Aline Vidotto has been appointed professor of Stellar and Planetary Astrophysics at the Observatory from 1 February. Vidotto has been with the university for 3.5 years and for her, the appointment is ‘a milestone in her career.’

Do people actually understand the constitution? This is what Jelle But, PhD candidate at Constitutional and administrative law, wondered. To find out, he conducted a survey among 1333 respondents. His research shows that lawyers and other legal professionals actually do not have a better understanding…

Vice-chairman of the Executive Board Martijn Ridderbos will leave Leiden University at the end of this year.

At the start of the year a lot of journals publish lists of their most cited papers of the previous year. Three papers published by Leiden archaeologists were ranked in the top 10 of the Journal of Archaeological Science: reports.

Organisation

Work started today on the Kolffpad student complex, with 289 flats for students from Leiden University. Stichtnig DUWO will own the building and the University owns the site at the Bio Science Park. The building should be complete by mid-2023.

At the start of 2025, the Faculty of Science (FWN) will take on their new roles as programme directors. Charlene Kalle, Thijs Bosker, and Maurijn van der Zee will each be responsible for one of the faculty's bachelor programmes. Their appointments are for a term of four years.

Facility, Organisation

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is delighted to announce that Dr Farouk El-Hosseny will join the teaching staff as Visiting Assistant Professor of International Law.

25 years ago the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University was founded. In the academic year of 2022-2023 several lustrum activities will be organised to celebrate this happy occasion. The year was kicked off with a vibrant party on September 8, inviting staff, students, and alumni.

The article “Anticipating an unwanted future: euthanasia and dementia in the Netherlands” by Natashe Lemos Dekker is the winner of the first Interdem Academy Publication Award. Lemos Dekker is a postdoctoral researcher in the ERC project ‘Globalizing Palliative Care’ at Leiden Leiden of Cultural Anthropology…

Recent developments in AI mean nobody is anonymous nowadays. The search engine PimEyes can find any photo of anyone that’s ever been placed online. No more Tinder Swindlers… or personal privacy. Everyone’s findable now. But is that even allowed?

The student elections for the student representatives of the Faculty Council will take place from 22 to 25 April. Prominent members of four student parties engaged in a debate last Thursday on topics close to students’ hearts.

The KNAW has rewarded 11 Leiden scientists for their commitment to science communication, by awarding them 10,000 euros each from the ‘Appreciated!’ fund.

Minims are letters that are made up of short, vertical pen strokes, such as 'm', 'i', 'n' and 'u'. In Gothic script, there is often little distinction between letters composed of minims. Assistant professor of medieval literature Krista Murchison has written an article in History Today on the hidden…

Library

Europe is expected to experience a greater frequency of severe floods. Paul Hudson discusses the challenges of flood management The Conversation.

On 2 June, Prof. Mayke Kaag gave a keynote speech at the UN Headquarters in New York. The meeting was organised by the UN’s Security Sector Reform & Governance Unit.

Europe is working full steam towards a digital identity for every EU citizen. And although it might be really useful to be able to hire a car everywhere in the EU with no hassles, Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science at eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, sees many loose ends.…

On Wednesday 31 August 2022, the graduation ceremony of the BSc Security Studies took place. The ceremony was opened by programme director Daan Weggemans.

Ancois de Villiers, PhD candidate at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, received the PeerJ Award for Best Student Presentation at the International Mediterranean Ecosystems Conference.

Education

Four of Leiden University’s master’s programmes score above average across the board according to the Keuzegids Masters 2026 guide.

Facility, Human resources, Social

Education

Social

Jan Pronk has been reappointed by the Executive Board of Leiden University as Executive Director of the Faculty of Archaeology. Pronk will begin his second term (2026-2029) on March 1st.

Associate Professor Carolien Stolte has been appointed visiting professor at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR). Stolte will continue her research into global peace movements there during the coming semester.

Researcher Lianne Visser has been awarded the G.A. van Poelje Prize for the best dissertation in public administration of the past year. It is a renowned award for doctoral research in public administration in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Researcher Adam Lichtenheld received the ISA Distinguished Book Award for the best book in the study of international politics of ethnicity, nationalism and migration. The prize was awarded by the International Studies Association.

Education

Developing safer alternatives to harmful PFAS filters and seeking new enzymes for medical applications. Two projects with Leiden researchers have been awarded funding through the Dutch Research Council's (NWO) Open Technology programme.

Education, Organisation

Leila Akkari was appointed Special Professor of Cancer-immune interactions at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) on 15 December. Akkari is a researcher at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI), where she studies the relationship between cancer cells and the immune system, with a particular focus…

ICT

There's a myth that people with autism avoid eye contact in conversations. This can come across as indifferent. Unjustified, stresses Jiayin Zhao, who is doing her PhD research on the socio-emotional development of children with autism. 'That people with autism don't care is anything but true.'

Professor of Indonesian and Javanese Language and Culture Ben Arps has received the Anugerah Kebudayaan Indonesia (Indonesian Culture Award) from the Indonesian ambassador for his services to the field.

Researcher Yung Lin received the Young Scholar Award at the annual conference of the European Association for Taiwan Studies (EATS). She obtained her PhD in 2025 on Taiwan’s public diplomacy.

Rafal Matuszewski has been unanimously elected to the Board of the Young Academy of Europe.

Assistant professor Ancient History Rafal Matuszewski has been honored with the prestigious 2026 Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. This distinguished award, accompanied by 60,000 € in funding, recognizes Matuszewski’s outstanding contributions to research…

Education

By copying each other’s non-verbal behaviour, we gain access to what others think and feel. In psychology, this is known as mimicry. As part of her PhD research, cognitive psychologist Fabiola Diana investigated this phenomenon in social interactions between humans and robots.

On Wednesday 15 April, two career events for students took place: the Humanities Career Event in Leiden and the Job Fair in The Hague. Together, these events attracted nearly a thousand students who were keen to explore their career options.