As humans we have a tendency to judge certain actions as either right or wrong. Where does our moral sense come from? We found evidence that infants who are only one year old prefer those who comfort as opposed to ignore another who is sad.

Professor Biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin from the Institute of Biology Leiden is interviewed by the Netherlands Innovation Network on innovative scientific approaches. He talks about his work on designing new antibiotics and developing new molecules to make resistant bacteria susceptible again…

In this article for Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, the authors analyse the evolution and interplay of national policies and international diplomacy on cyber terrorism within and across the UNSC’s permanent five members and the UN process on cyber norms (GGE and OEWG).

The experiences of ethnic ‘Other’ females have – until recently – been widely overlooked in the study of sport. There continues to be a need to produce critical scholarship about ethnic 'Other' girls and women in sport and physical culture, in order to represent their complex, multifarious and dynamic…

Nathaniel Martin has been appointed professor in the field of Bioorganic Chemistry within the Faculty of Science at the Institute of Biology Leiden, starting from 1 March 2018. His research focuses on using new (bio)chemical approaches to combat infectious disease, as well as on developing new molecular…

Current means of fighting bacteria are no longer as good as they used to be because of antibiotic resistance. These days, people are dying from bacterial infections that could have been cured fifty years ago.

The physical features of twelfth-century manuscripts from the Flemish abbey of Ter Duinen – such as script, page layout, and reading aids – show how their readers organized, interpreted, and transmitted knowledge.

German scientists and NASA have developed a bacteria-killing coating for space toilets. With this coating they hope to protect astronauts in space stations from pathogens. Professor of Biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin sheds light on the discovery: 'You don't expect nasty bacteria up there, but…

How did rulers in the Netherlands and in adjacent smaller German territories adapt their regimes to ongoing change in legitimacy and decision-making during the transition period 1780-1820?

This research cluster explores processes of cultural creation, reception and transformation within a wide range of societal contexts from the early Middle Ages until c. 1800.

Isotopes on exoplanets, a more efficient memory for data centres or new molecules that work against the Zika virus and HIV. Which PhD candidate has written the most impressive dissertation of 2023? The jury of the C.J. Kok Jury Award faces the challenging task of deciding that. Meet the nominees of…

On the 20th of October Abdullah Alhatlani successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

In The Holy Land in Observant Franciscan Texts (c. 1480–1650) Marianne Ritsema van Eck analyses the development of the complex Observant Franciscan engagement with the Holy Land during the early modern period.

Promotor: M. Danhof Co-promotor: O.E. Della Pasqua

This dissertation develops an innovative approach to cultural transformation in the kingdom of Commagene (modern south-east Turkey) during the 1st c. BCE, focusing on a palatial context in the capital Samosata.

For effective cancer immunotherapy by vaccination, co-delivery of tumour antigens and adjuvants to dendritic cells and subsequent activation of antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) is crucial. In this study, a synthetic long peptide (SLP) harbouring the model CTL epitope SIINFEKL was encapsulated…

What are the flows of C&DW (e.g. bricks, concrete, gypsum and wood) in the case study countries ? How to define the specification for each material to be quantified? What indicators should be used to identify the pattern of each C&DW management system? How to interpret the MFA results in relation…

This open access book explores the role of continuity in political processes and practices during the Age of Revolutions.

How presence, abundance and enzymatic activities of AM and EM fungi differently affect soil carbon sequestration processes?

Situated at the crossroads of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, the Spanish Philippines offer historians an intriguing middle ground of connected histories that raises fundamental new questions about conventional ethnic, regional and religious identities.

This project investigates the full ecosystem of Middle Dutch prayerbooks in order to answer questions about their role in – and impact on – religion, culture, and society in the late medieval Low Countries.

This abrupt climate change of 8200 years ago (the so-called 8.2k calBP climate event) has received wide attention among natural scientists, also because of today's rapid climate changes and their impact on our own society. The archaeological implications, however, have not been investigated so far.…

This dissertation examines how Benedictine monks at the Abbey of Fécamp designed, produced, and read books over the course of the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

Between 1600 and 1800 countless manuals appeared on the subject: the improvised bass part on the harpsichord, pianoforte or organ. Musician and researcher Kathryn Cok unravels the secrets of the Dutch basso continuo accompaniment for modern-day musicians.

The new Erfgoed Gezocht/Heritage Quest website means you can play armchair detective and hunt for undiscovered burial mounds in the Veluwe. This will help stop them being destroyed by construction projects. The website is the initiative of the Leiden University Faculty of Archaeology in collaboration…

In the early modern period women played a prominent role in crime. At times they even made up half of all defendants. Female criminality was a typically urban phenomenon. Why do we find so many women before the Dutch criminal courts?

Colonialism Inside Out: Everyday Experience and Plural Practice in Dutch Institutions in Sri Lanka (c. 1700-1800)

On 24 October 2023 Jurre Knoest successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This research project addresses an unexplored dimension of historical conflict resolution: the dynamics of strategic choices made by traders engaged in foreign trade in the city of Danzig (Gdansk) c. 1450-1580, a Hanseatic city under the Polish Crown.

Mathilde Mechling defended her thesis on 28 january 2020.

Conference

The project GRADIENTS investigates what it meant to be European in colonial Africa where identification as European often did not depend on skin colour and was understood on a spectrum with many gradients.

The Jean Monnet EU Research Seminar Series aims at engaging a wider community of EU scholars at the University and bring excellent academics to Leiden, at various stages of their careers, to present their cutting-edge research and stimulate debate at a highest academic level.

Can we make a better vancomycin?

On Monday 9 September, police officer Wendell C. (Dordrecht) shot and killed his two children and himself. The mother was also shot and died later that night in the hospital. Marieke Liem, Associate Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) spoke with Dutch news website ‘BN DeStem’…

Can cyclic peptides provide a new generation of antibiotics?

Examining the therapeutic potential of new semisynthetic lipopeptide antibiotics

Edmund Flett, alumnus of the International Relations master's programme, has won the 2023 J.C. Baak Prize for his thesis ‘Settlements now, settlement later. Land swaps, settler relocation, and the viability of the two-state solution in Israel-Palestine’.

The Leiden University team backs up its previous win in the Copenhagen Plesner Pre-Moot with an honourable mention for the Memorandum for Respondent in the Willem C. Vis Commercial Arbitration Moot. After an impressive win in Copenhagen, the team was awarded the honourable mention for their Memorandum…

Eline van Slijpe wrote her Master of Philosophy thesis on intergenerational justice: does the current generation have obligations towards future generations? With this thesis she won the biannual J.C. Baak Prize.

On 8 February Jan Michiel Otto, professor of Law and Governance in Developing Countries, delivered the dies lecture entitled: 'Unity in diversity. The topicality of professor C. van Vollenhoven'. Otto emphasized - following Van Vollenhoven - the importance of scope and respect for the public sphere…