Your time at Leiden is about more than just studying. Some of your best experiences will stem from being a part of our lively and diverse student community, as well as from life in the beautiful city of Leiden.

Your time at Leiden is about more than just studying. Some of your best experiences will stem from being a part of our lively and diverse student community, as well as from life in the beautiful city of Leiden.

Do you have a question about studying at leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about the South and Southeast Asian Studies programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University, or do you want more information about the Asian Studies master's programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University, or do you want more information about the Asian Studies master's programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Do you have a question about student life in Leiden, studying at Leiden University, or do you want more information about the Asian Studies master's programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

Do you have a question about studying at Leiden University or student life in Leiden? Do you want more information about the Asian Studies master's programme? Chat with a current student for answers to your questions!

The two-year master's programme in Japanese Studies, a specialisation of the MA in Asian Studies, offers teaching by leading academics and a multi-disciplinary approach to the study of the East Asian region.

Get the most out of your studies at Leiden University by taking part in our extracurricular activities.

Subproject of

Leiden University Centre for Intercultural Philosophy (LUCIP) is a centre housed in the Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University.

Do you have any questions about the bachelor's programme South and Southeast Asian Studies? Don't hesitate to contact us!

The two-year Research Master in Asian Studies equips you with advanced and in-depth knowledge of a region and discipline within the field of Asian Studies.

This project receives funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101054849 (PURANA).

Taught by top researchers from a wide range of disciplines, the MA Chinese Studies at Leiden University combines in-depth knowledge with advanced language proficiency with a year-long stay in China.

On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2026.

For hundreds of years, the island of Sri Lanka was a crucial stopover for people and goods in the Indian Ocean. For the Dutch East India Company, it was also a crossroads in the Indian Ocean slave trade. Slavery was present in multiple forms in Sri Lanka—then Ceylon—when the British conquered the island…

LIAS faculty teach and carry out thesis supervision in many programs.

Professor Peter Bisschop, lecturer in Sanskrit and Ancient Cultures of South Asia, has been awarded a grant by the NWO Free Competition to fund his research into the rapid growth of Saivism in the sixth and seventh centuries in South and Southeast Asia. The research project, entitled ‘From Universe…

LIAS aims to advance the globally conscious vision of area studies, both within and outside the academic community. Focusing on Asia and the Middle East, the institute is a meeting place of multiple fields of inquiry, theories and methods, historical periods, and areas.

Find out how to apply for Asian Studies (research) at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Do you want to apply for the bachelor’s programme South and Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University? Find out how to apply by following the step-by step guide below.

To be eligible for Global Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for South Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Overview of the Asia Programmes offered at Leiden University.

On this page, you will find the recordings of the Tuesday Talks since April 2025. Recordings of the precursor to the Tuesday Talks, This Week’s Discoveries, are also available here.

The purpose of the initiative is to establish Central Asian Studies at Leiden University. Central Asia is a region with fluid borders stretching into present-day Afghanistan, Russia, China, Mongolia, Iran and the Caucasus; a premodern highway of global interaction and today increasingly important as…

The two-year master's in Korean Studies, a specialization of Leiden University’s master's in Asian Studies, offers a varied selection of subjects and the freedom to choose electives. You can also choose a research subject of your interest for your MA thesis.

Who were the main artists and producers who generated new forms of popular music? What was the music like that was produced by artists in particular urban settings? How were particular lifestyles articulated to identify new audiences and what does this reveal about the way popular music contributed…

2017 was the Leiden Asia Year. Leiden has had connections with Asia and built up extensive knowledge of the continent over many centuries. This Leiden-Asia link has been in the spotlight for the past year.

The Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) is devoted to the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present time in a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective.

'The Routledge Handbook of Civil and Uncivil Society in Southeast Asia' explores the nature and implications of civil society across the region, engaging systematically with both theoretical approaches and empirical nuance for a systematic, comparative, and informative approach.

Conference

The ultimate aim of the project is to find out whether there are such things as

Find out how to apply for Chinese Studies at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Leiden University Centre for Intercultural Philosophy (LUCIP) is housed in the Institute for Philosophy at Leiden University.

Find out how to apply for Korean studies at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Find out how to apply for Japanese Studies (120 EC) at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

Leiden Asia Centres