The Schengen Agreement has resulted in systematic border controls between EU Member States largely ceasing to apply. Solutions for the associated security risks are often sought in information technology. Tim Dekkers investigated how such technology is applied in this context and will defend his PhD…

Professor Renata Kallosh (Stanford University), one of the world’s leading theoretical physicists, will be this summer’s Lorentz Professor at the Leiden institute for theoretical physics. Her main areas of interest are cosmology and string theory. She studied physics in Moscow, where she also obtained…

The Faculty of Humanities’ On-Campus Master’s Experience Day was a pleasantly busy event. The information sessions and corresponding information market went down well with interested undergraduates.

From 20 to 23 June 2024, the prestigious Hugo Sinzheimer Moot Court Competition took place in Vienna. Students from Leiden Law School also participated.

In the 2020 presidential elections, voters in several, mostly southern, electoral districts of the United States saw ‘their’ polling stations closed by the local authorities. In order to cast their vote, they had to travel further or use the mail ballot. Media reports and civil rights activitsts often…

Dennis Claessen has been appointed professor of Molecular Microbiology at the Institute of Biology Leiden. With his teaching and research on the cell wall, the professor wants to establish applications in the industry and the medical sector.

From the new Hortus botanicus podcast to conference call bingo: all the students, lecturers and other members of staff from Leiden University had to switch at breakneck speed to working and studying from home this week. That meant decluttering offices, getting your head around remote teaching and installing…

Rawi Ramautar will be the new Programme Director of the bachelor of Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences starting September 1. The appointment is for four years. Ramautar succeeds Erik Danen, who has held the position since 2019.

A delegation of the Child Law Department has attended the World congress on family law and children’s rights in Dublin, from 4-7 June. This congress organised once in every four years was hosted by prof. Ursula Kilkelly (University College Cork). Over 600 people attended the congress; professionals…

The Department of Child Law of Leiden University and Defence for Children invite you to the ninth Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award ceremony, which will take place online, on Tuesday 7 December from 15.30 onwards (in English).

On 17 September 2018 Rijpma, Associate Professor of European Law at the Europa Institute, spoke at the European Academy for European Law’s annual conference on EU border management.

Making friends in a new city can be difficult, which is why the Humanities PopCorner has created the Buddy Programme. The idea is to give international master's students a helping hand in building a social network. Project coordinator Manal Daddah updates us.

Many Humanities scholars keep a blog of their own. This summer, we’re putting these in the spotlight. For this week’s interview, we sat down with Annemarie van Sandwijk, editor in chief of the Leiden Islam Blog.

The numbers of asylum seekers and the direct family members hoping to join them were not the problem, says Mark Klaassen. The stumbling block was the housing market. He says the asylum crisis is being used for electoral gain.

Transferring poo from healthy donors to the intestines of chronically ill people has beneficial effects on these recipients’ gut bacteria, also in the longer term. This is the conclusion of research by the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Netherlands Donor Feces Bank (NDFB).

Grootschalige productie van batterijen voor elektrische auto’s zwakt de emissiereductie die door elektrisch rijden wordt behaald af.

Using 2D materials, physics student Romme van der Kemp developed a nanochip that is extremely small ánd scalable. This is needed to make all kinds of technologies better, faster and smaller. He has been nominated for the FWN Young Talent Award 2023 for his research.

At the end of March Jeanette Satink visited the Beijing Children's Legal Aid and Research Center.

Bhumika Gupta (21), International Studies alumna, secured an internship in the OPCW, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. She has set a path for herself, leading towards the job of her dreams, and this internship is a big step towards that future job.

Do young people trust the law? That is what HC Law students are trying to find out. Regular guest speaker and social worker Carlito Jones invited the students to the Bezuidenhout-West neighbourhood centre in The Hague to talk to youth workers and neighbourhood police officers: what do they run into…

Manuscripts that look like a comic book, that's how you could describe the manuscripts of the Dongba people from China. The manuscripts are one of the last examples of a so-called pictographic script that can only be interpreted by Dongba priests, shamans, who have knowledge of the ancient Dongba cu…

The lecture halls in the Lipsius were full of curious secondary school students in January. During a special profile selection afternoon, they were introduced to the faculty and language studies. ‘I had no idea that Hebrew and Arabic were similar.’

On Tuesday 10 September 2019, the opening of the Master European Law took place in the Old Observatory. Ms Catherine De Bolle, Europol Executive Directeur, presented the opening lecture.

Sometimes an idea seems so logical and elegant at first glance, that you later wonder why no one thought of it before. Two researchers from LACDR have teamed up to develop a completely synthetic alternative to antibodies—one that mimics their size, shape and function, but which is cheaper, more stable,…

Ian Simpson is a relatively new face at the Faculty of Archaeology. Starting as an assistant professor in the Heritage and Society department in 2018, he is one of the faculty’s members in critical heritage studies and looks both at the past as well as the future. ‘I study how heritage can be employed…

In an op-ed and an interview in Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’, Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor in Constitutional Law at Leiden University and Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Constitutional State at the Open University, stresses that Europe needs to take radical steps to tackle…

People in leadership roles are unlikely to discuss leadership skills with their colleagues. But that is precisely what we as a university would like them to do. Because trust in one another’s abilities will make us an agile university that innovates and makes room for talent.

The European Football Championship for Women, in the Netherlands this summer, is the background for a large and innovative data research project. The Dutch football union is working together with Leiden University and Sportinnovator. The research is expected to uncover links that have thus far remained…

People often say you should ‘do something that makes you happy’. Alumnus Benjamin Wegman certainly took that advice to heart. After graduating with a degree in tax law, he switched to brewing beer at a local brewery in Leiden.

Leiden University, together with the Open University and Universities of the Netherlands, will take up residence in the Spui building at Grote Marktstraat 48-50/Spui 3 in downtown The Hague from 2025. The partners signed the leases on 7 November.

The annual commemoration of the nation’s war dead on Dam Square and at Waalsdorpervlakte, the Dutch apologies for historical slavery and the Cleveringa Lecture itself: our relationship with history is often ritualistic, Cleveringa Professor Frank van Vree will say in his inaugural lecture on 27 Nove…

Shell Nigeria is liable for damages from oil spills in Nigeria. The Hague Court of Appeals gave this ruling in a case that was brought by four Nigerian farmers.

On 29 August 2025, the Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights programme celebrated its 10th anniversary with alumni, partners, and friends, marking the milestone with reflection, dialogue, and the launch of a new Education Fund.

Professor Ann Skelton has been elected as Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

The Faculty of Archaeology used to be involved in several excavations in Syria, before the outbreak of civil war made travel to the region impossible. One of these excavations is the one of tell Hammam al-Turkman, which started in 1981. Student Ruben Hartman, together with archaeologist Dr Diederik…

Presentations, city tours, themed cafés and information fairs − there was plenty to discover on the Bachelor’s Open Day last Saturday. Around 6,000 prospective students and 4,000 parents visited faculties in Leiden and The Hague to soak up the atmosphere and imagine how it would be to study at Leiden…

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.

Alumnus Allard Altena (27) is mentor of the month. He worked at the Public Prosecution Service and is now a regulator at the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). He wants to share his broad experience with students and young alumni – you too perhaps?

Leiden University is expanding its educational offering in The Hague with two Dutch-taught bachelor's programmes: Economie & Samenleving and Cybersecurity & Cybercrime. These programmes address current societal issues and provide students with the opportunity to combine different disciplines to solve…

What can you expect from studying in Leiden or The Hague? Which programme should you choose? Should you join a student association and will you need to find a room? Over 8,000 prospective students showed up at the Leiden University Open Day: a record. Here's what some of them had to say.

Controversial environmental organisation Sea Shepherd fights illegal fishing all around the world and is not afraid to take direct action. Alumnus Geert Vons is director of Sea Shepherd Netherlands. How does he look back on his degree in Chinese Studies, and what motivates him in his work? ‘If we don’t…

In a conversation, you provide all sorts of information to the listener. For example, you can indicate that you're certain about something, or that you heard it through someone else. Associate Professor Jenneke van der Wal has been awarded a Vici grant to investigate whether the way people do this is…

In July and August 2017, Magdalena Jozwiak, researcher at the eLaw department, is going to teach the course on ‘Privacy and surveillance in an information age: comparative law perspectives’ at the Kuala Lumpur campus of the Australian Monash University, within the framework of the Monash Law Malaysia…

The war in Ukraine is leading not only to human suffering. Ukraine's cultural heritage is also experiencing the consequences of the war: museums are being bombed and 'Russification' in the occupied territories means children no longer learn Ukrainian. Researcher Evelien Campfens was commissioned by…

On the evening of 11 September 2017, the first five-yearly anniversary of the master’s programme Child Law (Jeugdrecht) was celebrated.

Mike Field has been at the Faculty of Archaeology since 2008. As a driven archaeobotanist, he is consistantly contributing to the study of plant fossils encountered in many faculty as well as external projects. ‘Flexibility, spontaneity, creativity, these are all parts of being an academic.’

At the end of October the students of MA International Relations: European Union Studies once again made the journey to Brussels for three days of behind-the-scenes insights into EU politics and policy-making. From the intricacies of European defence cooperation to the future of digital trade, students…

The BA Religious Studies programme has been awarded the label 'Topopleiding' (Top Education) in the Keuzegids 2021.

Few people would associate the name Anton de Kom with Leiden. Yet the Surinamese freedom fighter is the subject of an exhibition at Museum De Lakenhal.

Marco Cinelli from Leiden University College (LUC) and the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) was awarded the 2024 EURO Award for the Best EJOR Paper at the European Conference on Operational Research in Copenhagen.