On a sunny afternoon in early June, the KCPEB Spring symposium ‘Spring for everyone’ was held in Leiden’s former orphanage, organised by the Expertise Centre for Psychology and Economic Behaviour. The theme of existence security and insecurity built further on the earlier Autumn Symposium. How is this…

The new institute manager of the IBL studied biology for six months, but went in a completely different direction: development cooperation and the financial sector. Three decades later, Resi Janssen is making a radical career switch. Or isn’t she? 'In ten years’ time I want IBL to be in a new, sustainable…

Tensions are rising between Russia and the West. Can an invasion of Ukraine and an international war be avoided? Political scientist and Russia expert Hans Oversloot warns of the consequences if the West chooses a collision course. ‘Offer Russia a dignified exit strategy.’

Politicians throughout the whole of Europe need to be more honest with their voters and dare to take confrontational measures when necessary. This was the message given by Jeroen Dijsselbloem in the annual Europa lecture on 17 January in Leiden's Academy Building. As newly resigned President of the…

After nearly two years of retirement, Wil Roebroeks looks back on a career that began in a time of freedom and ended in a field that has undergone profound academic and social change. ‘I have been fortunate to always enjoy my work,’ he says. ‘That is also my advice to younger generations: above all,…

As part of the celebrations around the 25th birthday of the Faculty of Archaeology, a panel discussion on the future of archaeology was organised on December 13th. For this discussion an international panel of scholars was invited to give their perspective and enter into conversation with our Faculty…

When a bacterium becomes resistant to one antibiotic, it may sometimes become more sensitive to another. This biological side-effect offers an unexpected opportunity in the fight against antibiotic resistance.

Why do violent incidents occur in prisons? And how do staff respond? Assistant Professor Esther van Ginneken will use a grant from the NWO Vidi Talent Programme to conduct research into these and other questions. She intends to make use of virtual reality.

How can we tell whether and how a prehistoric weapon was used? How can we better understand the dexterity and combat skills involved in Bronze Age spear fighting? A research team from Leiden and Göttingen University present a new approach to answering these questions: they simulated the actual fight…

Yisheng Development is to design the entrance area to the Leiden Bio Science Park. Leiden University and the municipality of Leiden selected this Amstelveen-based project developer on the basis of their sustainable design for a vibrant campus. The design provides a combination of residential, working…

An international team of astronomers led by researchers from the Leiden University has discovered a whirlwind of dust and pebbles in orbit around a young star. It is possible that a planet is forming in the pebbles. The team of scientists made the discovery during the time that designers and developers…

How do democracies develop? The Institute for History is devoting a three-day conference to this question.

Science thrives on freedom, safety, and stability. But what if these prerequisites are lacking? What if colleagues beyond our borders are threatened, persecuted or forced to flee?

Het Leiden Leadership Centre (LLC) neemt deel aan het Enabling City Transformation Programme. Samen met de Gemeente Den Haag en andere lokale partners zet het LLC zich in om bewoners en gemeenschappen te betrekken bij de transitie naar een klimaat neutrale stad.

We deeply cherish our natural and cultural World Heritage, so it seems; when historical monuments and sites are destroyed by war or natural disaster, we are mourning collectively. But what if this World Heritage status is not just a preservation label, but a smokescreen for social and political conflicts…

A delegation of The Mayor’s Club in Ukraine made a three-day visit to the Netherlands, 24-26 April, where one of their priorities was to explore questions of good governance and how it can be advanced through ‘Local-to-Local Co-Creation’ between interested municipalities in Ukraine and the Netherlands. With…

The Dutch research school IPA has awarded former LIACS PhD student Jurriaan Rot with the IPA Dissertation Award 2015. In his PhD thesis Rot studies coinduction, a relatively new mathematical technique that makes it possible to define and prove properties of circular and infinite data structures.

Who still remembers that Leiden attracted a lot of reds from Suriname during the 1970s? The exhibition ‘Dynamic Suriname’ offers a number of surprising insights on the links between Leiden University and Suriname, which is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of its independence this year.

Author Gustaaf Peek, who has been nominated for the Libris Literature Award, studied English Language and Literature in Leiden. ‘I completely submersed myself in literature during my studies, and the effects are still with me today.'

In this time of globalisation, the job market offers plenty of opportunities for people with intercultural competences and a global outlook. Graduates of our International Studies programme not only have expert knowledge of a specific world region, but also possess professional and consulting skills…

What do wooden casks tell us about trade and everyday life between 1300 and 1800? PhD candidate Jeroen Oosterbaan studied the life cycle of this shipping container and has shown how these everyday objects played a key role in the development of international trade networks.

Can we truly assess whether someone finds us attractive? Cognitive psychologist Iliana Samara conducted her PhD project on romantic attraction and discovered that men, in particular, tend to overestimate the interest of their date. She explains why this may be.

Horizon Magazine published about urban food systems.

Leiden physicist Alexey Boyarsky, together with his colleagues from Lausanne and Copenhagen, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to research an extension of the standard model of particle physics. The leading house of the project is the Technical University of Lausanne. 580.000 euro goes directly…

On Saturday 15 April, we are holding the fifth edition of the Leiden Science Run! Are you a student or employee at Leiden University, do you work at the Leiden Bio Science Park or do you just want to run for charity? Everyone is welcome to register. Registration is open from now!

On the 31st August and 1st September 2023, CompaRe hosted a conference on “Smart and lean integration: finding regional solutions to global challenges” in Leiden University’s Campus The Hague.

Around 50 students have graduated from the new International Bachelor in Psychology (IBP) programme within three years. Inspiring speeches sketched an image of what it is like to study Psychology in an international classroom. Three international pioneers talk about their choices. Lecturer Janice Sandjojo…

Leiden has the second-highest percentage of female professors of all the Dutch universities. These are the results of the annual Women Professors Monitor. The Open University is the only university with more female professors.

Desertification is threatening 250 million people worldwide. Ecologists have tried to predict the spread of deserts. Help is now at hand from an unexpected source: mathematicians.

During the HALON hacking competition, 28 teams had one goal: to find as many vulnerabilities as possible in the systems of Dutch higher education institutions. Research software engineer Chris Handy participated on his own and ended up in second place in the category ‘Vulnerabilities found at the highest…

On Monday 9 May, Erwin Muller, Professor in Security and Law at Faculty of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University, presents the Veterans handbook to Minister of Defense Ank Bijleveld-Schouten.

On Friday 27 November 2015, the conference ‘Law & Sustainable Development’ took place at the University of Leiden, organised by the students of the Mordenate College .

More European countries are introducing border controls, clashing with the ideal of free movement within Europe. Daniel Schade, Assistant Professor of EU Studies at Leiden University, analyses this development in The Washington Post.

The chairman of an allotment garden association in the Dutch town of Helmond has come under fire as its regulations contain a controversial rule that a maximum of five plots can be rented by one single nationality.

Alumni event

Simona Vezzoli is one of two research officers at the new Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Research Centre Governance of Migration and Diversity. Based at the Leiden Institute for History, Vezzoli is a migration researcher as well as the centre’s new ‘matchmaker’ between researchers of the three universities and…

Read all about YAL membership and the members of the Young Academy Leiden.

Study information

Develop your teaching skills together with lecturers from other Dutch universities.

Workshop

2024 was a remarkable and eventful year for the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. In this year overview, we look back month by month at the key events and developments.

EL CID has started! This is the week when new students have the chance to get to know the city and student life. Some of the mentors and first-years introduce themselves.

Stefaan Van den Bogaert, Professor of European Law and Academic Director of the Institute of Public Law, is to join the Faculty Board of Leiden Law School as Director of Research and Vice Dean.

Would you like to do collection-oriented research, but do not have sufficient resources? Every year, the Museums, Collections and Society (MCS) research group makes several research scholarships available for this purpose. Researchers Elizabeth den Hartog and Marika Keblusek previously received an MCS…

We are pleased to invite abstracts for a conference on ‘Advancing Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights in a Polarised, Digitalised, and Unequal World’ to be held at Leiden University on 4 and 5 September 2025, in collaboration with Netherlands Network for Human Rights Researh (NNHRR).

Climate interventions do not lead to more climate action among Dutch, but they do raise awareness about climate change.

People who move most in the afternoon and evening are less insulin resistant than people who move mainly in the morning or spread throughout the day. This makes them at lower risk of type 2 diabetes. These are the results that researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have published…

A new NMR microscope gives researchers an improved instrument to study fundamental physical processes. It also offers new possibilities for medical science, for example to better study proteins in Alzheimer patients’ brains. Publication in Physical Review Applied.

A day at the beach, games, a visit to an embassy and a pub crawl. The activities at HOPweek help new students get to know not just The Hague but each other too.

On this page you can find information on past events, either organized or funded by SAILS.