Professor Alexander Ollongren passed away on March 25 at the age of 96.

Organisation, Social

Prof Harold Linnartz has been reappointed Director of Education of the bachelor and master programmes of Astronomy. The appointment is for a period of four years, until 1 October 2026.

Leiden University wants to be a safe and inclusive learning and working environment for all its students and staff. In an interview with XperHR HR knowledge platform, Diversity Officer and lecturer Aya Ezawa and HR director Esther van Opstal explain why all-gender toilets are an important part of our…

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law and Board member at eLaw, has been appointed to the Programme Committee of PLSC, the Privacy Law Scholarship Conference, one of the world's most attended academic privacy conferences. Gianclaudio is the only representative from a Dutch university and…

The page gives an overview of what the Faculty of Humanities offers in the areas of AI and Digital Humanities. 'The Human Digital World' is one of the four key themes with which the faculty profiles its research and education.

Sander Hölsgens is Assistant Professor, anthropologist and the editor of Gamer.nl. In NRC he talks about his favourite moments in the online game The Elder Scrolls Online. Despite a mediocre start in 2014, the computer game based on the Elder Scrolls series now has an active community of millions of…

Geopolitiek, klimaat, pandemieën, migratie, AI, genderpolitiek: de wereld van vandaag verandert in in meerdere opzichten. Hoe ga je als bestuursorganisatie om met deze veranderingen? Dat was het thema van de tweede internationale conferentie van het Leiden University's Global Transformations and Governance…

With research on the intergenerational transmission of trauma, Tamara Compagner (right) has won the FSW Thesis Prize 2023. The thesis was written as part of the Master's in Education and Child Studies and examines the role of parent-child attachment and child personality in high-risk families.

Alexander van Drooge recently joined us as Service Manager at the Kamerlingh Onnes Building. Let’s get to know him!

The Leiden interdisciplinary research programme Global Transformations and Governance Challenges and the Embassy of Ireland are co-hosting a special meeting in The Hague. On Tuesday 30 January, John Concannon (Director of the Global Ireland Unit), ambassador Brendan Rogers and dr. Alanna O’Malley will…

Following a special donation, the Stichting Pro Juventute foundation is facilitating a new special chair in Educational Theory and Law. Through the chair, Pro Juventute hopes to realise optimum child protection from a coherent legal and educational perspective.

Ornately decorated head pieces and jewellery, images of imposing mosques and photos of local people. The 'Splendours of the Silk Roads' exhibition depicts life and different cultures along this important trade route.

Minister Silvania of Curaçao has announced that Germaine Rekwest, who was awarded a PhD from Leiden University in September, will support him on treaty policy for Curaçao. The minister announced this in his travel report.

Can you only have psychedelic experiences by taking magic mushrooms? Not according to Aidan Lyon, philosophical researcher at the Institute of Psychology. In this episode, he explains other ways through which we can reveal our minds in insightful ways.

Episode 5 of BOLDcast, the podcast of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for BOLD Cities, discusses the evolution of libraries from simple lending points for books to places where people can come together and brush up on their digital skills. The guests in this episode are Frank Huysmans, associate professor…

Martina Vijver talks about the impact of pesticides on nature in many Dutch media outlets. This news is now also covered internationally. In Chemical & Engineering News, Vijver argues periodical reassessments of pesticides are crucial to prevent unexpected harm to nature.

Kai Hebel explains how the 1975 Helsinki Accords shaped European diplomacy and why their spirit remains urgently relevant in an era of renewed geopolitical in the Guardian.

On Friday morning, 18 October, Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl and Professor Remco Breuker welcomed Korea Foundation President Gheewan Kim.

When Dutch company AFAS Software announced that its employees would work four days per week for the same full-time pay, many people asked: how’s that possible? Professor Olaf van Vliet spoke to Trouw and Nu.nl about the challenges of this model.

On 3 March 2021 Zuzana Vikarská presented some of her work in progress research at the Europa Institute's "Food for Thought" session.

Chip war export restrictions for ASML are most likely in conflict with the Word Trade Organisation’s regulations, claims Anna-Alexandra Marhold. China will certainly contest them.

Via expedited proceedings at Leeuwarden Court of Appeal, a mother is trying to impose a relatively new treatment for her 15-year-old daughter’s eating disorder. The girl is suffering from anorexia nervosa and if she does not receive urgent treatment which the girl herself supports, there is a chance…

Na Shell en Unilever is DSM het derde grote bedrijf dat vertrekt uit Nederland. Fiscalisten zijn niet verbaasd: het sentiment over het vestigingsklimaat hier is momenteel minder gunstig.

Cuts in the prison system threaten to be at the expense of security, including that of society, writes university lecturer Esther van Ginneken in an opinion piece in Dutch newspaper NRC.

In a one-hour interview on Dutch radio programme Sleutelstad, Anne-Laura van Harmelen talks about her research into the role friendships in adolescents' well-being, the resilience paradox and the role of social, hormonal and genetic factors in stress-levels and resilience.

Knowledge institutions play a unique role in society and can contribute to a future-proof and sustainable world. That’s why Leiden University has signed the ‘Think green, act green’ manifesto. The manifesto is the initiative of The Young Academy and The Green Young Academy, who are calling on universities…

Finance

Bubble baths and face masks: that’s what we often see on social media when discussing self-love. However, is this a true reflection of what self-love and self-care entail? In this episode, psychotherapist Kelly Ziemer teaches us more about what true self-love and self-care are, and their importance.

Commercial parties offering space travel, space waste, claiming the moon, potentially exploiting resources ... It’s going to get busy in space in the coming years. But there are no clear agreements about this. Tanja Masson-Zwaan, Assistant Professor of Space Law, talked about the topic in Spraakmakers…

Researchers Esther Captain, Gert Oostindie and Valika Smeulders have won the Die Haghe Prize 2024. They were awarded the prize for their book The colonial and slavery past of Hofstad The Hague.

On 6 January 2025, Leiden Law School celebrated a special milestone: our 450th birthday! Our special anniversary year got underway with a panel discussion with Bonnie Honig, as well as a celebratory toast.

In many European countries, the amount of a fine is based on the level of your income. This already exists in Finland, Sweden, Germany, France, and Spain. The Dutch Lower House is now contemplating the introduction of such a system.

If the Netherlands wants to change its reputation as a tax haven, it must do more according to Professor of Tax Law Jan van de Streek on American news site Bloomberg.

When it comes to wealth distribution in the Netherlands, you often hear that there is a huge gap. Is that true? And is this gap also widening, as is often claimed?

Since 1 January Leiden has a new graduate school. The Netherlands Institute for Cultural Analysis (NICA), previously based at the University of Amsterdam, has moved to the Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS).

After a semester of brainstorming, writing, rewriting and editing, the time has come: the fifth edition of Leiden Elective Academic Periodical (LEAP) has been launched!

Social

In its ruling this week, The Hague Court of Appeal made short work of how the Dutch Border Police allow the colour of a person’s skin to be taken into account when selecting people to check. According to Maartje van der Woude, this ruling reaches far beyond the border police. ‘This is a problem for…

Organisation

Organisation

Education

On Tuesday, December 9 2025, Prof. Koen Ottenheyn delivered the last Austria Centre lunch talk of 2025. Prof. Ottenheyn serves as a professor of architectural history at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, and is a member of the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences and the Academic Curatorium which advises…

ICT

Puck Rouffaer has won the Volkskrant-IISG thesis prize with her master's thesis on psychiatrist Coen van Emde Boas. Leiden University student Nina Witteman made it into the top 3 with her thesis on the history of malaria.

The Young Star Award is awarded annually to a student who completed his or her bachelor’s thesis at the Faculty of Science of Leiden University. The prize was installed by Prof. Ewine van Dishoeck in 2019 and consists of a prize of 2,500 euros. Each of the bachelor’s programmes at our Faculty may nominate…

Finance

Recently more than five hundred workers at metal companies in Dutch cities Zwolle and Kampen went on strike. Their aim is better pay and the workers have now been on strike for twelve weeks. Just how effective is striking in collective bargaining?