PhD candidate Fien Demuynck researched how wind farms affect fish and how to minimise any negative impact.

In nearly every Dutch primary and secondary school classroom, at least one child is bullied. The common perception is that the most popular child in the class is often the bully, while less popular children are more likely to be bullied. Is this image accurate? Bullying researcher Mitch van Geel knows…

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…

Lack of manliness, avaricious or too imaginative. These are just a few of the accusations with which British scientists discredited each other over a hundred years ago. PhD candidate Léjon Saarloos researched British scientists around the year 1900 and their idea of what makes a good - and therefore…

Every year the newly arriving Archaeology students are invited to join an active introduction day during which they get to know the Faculty and each other in a playful and fun way. The activities are organised by Study Adviser Cleody van der Eijk. ‘It helps people to loosen up and get to know each o…

How can we best tell the current generations about some of the darkest parts of our past? To answer this question, researchers from Leiden are working with the Gedeeld Verleden, Gezamenlijke Toekomst foundation on public programmes about the Dutch history of slavery.

Who was professionally involved in language between 1550 and 1650? And what were the financial returns of this language sector? Assistant Professor Alisa van de Haar has received an ERC Starting Grant to map out the situation in Northwest Europe between 1550 and 1650.

The celebration of the university’s 450th anniversary is not confined to the walls of the university. For the 7th time, professors stood in front of the class of grade 7, in both Leiden and The Hague. Four FGGA professors visited primary schools, introducing the children to research questions such as…

From 1967 to 1982, the United Nations undertook several peacekeeping operations in the Middle East. In his thesis from the Institute for History, Diego Salama examines how these operations were connected and their impact on the region.

On 3 June, Annetje Ottow (chair) and Hester Bijl (rector magnificus) met the Humanities faculty. Although a physical introduction was preferred, this visit also had to be done digitally.

Patients and healthcare providers use Remote Patient Management platforms to exchange information with each other. New methods like this are desperately needed to future-proof our healthcare systems. Professor Maaike Kleinsmann is working to scale up these systems and implement them nationwide.

Pita Limjaroenrat (45) was set to become Thailand’s next prime minister, but in 2024 the Thai Constitutional Court dissolved his progressive Move Forward Party and banned him from politics. He now reflects publicly on the policy values that brought the party to prominence.

More focus on diversity in Antiquity, workshops for students with disabilities, and a card game to share stories about diversity: these and other projects will receive funding from the JEDI Fund in 2023.

This Thursday, January 18th 2024, our esteemed colleague Jan Zaanen passed away. Jan was one of our star scientists, larger than life, with an unabashed, boisterous drive for the best of physics at the Institute Lorentz, at the Leiden Institute of Physics and in the full international scientific community.…

On Friday 5 September, to mark our 450th anniversary we celebrated the opening of the faculty year together with the Leiden Revisited alumni event. Combining both annual events was a huge success, especially as staff brought along their family, partner or friends.

How do you set up a successful collaboration between science and practice? That was the main theme of the final meeting of a triptych of symposia on how Leiden University can improve inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration.

From the Spanish Flu during WWI to COVID-19: the role of the American government in these Pandemics. Professor Giles Scott-Smith, who together with Dario Fazzi and Gaetano Di Tommaso completed the book project Public Health and the American State, discusses a century of American responses to health…

Aafje de Roest turned her hobby into her job. She went from a teenager who enjoyed listening to hip hop music to a PhD candidate who focuses on how Dutch hip hop music shapes the cultural identity of young people in the Netherlands.

PhD defence

On Wednesday 8 March, the 'Meet & Mix: ‘Speed dating with Traineeships’ event took place in Wijnhaven. Trainees, employees and HR advisers from different organisations got together with students from the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs to talk doing a traineeship.

Running event

How do parents communicate anxiety to their child via body language and words? Psychologist Cosima Nimphy studied this question for her PhD research. Experiments show that children of anxious parents are not more sensitive to their parents’ signs of anxiety.

Saniye Çelik, Professor by Special Appointment of Diversity, Inclusion, and Policing at Leiden University, has received the Woman in the Media Award at Beeld & Geluid in Hilversum. She was selected as the winner by the jury from three female experts with the most votes.

Work balance is an important issue within the Faculty of Humanities. Education coaches Astrid Van Weyenberg and Maarten van Leeuwen also deal with this regularly during their coaching sessions with lecturers. They have listed their most important tips.

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

Immigration and naturalisation policies are an important theme in the upcoming Dutch elections. The Netherlands should be mindful of its immigration narrative, says PhD candidate Hannah Bliersbach, as this greatly influences the relationship between ‘new’ citizens and their new home country.

Jantien Hadders (50), head of Education and Research Policy at FGGA, lost the love of her life and, to her great sadness, did not become a mother. It was precisely by being able to share her loss in the workplace that she slowly regained trust in herself.

The story of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian pharaoh, is world famous. But did you know that the Ancient Egyptians mummified not only people but animals too? The National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden recently put a bunch of animal mummies through a CT scanner. This was in collaboration with Canon Netherlands…

What sets Leiden University apart from other universities? And what research themes would you like us to showcase to the outside world? Share your ideas in our online consultation over the next two weeks.

We’ve all heard the advice about healthy workplace habits: taking regular breaks from your screen, going for the odd walk or eating lunch with your colleagues. But we don’t always heed this advice. A paradox, says assistant professor Juriena de Vries. ‘When you think you don’t have time for a break…

Leiden University has had a turbulent week. There have been protests inside and outside our buildings that have evoked reactions, and students and staff have felt unsafe. We want with this message to look back at the past week and look forward to the future. What happened and how do we now want to move…

In a landmark ruling, the International Court of Justice says that states are obliged to protect the climate. Jolein Holtz, a climate and human rights expert, believes the Court is too vague about the impact for future generations: ‘A missed opportunity’.

In the ‘Educatips’ column, psychology lecturers share their most important insights on teaching. This month: Anouk van der Weiden, together with a team of colleagues and students, developed a module on critical reading, application, and writing. 'Students often think: who am I to criticise a published…

Access to education for people from the lower socio-economic class has improved immensely in Europe from the 1950s onwards. Yet the Roma and Sinti were unable to reap benefits from this. PhD candidate Anita van der Hulst researched why so few Roma and Sinti went on to higher education. PhD defence on…

Should we ban snack bars from neighbourhoods where residents are overweight or have diabetes? At the Common Sense about Health knowledge festival, scientists, civil servants and other professionals discussed how South Holland can become healthier. The Healthy Society Map makes it clear where there are…

Dozens of Dutch nationals are being held in detention facilities in Northeast Syria or have been transferred to Iraq, risking torture or the death penalty. PhD candidate Ida Asscher says the Netherlands should repatriate them. 'States must comply with international law, even in difficult situations.…

What is written in law and what equality, inclusion and diversity mean in practice is not always the same. This was the focus of this year’s D&I symposium on 13 January. The plenary sessions were watched by hundreds of participants and there was a wide range of workshops covering different aspects of…

PhD defence

Lecture, Workshop

PhD defence

Lecture, VVIK lecture

Alumni event

2023 was another year full of highlights and special moments for the faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. Find out what the year was like in this year overview: we take you through the most important moments and news items month of each month.

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.

Elise Dusseldorp has been appointed Professor in the Methodology and Statistics of Psychological Research. In the same way that she spends her spare time rambling through the forest, as a professor she sifts through colleagues’ research data. ‘I often come across information that doesn’t appear in the…

Professor Eline Slagboom has been studying multiple generations of families for over 20 years. She collects data on why some people age healthily and others decline early.

Last year, 15.8% of all employees of Leiden University experienced undesirable behaviour. This is one of the findings of the 2021 Personnel Monitor. ‘That number is far too high. We have to get rid of the taboo on raising this issue and addressing offenders,‘ says Martijn Ridderbos, in an open and…

Four prints, ten years of research. Not that she got bored of them, on the contrary. Corrie van Maris, who receives her PhD this week, has always remained fascinated by her 17th-century series, for which she feels so much love. ‘I kept seeing different, new things.’