaties. De amorfe regio’s rondom de kristalstructuren zouden die beschermen tegen afbraak en de lithium-ionen konden rendabel in het rooster worden ingevoegd. Met deze techniek kon Yoshino een batterij ontwikkelen die efficiënt was op basis van de ion transfer cel configuratie. Het koolstof materiaal van Yoshino voor de anode en het kobaltoxide van Goodenough voor de kathode maakte deze batterij mogelijk. De elektroden werden gescheiden door simpele polymeren.

Figuur 2, Opbouw van de Lithium-Ion batterij Deze drie grote doorbraken zorgden ervoor dat er in 1991 de eerste commerciële lithium batterij werd gelanceerd.

De batterij was zeer competitief vergeleken met de andere beschikbare batterijen. Zeker gezien het feit dat de energiedichtheid hoog was ten opzichte van andere.

Deze eerste versie had een capaciteit van ongeveer 80 Wh/kg. Latere ontwikkelingen in het veld produceerden zelfs batterijen met een vijf keer grotere capaciteit. De ontwikkeling van de lithium batterijen ontketende de mobiele revolutie. Apparaten konden makkelijk worden meegenomen en waren niet meer afhankelijk van het elektriciteitsnet voor gebruik. Denk nog maar eens aan dit verhaal als je weer eens kattenfilmpjes op je telefoon aan het kijken bent, want dan ben je gelukkig dat je telefoon niet een halve kilo weegt.

Pepijn Lammers

References [1]

Scientific Background on the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2019, https://www.nobelprize.org/

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Hoogtepunten...

Constitutieborrel

Jumpsquare

Het is alweer even geleden maar dinsdag 17 september 2019 stond de constitutieborrel van het 87e bestuur op het programma. Deze was zoals gebruikelijk op A.L.S.V. Quintus. Het was de constitutieborrel van het nieuwe bestuur Exhilarate, met Lara, Jitske, Sjoerd, Chantal en Danique. Om zes uur ‘s avonds begon de zaal snel vol te lopen met CDL leden en besturen van andere studentenen studieverenigingen.

At the beginning of a new term, every MST student is motivated to study hard. But after a few weeks of studying hard, we are ready for a fun and relaxing activity.

Luckily the CDL members could again count on an activity of the AkCie. This time they had planned a relaxing yet strenuous activity for us: jumping at Jumpsquare.

De besturen en oud-besturen kwamen allemaal recipiëren bij het nieuwe bestuur. Het nieuwe bestuur werd op deze manier, zoals elk jaar, zeer feestelijk ontvangen. Om acht uur zat de CoBo bij Quintus er helaas alweer op en begon de zaal langzaam leeg te lopen. Dit was echter nog niet het einde van de avond. Na afloop van de CoBo ging het bestuur nog samen met veel anderen naar café de Kroeg om de avond gezellig af te sluiten.

Kortom was het een hele leuke avond en een zeer geslaagde eerste CoBo met het nieuwe bestuur, Exhilarate.

Mart Bijsterbosch

Movie night De vakantie was pas net achter de rug, wat betekent dat je al snel weer verlangt naar heel hard chillen. Een movie night is perfect om toch de chill vibes weer even te voelen.

Om te beginnen mochten we onze stem laten horen om te beslissen welke Marvel film we gingen kijken. Na het gebruikelijke discussiëren besloten we Thor Ragnarok te kijken. Nadat onze held de nodige heldendaden had verricht en alles natuurlijk tot een goed eind was gekomen, was er nog tijd voor een tweede film.

Het was natuurlijk al veel lachen en actie, maar dat mocht niet genoeg zijn want Hardcore Henry deed daar nog een schepje bovenop. In deze film is het bizar grappige verweven met heel veel actie.

Het publiek was dan ook opgedeeld in mensen die enorm voor en enorm tegen deze film waren. Na wederom het nodige beargumenteren was Hardcore Henry toch onze winnende kandidaat. Hardcore Henry is een film die misschien wel onmogelijk in woorden uit te drukken is.

Als je dus wilt weten waar het over gaat zul je de film zelf moeten kijken. Het publiek eindigde in een groep die enorm hartelijk gelachen heeft om de gekte op het scherm. Zo waren de chill vibes na de vakantie toch nog even aanwezig.

Nathan Jiscoot

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A large group of CDL members traveled to Rijswijk by train. But unfortunately we had to walk for a bit through the pouring rain and were therefore happy to arrive in the warm trampoline hall. We were even provided with dry socks for the jumping. These socks were provided with a non-slip layer on the bottom to make jumping and walking on socks a little safer. Then we received a safety instruction. Then the fun started.

‘‘When our time ran out, a lot of weary heads came out of the trampoline hall.’’

The trampoline hall was equipped with many different trampolines and other devices. There was a foam pit where you could practice new tricks or could try some slacklining. In addition, there was also a large inflated cushion that you could jump into from a platform. In addition to these fun devices, there were also some more challenging devices that the CDL members ventured into. There was, for example, a trapeze where few CDL members were successful. Almost everyone has also tried to jump on a wall from the trampoline. With such large variations of equipment and trampolines, everyone had a great time. The normal trampolines were also pretty busy.

A lot of tricks were practiced, explained and showed. As a result, some CDL members learned some new tricks.

When our time was up, a lot of weary heads came out of the trampoline hall. Fortunately, someone had the fantastic idea to buy ice cream and this caught on well.

Not much later we were eating ice cream with the entire group. After a nice chat, it was time for the group to head back home.

Sterre de Lange

... van afgelopen jaar MaCo Beertasting

Christmas Dinner

On Wednesday the 9th of October, a large group of master students went to the Pronck brewery in Leiden as the first master activity of this year. There was quite a large group of students and there was immediately a good atmosphere.

December 16th it was finally time for the annual CDL Christmas Dinner. This is a night many CDL’ers are always looking forward to. And just like always the dinner was organized by the AkCie.

“The brewery is housed in an old electricity building and has a beautiful atmosphere.”

When you first walk up to the brewery, there is not much to see from the outside of the building. But, as soon as you get inside it gives quite a different vibe. The brewery is housed in an old electricity building and has a beautiful atmosphere. We started the evening with a tour of the brewery. They have quite a large brewing setup and although the room was a bit small, we could all follow the process quite well.

But before you can go to the Christmas dinner, some preparation is needed. First of all, a beautiful Christmas outfit must be pulled out of the closet. Many guys appeared in their best suits and the women wore beautiful dresses and jumpsuits. However, some CDL’ers chose an outfit that was a little more original. For example, a few second year students were dressed as a Christmas tree (lights and all!). An outfit was however not the only thing the people of CDL went looking for. Dates also needed to be found before attending the Christmas dinner.

Because of this there were a lot of non-CDL-members present, who could enjoy their first ever CDL activity.

Other CDL’ers chose to go with eachother. Some people even let someone else decide by participating in a Date Roulette. After all the preparations were completed, the festive night could really begin. This year the dinner took place at Woo Ping, a Chinese restaurant in the city center of Leiden. The restaurant soon filled with nicely dressed CDL-members. The restaurant was set up with long tables at which the guests could take place. The long tables came in handy, because the dinner was following a shared dining concept. This means that large platters of food are placed on the table and everyone could taste a bit of everything. This way we could all enjoy the food together.

After the tour it was time for the most important part of the evening: the tasting. The first beer was a nice wheat beer, which had been brewed with lemon, lavender and coriander. This extra ingredients gave it a nice fresh taste.

This wheat beer is a really nice beer for in the summer.

From the summer, we went to the far east with an Indian pale ale. This ale was a nice refreshing and bitter beer, but not too bitter. The third beer was the most divisive. This was Proncks autumn ale. This is a nice smooth beer, made with wild chestnuts and chestnut honey. It had a nice warm taste which is ideal in the colder autumn and winter months. The last beer was a nice brown porter, with a very creamy and smooth taste. This beer also is ideal in the colder times of the year. All in all it was a nice evening full of socializing, nice beers and a great atmosphere.

Following tradition, multiple people gave a speech. First up was the chairman of the AkCie, Quentin Cornelissen, before the first course. Second came the youngest person present, Lucie Spek. After Lucie the honor was given to the praeses of the CDL, Lara van der Poll, to address all those present after the main course. And last but not least the oldest person present , Lennard van der Boon, closed the evening with a final speech.

Tiemen van Daalen

Wietse Saalmink

After the festive meal, the night was far from over. The Christmas dinner was followed by the Christmas party. So everyone left Woo Ping to go to de Hut van Ome Henne.

Here we could all dance and sing to a lot of (Christmas) hits. The next day we could all look back on a wonderful night. Thanks to the AkCie!

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M.A.T.C.H Last year the M.A.T.C.H. (Majestueus Activiteiten-Toernooi voor Chemisch Hoogopgeleiden) took place again. There were a lot of new riddles which had to be solved alongside multiple activities at which the participating teams could score a lot of points. For example, the city game, game night and the final activity.

Game Night On november 25th it was time for the Game Night. Multiple games were prepared for the teams at which they could score points. Some games were familiar to most, like 30 seconds and black jack. There were also games in which the participants were taken out of their comfort zone a little more. For example, songs had to be portrayed and a birthday party had to be prepared (balloons had to be inflated and a cake had to be decorated) without the use of their hands. There were also some games that needed a little more thought. There were anagrams about MST that had to be solved. There was also a riddle, for which the participants had all night to solve. During all playing rounds, the participants fought hard and many points were collected.

Final activity On February 10th, the M.A.T.C.H. sadly has come to an end. The tournament ended with a Pub quiz with pizza. The pub quiz consisted of questions in 4 different categories: history of Leiden, CDL, Chemistry and the M.A.T.C.H.. But the teams could also earn points in other ways. For example, the teams were given a puzzle piece for each weekly assignment that they had answered correctly. The teams then had to guess what the puzzle said. There was also a team name under each table. And if you sat down with your team at your own table, you earned points again. At the end of the evening it was finally time to figure out the score and crown the winners of the M.A.T.C.H. 2019-2020. The Enthalpiraten finished in first and they won an M.A.T.C.H. mug, a bag of candy and matches. The Incapablo’s finished second and Haasje Over finished third. Unfortunately, the M.A.T.C.H. has come to an end for this year, but the teams can start training again for next year.

Niels van Silfhout

Buitenleden borrel In november was het tijd voor de eerste buitenledenborrel van het jaar. Achteraf bleek dit ook de enige borrel te zijn, maar dat wist op dat moment niemand. We zijn met een grote groep buitenleden wezen borrelen bij Annie’s in Leiden. Gedurende de avond zijn er verhalen over het CDL van jaren geleden weer opgehaald, onder het genot van wat heerlijke drankjes en wat hapjes. Al met al was het een erg gezellige avond waarbij wij allemaal weer wat nieuwe dingen over het CDL te weten zijn gekomen.

City game January 10th was the day of the city game. During the city game it was again the goal to collect as many points as possible, but before you could start the real game. A riddle had to be solved in de Burcht. Professor M.A.T.C.H., a dressed up Sjoerd, was also present. With the help of the numbers and elements from the periodic table, letters could be found and the city game could be started. During the city game there were two different routes through which you could collect points. First of all, you had a route where you had to search for chemical images in Leiden.

In addition, you had a route that took us past the board members and members of the M.A.T.C.H. committee.

Every time a new person arrived you could play a game to earn points. That’s how you had to recreate a molecule at Danique. During Lara’s game you had to name all names of the previous boards that are painted on the wall in the CDL office. This turned out to be very difficult because only two teams (the Incapablo’s and Haasje Over) could answer this question correctly. Besides these highlighted games there were way more games. All teams had to make sure to be back at de Burcht before the time was up.

Here the teams had one last question waiting for them: “In what year was the professor’s brother born?”

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In maart stond de buitenledenactiviteit op de planning.

We zouden zelf bonbons gaan maken en proeven.

Helaas heeft dit niet door kunnen gaan vanwege de corona maatregelen die een paar dagen eerder werden afgekondigd. Hierdoor vonden wij het ook niet meer verantwoord om de activiteit in een kleine binnenruimte door te laten gaan. De weken erna hebben we nog gekeken naar een leuk alternatief of een nieuwe datum, maar uiteindelijk is er besloten om te wachten tot de regels weer zouden versoepelen.

“Al met al was het een erg gezellige avond waarbij wij allemaal weer wat nieuwe dingen over het CDL te weten zijn gekomen.”

Uiteindelijk stond de zomervakantie voor de deur en is er besloten om in het nieuwe studiejaar weer te gaan kijken naar buitenledenactiviteiten en -borrels door het nieuwe bestuur. Op het moment van schijven zijn helaas de maatregelen opnieuw strenger geworden dus een nieuwe activiteit lijkt nog wel even op zich te laten wachten. Toch hoop ik, wanneer de tijd daar is, vele van de buitenleden daar (weer) te zien!

Jitske Hubert

BEP at Molecular Physiology Last year, I did my Bachelor End Project (BEP) at the research group Molecular Physiology (MolPhys). MolPhys is a very diverse group, where both MST, LST and Chemistry students can do an internship. Mario van der Stelt, professor of Molecular Physiology, leads this mixed group, where both chemical and biological research is performed. I wanted to do a lot of chemical biology in my BEP, because I wanted to know if I would like to do this kind of research. I did my research in the field of the endocannabinoid system, by testing some of the compounds other students had made.

The endocannabinoid system is a complex neuromodulatory network, located in both the peripheral and the central nervous system. The endocannabinoid system regulates among other things appetite, immune function, energy balance, learning and memory. It plays a role in for example anxiety, depression and psychiatric disorders. Understanding how the endocannabinoid system works is very valuable, to exploit the system as a therapeutic target. The endocannabinoid system consists of two receptors, CB1 and CB2, their endogenous agonists (endocannabinoids), anandamide and 2-AG, and the proteins and enzymes that regulate the endocannabinoid levels at the receptors. One of these enzymes is PLA2G4E. PLA2G4E is a membrane associated serine hydrolase, that can synthesize the precursor of anandamide. Using inhibitors, activity of PLA2G4E could be studied. By gaining a deep insight into the inhibition of PLA2G4E, more information could be gathered about possible treatments for different disease profiles.

Figure 1 Schematic overview of ABPP workflow. In the first reaction, competitor is added. In the second reaction, probe is added.

During my BEP, I did two different projects. The first experiment was the optimization of a fluorescence polarization assay. Activity based protein profiling (ABPP) is a technique used to measure the relative activity of the enzyme, using an inhibitor and a probe. First, the enzyme is incubated with a certain concentration of inhibitor. After this incubation, probe is added. The probe can react with the enzymes that still have an empty active site. A probe thus binds on the same site than the inhibitor. ABPP can be done both on gel and in a fluorescence polarization assay. When performing ABPP, different concentrations of inhibitor can be used, to create a dose response mechanism.

Figure 2 An overview of differences in emission during fluorescence polarization. When probe is bound to PLA2G4E, there is no depolarization. Probe that is not bound depolarizes the light.

Fluorescence polarization is a technique which uses polarized light. This polarized light is excited on the samples in the wells, and the fluorescence intensity of the emission is measured. When the probe is bound to the enzyme, it cannot rotate freely and therefore the polarized light will stay polarized. When the inhibitor is bound to the enzyme, the probe cannot bind and can thus rotate freely. This will cause the polarized light to depolarize. The more inhibitor is bound to the enzyme, less probe is able to bind and therefore the polarization will be lower. I optimized this assay for PLA2G4E, by adding for example detergents and other proteins to the lysate mixture to improve the solvability of the inhibitors, and to prevent them from sticking to the side of the wells. Other changes made were for example the concentration of probe that was used, or the pH values. Using this new assay, I tested some potential inhibitors for PLA2G4E on their potency.

The second experiment I have done is determining the potency of inhibitors on its family members, PLA2G4B, PLA2G4C and PLA2G4D. Because the PLA2G4 family members have a lot of structural properties in common, it is valuable to know whether the potent PLA2G4E inhibitors are selective for PLA2G4E relative to its family members.

Therefore, the most potent inhibitors found for PLA2G4E in earlier research were used to assay the potency on PLA2G4B, PLA2G4C and PLA2G4D. This experiment was done using gel ABPP. From this research, it was seen that some inhibitors are very selective, and others are not. I investigated whether structural groups would cause the inhibitor to be selective or not and from that, I could suggest new structures for inhibitors that are both potent and selective. Unfortunately, my time was running out at the group and I could not synthesize them, but that may be something for further research.

During my time at MolPhys, I have learned a lot about how chemistry can be used in biological assays, and that I really liked to combine those two. It was a nice group to work in, the atmosphere was great and of course I enjoyed doing my research there!

Danique van Workum

9

Specializations explained As some of you might know, the second half of the bachelor MST consists of three different specializations: materials, synthesis and technology. Halfway through the second year, you will have to make your choice for one of these specializations. In this article, I will guide you through these specialization and give you the necessary information to make a thought-out choice. The specializationspecific courses are taught in two semesters. In the third year, you will do a minor that consists of 30 ECTS. In the third period, you will get both core and specialization-specific courses and in the fourth period you will do your BEP (Bachelor thesis project).

Most of the courses for the synthesis specialization are scheduled in Leiden, and the technology specialization has its courses in Delft.

The materials specialization, however, has courses scheduled in both cities.

Materials The materials specialization centralizes on the synthesis and application of materials for sustainable energy technology.

This means that this specialization has both a chemical and a technological character.

The course ‘Chemistry and Physics of Solids’ is offered specifically for students of the materials specialization. This course will elaborate on the characteristics of solids and how solids are built by bonds between atoms. Some topics that will be covered in this course are crystal structures, transport phenomena, diffusion and optical properties. Furthermore, you get courses from both the technology and the synthesis specialization. The technology courses that are also

“The materials specialization centralizes on the synthesis and application of materials for sustainable energy technology.”

taught in the materials major are ‘Linear Algebra and Differential Equations’ and ‘Physical Transport Phenomena’.

The courses ‘Theoretical Chemistry’ and ‘Statistical Thermodynamics and Spectroscopy’ are shared with the synthesis specialization.

With the materials specialization, you can choose to do your BEP in Leiden at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC). Naturally, this specialization relates to a specific area of expertise. In the field of material science, groups in the LIC are doing research in inorganic chemistry, photosynthesis, catalysis and surface chemistry, theoretical chemistry, computational chemistry and bio-nanomaterials.

Furthermore, in Leiden, research is done on sustainable energy, for example in the group of Marc Koper. Besides, Grégory Schneider and Roxanne Kieltyka are working on the development of novel materials: Grégory Schneider works on a new generation of graphene-based biosensors and Roxanne Kieltyka focusses on cell delivery devices. In Delft, the focus is more on surfaces and structures, thermodynamics and molecular modelling, materials and polymers and energy engineering.

Synthesis In the synthesis specialization, the focus lies on (bio-) synthetic chemistry. This means that besides courses in organic chemistry, you will also get courses with a more biochemical character, like the chemistry of certain diseases.

Courses that are specific for the synthesis major are ‘Organic Chemistry 2’, ‘Bio-molecular Chemistry’ and ‘Physiological Chemistry’. ‘Organic Chemistry 2’ and ‘Bio-molecular Chemistry’ are both courses about reactions in organic chemistry, of which ‘Bio-molecular Chemistry’ focusses on reactions in nature. ‘Physiological Chemistry’ deals with the biochemical processes in relation to diseases.

Students will learn the molecular and cellular basis of acquired and hereditary defects. ‘Theoretical Chemistry’ and ‘Statistical Thermodynamics and Spectroscopy’ are taught to both synthesis and materials students. ‘Theoretical Chemistry’ is about quantum mechanics, and the molecular orbital theory, this will help you understand the mechanisms behind certain chemical processes in more depth.

“Within the synthesis major, there is more focus on groups studying organic chemistry, chemical biology, drug discovery and delivery, molecular physiology, protein chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry.”

Just like the materials major, the synthesis major also has its own expertise areas. Within the synthesis major, there is more focus on groups studying organic chemistry, chemical biology, drug discovery and delivery, molecular physiology, protein chemistry, supramolecular chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry. One of the possible groups

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to do your BEP is the Biosyn group, which focusses on the design, synthesis and function of different types of biomolecules. For example, Jeroen Codée does research on Synthetic carbohydrate chemistry for glycobiology.

Something different, like research on kinases and proteins of the endocannabinoid system, is done by Mario van der Stelt, professor of the Molecular Physiology group.

is the master Chemistry. The master Chemistry consists of two different tracks, namely Chemical Biology and Energy & Sustainability. Within these tracks, you can then choose to specialize in education, research, communication or business.

The TU Delft offers the master Chemical Engineering. This master also has two different tracks: Chemical Product Engineering and Process Engineering.

Technology

With a specialization in synthesis you will be prepared to pursue the master Chemistry in Leiden. The specialization in this master that fits the major the best is Chemical Biology.

You can then take courses in organic chemistry, different chemical aspects of biology and medicinal chemistry.

However, you can also do the Energy & Sustainability specialization by choosing some specific electives. Students who have done the materials specialization, can do their master both in Leiden and in Delft. In Leiden, the most logical choice is to do the Energy & Sustainability track of the Chemistry master. You can then take courses such as ‘Modern Quantum Dynamics’, ‘Photochemistry’ or courses in homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis . For students with the materials specialization it is also possible to do the Chemical Engineering master in Delft. For the Chemical Product Engineering specialization, you will then have to take ‘Separation Technology’ and ‘Chemical Reactor engineering’ as electives. If you want to do the Process Engineering track, you will also have to do ‘Chemical Biotechnology’ as an extra course. The students who have followed the Technology major, can choose both the Process- and Product Engineering tracks of the Chemical Engineering master in Delft.

The technology specialization focusses on both the area of product design and the expertise of process technology in chemistry. Its character is more physical and technical. Three courses are specific for this specialization, namely ‘Separation Technology’, ‘Chemical Biotechnology’ and ‘Chemical Reactor engineering’. ‘Separation Technology’ is about four major separation techniques which are needed to separate products from by-products and residual reactants, solvents, and other additives. ‘Chemical Biotechnology’ discusses different forms of industrial and environmental biotechnology. ‘Chemical Reactor engineering’ is about doing calculations on reactors, predicting conditions and the design of different reactor types. The two courses that are also part of the materials major, are ‘Linear Algebra and Differential Equations’ and ‘Physical Transport Phenomena’. ‘Physical Transport Phenomena’ is a course about the background and concepts of describing and modelling of physical/chemical processes and phenomena.

“The technology specialization focusses on both the area of product design and the expertise of process technology in chemistry.”

With the technology major, you can do your BEP in Delft, with for example a subject in biological engineering, catalysis and chemical reaction engineering, transport processes, fluid mechanics and process/product design.

How about masters?

Both Leiden and Delft have their own master programmes in which you can enroll with your MST degree. In Leiden, this

Of course, you can also choose to do another master program at another university. Besides, it is also possible to do a master which is not primarily chemical. For example, the Sustainable Energy Technology master in Delft is open for students with a degree in MST. It is also possible to do the master Life Science and Technology in Delft when you have done the major technology or the master Life Science and Technology in Leiden when you have done the synthesis specialization.

In Leiden, LST has some overlap with the Chemical Biology track in the master Chemistry, so you can also choose to do LST-related courses in your Chemistry master.

Danique van Workum

11

Wake up and (instantly) smell the coffee!

Kava, café, koffie, Kaffee, qehwe, or as we know it in English: coffee.

One of the most widely consumed beverages (excluding water) in the world [1].

Coffee is also a favourite among the members of the CDL, with a consumption of approximately 350L already this year.

Of course, we owe all this rocket fuel to the famous coffee machine in the hallway near the CDL board room. However, this machine will also give up the ghost one day, like everything in life. Fortunately, in 1881 a Frenchman named Alphonse Allais invented the instant coffee [2]. This substance could ensure that students still get their required caffeine boost every morning at the board room without being dependent on complicated technology.

But how is soluble coffee produced?

Production To produce coffee in general coffee beans are harvested, roasted and grounded [3]. The roasting process transforms the green bean into the aromatic brown coffee bean. This delicious and typical aroma is among other compounds due to 2,3,-diethyl-s-methylpyrazine [4]. After roasting the coffee beans, any pollution such as soil and plant parts are removed, and the beans are ground up into coffee.

‘Hokmokken’available Recently, ‘hokmokken’ have become available at the board-room. In order to achieve a more sustainable CDL, the cardboard cups have been replaced by these reusable mugs which you could borrow. The board chose to start a trial with eight of these ‘hokmokken’. The board ‘Futiristisch’ already introduced a mug rack to store your own mug. Feel free to store your own mug at the CDL board room!

Otherwise, come by, use a ‘hokmok’ and enjoy a (sustainable) cup of coffee or tea!

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“To produce coffee in general coffee beans are harvested, roasted

and grounded.”

In order to further produce instant coffee, the ground beans are brewed in hot water and again dried to regain the concentrated instant coffee. Currently, two industrial processes are used to re-dry the brew [5].

Spray-drying process In Spray-drying, 300-µm-sized droplets are produced by spraying the coffee through a nozzle. The droplets fall through a drying tower at high pressure and 270ºC and reach the base as a parched powder.

This fine coffee powder is rewetted to produce the correct-sized granules, dried again and packed. This process is the most comenly used drying technique nowadays.

Freeze-drying process In this process, the coffee is first frozen to about -40 ºC and crushed into correctsized granules. Granules that are too small or too large are thawed and refrozen.

Then the frozen granules are dried at very low temperature and pressure and finally packaged [6].

Some people think that the flavour and aroma is damaged by the processing-steps. But for spray-drying, the quality of the aroma and flavour are preserved thanks to the very fast drying, which occurrs during this process and for the freeze-drying process. The quality of the aroma and flavour are protected by the very low temperature and gentle drying conditions.

“... we need to consume more coffee in order to ingest the same amount of caffeine as usual.’”

As stated before, we have already drunk a lot of coffee at the CDL boardroom this year so far. Several studies have shown that drinking coffee has some beneficial health effects. In 2012, a study from the National Institute of Health (AARP) investigated the relationship between drinking coffee and mortality. They found that drinking coffee was associated with a lower risk of death [7]. Moreover, a meta-analysis showed that people who drank approximately four cups a day had a lower rate of heart failure [8]. In addition, drinking coffee long-term could reduce the risk of Parkinson’s disease and type 2 diabetes [9,10].

However, the caffeine content is slightly affected by these processes. According to the National Nutrient Database of Standard Reference, instant coffee contains about 33% less caffeine than fresh-brewed coffee [5]. More precisely, one ‘hokmok’ (150ml) of fresh-brewed coffee contains 95mg of caffeine, whereas the same amount of instant coffee has only 62 mg caffeine [5]. “...then you can visit the CDL board-room even more often...”

2018-2019

2019-2020

• 611 liter • 4.072 cups

• 350 liter • 2.236 cups

Will we beat last year?!

This means that, in the case that CDL changes to instant coffee, we need to consume more coffee in order to ingest the same amount of caffeine as usual. In other words, then you can visit the CDL board-room even more often for a delicious cup off (instant) coffee and a good talk!

Christine Visser

References [1] Chavda, R. (2019, August). 10 Most Consumed Beverages in the World. Retrieved from https://www. toptenslist.com/ [2] Pintauro, N. D. (1969). Soluble coffee manufacturing and processes. Oregon: Noyes Development Co. [3] 10 Steps from Seed to Cup. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.ncausa.org [4] National Center for Biotechnology Information.

PubChem Database.

3-Ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine, CID=25916. Retrieved from https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/.

[5] Moore, K. (2008, September). What’s that stuff?

Instant Coffee.Retrieved from https://cen.acs.org [6] National Coffee Association. The History of Coffee.

Retrieved from http://www.ncausa.org [7] Arthur, K. L., Armstrong, M. A. & Friedman, G. D. (1993). Coffee, tea, and mortality. Annals of Epidemiology.

3(4), pp. 375-381 [8] Huxley, R., Lee, C. M. Y., Barzi, F., et al. (2009). Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, and Tea Consumption in Relation to Incident Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review With Meta-analysis. Arch Intern Med.169(22), pp. 2053–2063.

[9] Hu, G., Jousilahti, P., Bidel, S., Antikainen, R. & Tuomilehto, J. (2007). Coffee and tea consumption and the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Movement disorders. 22(15), pp.

2242 – 2248.

[10] Van Dam, R.M. (2008). Coffee consumption and risk of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism. 33(6), pp. 1269 – 1283.

It is your cup of tea!

Microplastics are everywhere. In our foods, cosmetics, in the air, sea, etcetera. The concern about our daily microplastic intake is increasing. New research shows we are actually adding extra microplastics to our drinks when using plastic teabags.

Two Canadian researchers tested how much microplastic degrades into our tea when using plastic teabags. The amounts of microplastic in the tea were significantly higher than when filter paper teabags were used.

The plastic teabags release 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into an average mug of tea (95oC). This was discovered by an experiment using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Comparing the plastic polyethylene terephthalate and nylon teabags to regular teabags. Even though research does not clearly state microplastic have a significant impact on the human health, the microplastics are bad for the environment.

The pyramid shaped teabag used by several brands was introduced to increase the quality of the tea. The bags can hold bigger pieces of the ingredients such as tealeaves, dried fruit, flower and spices. The shape allows the pieces to move around freely, giving the tea a more intense taste. Although some think they were only introduced because of the aesthetics of the pyramid shape and it is only a marketing hype.

So next time you put a fancy looking teabag in your cup, realize your drinking billions of plastic pieces too.

Lise van den Bos

References [1] Speksnijder, C. (2019, sept.). de Volkskrant. https://www.volkskrant.nl/wetenschap/plastictheezakje-blijkt-bron-van-microplastic~b02e0c1a/ [2] Hernandez, L.M. (2019), Plastic Teabags Release Billions of Microparticles and Nanoparticles into Tea, Environmental Science & Technology (Vol. 53, 21, pp.

12300-12310).

13

Warm up...

When it is freezing outside everyone likes to go outside to go ice skating, build a snowman or to throw snowballs at each other. There is only one big downside about these fun activities.

Afterwards you will have very cold hands and they just will not warm up by themselves. The easiest way to warm up your hands is to take a hot shower, heat them up by using the hot tap or drink a hot cup of chocolate. Unfortunatly, sometimes all these options are not possible. If this is the case, an instant hand warmer is the way to go.

The use An instant hand warmer is a small plastic pillow with a small coin floating through a transparent liquid. If you press on the small coin, the whole liquid slowly solidifies and becomes very warm. If you now hold the hand warmer in your palm, your hand gets warm again.

After a while the hand warmer will cool down and solidify again. If you put the used hand warmer in a bowl with boiling water, it liquefies again.

Now the hand warmer can be used again. This is a small summary how the product is used, but how does it work?

The emitting and absorption of heat In chemistry reactions can be divided in two different groups. There are endothermic and exothermic reactions.

Endotherm reactions are reactions that will absorbs energy, while exothermic reaction will release energy.

So, in this case, the reaction that happens when the hand warmer heats up is an exothermic reaction. When the hand warmer is put in a bowl of boiling water, it will absorb energy.

This means this reaction is an endothermic reaction.

“...the reaction that happens when the hand warmer heats up is an exothermic reaction.”

Supercooling Most of the time this type of hand warmer contains sodium-acetate tri-hydrate which is a supercooled liquid[1]. Supercooling is the process of lowering the temperature of a material under their melting point without becoming a solid. In the case of sodium-acetate that melting point is at 58°C. So, sodium-acetate will be a solid at room temperature. However, supercooled sodium-acetate is highly stable when it is melted in boiling water and then cooled down[2].

Supercooled liquids can crystallize when a small crystal nuclei is formed where the crystal can start growing.

This nuclei can be formed when work, or a little particle is added. Also, when the temperature is cooled down even more it is also able to recrystallize[3].

“...so the emitted heat from the recrystallisation is absorbed by your hand. “

Super cool with super cooling water You may have seen a movie on social media in which they have a bottle of liquid water, but when they bang it on a table it completely freezes. In another video they pour the water out of the bottle and a small mountain of ice will form.

This type of process is very similar to the hand warmer. The liquid water that is used in these type of videos is very pure.

This way there is less chance that a nuclei is formed when the water is cooled down. This pure water is cooled down without moving it in a freezer. There is no place where the liquid water can start crystallizing, so it will stay a liquid. In other words, it will be a super cooled liquid. When the bottle of water is banged on the table or the water is poured out, a nuclei will form in the water and the crystallization will start.

So, if you want to impress your friends with a super cool You can form super cool ice mountains with super cooled water trick: buy a bottle of the purest water you can find in the supermarket, put it in the freezer and just wait a few hours.

After that, just bang it on the table and let minds be blown [4].

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... or cool down A small part of the coin in the hand warmer is broken off when it is pressed. This small part starts the whole crystallization, which is a very exothermic process.

On the image on the right this crystallization of sodium acetate trihydrate is shown in a round bottom flask.

As mentioned before, in an exothermic reaction heat is emitted, so the emitted heat from the crystallisation is absorbed by your hand. Subsequently, the crystallization is completed and the hand warmer stops emitting heat. When the hand warmer is added to the boiling water it melts again (heat is added so this is an endothermic reaction). Then it will become a supercooled liquid again when it cools down. Now the handwarmer can be re-used.

Joeri Schoenmakers

References [1] Howdoesstuffworks. (z.d.). How do sodium-acetate heat pads work? Geraadpleegd op 10 februari 2020, van https://home.howstuffworks.com/question290.htm [2] Dietz Jr, P. L., Brukner, J. S., & Hollingsworth, C. A. (1957). Linear crystallization velocities of sodium acetate in supersaturated solutions. The Journal of Physical Chemistry, 61(7), 944-948.

[3] Russo, J., & Tanaka, H. (2012). The microscopic pathway to crystallization in supercooled liquids. Scientific reports, 2, 505.

[4] Debenedetti, P. G. (2003). Supercooled and glassy water. Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 15(45), R1669.

Instant cold pack It is nice to heat up with a instant hand warmer when you’ve finished your outside activity.

However, sometimes this outside activity didn’t go as planned and you have injured yourself. For a lot of injuries it is the best to cool it immediately, so you need some ice fast.

There are a lot of places where you can work out and don’t have a freezer nearby, so where do you need to get your ice from then? For this moments an instant cold pack is perfect!

An instant cold pack is a plastic bag which contains mostly water, sodium acetate , potassium chloride and potassium nitrate. The water and salts are separated from each other with a plastic membrane. In the water the salts are stored in a separate small bag or in little balls. When the instant cold pack is used the small bag or the little balls need to be broken. The salts will mix with the water and dissolve. The salts in the cold pack are selected due to their high (negative) dissolving energy, causing the cold pack to cool down by a lot. In Wother’s words, the dissolving of the salts is very endothermic. The cold pack can now be applied to the injury to cool it down. [1]

“The salts in the cold pack are selected due to their high (negative) dissolving energy, causing the cold pack to cool down by a lot.”

This type of cold pack isn’t designed to be reused, so it will be thrown away after use. However, in theory it could be reused.

If the liquid from the used cold pack is heated the water will evaporate. When all the water is gone the salts will be left over and can be used in a new cold pack.

Joeri Schoenmakers

References: [1] Donnelly, W. R. (1978). U.S. Patent No. 4,081,256.

Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

17

Meet the 88th board A new academic year means a new CDL board! After a beautiful year it is time for Lara, Jitske, Sjoerd, Chantal and Danique to transfer the baton. It was truly an “Exhilarating” year. Lise, Jasmijn, Joeri, Maartje and Pepijn will form the 88th board “Katalise”. On this page the new board will introduce themselves. We hope to see you all at the buitenleden activities the upcoming year!

Commissioner of external affairs - Praeses - Lise van den Bos Commissioner of education - Pepijn Lammers Maartje Zweers Hi! My name is Lise and am the Hi! I am Pepijn and I am the commissioner of Hi everyone! My name is Maartje and this year I fulfill the position of commissioner of external affairs.

This means that I am in contact with companies to organise interesting career activities for the students. Besides being an active member at the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden for the past few years, I am also a member of a student association and I work as a tutor for the subject business economics. In my spare time I enjoy cooking a lot, especially now that I am the proud owner of a real pasta making machine!

praeses (chairman) of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden this year. In my spare time I like to spend time with my family and friends. In the last couple of years I have been very active at the CDL doing a bunch of committees. Maybe you have seen me as the editorial board of the Chimica in the past two years. Last year I started being editor in chief of the Chimica which I still love to do and will continue doing the upcoming year. I am very excited to start this unpredictable and challenging year with the rest of my amazing board members.

Ab actis - Jasmijn Bergsma

Quaestor - Joeri Schoenmakers

Heey. My name is Jasmijn and I am the ab actis (secretary) of the 88th board of Chemisch Dispuut Leiden this year. I am very interested in doing stuff outside off my comfort zone and training myself and my mind to do new things. This is for example why I went to Canada to do my minor, why I’m doing some out-of-the-box courses this year; Spanish and Stars (from the Astronomy Bachelor) and why I am a board member this year.

In Canada I discovered the added value of a study association and after coming back to the Netherlands I was determined to at least try to get on the new board of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden.

“Why Chemisch Dispuut Leiden?”, you may ask.

The answer is quite easy: when arriving at the studies Molecular Science & Technology in my first year this place is where I felt most at home.

This exact same feeling is the one I want to pass onto everyone that comes in contact with us as a study association and I am extremely happy that I will get the opportunity to do this during 2 0 2 0 - 2 0 2 1 this year.

My name is Joeri and I am the quaestor (the treasurer) of the 88th board of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden. Last year I finished my bachelor degree of Molecular Science and Technology and therefore I will start with the master Chemistry.

In my spare time I play field hockey and guitar.

Furthermore I like to brew beer, which I sometimes do with the Brew masters of the CDL. Other activities that I organised with the CDL are the Dies, different activities with the AkCie and I almost succeeded to organise the VerO Open Mic Night.

Sadly, this activity was cancelled last minute due to the corona pandemic.

I am looking forward to organise a lot more fun and educational activities during my board year and I hope I will see you all this year!

KAT

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education this amazing interesting academic year.

I just turned 21 making me the happy youngest member of the board. After a relaxing first year of studying it just so happened that I started doing committees at the CDL. Besides being busy with studying and the CDL I decided to become a member of the student association NSL here in Leiden. Also, within my second year of studying I started to live in the beautiful city that is Leiden. Here I discovered another passion of myself, cooking very good food.

Everybody must eat, so why not eat amazing. The main reason to become a board member of the CDL is that studying has to be enjoyable. If I can contribute to an awesome studying experience, then being a board member is in my opinion a very good place to start. See you soon!

LISE

Experiencing Universities in the North

Oslo, Norway In early August I started my adventure as an Erasmus+ student at the University of Oslo (UiO) in Norway. Currently, I am doing the master Chemistry and Business Studies at Leiden University and I chose to do the 20 ECTS intended for my elective courses at a university abroad. I took Environmental Chemistry and Inorganic Structural Chemistry and I decided to do a Norwegian Language course. The way of teaching at the University of Oslo is quite similar to what I’m used to in the Netherlands, however there are less lectures (usually 2-4 hours per subject) and the subjects are a semester long. In addition, both my courses had one-hour oral exams at the end. The concept of oral examination for chemistry courses was completely new to me and that was quite exciting.

“The way of teaching at the University of Oslo is quite similar to what I’m used to in the Netherlands” Aside from studying, I decided to volunteer in the faculties coffee bar and I joined the local student volleyball club.

Norwegians are very passionate about sports and the outdoors and therefore in clubs related to this the feeling of being part of a community is really high. I met most of my Norwegian friends through the volleyball association, I met my fellow-international friends during the intro-week of UiO as they were part of the same Buddy Group as I was.

During my five months in Norway my friends and I managed to do a lot of trips to the Fjords on the West-Coast of Norway and to Northern Norway to experience the country’s beauty.

Mostly we were lucky and had good weather, but Norway can be quite rainy too. Though, with proper clothing you can still go outdoors and enjoy nature any time you like.

The Norwegians think of it that way too according to their famous saying: “Det fins ikke dårlig vær, bare dårlige klær” which means, “There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”. Living by that rule, my friends and I did a lot of hikes because Norway is a great country for hiking.

“There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing”.

However, as the days became shorter, darker and colder the trails became more and more slippery and we chose to go to Christmas markets instead. We saw the first snow in early November and all the Norwegians went out on the weekends to do some cross-country skiing. I decided to stay in Oslo for Christmas and I was asked to spend a traditional Norwegian Christmas eve with my Norwegian flat mate and her family.

That involved eating pinnekjøtt (lamb rib), one of Norway’s traditional Christmas dishes, and danced around the Christmas tree whilst singing Norwegian Christmas songs.

With that my Norway experience was complete. Norway is a great Scandinavian country both for travelling and studying!

Iris de Bruin

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Stockholm, Sweden Around one year ago I arrived in Stockholm for my half year adventure of studying at another university, meeting many new people, discovering a new culture or actually many new cultures and discovering the beautiful nature of Sweden. An experience I would definitely recommend to everyone!

I studied at the university Kungliga Tekniska högskolan (KTH) where I took four courses and a Swedish language course.

Upon arrival KTH had made everything as comfortable as possible. They organized two weeks full of introduction activities were we had the opportunity to meet our fellow Erasmus students. The days were short and dark, so it was nice to spend the time together doing pub crawls, baking typical Swedish cookies, going to the sauna and several more traditional Swedish activities.

“The days were short and dark, so it was nice to spend the time together...”

had to dive into literature, use the lectures, talk to specialist and come up with a possible solution. Besides, we had to do assignments and you could decide yourself which one you wanted to do and by doing more assignments you could increase your grade. This educational system was applied to almost all my courses and really motivated me to study and dive into topics which got my interest, instead of studying the topics you have to study.

“For me the way of teaching was super motivating.”

Besides the fun studying experience, I had lots of free time to make new friends and wonderful trips. The country is so beautiful and the inhabitants of Stockholm directly made me feel at home. I did not only get to know the Swedish culture but the Erasmus program gave me the opportunity to meet many new cultures and lovely people!

Marije de Vos

Trondheim, Norway

At the same time my first courses had started. I directly figured that the courses were really differently organized at KTH than I was used to in the Netherlands, both the content of the courses and the educational system. I did a course on Biopolymers, and during this course we did not only learn about the properties of biopolymers, but we also learned about their impact on society. We looked into the current problems of plastic waste and had discussions about the consequences of the products we, as scientist, can develop.

When I was asked if I wanted to write something about my time abroad, I was immediately excited. This is because I love to talk or write about it. Last semester I studied at the NTNU, short for Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, in Trondheim (Norway) for my minor and this place was the perfect fit for me. I loved that I could go away every weekend, especially to spend my weekends outdoors in the nature. The university has a special offer to rent a cabin for 4 euros per person per night, which is great because a cabin trip is a good way to bond with your friends! One amazing memory is the time we were in a cabin in the mountains where we played in the snow the whole weekend, building an igloo! Besides cabin trips I ade some road trips and went to some places more to the north.

“... a cabin trip is a good way to bond with your friends!”

During the same quarter I also did the course Waste Management. For me the way of teaching was super motivating. There was no exam in the end, but we had to do a project for which you could choose a topic of your own interest within waste management. For this problem you

The study load inTrondheim is the same or even a little bit lower as in Delft and Leiden. I followed the following courses with 7.5 credit each: Solar Cells and Photovoltaic Nanostructures, Molecular Modelling, Electrochemical Process and Energy Technology and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

At the NTNU you follow the courses for one semester long and at the end there is an exam period of almost 1 month.

“... just go, experience the country and make as many trips as possible!”

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Studying abroad was amazing! I expected that it would be challenging to live abroad in a complete different environment, but it turns out it was not challenging at all. It was nice to be out of your comfortable bubble and organize and do everything on your own. I made some good friends all over the world and we already have planned our next trip together now that we are all at home again! Another thing where I am grateful for is that my English has improved so much, and that was my main reason to go abroad. If you like to hike and be in nature I really recommend to go to Norway.

If you are more a party person, than Norway is maybe not the best option. The last thing I want to say for the people who are planning to go abroad: just go, experience the country and make as many trips as possible!

Lotte Vijverberg

Helsinki, Finland Studying abroad had been my plan since I started studying MST. My love for Norway and Sweden made it clear that I wanted to study at a North European university, and I was drawn to Finland because I had never been to this country before. I decided to apply to Aalto University in Helsinki, and I am incredibly happy with this choice!

When I received the email that stated that I had been accepted to Aalto University, I was so excited! But at the same time I got a little stressed, because there is so much to arrange before departure. I had to hand in documents to international office in Delft and at Aalto, start searching for a roomi and pick out courses that I would like to follow.

Fortunately I managed to do all of this on time, and on the 30th of August I was ready step into the airplane to officially start my adventure in Finland.

I was very happy to find out that a international chemistry students kickoff event took place on my first day in Helsinki.

I did not know anyone of course, so this was the perfect moment to get to know some fellow international, but also Finnish students. In the following days an orientation program was organized, so I met a lot of nice people, who I ended up spending most of my time in Finland with.

The subjects of the courses that I took varied a lot, from organic chemistry to functional inorganic chemistry, metallic material, to sustainability in environmental engineering.

Adjusting my program to my own interest was very refreshing. Even though all of the courses were from master degrees, I did not struggle with the level. The lectures were quite challenging, but the exams turned out to be very easy and it was not hard to pass the courses at all.

“The northern part of Finland is absolutely breath taking...”

Because of the relatively low level of the courses, I was able to do a lot of fun activities with my friends. We went on a large number of trips to cities in Finland, the lake region, Tallinn, Stockholm, Saint Petersburg and of course Lapland! The northern part of Finland is absolutely breath taking in the winter, and going there was an absolute must for my friends and I. We made a tour with a husky sledge, went ice fishing and spotted the northern lights!

I would absolutely recommend studying abroad to any one in doubt! It is amazing to get to know so many new international people and it is very educational to live in another environment for a while.

Maartje Zweers

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Cologne & Münster This year, members of CDL left for Germany on the third of February. Every year, the BRC (the neighbouring countries trip committee) chooses several destinations in either Germany or Belgium and students can sign up for the trip. In Germany (first in Cologne then Münster) we visited several companies and institutions. During this trip there was a lot of attention for chemical innovation. The BRC is an unique opportunity to discover which companies are important for the chemical industry in Germany. We left for Germany with 23 students, the names of whom you can find below.

On the next page you can read how Maxime Brohet, treasurer of the BRC, experienced this trip.

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This year’s BRC participants...

Pim van Duren Maxime brohet Chris Klomp Thomas van Roeden Cesar van Nispen Renate de Vreede Jesse Orta Martine van Rijn Sjoerd Rieken Erik Goudart Niels Jansen

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Steef van Rijen Lauren van Nijll Bjorn van der Vuurst Niels van ‘t Riet Rick Monsma Sharief Mokhtari Fleur van Loo Jitske Hubert Jasmijn van Arnhem Déan van Dijk Gabriel Stead

Hey Maxime, what was your experience being part of the BRC committee?

This year, I had the honour of being the treasurer of the BRC and there was something special about the trip this year!

For the first time in many years, we chose Germany as our destination instead of Belgium. Early in the process, we discussed going to Germany and decided to go to Cologne and Münster. We made this decision because there are some great universities and companies to visit in these cities.

Besides these professional benefits, Cologne and Münster are also very beautiful cities, so lots of potential for sightseeing.

That afternoon we took the train to Münster, which gave everyone a moment to catch up on some sleep! The sun was setting, our train compartment looked like the one from Harry Potter and we put some relaxing music on - everyone was feeling the good BRC energy. That night, me and some friends ate at a Nepalese restaurant at walking distance from the hostel we were staying at.

So... How did the trip go?

On Monday February third, me and my roommates woke up at around 5:30h, so we could be at Leiden Central Station at 7:00h in the morning. When we arrived, the first thing we did was congratulate Chris! He and I share a birthday so we were flooded with congratulations and well-wishes. This was fun eventhough we were quite sleep-deprived. Everyone got there in time and we took the train to Cologne.

When we arrived we checked in our bags at the hostel and got straight back in the bus to go to our first company; Dralon.

Dralon is known for making polyacrylic fibers, and we got to see this up close. They gave us a fascinating tour through the factory and everyone was amazed to see these huge processes. There was a slight hiccup when one of our first year students had an allergic reaction to one of the sandwiches provided. He was rushed to the hospital and thankfully was okay again by the evening. He was able to enjoy the rest of the trip with us, something we were collectively grateful for.

That night, the group split up to eat either burgers or döner, a balanced meal for sure. The committee stayed up late taking care of some things (and of course playing cards).

On Tuesday, we spent the morning in the lovely chocolate museum. That afternoon, we let all the students roam free in Cologne. I think everyone visited the dom and had something to eat at a German bakery, two activities you can’t miss when in Cologne. That night we expanded our cultural horizon by going to the museum of beer. Upon arrival this turned out to be more of a bar than a museum, but we had a great time nonetheless. That night was spend enjoying some of the finer German beers and playing cards.

Wednesday, we left early in the morning to visit the Max Planck Institute for plant breeding research just outside the city. In this environment everyone found their inner peace.

We got to look around the grounds and visit the greenhouses.

That afternoon we had a lecture about phloem cells in plants.

An interesting topic almost no-one knew anything about before the lecture.

Thursday we planned something really exciting; a visit to the Faculty of Chemistry of the University of Münster.

Upon arrival we enjoyed a Dutch presentation about all the activities occuring in the Centre for Soft Nanoscience. Some of the highlights of this presentation included an explanation about photochemistry and photosensitive molecules.

After an intriguing tour through the laboratories, another presentation was scheduled. This time one of the professors at the institute gave us an impromptu presentation about his research and everything there is to do in Münster.

That night was our last night in Germany, and we went out with a bang. The committee organised a Disney pubcrawl!

This resulted in way too many overdressed students crowding small bars - something we all thoroughly enjoyed. We got a lot of looks but it didn’t matter to us since we were all really excited, celebrating a successful trip.

The last day! Friday... Sjoerd gave us a tour through Münster.

We learned a lot of useless, yet entertaining facts. His bad jokes seemed to lighten the mood of the many sleep-deprived students. The rest of the day was spent roaming through Münster. In our case, spending some time in bookstores and the botanical garden. That night, we got back on the train and got to Leiden Central station at around 23:00h. This week was a rollercoaster, but every moment was enjoyed. Next year you can count me in again! Also, I came to the conclusion German beer is highly drinkable.

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exploring the real world Visit to Suiker Unie First years excursion We as first year students were allowed to visit Suiker Unie oWe as first year students were allowed to visit Suiker Unie on Friday the 20th of december 2019. Suiker Unie is a producer of granulated sugar and is one of the largest sugar producers from beets in Europe. Accompanied by the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden and the Technologisch Gezelschap we took a closer look at the factory of Suiker Unie in Dinteloord.

Consequently, the group discovered more about the study of the engineer, the measures Suiker Unie took to deal with the changing nitrogen regulations and diverse other cases that Suiker Unie encounters.

The excursion started with a presentation about the company Suiker Unie. Something that I found quite interesting is the emphasis that was put on sustainability. The company gives a lot of attention to the most optimal use of the sugar beets that are delivered to the factory. Besides the fact that the beets are used for the production of sugar, the residual products are used as biomass for energy.

“The tour was provided by three friendly guides who exhibited the process from sugar beet to sugar cube.”

Following the presentation we received a tour through the factory that handles the production. The tour was provided by three friendly guides who exhibited the process from sugar beet to sugar cube. The trip began where the beets were delivered to the factory. Lorries full of beets are deposited on the assembly line, after which the beets are washed and chopped to small pieces. Thereafter, these pieces are reduced to a sort of juice. Here the purification process begins. This part of the tour led us to a great number of reactors. The guides told us about the processes that are located in the various reactors and how the juice in the reactors eventually cristalyzes.

After the end of the tour we obtained the possibility to ask questions to a chemical engineer who works for Suiker Unie.

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In general the visit was very rewarding. Personally, I found it truly wonderful to look deeper into the factory of Suiker Unie.

I would like to thank all the people involved that organized this excursion.

Yordi Beelen

Albemarle excursie Tuesday January the 14th a group of second year students gathered at the Gorlaeus building in Leiden. From here we took the bus that would bring us to Albemarle. The location we would visit is located in Amsterdam. This excursion was organized to supplement the course Introduction to Catalysis, since Albemarle produces catalysts which are used in the refinery of oils.

Upon arrival we all received a guest-badge. The group was welcomed with lunch, during which we had a talk from Eelco Vogt, the head of R&D. He told us about Albemarle as a company, what it is like to work there . During his presentation he showed us two different catalysts which are produced by the company. The catalysts are used to desulfurize the oil and also to have a higher yield of propylene and other light-weight molecules.This is of course beneficial, as these are the more demanded products in the chemical sector. It was very interesting to see how the theory we just learned at Introduction to Catalysis was brought into practice at this company.

Young Capital workshop It was time to put ourselves out there and to learn some new things. On friday the 22th of november an important part of our career was discussed: job application. YoungCapital Next stopped by to give us a workshop where they wanted to prepare us for this difficult step. As ‘De Jeugd Van Tegenwoordig’ has told us before: “a good start is half the job”. Two enthusiastic young women helped us with short examples and gave us short training on how to give a “killer first impression”.

The first step was to Google our neighbour. This was to make ourselves conscious about the information that is readily available about us on the internet. Do you quickly encounter photographs of you partying? Those pictures of you can give an unprofessional image to the recruiter who is examining your curriculum vitae. Further they told us that a cv should not be a lot longer then one or two pages. A longer cv can give the impression that you are not able to be concise in your distribution of information. It can also indicate that you are less competent in making a distinction between important and unimportant cases. They were very clear that longer cv’s are often not read.

After the talk from Eelco we had to dress up in a protective suit, security goggles, and a helmet. The next item on the programme was a tour around the site. We were split in two groups and my group first got a tour of the factory. We walked along the whole production process of the catalysts where we could see how they carried out the process on a large scale.

It was amazing to see how much they actually produce, and very interesting to actually be able to see the factory and the process from the inside.

“Here they tested the efficiency of the catalysts, and they tried to accelerate its degradation.”

The next thing on the list was your motivation letter. The focus point was a so-called “cover letter”. They showed us an example motivation letter which repeated the corresponding cv in narrative form. The way they spoke about the letter made it very clear that this was not the way to do it. The recommendation that was given is to take the chance to tell more about yourself and to give your inherent motivation.

So, what makes you yourself and why is the Job perfect for you as a person and not as an academic or skilled person.

After the informative and engaging workshop I think we all should fear less for the job application process. Because we need to think about this in a couple of years. I know for myself that I am a bit better prepared.

Sjoerd Rieken

After we had seen the factory, we swapped with the other group to take a look at the R&D facilities. Here they tested the efficiency of the catalysts, and they tried to accelerate its degradation. This research enables them to make an educated guess of how long it would last at their clients. Afterwards, the whole group had some drinks and the opportunity to talk to Eelco and ask questions.

At the end we walked together to the metro station to travel home. The company was very open and welcoming. It is exceptional that we were allowed to walk around and see the whole process, this is not something that happens at every company. All in all it was a very interesting afternoon, and a great opportunity to take a look inside a chemical company.

Marouscha Puister

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Interview Lina Kan Capgemini Lina Kan is tijdens haar bachelor MST en master Chemistry met de Science Based Business track actief lid geweest bij het CDL. Ze werkt nu als Test Automation Engineer bij Capgemini, een bedrijf dat zich specialiseert op het gebied van consulting, IT-services en digitale transformatie. Wat houdt zo’n baan precies in? En hoe kom je hier terecht?

Bètabanenmarkt bestuur. Capgemini was toen haar contactpersoon en dat was haar eerste ontmoeting met het bedrijf. Een aantal jaar later heeft ze zich op deze Bètabanenmarkt ingeschreven voor een Xperience Day en niet veel later kon ze bij Capgemini terecht als Test Automation Engineer.

Toen Lina begon met haar scheikunde bachelor had ze nooit gedacht dat ze in de IT zou eindigen, ze hield van bezig zijn en bij IT zit je de hele dag achter de computer. Later in haar opleiding kwam ze erachter dat ze twee dingen altijd door elkaar had gehaald: bezig zijn met je handen en bezig zijn met je hoofd. “Bij mijn baan in de IT ben je veel meer met je hoofd bezig dan wanneer je drie dagen lang op het lab staat te kolommen.”

“Deze functie is onderdeel van de afdeling Testing. Met testing bedoelen we software testing. De developers maken de software en iemand anders moet het gaan testen. Dit is omdat een ander persoon op een andere manier naar de software zal kijken. Test Automation Engineer ligt heel dichtbij de programmeurs, want ik automatiseer de tests die we gebruiken om tijd en mensen te besparen. Ik programmeer een programma wat software test, mijn programma doet alsof hij een gebruiker is. Hij test dingen zoals: wat gebeurt er als we met 10.000 mensen tegelijkertijd proberen in te loggen?”

Verschillende keuzes hebben Lina naar de IT geleid. Toen zij zich in haar master meer op research is gaan focussen kwam zij erachter dat dit niet alles was wat zij ervan had verwacht.

“Toen ging ik nadenken wat ik wel en niet leuk vond. Ik kwam erachter dat ik het puzzelen van de structuuranalyse heel leuk vond. Van een vraagstuk naar een antwoord komen en de weg daarnaartoe, dat sprak mij aan.”

Tijdens de master Chemistry heeft Lina stage gelopen bij Bol.com bij de Business Development afdeling, hier kwam ze erachter dat ze het bedrijfsleven wel zag zitten. Tijdens haar thesis bij Biophysical Organic Chemistry lag de focus op de simulatie van biomoleculen, hier leerde ze programmeren en dit vond ze leuker dan verwacht.

Na het afronden van haar thesis werd het tijd om de arbeidsmarkt op te gaan. Ze zocht iets technisch waar ze strategisch moest nadenken, maar niet iets scheikundigs, ze wilde wel programmeren, maar niet alleen maar, toen is ze bij consultancy uitgekomen. “Daar kan je verschillende bedrijven en verschillende soorten functies uitproberen.

Ik moest kiezen tussen business analist, development of testing, en daarin leek testing mij een goede middenweg.

Ik wilde niet alleen maar analyseren en ook niet alleen maar programmeren.”

Het IT-pad inslaan is een steeds populairdere keuze voor mensen na hun bètastudie. “Je ziet vaak dat ze in de IT op zoek zijn naar mensen met een universitaire bèta achtergrond, omdat ze op zoek zijn naar dit probleemoplossende inzicht.”

Mensen hebben vaak een verkeerde associatie bij de term IT. “De essentie van IT is niet alleen maar ICT of alleen maar software ontwikkelen, maar bij Capgemini hebben we ook veel business analisten. Die houden zich bezig met de vraagstellingen binnen de IT. Zij bevragen bijvoorbeeld aan het begin van de het project de klant over wat zij zouden willen hebben en maken daar een ontwerp van. Dit is dus ook heel veel projectmanagement, met als onderwerp IT.” Lina is in aanraking gekomen met Capgemini door haar

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“De essentie van IT is niet alleen maar ICT of alleen maar software ontwikkelen...”

De software wordt gebruikt voor uiteenlopende doelen.

Verschillende klanten zijn bijvoorbeeld Bol.com, ING, Action, Nike en Hema. “De software kan een website zijn of een applicatie op je telefoon, maar ook programma’s die je alleen intern binnen een bedrijf gebruikt.”

Bij Capgemini kan je projecten doen bij al deze verschillende klanten. Je werkt dan meestal op de locatie van deze klant.

Hier werk je in teams met verschillende samenstellingen.

“Soms heb je een volledig team van Capgemini, maar soms heb je een samengesteld team van mensen van Capgemini, van het bedrijf zelf en andere consultancy bedrijven.”

Ze werken met agile teams, dit houdt in dat je in een klein team werkt van maximaal negen mensen waar alle verschillende functies bij elkaar in één team zitten, developers, testers, business analysten, enzovoorts. “Ik zit bijvoorbeeld als enige tester in mijn team, dat is prima. Ik doe soms zelfs ook nog wat consultancy taken. Veel gebieden overlappen ook voor een deel, dan is het handig om alle verschillende functies in één team te hebben.”

Hoe lang je bezig bent met een project is afhankelijk van de afdeling. Het verschilt van een paar maanden tot drie jaar per project. “Dit komt omdat de agile manier van werken erop is ingesteld dat je telkens in korte periodes een klein stukje software beter maakt. Bijvoorbeeld, bij een mobiel bankieren

app, werk je in stappen. In de eerste maand wil je op de app het saldo kunnen zien, een maand later willen we dat je ook kan overmaken, een maand later willen we dat je ook je spaargeld kan zien, en zo wordt je app steeds uitgebreider en kan je ook beter op de markt inspelen.”

Bij universitaire opleidingen leer je analytisch en probleemoplossend denken, dit is een vaardigheid die Lina bij Capgemini vaak gebruikt. “We kunnen en willen een probleem analyseren, dus dit moeten we ook doen. Je moet doorvragen en uitzoeken wat nu echt het probleem is.

Want dan kom je tot een betere oplossing. Dit is eerder een onderdeel van consultancy, niet per se van testing.” Daar wordt ze bij Capgemini ook voor opgeleid “Wij krijgen een heel opleidingstraject, dat is enerzijds een training op social skills en consultancy en anderzijds heb je ook een traject voor je eigen functie, dus bij mij testing en een beetje software development.”

De diversiteit die Capgemini biedt maakt het zo aantrekkelijk.

“Je zit nooit heel lang op een project, je wisselt veel door. Daarnaast heb je veel verschillende richtingen en veel verschillende afdelingen. Je hebt bijvoorbeeld ook consultancy bedrijven die meer gespecialiseerd zijn op alleen business analisten, alleen programmeurs of alleen testers. Bij Capgemini zou je kunnen switchen tussen al deze richtingen.

Je hebt ook collega’s die op andere afdelingen zitten en je daarom veel nieuwe dingen kunnen leren. Ook is het een wereldwijd bedrijf, dus er zijn buitenland kansen.” Daarbij organiseren verschillende besturen binnen Capgemini net als een studievereniging activiteiten voor de werknemers, zoals skydiven en borrels.

Bij Capgemini streven ze er ook naar dat je doorgroeit. “Je hebt bij Capgemini veel mogelijkheden, je hebt een mentor die je groeipad goed in de gaten houdt en ze willen ook heel graag dat je groeit. Op dit moment weet ik nog niet precies welke kan ik op wil, maar ik vind wat ik nu doe heel erg leuk.

Ondanks dat we elk jaar onze groeidoelen moeten vaststellen, heb ik zelf geen uitgebreid vijfjarenplan waarin ik precies heb uitgestippeld wat ik ga doen. Daarom heb ik voor Capgemini gekozen: het biedt veel opties en je wordt actief begeleid in het kiezen van de opties die het beste bij je passen.”

Ben jij ook geïnteresseerd in Capgemini? Dan kan je verschillende dingen doen. “Bij Capgemini hebben we een Xperience Day, dat is één keer per maand een middag waar je door middel van een business case kennis maakt met de verschillende afdelingen die we hebben. Je spreekt dan ook iemand van elke afdeling. Je wordt dan geïntroduceerd in een IT-vraagstuk, dan zie je ook hoe een team met verschillende functies met elkaar samenwerkt. Dat is superleuk om te doen, maar ook heel handig. Later bij de borrel kan je ook nog mensen van Capgemini spreken. Ook staan we bij de Bètabanenmarkt dit jaar, dus dat is superleuk om even langs te lopen als je meer vragen hebt.”

Wil je meer weten over Capgemini? Op onze website chemischdispuutleiden.nl/carriere/bedrijfsprofielen vind je meer informatie!

Lise van den Bos en Chantal Huisman

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Vroeger was alles anders

...of toch niet??

Laat ik me eerst even voorstellen voor de CDL-leden die nu hun bachelor MST doen: ik ben Hilde Zwaan en ben sinds ruim een jaar studieadviseur binnen de masteropleiding Chemistry en Life Science & Technology. Maar ik was ook ruim 20 jaar geleden praeses van het CDL bestuur en mij is gevraagd om een stuk te schrijven over welke verschillen ik zie tussen het CDL van vroeger en nu. Tja, waar zal ik beginnen?

Ik was vooral in shock tijdens de CDL CoBo van 17 september 2019.

Schenkdames? (Huh?) Brassen?!! (Ik kende dat hele woord niet eens!)

Keihard tegen elkaar verenigingsliederen zingen?

In de eerste alinea is er nog een ander verschil aan de orde gekomen: de wekelijkse borrel in de Borrelbunker. Na college om 16 uur ging je direct door naar de kelder van het LCP en plofte je neer op één van de oude banken. Nu is er de wekelijkse borrel in de Science Club waar ik ook regelmatig te vinden ben. Dit is zeker ook een leuke ruimte en gezellige sfeer. Maar toch… die Borrelbunker met haar eigen wekelijkse CDL borrel en de CDL-kamer in de kelder van het LCP. Mooie tijden!

“Er is tamelijk wat veranderd. Maar ik zie nog steeds een bruisende, gezellige vereniging.”

Met onze CoBo zaten wij in ‘onze’ eigen Borrelbunker, beneden in de kelder van het LCP. Er waren wel wat zusterverenigingen aanwezig, die met een biertje, zonder zingen of brassen, ons kwamen feliciteren. Maar er waren ook wat betrokken stafleden, promovendi en andere medewerkers uit het Gorlaeus aanwezig, zoals de Kees Schoonwater van die tijd. Misschien werd het CDL-lied een keertje gezongen (of eigenlijk, het oude CDL lied: weggestemd in de historische ALV van 19 mei 1998 en officieel benoemd als “geen CDL lied”. Ten opzichte van 2020 is dit historisch omdat het huidige CDL lied “CDL is mijn dispuut” als HET officiële CDL lied werd verkozen), maar meer ook niet!

Liederen werden zeker gezongen tijdens weekendjes weg (Texel, Veluwe) of tijdens de reizen: de Belgiëreis voor tweedejaars en de buitenlandreis voor de derde- en vierdejaars. Jawel, de buitenlandreis was geen Japan, Genève of Milaan, maar - tromgeroffel - na België gingen we onze grenzen verleggen met een busreis van vijf uur in het Ruhrgebied van Duitsland (!).

Wat dat betreft, is er wel het een en ander verbeterd!

Nog een paar andere activiteiten van toen: een filmavond in een van de zalen van de schotel, een karaokeavond in een kroegje in de stad en uiteraard was er het PAC symposium.

Maar toen was het PAC een 2-daags symposium met een overnachting in een sportcomplex en een groot feest op de eerste dag. Dit had ook wel een nadeel: na veel gefeest en met weinig slaap moest je alle lezingen op de tweede dag volgen. Gelukkig was er toen ook koffie. De ONCS, excursies naar bedrijven en carrièreavonden waren er toen ook.

Uiteraard was er toen ook de Chimica maar mèt haar eigen soap “Natriumstearaat”. Een soort roddelkatern binnen de Chimica, waarbij liefdes tussen CDL-ers en laatste gossips onder fictieve namen (maar met goede beschrijvingen van uiterlijke kenmerken) aan het licht kwamen.

Conclusie: er is tamelijk wat veranderd. Maar ik zie nog steeds een bruisende, gezellige vereniging. Sommige dingen veranderen gelukkig nooit. De essentie van het CDL is hetzelfde gebleven. Nog even terugkomend op de CoBo: Misschien moet ik met mijn tijd meegaan… Misschien kan ik Rob van Waarde zo ver krijgen dat we met de volgende CoBo het “geen CDL lied” gaan zingen, wat wij vaak hebben gezongen met feesten. Om de goede, oude tijd te verenigen met de huidige. Wie weet!

Hilde Zwaan

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Chemisch Dispuut Leiden in corona tijden Zoals velen van jullie waarschijnlijk niet is ontgaan, leven wij momenteel middenin een pandemie. Het COVID-19 virus heeft de hele wereld in de war geschopt. De woorden groepsimmuniteit, viruswaanzin en zelfisolatie zijn toegevoegd aan onze woordenschat en worden vaker gebruikt dan veel mensen lief is. Dit is lastig voor iedereen en dus ook voor onze vereniging. Het Chemisch Dispuut Leiden maakt dingen mee die zij in haar (bijna) vijfennegentig jaar bestaan nog niet eerder heeft meegemaakt. Het bestuur doet de bestuursvergaderingen online, activiteiten moeten online en in het hok is het akelig stil. Hoe zag het afgelopen half jaar er uit? En wat zijn de vooruitzichten?

In maart stonden er nog veel activiteiten op de planning. Het ouderejaarsweekend kwam er aan, de Open Nederlandse Chemie Sportdagen en de 94e Dies zouden onder andere plaatsvinden. Eind maart werd duidelijk dat deze activiteiten niet door zouden kunnen gaan. Op de valreep waren in begin maa nog een aantal carrièreactiviteiten, een labtour, het PAC symposium en een spelletjestoernooi van de Sportcommissie georganiseerd.

Mei 2020

Vanaf September zag het vooruitzicht er een stuk rooskleuriger uit. Er mochten weer fysieke evenementen plaatsvinden. De El Cid faculteitendag, introdag voor de eerstejaars, Back to Books borrel en de LuCo pizza borrel konden allemaal fysiek plaatsvinden. Deze waren allemaal een groot succes.

September 2020

Maart 2020

Ook zijn we al vele online activiteiten verder. Online borrel, Netflix party, de kandidaatsbestuur bekendmaking en een zeer geslaagde online Dies. De 94e verjaardag van het CDL is gevierd met onder andere een game night, proeverij, een crazy-88 en een pubquiz. Allemaal in het thema van de Dies: Diesney.

Augustus 2020

Het afgelopen halfjaar is samen te vatten in drie woorden: regels, regels en regels. Dit vergde extra veel creativiteit en doorzettingsvermogen. We hebben toch nog een aantal fysieke activiteiten kunnen doen. Deze zagen er uiteraard wel anders uit dan anders. Allemaal op een eigen picknickkleedje in het park, op 1.5 meter afstand. Maar natuurlijk wel altijd onder het genot van een hapje en een drankje.

Oktober 2020 Maar toen de tweede golf ons als een vloedgolf overspoelden was het weer gedaan met de fysieke pret. Alles moest weer online. Gelukkig bevallen de online spelletjes borrels goed.

Scribble is herontdekt en Among Us valt ook goed in de smaak. Verder is het bestuur twee keer in de week te vinden in het virtuele hok op Discord, om praatjes te maken met de leden. De komende weken blijven onzeker. Het bestuur en de commissies zijn super gemotiveerd om alsnog een mooi lustrumjaar neer te kunnen zetten. Hopelijk zien wij alle buitenleden later in het jaar bij de buitenledenactiviteiten en de reünistendag.

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Last year It feels very strange looking back at the past year. While I have the tendency to immediately talk about the changes in education because of the virus, the first half of the year elapsed as usual. No big changes had been made in the study programs. MST was chosen as one of the studies to use a pilot version of Brightspace, the substitute for Blackboard. It was well received among the students, so this academic year, the whole university will convert to Brightspace.

One of the things that was pointed out to me, was that a lot of students do not know what types of research groups the LIC has. I decided to organize lab tours to the chemistry related labs of the LIC and the astronomy lab. These tours took place during the lunch breaks, so it was relatively easy for everyone to join. During these tours, students could take a look in the laboratories of these groups, they attended a short presentation about which topics are covered in the group and there were plenty of possibilities to ask questions. I think that organizing these tours really intertwined education with research. Students were not only able to get to know more research groups, but it was also a way to see how their courses are put into practice and a low-threshold way for them to ask all their questions and meet more professors. Unfortunately, like many other events, some tours were unable to take place due to the virus, but I’m sure that these will take place at a later stage.

The announcements during the first press conference were not completely unexpected, but suddenly all the education had to change. I remember it being Thursday afternoon when Mark Rutte said that it was no longer allowed to be in one space with over 100 people, and that the Cabinet advised teachers at universities to no longer give lectures to more than 100 people in one room. Only one day later, on Friday, the university released a statement that students were no longer to come to the faculties, and that all on campus education was cancelled. In only one week all teachers, educational teams and boards had to come up with solutions to prevent students from getting study delay. It was pretty hectic, and a lot of students did not know what was going to happen. After that week, all courses were given online.

Some teachers provided presentations with spoken text and others organized live sessions. Seminars were given online in small groups and also the exams had to be converted to an online substitute. Some exams stayed exactly the same, others became open book exams or were changed into essay writing. The whole situation demanded a lot of creativity to adjust every course in its own way. The way the university handled it and the effort that the teachers have put into the new way of teaching are admirable.

Meanwhile, the students that had to do practical work had to stay home. For master students, it was advised to try to do other courses or start with a literature study, and start with their research projects when it was again allowed. However,

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students that were already busy with projects were unable to do anything. Bachelor students that had to do their end projects were advised to search for a project which was comprised of literature studies and computer work. If this was not what they liked, it was allowed to start with some master courses and do the project at a later stage. Luckily for them, there was an arrangement made which allows them to already start with their master this year, and finish their bachelor still after September 1st.

Little by little, the situation is getting better again. It is great to see that the university, at the time of writing, is allowed to again use 20% of its capacity when 1.5 meters distance can be guaranteed. It is again permitted to work at the lab, however, less people are allowed to be present at the same time. From September on, some courses can be partly given on campus again. Everyone is working very hard to try to let seminars and presentations take place on campus. However, most parts of the programs will still take place online. Therefore, the upcoming students, both bachelor and master, will get a student- and a teacher as a mentor to guide them through this first semester, and to let them feel as much at home at our faculty as usual.

Lastly, but also unfortunately, Peter Hamersma has left MST as educational director. From this academic year on, Volkert van Steijn will take over his place. I would like to thank Peter Hamersma for his involvement in the students’ lives and his enthusiasm for education and new projects. It was a pleasure working with you!

Danique van Workum e.t. commissioner of education of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden

This year Just a few months into this academic year, I can already say that the things that felt strange for Danique, are already more or less normal for me. Let me first introduce myself before I write what happened at the university. I am Pepijn Lammers and I am 21 years old. Within the 88th board I fulfill the function of commissioner of education. In this piece, I will try to illustrate the current situation for the students of the bachelor MST and master Chemistry. Because like Danique said, little by little the situation improves, even though were still very much in the midst of the corona pandemic.

The introduction days were the first moments of the year during which the freshman students could physically meet the educational staff, their fellow students and the study associations. At the end of the day we handed out the much needed lab coats and glasses for their precious hours in the laboratories. With much appreciated help from other students we managed to do it corona proof. Everybody was ready to start the new year the way it was going to be, mostly online. Luckily, the program coordinators and some teachers were able to provide some courses on campus. For the first year bachelor students these were AAC (Introduction to Inorganic Chemistry) and PBV (Introduction to laboratory work) and second year students could enjoy Biochemistry physically. Also the master students got the opportunity to follow some lectures on campus.

The faculty of science was in a cheerful mood the last weeks of the first period. A lot of bachelor and propaedeutic phase diplomas were handed out to students of different programs, including the diplomas for the BSc Molecular Science & Technology. The canteen of the Gorlaeus building was transformed in such a way that these diplomas could be picked up under festive and safe circumstances. About eighty students got a diploma for their propaedeutic phase and more than a hundred received a Bachelor of Science diploma.

A couple of weeks ago, the students completed the first period and the first grades of the year showed up. During this first period some exams were taken online but fortunately a good part of exams were provided on campus. The current period does not bring major changes to the way that education is provided at Leiden University. However, we keep learning from the current situation and keep evaluating education.

With my dearest greetings,

Pepijn Lammers h.t. commissioner of education of the Chemisch Dispuut Leiden

Going to university for the first time can be a challenging progress. The different way of studying is something most students need some time getting used to. This is certainly the case when half of the given courses are online and students are sitting at home behind a laptop. The program team of MST and Chemistry sorted every first year student into groups with two mentors. These mentors are senior students.

Although the mentor system is not new, it is extra important this year, and even before the summer holidays these mentor groups came together to prepare the new students for their program. Besides the practical side of these groups they also provide a social function. When half of the courses are online it is hard to meet new people and make friends. The mentor groups are able to prevent social isolation at home due to the corona crisis.

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