Henk Hoekstra and Alessandra Silvestri work on the astronomy and theoretical physics in the Euclid mission. These Dutch researchers are part of the mission.

Engineering, law, and business students came together in the LDE Space & Society Honours Programme to explore how space and society can mutually benefit each other. At the final event, they looked back upon a steep learning curve. ‘We tossed them into the water and they had to swim.’

Prisoners who are visited regularly by family or friends are less likely to be reconvicted in the short term than inmates who rarely or never receive visits. Visits should therefore be encouraged and facilitated, according to PhD candidate Maria Berghuis, who will defend her doctoral thesis on 23 June…

Radhika Gupta has received a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council to study how transnational Islamic charitable networks are entangled with Western humanitarianism and neoliberal welfare frameworks.

After a three-year absence, Lennart Kruijer has returned to the Faculty of Archaeology. He previously completed his PhD within the VICI project Innovating Objects, and now returns as a postdoctoral researcher in the Anchoring Innovation programme.

The Duurzame Jonge 100 (Sustainable Young 100) is an annual election for young entrepreneurs, young professionals and students who show that a sustainable future is possible. The 100 most inspiring people in the field of sustainability are chosen from all participants and appear on the list. This year,…

The introductory meeting of the new evening track Management and Consultancy (MSc Management Public Sector) was held on Thursday 3 February at Wijnhaven. Prof. dr. Frits van der Meer, in charge of the professional Public Administration master programme, welcomed the first cohort of students together…

Eva Michaels talks about the current international security environment, including intelligence issues with Sir John Sawers in an interview in El País.

It is the eighth year in a row that the Faculty of Archaeology is placed in the top ten of archaeological institutes worldwide. The QS World University Rankings by Subject looks at criteria like academic reputation and citation ratios.

On May 8, the Faculty of Archaeology celebrated its yearly End of Academic Year Event. The event was a chance for staff and students to mingle, while enjoying a nice meal together.

Parents are not always heard before their children’s placement in care is extended. They can only have their say if they ask the judge for a hearing themselves. ‘It should be the other way round,’ says Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Child Law in a ‘De Nieuws BV’ broadcast.

In December 2025, Leiden University welcomes Professors Sei’ichi Kondō and Sanae Kagaya as the 2025 JAPA-UL artists in residence. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a workshop series that focuses on Japanese cultural heritage and butō dance. There is a limited number of places…

Organisation

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

On 31 January 2024, Alex Schilin defended his dissertation ‘United in Distinctiveness: The Institutionalisation of Differentiated Integration in Economic and Monetary Union during the Sovereign Debt Crisis.’ What motivated him to research this specific topic, and how did he tackle this project? And…

During Cyberweek, from 17-24 October, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) highlighted its research and teaching on cybersecurity, digital developments, and their impact on society.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system.

On Tuesday 30 September 2025, PhD candidate Kathleen Brown will defend her dissertation 'Deception, Risk, and Evasion: The Politics of Sovereign Debt in Emerging Markets' in Leiden’s Academy Building. Her research sheds light on the hidden world of sovereign debt politics, revealing how governments…

Lecture

Study information

A European team of astronomers has discovered the largest stellar black hole in the Milky Way. It is more than thirty times as massive as our sun and is located in the constellation of Aquila, about two thousand light-years from Earth. The astronomers stumbled upon the black hole by chance while preparing…

The winner of the Africa Thesis Award 2023 is Rachel Dubale, a graduate from the Research Master in African Studies at Leiden University, with her thesis “They think we can eat the condominium”. Chronicles of Economic, Social and Political Practices in Addis Ababa’s Condominiums.

Vanaf september 2025 biedt de Faculteit Governance and Global Affairs de bacheloropleiding Cybersecurity & Cybercrime aan. Deze unieke Nederlandstalige opleiding leidt studenten op tot veelzijdige cyberexperts. ‘Er is veel vraag naar specialisten op het gebied van cybersecurity en cybercrime’.

2021 saw many prizes awarded to staff and students of Leiden Law School. Grants for new research projects were also awarded and our staff were invited to particpate on committees or recognised in other ways too. An overview of this year’s achievements is given below.

The energy transition is already a huge challenge for society, but sustainable use of resources is even more complicated. Yet it is at least as urgent. Ester van der Voet has been working on it for decades, for example within the United Nations. Since February, she is a professor at the Centre for Environmental…

Education

Ten years ago, a new reward system was introduced in Dutch prisons: the only way prisoners could earn extra ‘freedoms’ was through good behaviour. Jan Maarten Elbers concludes that this system does little to encourage behavioural change and can even be counterproductive.

In a recent publication in Nature Sustainability, an international team led by Josephine Chambers from Wageningen University, and including Marja Spierenburg from the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University, have developed a practical tool for researchers and…

On Friday 10 December 2021, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies (eLaw) of the Leiden Law School, hosted its annual Research Colloquium exploring the theme 'Law Gone Digital'. The event gathered presentations by eLaw PhD candidates and professors on a wide range of topics at the interface of…

Last Thursday, Leiden Leadership Programme (LLP) students were once again introduced to a big name with tons of leadership experience. This time, Femke van der Meulen, prison director and founder of PrisonWatch, addressed the students. The many personal experiences she shared will stay with them for…

Many students dread writing a thesis. Master’s student Laura Robustella's practice-based thesis shows that it is well worth the effort. She developed an art exhibition based on her master’s thesis.

Simay Çetin won the FSW Master’s Thesis Prize 2021 with her thesis “Interpreting Culture through Embodied Practice: An anthropological study of sexuality among Dutch Women with Turkish Migrant backgrounds”. She was supervised by Prof. dr. Peter Pels. According to the jury is Simay’s thesis not only…

More efficient use of phosphorus fertilisers would make it possible to meet food demand in 2050, without using more of the world’s land for agriculture. This is what environmental scientists José Mogollón and colleagues have discovered by working out various future scenarios for food production and…

Clear information about support services, a well-being self-test and advice on finding a room. YounginLeiden.nl helps students and other young people get started, literally and figuratively. Why is this site so desperately needed?

Leiden is proud to announce that the city has been selected to host the 33rd Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), scheduled for 25-28 August 2027.

Hybrid Workshop: In person and online on 26 – 27 January 2023.

The winner of the Africa Thesis Award 2022 is Robert Okello for his thesis on rural women’s legal empowerment through digital technology in Northern Uganda. Robert did his Master in Development Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam.

You speak Japanese, know everything about medieval art or understand exactly what Hegel meant. And then you graduate. Many Humanities students find it hard to enter the labour market. A relevant part-time job can help. Therefore, the faculty has been working together with the employment agency Randstad…

Hanne Bergink started as the new study advisor and career advisor at Archaeology in mid-February. Aside from helping students out when they encounter issues during their studies, she will also focus on job market preparation. ‘I have experience as a coach to help people with their personal developme…

Sustainability challenges don’t just call for environmental scientists – they require expertise from many academic fields. Thijs Bosker and Paul Behrens have made it easier for university lecturers to integrate sustainability into their courses. Their initiative, Local Actions, offers ready-made teaching…

Project TARGET is a research project aimed at the relation between the illegal arms trade and firearm violence. In a study conducted in seven countries, the researchers took a look at the differences and similarities. Katharina Krüsselmann and Marieke Liem took a closer look at the situation in the…

The EU Return Directive gives migrants residing unlawfully in the European Union the option to leave voluntarily. This is to avoid detention and forced expulsion. But the directive is too vague and can lead to unfair procedures and even human rights violations, PhD candidate Christian Mommers conclu…

Life returned to something resembling normal after Covid but other crises soon took its place. These great challenges are also being felt at the University and our researchers are working on solutions. The nitrogen crisis, problems with young people’s services and an increasingly urgent climate crisis:…

Who assembled the collections of museums? The answer to this question seems to point to men as collectors. Apart from for rare exceptions, female collectors hardly seem to exist. Yet there were indeed women collectors. For the project Museums, Collections and Society, researcher Holly O'Farrell will…

From a new generation of antibiotics and more-effective vaccines to a map of dark matter and new light on Hindu traditions. Four researchers from Leiden University have received a prestigious €2.5m ERC Advanced Grant to develop their research.

LACDR, the Leiden Institute for Drug Research, developed better tolerated excipients to prevent adverse effects related to the surface of nanosized drugs such as vaccines. LADCR professor of Biopharmacy Matthias Barz and Polypeptide Therapeutic Solutions (PTS) are collaborating to develop processes…

Her part-time job as a city guide in Dordrecht opened Lotte Hamm's eyes: not business administration, but history was her dream study. This semester she starts her bachelor's degree.

‘Wonder is the beginning of insight. Don’t let that academic curiosity erode.’ This was Jan Anthonie Bruijn’s call to administrators and funding bodies in his valedictory lecture.