Academics who offer their books free online reach many more readers and are cited slightly more often. Surprisingly enough, it has little effect on the sale of paper editions, positive or negative. This is the conclusion of PhD candidate Ronald Snijder. PhD defence 29 January.

On Wednesday 5 October the Europa Institute hosts a special guest lecture by Human Rights Defender Mr. Rasul Jafarov from Azerbaijan.

The Department of Medical Microbiology at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) is researching antiviral drugs that could treat and prevent SARS-CoV-2 in various projects. One part of the PanCoroNed project is being led by Martijn van Hemert and involves lab tests into the antiviral effect of molecules…

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) and the Ethical Data Initiative (EDI) are pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at fostering a collaborative partnership to advance responsible data initiatives and enhance communication within the realms of…

On 30th September 2024, the newly established LL.M. track of the multidisciplinary Governance of Migration and Diversity Master Program welcomed its pioneer students during the GMD academic year opening event at the Wijkpaleis in Rotterdam. During the informative and day, students met the academic coordinators…

A new study in Nature Plants has explored the most important organising principles that control vegetation behaviour. The insights from this study can be used to improve predictions on climate change. Leiden scientists Peter van Bodegom and Nadia Soudzilovskaia participated in the study.

Small, remote islands were long thought to have been the last frontiers of pristine natural systems. Humans are not thought to have been able to reach or inhabit these environments prior to the dawn of agriculture, and the technological shift that accompanied this transition. A paper recently published…

The Europa Institute is delighted to announce the appointment of Freya Baetens to the Chair in EU External Economic Law.

On 3 December 2019 Hanna Bosdriesz defended her dissertation on the fight against impunity for grave human rights violations in Latin America.

On 31 January 2025, Leiden University participated in the Dutch National Rounds of the 2025 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world’s oldest and largest moot court competition, featuring more than 800 teams from over 100 countries and jurisdictions.

On Thursday 21 November 2019, the project You&EU, in which Frederik Behre participated, won the Europaeum Scholar’s Prize for their social media campaign during the 2019 EU parliamentary elections.

Bureaucrats appointed based on merit are not necessarily more professional or autonomous than those who have been, for instance, ‘politically installed’. Furthermore, patronage does not only have negative effects. These are two conclusions reached by Abdul-Nasir Abubakar, PhD candidate at Leiden University’s…

Dear friends of the institute,

Universiteitsraad Universiteit Leiden

Leiden physicists found a surprising interaction between electrons and a resist layer. The resist appears to charge and discharge due to incoming electrons. Publication in Physical Review Letters.

The standard approach to build a quantum computer with Majoranas as building blocks is to convert them into qubits. However, a promising application of quantum computing—quantum chemistry—would require these qubits to be converted again into so-called fermions. Physicists from Leiden and Delft suggest…

Leiden physicist Milan Allan and his group have discovered an apparent paradox within a material that has zero electrical resistance. They measured trapped charges, while charges should in theory keep flowing in the absence of resistance. The discovery could provide a missing piece of one of the big…

Thijs Porck, university lecturer of medieval English at the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society, has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (RHS).

Het Europees Hof voor de Rechten van de Mens oordeelt unaniem dat Rusland verantwoordelijk is voor het neerschieten van vlucht MH17. Nabestaanden spreken van erkenning en opluchting. Hoogleraar Internationale Geschillenbeslechting, Eric De Brabandere, duidt in een NOS-podcast het belang van deze uitspraak…

To check whether the classroom scanners are secure, a ‘pen test’ was performed in the Lipsius building on Monday 28 March. This involved switching on the person counters for a day so that ethical hackers could try to gain access to the system.

You might be wondering what the reconstruction of the former V&D store at Spui in The Hague looks like now. If so, you can come and find out for yourself. On Saturday 8 June 2024, from 10.00 – 13.00 hrs., the building site of the new Campus The Hague Leiden University Building will be open to the pu…

After more than five years, Professor Armin Cuyvers has handed over the position of Programme Director for the master’s programmes in Law to Marije Schneider, who started on 1 January 2024. Her vision, drive and experience mean she is well placed to fulfil the role.

From 13 to 24 June 2022, the Summer School on the European Union, the United Nations and Global Governance, supported by the Erasmus+ (Jean Monnet) Programme was held for the second time.

From 29 to 30 October 2024, the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum (KGF) and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies had the pleasure of hosting an inspiring authors’ workshop in The Hague for the forthcoming Research Handbook, Victims' Rights under Public International Law, edited by Dr Robert Heinsch…

The US attack and the arrest of Venezuelan President Maduro have raised questions worldwide. Two Leiden experts in international law, Anna Marhold and Jens Iverson of the Grotius Centre, told media outlets that this constitutes a violation of international law.

The Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Competition, organised by the Netherlands Red Cross and Belgian Red Cross-Flanders, lets students explore the legal framework governing armed conflict. Eight teams from Belgium and the Netherlands competed in the 19th edition (23–27 February 2026) in…

‘Niet het internationaal recht zelf schiet tekort, maar staten en politici die de regels negeren’, stelt Larissa van den Herik, hoogleraar internationaal recht, in een artikel in NRC waarin verschillende experts zich uitspreken. Zij betoogt dat de internationale rechtsorde vooral onder druk staat door…

Nederland presenteert zich internationaal als voorvechter van het recht, maar in de praktijk blijkt dat standpunt vaak afhankelijk van geopolitieke belangen. Drie experts in internationaal recht , Anna Marhold, Joris Larik en Nico Schrijver, duiden in het NRC de spanning tussen principes en politieke…

Nederland presenteert zich internationaal als voorvechter van het recht, maar in de praktijk blijkt dat standpunt vaak afhankelijk van geopolitieke belangen. Drie experts in internationaal recht , Anna Marhold, Joris Larik en Nico Schrijver, duiden in het NRC de spanning tussen principes en politieke…

CWTS is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Andy Stirling as Visiting Professor.

Europa streeft naar meer digitale soevereiniteit, maar blijft afhankelijk van Amerikaanse techbedrijven. In Spraakmakers bespreekt Reijer Passchier of Europa het afgelopen jaar sterker of juist kwetsbaarder is geworden op digitaal gebied.

From 1 August 2018, Alanna O'Malley was appointed as Chair of United Nations Studies in Peace and Justice, focusing on the ‘lesser-known actors’ of the UN: women, the youth, the agents of informal diplomatic networks within the UN and actors from the Global South. This Special Chair has been created…

Almost all the western countries were too late responding to the outbreak of Covid. Why was that? Three governance experts, including Leiden professor Arjen Boin, have written a book about the response to the pandemic. ‘Our current system isn’t geared towards identifying and managing a long-term crisis,’…

She knew that a degree in Public Administration would be a stepping-stone to a career in politics. And that is exactly what Leiden alumna Samira Rafaela (30) wanted. Thanks to preferential votes, this member of the D66 party is the first Dutch MEP from an Afro-Caribbean background.

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.

We started this year as we ended it in 2021: in a lockdown. But the world continues to open up. We are occasionally allowed to go into the office and students are able to return to Campus. Continue reading to find out what the rest of the year has been like.

On 7th November 2018 Kristel van Kruisbergen was guest speaker for an event organised by the European Union Student Association (EUSA) on ‘The Rule of Law: the situation in Poland and Hungary’.

On Friday the 8th of January 2016, our PdD student Nathanja van den Heuvel made a public appearance on national television.

The Scientific Research and Documentation Centre (WODC) has commissioned the Institute of Immigration Law to evaluate the Modern Migration Policy Act. The purpose of this law was to develop a modern, selective and innovative admission policy for legal migration, which is welcoming for economically desirable…

On February 10 at 4.15 PM Henk Borgdorff will give his inaugural lecture ‘Reasoning through Art’ at the Academiegebouw.

The Medieval Institute at Western Michigan University is delighted to host the Wallace Johnson Program for First Book Authors, a program designed to provide support and mentorship to scholars working towards the publication of their first book on the law and legal culture of the early middle ages. In…

Students attending Richard Albert’s seminar on constitutional change asked Reijer critical questions about an article he recently wrote with Maarten Stremler.

How should we deal with the post-corona phase? In a video (in Dutch) for the Association of Public Administration, Erwin Muller, Professor of Safety, Security and Law at Leiden University and former vice-chair of the Dutch Safety Board, reflects on the recovery phase and the corona crisis.

From 23-26 September 2019, Beryl ter Haar, assistant professor Labour Law, delivered the national report on 'cross border labour law in the Netherlands' at the at the XXXVI Pontignano Seminar with the theme: Worker´s mobility in the European Union: labour law perspective'.

On Friday 17 November, the annual meeting of the Consultative Forum of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) took place.

On 12 April, Annemarie Drahmann, Associate Professor at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden Law School, was one of the speakers at a debate organised by platform for investigative journalism Follow the Money to discuss closed government.

The government is investing 646 million euros and has set aside a further 3.5 billion to drive economic growth in the Netherlands. Much of the National Growth Fund will be used for scientific innovations. Leiden University is involved in three of the projects.

Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor of European Law at the Europa Institute, presented at the annual conference of the Global Legal Network, which took place in November in Tallin (Estonia).

On 3 December 2018 Melanie Fink, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Europa Institute, spoke at the Conference ‘Managing Migration Through Criminal Law Tools’.

On 20 and 22 November Rick Lawson, Professor of European Law at Leiden Law School, gave lectures at Cleveringa events in Bratislava and Budapest.