Professor of Law and Society Maartje van der Woude has been appointed as a Mercator Fellow at the University of Göttingen’s research group Mobility Rights in the Global Context of Multiple Crises, which studies human rights and migration in times of crisis.

As of 1 September Miranda van Eck will be the new Scientific Director of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research. She succeeds Hubertus Irth, who led the institute since 2016. Van Eck has been appointed for a period of four years.

On 1 January 2022, Joop van Holsteijn was appointed Scientific Director and, as Chair of the Institute's Board, will represent the Institute of Political Science at faculty and university level.

The Young Academy has gained a new Leiden humanities scholar as a member. University lecturer Greek language and literature Tazuko van Berkel will be appointed as a member as of March.

For her research into complex family problems, an assistant professor in Forensic Family and Youth Care Studies Sabine van der Asdonk has won the Gratama Science Prize 2021, a prize for talented young researchers from the universities of Leiden and Groningen. The jury praised Van der Asdonk’s excellent…

The Fritz Zwicky Prize 2022 for Astrophysics & Cosmology has been awarded to Prof. Ewine F. van Dishoeck for her pioneering, decades-long work in astrochemistry and molecular spectroscopy, as well as for her leadership within the astronomical community. The award was announced today by the European…

Nienke van der Marel has been awarded the New Horizons Prize in physics for her pioneering research on planet formation. This prize is given to young, promising researchers in physics or mathematics. The astronomer and her colleagues found the first observational evidence for 'dust traps' in disks around…

Gabrielle van den Berg became the Academic Director of LIAS on 1 September 2025: “I hope I’ll be able to make a real difference.”

The Executive Board is delighted to announce that Joanne van der Leun took up the position of the university’s Academic Lead International Affairs as of 1 January 2025.

The Meijers prizes are awarded each year for the best published article from each faculty research programme. Reijer received the prize for his contribution to the programme ‘The Legitimacy and Effectiveness of Law & Governance’ with his article ‘Digitalisering en de (dis)balans binnen de trias politica’…

Hundreds of millions of Chinese workers have moved from the countryside to the city. This social transformation has birthed a tradition of migrant worker poetry, professor Maghiel van Crevel states in Jacobin.

On 10 March students of the advanced master's in International Children’s Rights and the Dutch Child Law master's watched the documentary Shadow Game with filmmaker Els van Driel.

Facility

We are saddened by the news of the unexpected passing of prof.dr. Pieter Sjoerd van Koningsveld on 28 July 2021.

Under extreme pressure and in agreement with the Faculty Board, the programme chairs, represented by a core group, have worked over recent weeks on additional recommendations based on the Perspective 2028 plan. On 1 December they presented their Alternative Perspective 2028 to the Faculty Board. The…

Valedictory lecture, minisymposium

On Europe Day (9 May), we celebrate the creation of the European Union. How well do you know the EU? Take part in our quiz on unexpected and interesting facts about Europe, compiled by our experts. Have fun!

Writing a book on the recent history of Leiden University in corona times. For educational and policy historian Pieter Slaman (34), this has meant working in the attic of his parents’ house while they looked after his daughter, along with numerous online conversations and very few, if any, visits to…

Vincent van Heuven passed away unexpectedly on Friday 6 February 2026 at the age of 76 at his home in Kûbaard (Friesland), the Netherlands.

Vanessa de Malmazet has been working as HR policy advisor in FGGA's Faculty Office since March. Promoting employee well-being is high on the Faculty Board's list of priorities for the coming years. In this new role,

‘To be honest, I don’t really care about what type of research is going on. Just let me do my own thing and everything is fine,’ according to biotechnical officer Davy de Witt. In this interview, he tells about his tasks and experiences at the Institute of Biology Leiden, where he has been employed…

Two of the three nominees for the Leiden Education Prize, or best teacher of 2020-2021, work at FGGA: Els de Busser (ISGA) and Ayo Adedokun (LUC). Both lecturers are very honoured with their nomination. The winner will be announced on Monday 6 September during the opening of the academic year.

There are some changes in the plans for the development of the Humanities Campus. The Faculty of Humanities along with the central organisation and the Real Estate department need to save costs due to the financial challenges at the faculty and the cuts in higher education. At the same time, we still…

What is the best way for us as a society to deal with all the different forms of diversity? Professor Marlou Schrover will use the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) to explore this question with colleagues and the public.

Protests against textbooks on trans persons in America and against a reading hour by drag queens in Rotterdam: it has been raining protests recently against people with a gender expression that does not match their birth sex. Why does this evoke such resistance? We asked Professor by special appointment…

As of 1 September, Tim van Surksum will take on the role of assessor for our faculty. The 22-year-old second-year Mathematics student is excited about his appointment.

It is with great sadness that we share the news that Cuinn van Keulen passed away on 30 March 2026. Cuinn joined the Political Science Bachelor programme in 2023 and was a third-year student specializing in International Relations and Organisations.

The new welfare state is said to be close to its citizens and does not dominate, but cooperate. “But this paradigm has a hard time to acknowledge the power relation that shapes the relation between state and citizens,” says Anouk de Koning in the interview 'The Downsides of Equality Talk in the Welfare…

It’s time once again to take the National Student Survey (NSE), the annual student satisfaction survey for all students at research universities and universities of applied sciences. Annie de Jong is a Policy Officer for Quality Assurance at Strategy and Academic Affairs and the central contact person…

After months of renovating, refreshing, and rearranging, the educational environment in the Basement will be back in use starting 28 October 2024.

Sky-high energy prices and a climate that keeps getting warmer: it’s clear that we have to turn down the heat. Sustainability Day on 10 October will mark the start of our five-month Energy Campaign and we’ll be making the switch. Sustainability Coordinators Aranka Virágh (Real Estate) and Marlies Nijemeisland…

An international team of astronomers, led by Will Rocha of Leiden Observatory, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered that the key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds are present in early-stage protostars, where planets have not yet formed.

Alumnus Anoma van der Veere did Japanese studies and talks in this interview about his studies in Leiden and his work as a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre and as Japanese correspondent in Tokyo.

From painful joints to intense fatigue: a third of rheumatism patients suffer serious effects from this chronic condition and rely long-term on medication. Leiden psychologists are to receive a subsidy from the Netherlands Arthritis Foundation to investigate whether placebo techniques can help patients…

Lindsey Boosten followed her passion by combining the study of aviation and law in the Advanced Master in Air and Space Law in Leiden. It turned out to be a great choice: ‘It was one of the best years from my student days.’

The members of the Board of ALTEX Edition, the ALTEX Editorial Board and ALTEX Editorial Office elect the winner of the annual award out of all main articles published in the previous year; articles including members of the Board of ALTEX Edition or ALTEX Editorial Office as first authors are excluded.…

In november 2023 is Anne Fleur van Veenstra, wetenschappelijk directeur van TNO Vector, benoemd tot bijzonder hoogleraar ‘Governance van data en algoritmen voor stedelijk beleid’.

Aafje de Roest turned her hobby into her job. She went from a teenager who enjoyed listening to hip hop music to a PhD candidate who focuses on how Dutch hip hop music shapes the cultural identity of young people in the Netherlands.

The legal distinction between victims of human trafficking and victims of migrant smuggling is unjust, argues De Massol Rebetz in her PhD thesis. In certain instances, smuggled migrants should be treated the same as victims of human trafficking.

What makes South Korean films successful? In the first part of the video series 'The World of the Korean Wave', University Lecturer Peter Verstraten discusses the recent success of South Korean cinema.

Alumnus Sam van Raalte followed his passion into freelance journalism.

The latest volume of Contributions in New World Archaeology (Vol. 18) has been dedicated to the memory of Dr Andrzej Tadeusz Antczak, an eminent archaeologist and long standing collaborator of the journal. Dr Antczak, who passed away in 2024 after a long illness, was a respected member of Leiden University’s…

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

'When taking into account all finds in the Islamic world of this enigmatic vessel, it would perhaps be wise not to restrict this container to merely one function.'

We regret to share the news that our colleague, friend, and former professor of Assyriology at Leiden University, passed away on 15 May 2021.

Anne Marieke van der Wal-Rémy recently joined the Institute for History as a lecturer in International Relations. She introduces herself.

PhD candidate Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart has received the Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds grant from the Leids Universiteits Fonds (LUF) to work on a research project focusing on the landscapes of the Second World War. ‘We will combine citizen science with deep learning to uncover traces of the c…

The FIFA World Cup will get underway in Qatar this November – an event that has attracted much discussion in recent years. This discussion is not only centred on sport. Human rights are in the spotlights in Qatar. On Friday 30 September, Leiden University organised a debate in which experts from various…