Kamerlingh Onnes, a professor at Leiden University, was the first to succeed in cooling gaseous helium to the point where it became liquid. This achievement won him the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1913. This catapulted the physics laboratory at Steenschuur (later named after Kamerlingh Onnes) to world fame.
Kamerlingh Onnes instructed his foreign craftspeople to train talented young people to become skilled instrument makers. This marked the beginning of the Leiden Instrument Makers School (LiS)! The LiS has existed since 1901 and is now an independent vocational school. The LiS and Leiden University continue to collaborate to this day.
