Erik Danen is the new Dean of the Graduate School from 1 January. He is a professor at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research and conducts research into cancer drugs. Danen is really looking forward to it: ‘PhD candidates are a special group: that's what I like to dedicate myself to.’

In our column of 7 April, we informed you about the new direction we are taking, as the Faculty Board, to meet the financial challenges faced by the faculty, and the action lines that are now our focus. One of these action lines is a package of control measures for the Faculty Office. In this column,…

A new study carried out by Leiden archaeologists Hadar Ahituv and Amanda Henry, together with international colleagues, reports the identification and analysis of 650 starch grains preserved on basalt percussive tools (anvils and hammerstones) found at an early Middle Pleistocene site in Israel. These…

GIFs, memes and videos: anyone who opens a social media platform can be in no doubt that today we live in a visual culture. But the role of images in social communications isn’t new, says Associate Professor Marika Keblusek. She has been awarded a Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Competition (Large)…

How can you figure out which points lie on a certain curve? And how many possible curves do you count by a given number of points? These are the kinds of questions Pim Spelier of the Mathematical Institute studied during his PhD research. Spelier received his doctorate with distinction on June 12.

eLaw - Center of Law and Digital technologies from Leiden Law School, and the Vascular Surgery Department at Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, join forces to explore the use of AI for diabetes and secondary prevention of diabetic foot problems and won a prize for it.

This academic year saw the start of the Change Lab(oratory) project. Teaching staff from various departments worked on innovations in their master's courses: 'It’s a privilege to improve your teaching and get so many useful tips in the process.'

At the conference of the Honours College Science & Society, students present TED Talks on a social issue of their interest. ‘It brings together everything they have learned in the past two and a half years.’

A generation is growing up in The Hague Southwest with little outdoor play space. Researchers from Health Campus The Hague are following what the BRUIS neighbourhood approach does and means for children and young people in the neighbourhood.

Arbeidsuitbuiting van migranten wordt als een vorm van het strafrechtelijke delict mensenhandel beschouwd. De rechtspositie van de slachtoffers is mede daardoor ondergeschikt aan de strafrechtelijke procedure. Dat kan en moet anders, stelt Gerrie Lodder in haar proefschrift. Promotie op 21 april 202…

One used 3D cell models to study colorectal cancer, while the other used machine learning for more efficient blood donation. For these achievements, Marieke Vinkenoog and Simon Christian Hansmann were awarded the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award on Tuesday 2 September.

The euro crisis of 2010 has shown that the Eurozone lacks economic cohesion and that EU fiscal integration is needed for a stable euro. But can this integration exist without clashing with the national constitutional interests of the Member States? Frederik Behre looked into this matter in his PhD-thesis…

Leiden scientists and companies receive 1.37 million euros to develop technology for the Einstein Telescope. This underground telescope will measure gravitational waves and must therefore be extremely sensitive. To that end, the consortium conducts research on the damping of vibrations at temperatures…

Increasingly, citizens are going to court to challenge decisions by the Public Prosecution Service not to prosecute in certain, sometimes socially sensitive, cases. Yet, these citizens are not always taken seriously as democratically engaged persons. A mistake, says Sophie Koning.

As of October, Joeri Reinders has joined the Leiden Teachers’ Academy, a group of innovative lecturers who each receive a €25,000 grant for projects focused on educational innovation. For Joeri, this revolves around sustainability and climate change.

What does it sound like when you create your own words in Chichewa? Can you decipher hieroglyphs after just one workshop? Visitors found answers to these and many other questions during the first edition of the Evening of Languages, held in the brand-new Herta Mohr Building. With a sold-out programme,…

Intelligence and security services often operate in the shadows. Michael Kowalski calls for a clear, applied ethical framework as the foundation of intelligence work in a democracy.

Organisation

Matheus Mendes was awarded the 12th Jaap Doek Thesis Prize at a ceremony on 13 December 2024 for his thesis on the right to read. The prize honours outstanding master’s theses in children’s rights.

There are as good as no clear rules for the return of stolen art. This means that rather than in court, many cases are decided in the political arena instead. In her PhD research Evelien Campfens suggests how this could change. PhD defence on 11 November.

Three Leiden students who have made their dreams of studying abroad come true this year with the aid of a VSBfonds scholarship talk about their experiences.

In the fight for a liveable planet, we desperately need a fairer distribution of wealth and equal rights for all, argues anthropology professor Marja Spierenburg. ‘That will also generate broad-based support for sustainable development.’

In September 2023 the new minor Sustainability, Climate Change and Food starts. This minor critically examines the complexities of food sustainability through ecological, socio-economic, political, and cultural systems.

What started with an old Soviet camera and a darkroom in London grew into a lifelong passion. Developmental biologist Michael Richardson has been capturing nature - from wild coastal plants to microscopic details in the lab - since his childhood.

The future does not yet exist, but many people think about it daily. The course Designing Your Future, part of the Honours Programme at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs and taught by Bram Hoonhout‘Being a mentor during HOP week is something I can recommend to everyone’

In January 2021, eLaw joined the Computers Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP) Conference that is about privacy and data protection. The group on Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University put together a panel that combined perspectives on Art, Society, & Technology.

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

Last year around 2,000 international students started a master’s degree at Leiden University. To make this possible, there are various grants that these students can apply for. One such grant is the LExS: the Leiden University Excellence Scholarship Programme. Three LExS students tell us about their…

Last week on Monday evening, four international Leiden Law School alumni working in various sectors and areas of expertise came back to their alma mater to talk to current students. So who are these alumni?

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.

Two Second Prizes, two First Prizes and even a Grand Grand First Prize. Five Leiden mathematics students and their team leader have performed exceptionally well during the International Mathematics Competition for University Students 2024 in Bulgaria in early August. This even made for a Dutch recor…

Because they could really have used it during their own time as students. For many alumni, that’s their reason for signing up for the mentors network at Leiden University. Around 2,200 alumni are ready and waiting to offer students help and answer questions about study, internships or careers. The Faculty…

After two years of COVID-19 induced hiatus, the European Union Studies track of MA International Relations organized another successful study trip to Brussels. Over the course of three days the students had a chance to learn more about the EU institutions, meet lobbyists and interest group representatives…

Leiden University is under fire: it is allegedly doing too little to tackle antisemitism. Rector Hester Bijl responds to this accusation and to a video from 2014 on social media in which extreme remarks are made. ‘We can be short about such comments: they are unacceptable. The university is and always…

Halfway through his career alumnus Marc Tijhuis made a radical change: he left the corporate world to join the global battle against waste with the International Solid Waste Association.

What once began as an assignment for a master’s course and continued as a master’s thesis, has now culminated in a substantial book. Or has it finished? Actually, for Hendrikx, this is just the beginning: ‘I can finally reap the rewards of my research.’

If European countries rely solely on technological advances, they won't be able to limit global heating to 1.5 degrees. Households will also need to change their lifestyles. This 'inconvenient truth' is the result of calculations done by industrial ecologist Stephanie Cap. ‘It's not a popular message,…

For decades, linguists have racked their brains over the question of precisely how the syntax of various languages is different. PhD candidate Martin Kroon has developed a computer system that brings us closer to finding an answer. His PhD defence is on 10 November.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Wouter Veenendaal, a political scientist at Leiden University, is an analyst for the Freedom House report. Freedom House is an American non-profit organisation dedicated to democracy, political freedom and human rights. In short, the report describes the degree of freedom and the state of democracy…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Search engines are getting better at answering our questions. And chatbots are increasingly likely to search the internet for relevant sources. ‘Search engines and chatbots will become more closely entwined’, says Professor Suzan Verberne.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing? What kinds of things is he doing and what does his day look like? In each newsletter Jasper gives a peek into his life as dean.

In the very first Korean class that teacher Eun-ju Kim taught, there were already students with dyslexia. With a background in special education and clinical developmental psychology, she developed a new method to help them, partly based on teaching methods from Dutch first language education.

Ever since Nadine Akkerman, Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture, came across a woman spy in her research, secret agents have kept cropping up in her work. Now there’s Spycraft, a popular history book exploring the espionage techniques used by early modern spies, which she has co-written with…

Following the news that TomTom is cutting 300 jobs due to the use of artificial intelligence (AI), FGGA researchers Friso Selten and Alex Ingrams responded with opinion pieces. They place the news in a broader context and call for a more nuanced debate on AI and job losses.

Ana Oleart came to The Hague from Barcelona to study for her bachelor's degree in International Studies. After completing no fewer than two master's degrees at Leiden University, she now works in the HR department of a large hotel chain.

I'm not good enough. That thought leaves too many students doubting whether a PhD program is something for them. And isn't it lonely? On 4 February, mathematics students learned from − mainly female − experts how things really work. Including application tips.

Dr Valentina Azzarà, an honorary research fellow at the Faculty of Archaeology and an expert on prehistoric Oman, was recently invited to feature in a National Geographic documentary that aired last year. The opportunity came after a series of discussions and preparations that saw her engage with the…

The EU’s programme for research and innovation Horizon Europe is funding the ISGA project ‘NET-ROL: Networks and the Rule of Law: Uncovering Socio-Economic Outcomes’. The funding amounts to 3 million euros, with 760,000 euros going to ISGA. Researchers Antoaneta Dimitrova and Jaroslaw Kantorowicz are…