More than 700 visitors got to know the Science Faculty during the Leiden Science Family Day. People of all ages could enjoy fascinating experiments, tours, interesting lectures, spectacular nitrogen shows and various workshops. It was an informative day with many (future) scientists, amazement and,…

During her master's thesis, Nashanty Brunken (24) worked in a team with five other women. With this female team, they discovered the largest molecule so far identified in a disc. 'I have learned so much and because we are all women, it is incredibly empowering. It's very cool to see how far we've come…

Understanding what our buildings and cities are made of is an important step in making them more sustainable. Industrial ecologist Tomer Fishman (CML) has received an ERC Starting Grant to map the construction materials used in buildings in the Global South. 'Without the data, you can't formulate po…

The BA Religious Studies programme has been awarded the label 'Topopleiding' (Top Education) in the Keuzegids 2021.

A report by Casper Stubbé, a Master Industrial Ecology Student, about the debate between minister Timmermans of European affairs and students of Leiden University on climate politics on the upcoming climate conference in Copenhagen

Within the space of a few months, the Heritage Quest citizen science project, whereby volunteers scan elevation maps of the Veluwe area for burial mounds and other prehistoric remains, has already led to groundbreaking new insights. Hundreds of burial mounds have been found, as have a huge number of…

In recent decades, women in Japan and South Korea have been catching up in terms of educational achievements and economic activity. Yet the number of women in leadership positions is still lagging behind. PhD candidate Yorum Beekman investigated why this is.

On 1 February 2014 the second issue of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference, titled 'Death: Ritual, Representation and Remembrance', was published.

For this interview, we spoke with Thomas Ansell: Head of Communications at The Hague Humanity Hub. The organisation facilitates and supports innovations geared towards peace and justice. They provide new connections, collaboration networks, and exchange of information. What kind of organisations is…

Each year the NSE (National Student Survey) gives students the opportunity to express their opinion on their studies. The results are important not only for improving study programmes but also for helping new students to choose the programme that’s best for them. This year the survey was completed by…

In the Bachelor Honours Class ‘The Noble Art and Tricky Business of Translation’, Honours students learn about the tricky business of translation. To gain hands-on experience, students had to translate a poem for the seminar on poetry. For some translators-to-be, one language was simply not enough.

An international and interdisciplinary collaborative effort, the Honours Class ‘Sustainability Beyond Frustration: Saving the Planet as an Academic Skill’ aims to present students’ ideas to sustainability experts that know how to bring them to fruition.

How did science relate to politics and colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Assistant Professor Lauren Lauret has been awarded an NWO XS grant to map the colonial and political activities of nineteenth-century scientists.

The jury of the Africa Thesis Award is delighted to announce that the 2025 prize has been awarded to Yonwaba Matshobotiyana of the University of the Free State, South Africa, with a thesis on Black women's poetry in South Africa.

Over the coming years, LUCL will be collaborating on the development of Macroscope, a new scientific infrastructure that maps social change at the population level. Professors Gijsbert Rutten, Stephan Raaijmakers and Carole Tiberius tell us more about the project.

Meeting new people, exploring other disciplines and growing academically, professionally and personally. The Honours College makes it all possible. Three honours students tell why they do something extra during their bachelor.

Leiden University has partnerships in the local region, in the Netherlands, in Europe and with countries on almost all the world's continents. Students and researchers benefit from these partnerships, but society is also a beneficiary, says Rector Carel Stolker.

Young researchers have been particularly affected by the coronavirus measures. They’re concerned about whether they’ll get their PhD or postdoc project finished on time, now their research has been at a standstill for months. What effect will such a delay have at the start of their academic career?…

We talked to Hester Bijl about the worldwide protests sparked off by the death of George Floyd. A demonstration against racism will also be held in Leiden on 14 June. How does she, as Vice-Rector responsible for diversity and inclusion, view this issue? What steps is the University taking? And how can…

From September 20 to 23, an international Summer School was hosted by the Museums, Collections & Society research programme. PhD candidate in Archaeology Nicky Schreuder attended the Summer School.

The people who lived in Saqqara, City of the Dead in Egypt, died thousands of years ago, but they are not all that different from us. This is what a study by the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, The Netherlands concludes. If you wanted to prove that you had good taste in ancient Egypt then…

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will retire on 8 February. If there’s one theme running through his career, it’s the links between the University and society. In this series of pre-retirement discussions, Stolker will talk one last time to people from within and without the University. In this edition…

Milou Deelen (24) rapidly rose to prominence as the Dutch advocate of frank talk about women’s sexuality. It has cost her dear, but she has received so much assent, praise and support that she won’t be giving up anytime soon. In the Annie Romein Verschoor Lecture on 5 March, Leiden University’s celebration…

Many students and members of staff at Leiden University are politically active. In the run up to the local elections on 21 March candidates in The Hague and Leiden explain why you should vote for them, and what they want to do if they are elected. In this article, the Leiden candidates.

On Thursday 28 September 2017 the Institute of Public Administration of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) organizes the event ‘Good Governance in Asia and the West: What is the Difference?’ as part of the Leiden Asia Year. Below you can read the interview with professor Zeger van der…

In the National Think Tank, 20 young academics spend four months mulling over a solution to a societal problem. Two Leiden alumni tell us more.

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.’

Several dozens of students at Leiden University are top-class athletes, in such diverse sports as skating and tennis. Four of them talk about how they combine their sporting activities with their studies. Strict discipline is the absolute key, and the University helps too. 'If you plan well you can…

Siemens recently took over the Leiden software company Culgi, founded by professor and inventor J.G.E.M. (Hans) Fraaije. We spoke to him about the algorithm that made him successful, the role of a university in our society and his ambitions at Siemens. ‘I was looking for Siemens, and they were looking…

Cleveringa Professor Roméo Dallaire led the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda in 1994, but was unable to prevent a genocide from unfolding before his very eyes. Eight hundred thousand people lost their lives. In his Cleveringa Lecture on 26 November, this retired Lieutenant-General from Canada speaks…

On 1 July 2021, Leiden Law alumni Linda van de Reep and Géraldine Grünberg-Otto were both named partners at auditing and consultancy firm Grant Thornton. ‘We’re connected through our background in Leiden, and we’re proud of that.’

On 28 June, ten dedicated lecturers received their Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO). Rector Hester Bijl congratulated them in an online meeting. We asked some of them what this qualification means to them, what they believe ‘good teaching’ entails and what makes them so passionate about education…

Over the past five years, medical anthropologist Annemarie Samuels has studied palliative care in different parts of the world. Over the next five years, she will focus on end-of-life care in the Netherlands. 'Everyone has the right to good care at the end of their life, but what that means differs…

On May 13, prof. Tom R. Tyler (Yale Law School) will hold a lecture at Leiden Law School on

The ERC project ‘Healthscaping Urban Europe’ will hold a concluding plenary event on 30 September, where three experts will explore the history of premodern public health and especially reflect on possible future directions within this research field. All are welcome to join in person in the Doelenzaal.…

Proud. We did it. All the Ginis. Open Access. Income inequality and Fiscal Redistribution in 47 countries 1967-2014.

Call for participation:

The Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton University, with additional support from the Committee for the Study of Late Antiquity (CSLA) and the Center for Collaborative History (CCH), organizes a virtual conference on Syriac Iconography. This conference gathers diverse scholars from across the…

The Open Day of Leiden University, on Saturday, October 19, 2019 was busy, in a pleasant way. More than 12,500 prospective students and supervisors visited the information market in the Pieterskerk. There, and at other locations, they were informed about the studies they preferred during countless presentations…

In a New York Times report on a bitter archaeological feud over the Nebra sky disk, Maikel Kuijpers reflects on its importance. 'It’s really unfortunate if we put all our focus on one exceptional status object. I think that’s not helping our discipline.'

The Yearbook for Dutch Book History publishes Dutch and English articles on the book history of the Low Countries, in all time periods (including the Middle Ages). For the 30th Yearbook, to be published in 2023, they welcome in particular contributions for the theme ‘Technology and Transformation’.…

A day filled with sunshine and prospective students. On Saturday 2 March, Leiden University's faculties welcomed around 6,000 prospective students and 4,000 parents. Throughout this sunny day, they heard all about what it's like to study at Leiden University. Here's an impression of the event at Leiden…

In the latest episode of DWDD University on 'Light', Prof. Robbert Dijkgraaf used a number of experiments from the Leiden Physics Practicum Lab. He showed why the sky is blue, that light is a wave phenomenon, how magnetism and electricity are connected and that white light consists of all colors of…

The NWO-funded research project ‘The Multilingual Dynamics of the Literary Culture of Medieval Flanders, c. 1200- c. 1500’ invites proposals for informal papers for a series of six e-workshops on the topic of ‘Multilingual Literary Cultures in the Middle Ages’. The e-workshops will take place in April…

The second call-for-papers has now closed and those who have submitted an abstract will hear whether their papers have been accepted or rejected by the end of November. The organizing team is keeping an eye on all developments regarding the Coronavirus and will decide in December whether ICEHL-21 will…

The Europa Institute is once again organising the lecture series 'Europa in de Praktijk' (Europe in Practice). Students are offered the unique opportunity to enter into discussions with prominent guest speakers with years of European experience working in a wide range of sectors. Each year, we invite…

During the Interpret Europe Conference 2016 in Mechelen, the workshop Quality Criteria and Success Factors for Heritage Interpretation was held by the Swedish Centre for Nature Interpretation’s Per Sonnvik and Lena Malmström as part of the conference’s InHerit strand.

On Friday 20 September, the first Sector Plan Conference for the theme Cultural Heritage and Identity will be organised in Rotterdam. The conference is intended for all staff and national partners working in the field of Cultural Heritage and Identity. In particular, those involved in the Sector Plan…

Members of the Minerva student association presented their new almanac to Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl on ‘Carriage Day’ (Friday 31 January).

On October 31 and November 1, the second Moving Humanities conference will be organised by the University of Groningen and Radboud University. Moving Humanities offers a podium to graduate students from all disciplines in the humanities, and aims to promote cross-disciplinary collaborations. This year,…