On 16 May, three researchers from Leiden University will present their findings on the democratic consequences of decentralisation at a workshop in Leiden. Their research project, Downsize My Democracy?, shows that decentralisation does not automatically lead to a stronger democracy. On the contrary,…

Two MEPs visited Leiden University on Friday 30 January. Their visit underscored the vital importance of the university’s expertise on Africa, Asia and Latin America in a rapidly changing geopolitical landscape.

The authors explore the decision-making processes and debates surrounding EU member states' troop contributions to CSDP military deployments.

Starting in September 2024, the Europa Institute will host a new LL.M. on the Governance of Migration and Diversity [GMD].

The Netherlands in September 2021 could be characterised as a low-trust society. Trust in the government has declined significantly in the past one-and-a-half years: from almost 70 percent in April 2020 to less than 30 percent in September 2021. There has also been a slight decrease in trust between…

A Centre for Global Heritage will be set up at Leiden University, that integrates the unique global breadth and quality of academic expertise at the University and the Leiden Museums with the global infrastructure of practical consultancy expertise built up over the past years by the Centre for International…

In their third year, students of International Studies get their teeth into difficult issues put forward by government and businesses such as Unilever and the World Food Programme. Students who take part gain valuable experience.

The project GRADIENTS investigates what it meant to be European in colonial Africa where identification as European often did not depend on skin colour and was understood on a spectrum with many gradients.

Hemin Hawezy, a political & international government adviser, has started as a dual PhD candidate at Leiden University. Bram Klievink and Toon Kerkhoff are supervising his research on the organisation of digitalisation in government; a good example of transdisciplinary collaboration.

On 28 October 2021, Matthew Hoye presented his paper during a seminar organized by the GTGC Global Justice and Human Rights group. His paper was about the Remittances and Global Justice: Paradoxes and Potentials.

Worldwide, countries are barely prepared for major borderless crises such as extreme natural disasters or other unexpected calamities that destabilise society, Professor of Political Science, Arjen Boin, warns. In his inaugural address on 23 October he makes some recommendations.

Find out how to apply for Economics and Governance at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

The project officially started in September 2020, but with the enrolment of PhD students Hanum Atikasari and Shajeela Shawkat the research team of the ERC project 'Globalizing Palliative Care? A Multi-sited Ethnographic Study of Practices, Policies and Discourses of Care at the End of Life' is compl…

Jan Aart Scholte was lead organizer of a conference on ‘Future Directions in Global Legitimacy Research’, held in Stockholm on 21-22 June 2022. The gathering assembled 50 leading scholars on this subject to reflect on future research concerning the sources, processes, and consequences of legitimacy…

Through our educational activities at Leiden University, the Politics and Governance department seeks to share scientific insights and develop actionable competences that enable individuals and collectives working in governance institutions and politics to understand and address today’s societal cha…

The government could do more to improve its diversity, says Saniye Çelik. By hiring people from a variety of backgrounds, the government will be better able to handle issues together with its citizens. Employees will also feel more connected to the organisation. PhD defence 10 November.

Inaugural lecture

Can suffering be positive? Currently dominant discourses, primarily voiced through human rights activism and humanitarianism, maintain the opposite: suffering, mentally and physically, has to be avoided and where it exists, it has to be reduced.

What will be the outcome of the US raid on Venezuela and capture of President Maduro? ‘History shows that people usually react to being bombed by a foreign power by rallying around the flag, not turning against their leaders’, says historian Andrew Gawthorpe in The Conversation.

On Thursday 28 September 2017 the Institute of Public Administration of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) organizes the event ‘Good Governance in Asia and the West: What is the Difference?’ as part of the Leiden Asia Year. Below you can read the interview with professor Zeger van der…

The public are experiencing the effects of international policy more directly and the contacts between citizens and civil servants are also changing. Read about the impact of these developments in the new research dossier on 'Governance and Society'.

On 25 November 2021, Jelena Belic presented her paper during a seminar organized by the GTGC Global Justice and Human Rights group. Her paper was about the Right to Withdraw from International Treaties: A Normative Analysis.

On 10 June, GTGC Chair Prof. Jan Aart Scholte, together with Soledad Garcia Ferrari of the University of Edinburgh, spoke at the launch of The Hague Global Futures Hub.

An online platform with instructive and social challenges to prepare students for the changing job market. This idea won the Piece of Skill team the Deans’ Challenge on 27 August. In this competition students invent solutions for global issues, selected by deans of Leiden University.

Professor Ken Meier is one of the most prominent researchers of the world in the field of Public Administration. Meier holds appointments as a professor of Public Administration at Cardiff School of Business (Wales), a professor of bureaucracy and democracy at Leiden University (The Netherlands), research…

Atte Ahola, who graduated last year from the bachelor’s programme in Urban Studies, has won the award for Best Undergraduate Thesis in Europe in the category of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the Global Undergraduate Awards 2025.

On Thursday 2 June 2022, Olivia Serrano, a guest researcher in the GTGC programme, gave a presentation to the GTGC Global Justice and Human Rights stream. Olivia's presentation was about the Role of Independent Expert Committees in the Interpretation of Human Rights Treaties: the Right to Health as…

The Legal Tech Challenge 2026 kicks off on 5 February. Ishana Bhadai, Lizzy Streng and Jonathan Scholten van den Belt were last year’s winners. Here, they share their experiences stepping up to the challenge.

The University of St Andrews and Leiden University, with the support of a network grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, will be hosting a workshop series in 2022 about Ocean Governance. Academics, policy makers, and practitioners are invited to contribute via working papers. Deadline abstract:…

His dissertation has been completed for more than a year, but due to corona the defence had been postponed. On Wednesday 30 September, Machiel van der Heijden will finally be able to defend his dissertation Transnational Networks and Domestic Agencies: Making Sense of Globalizing Administrative Patterns…

In her inaugural lecture Susanna Linberg will ask how philosophy should respond to global warming.

The GTGC seed grant project on Governing Digital Platforms organised a two-day workshop on 18-19 January 2024, bringing together scholars and practitioners from diverse epistemologies, positionalities, geographic regions, and disciplines – with a focus on ethics and (political) philosophy, anthropology,…

UNPLASTIC, a research project by Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) won the Dopper Changemaker Challenge 2019. LUC student Roos Kolkman represented UNPLASTIC during the semi-finals on Saturday.

On 3 December 2021, the conference: Lessons from Afghanistan was organized jointly by LUCIR (Leiden University’s Centre for International Relations), ISGA (Institute of Security and Global Affairs) and GTGC (Global Transformations and Global Challenges Initiative), all at Leiden University, The Neth…

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On 17 October 2022, Jan Aart Scholte contributed to a conference plenary roundtable on 'From Internet Governance to Digital Political Economy'. Click here to find out more about the event.

Last November, it was announced that the European Commission has awarded a Jean Monnet Chair to Professor of Tax Law Irma Mosquera Valderrama. She will use the grant to shape the EUTAXGOV project over the next three years.

A ‘new governance culture’ – a hot topic for a number of years now. What kind of culture of public administration do we have in the Netherlands and how do you change it? This question is the focus of the podcast Het Spel & De Macht (the Game & the Power). Each episode considers one theme related to…

The University of Reading will host an online workshop on 27 April 2021. It is aimed at early career and postgraduate research historians focusing on the area of medieval finance. The deadline for submissions is: 19 February 2021.

Within the research project "Governing and Building the City: Mirrors for Magistrates as a Lieu for Theoretical Reflection on Architecture," there are currently two vacancies for a doctoral student and a post-doctoral researcher. Candidates can apply until May 15, 2024.

This article offers an inaugural assessment of how silences implicate international law-making in cyberspace through descriptive and normative lenses.

If you know a crime is about to occur, should you be able to prevent it before it has even happened? This was one of the questions that was posed in light of predictive policing as a form of mass surveillance during the debate in the elective Governance of Crime and Social Disorder class of the Crisis…

Minister of Digitalisation Alexandra van Huffelen will give a guest lecture on the government’s ambitions in the field of digitalisation on Monday 12 September. Bram Klievink, professor Digitalisation and Public Policy and founder of The Hague Centre for Digital Governance will act as mediator. ‘Digitalisation…

The winner of the 2022 Spring edition of the NWO Venture Challenge was announced during the Dutch Biotech Event. The innovative startup Iprotics has developed specific proteasome inhibitors that potentially treat multiple myeloma (MM) without the side-effects known from traditional proteasome inhibi…

You’re about to start your minor at Leiden University. Make sure you are well prepared and get your studies off to a good start.

Each month, Arco Timmermans participates in Dutch radio programme BNR Lobbypanel to discuss a topic at the intersection of politics and entrepreneurship. On 10 December 2019 he told about the discrepancy between the interactions of MPs and the civil service with lobbyists.