This book systematically evaluates the empirical evidence for legitimacy decline in established democracies, the explanatory power of theories of legitimacy decline, and promises new routes in investigating and assessing political legitimacy.

This book concentrates on the regulation of political parties in the EU post-communist democracies, and on Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania, in particular.

Political scientists Joop van Holsteyn and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) find that the Dutch government is having a hard time coping with referendum outcomes in general, and ‘anti-European’ sentiments among voters in particular.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research has awarded dr. Roy van Beek a Veni grant. This grant offers young researchers the possibility to develop their innovative ideas for a period of three or four years.

They were called 'annoying brats', the group of campaigning scientists who in 1978 founded what is now an internationally acclaimed ecological research institute. Their stories and those of the current staff of the Institute of Environmental Sciences are described in the book 'Forty years of Leiden…

Which plant leaf characteristics are involved in thrips resistance in tomato?

This dissertation contains the further development of a method for linguistic-stylistic research, which provides a systematic means to interpret global impressions of a text through choices in formulation at word- and sentence level.

In Reframing the Diplomat Albertine Bloemendal offers a unique window onto the unofficial dimension of Cold War transatlantic relations by analyzing the diplomatic role of the Dutch Atlanticist Ernst van der Beugel as a government official and as a private diplomat.

Leiden University is committed to reducing our water consumption.

n this PhD thesis, the recombination of different atomic lattices in stacked 2D materials such as twisted bilayer graphene is studied. Using the different possibilities of Low-Energy Electron Microscopy (LEEM), the domain forming between the two atomic layers with small differences is studied.

This week, Prof. Luuk van Middelaar (Europa Institute) publishes Alarums & Excursions: improvising Politics on the Europen Stage – a revised update of his 2017 book on the decade of EU crises.

It was more than twenty years ago that the plan for a Japanese-Dutch dictionary was born. Now it contains over 65,000 words, and completion is tentatively coming into view. Dictionary makers Oscar Veltink and Hetty Geerdink-Verkoren talk about their enthusiasm for this decades-long mammoth task.

NINO BA and MA Thesis Prize 2018

Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment, vol.16. Edited by Noriyuki Shirai.

Report on the Excavations of the University of Amsterdam (1988) and the National Museum of Antiquities Leiden (1991-1993) in Syria.

Abrupt Climate Change and Cultural Transformation

‘Be yourself. Be as gay, queer, trans as you can and show the world you exist.’ These rousing words from Looi van Kessel marked the start of the third Pride Leiden for the university boat, with the theme: ‘450 years of being yourself’.

The Jordan Times interviewed professor Peter Akkermans about this research on ancient tombs in Jordan's Eastern Desert. “The evidence of this flourishing culture can be seen, among other things, in the diverse and complex burial record which we are currently investigating.”

Vera van Noort, professor in Computational Systems Biology at the KU Leuven (Belgium), is appointed holder of the rotating chair “Van der Klaauw Professor” for the year 2015-2016 at the Institute of Biology. Holders of the chair bring inspiring research and teaching in theoretical biology to the University.…

Annual Meeting

On 19 February 2019, Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm defended her thesis 'Medisch beroepsgeheim en de zorgplicht van de arts bij kindermishandeling in de rechtsverhouding tussen arts, kind en ouders'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. A.G. Castermans en Prof. mr. C.J.J.M. Stolker.

Report on the Excavations of the National Museum of Antiquities Leiden in the Balikh Valley, Syria.

Balikh Valley Archaeological Project Monograph 1 - BAR International Series 468

On 30 June 2021, Thijs Beumers defended his thesis 'De bescherming van immateriële contractuele belangen in het schadevergoedingsrecht'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. A.G. Castermans and Prof. W.H. van Boom.

Bij de Universiteit Leiden zet onze Onderzoeksgroep violence and violence prevention zich in voor het bevorderen van kennis en begrip op het gebied van geweld en geweldpreventie door middel van interdisciplinaire wetenschappen en innovatieve methodologieën. Onze faculteitsleden zijn toonaangevende…

On 1 October 2020, Arianne de Leeuw defended her thesis 'Scheiding van zeggenschap en belang in de familiesfeer'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. F. Sonneveldt and Prof. A.O. Lubbers.

On 7 March 2019, Maria de Jong-de Kruijf defended her thesis 'Legitimiteit en rechtswaarborgen bij gesloten plaatsing van kinderen'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. mr. M.R. Bruning en Prof. mr. T. Liefaard.

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), often referred to as drones, have become easy and inexpensive to buy, and it is generally expected that the use of drones by private individuals, businesses and public authorities will increase tremendously in the coming years. This raises questions as to what is technologically…

On 9 April 2020, Mohamed Azizi defended his thesis 'Reflecties op Wereldburgerschap: In de spiegel van Afghanistan en Nederland'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.B. Cliteur en Prof. W. Veugelers (Universiteit voor Humanistiek).

Inaugural lecture

Met groot plezier heeft de Universiteit Leiden van 1 tot 4 november het X Congreso Internacional de la Asociación de Hispanistas del Benelux (AHBx) georganiseerd, met het thema Transhispanismos: contactos y contagios (Transhispanismes: contact en besmetting). De AHBx is een platform in de Benelux dat…

Metal-based prodrugs based on ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes have proven to be very suitable for application in both photodynamic therapy (PDT) and photo-activated chemotherapy (PACT).

Get to know us through our online and in-person events for prospective students!

Education and Organisation Development

The wide-ranging interests of the Dutch archeologist Maurits van Loon -prehistory, art history, and ancient history - are reflected in these papers, which commemorate his 30 years of archeological research in the Near East

On 6 March, Jelle Klaas, lawyer for the Public Interest Litigation Project of the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists, delivered a lecture to the students of the Advanced Master’s in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden Law School.

The Iraqi archaeological site of Nimrud was recently recaptured from IS. The site has been severely damaged. The question now is, what to do with it? Should it be restored? Bleda Düring spoke with Trouw about this complex issue.

Analecta Praehistorica Leidensia is the annual journal of the Faculty of Archaeology (formerly the Institute of Prehistory), Leiden University.

Quantum computing is a novel paradigm for computation, which is nearing real-world impact with the coming generation of limited, but nonetheless powerful quantum devices.

Four years of protracted negotiations and bitter warfare passed between the declaration of Indonesian independence on 17 August, 1945, and the official transfer of sovereignty on 27 December, 1949.

In this new edition of the Rijmbijbel there are 159 valuable miniatures, combined with commentary by MA-students from Utrecht. Students in Dutch Language at the universities of Antwerp and Leiden have translated the text passages. Various experts, such as Martine Meuwese (UU), tell more about Jacob…

Elizabeth Hicks won first runner-up in the Netherlands Institute of the Near East (NINO) MA thesis 2021 competition at the end of January.

The Epic of Gilgamesh was a lifelong inspiration to artist Harry van Kruiningen. This tale from Mesopotamia about the adventures of Gilgamesh, the legendary king of Uruk, and his friend Enkidu is one of the oldest surviving epics in world literature. Despite its almost 4,000 year age, it still captures…

In this book, Peter Akkermans provides a systematic overview of the Halaf culture of the 6 th millennium BC in the Syrian portion of the valley of the Balikh River, a tributary of the Euphrates.

The Supplementa series of BABESCH is designed as a platform for thematic publications, in juxtaposition to the annual and varied mix of contributions offered by the journal itself. The thematic publications will include proceedings of colloquia, collections of particular studies by one or more authors,…

Essays dedicated to Frans Wiggermann