In verschillende Europese landen speelt momenteel de discussie of Syrië voldoende veilig is om asielaanvragen af te wijzen en Syriërs die uitgeprocedeerd zijn terug te sturen. Mark Klaassen, universitair docent migratierecht, legt in Nieuwsuur uit wat als ‘veilig’ onder het asielrecht wordt verstaan…

We are seeking papers to be presented at the DAMR Fall Conference on the topic of unaccompanied minors in the European Union. The conference will take place on Wednesday 23 November 2022 at Leiden University.

The Dutch cabinet faces a challenging task. On 1 December, they are expected to present a plan for the accommodation of child asylum seekers at locations where there are adequate arrangements in place for education, healthcare and indoor and outdoor play facilities. Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor…

De Immigratie- en Naturalisatiedienst (IND) overtreedt de wet door Syrische asielzoekers te lang te laten wachten op een beslissing, stelt Mark Klaassen, universitair docent migratierecht in reactie op onthullingen van dagblad Trouw. Door het besluit- en vertrekmoratorium beslist de IND tijdelijk niet…

Italian PM Meloni’s election promise to limit the number of boat migrants entering the country looks like being fulfilled with help from Albania. A deal was recently approved that provides for two reception centres for asylum seekers in Albania. Dr Mark Klaassen, an expert in immigration law, questioned…

Mark Klaassen and Peter Rodrigues have published a journal article on the role of the best interests of the child in EU family reunification law in the European Journal of Migration and Law. They conclude that even though the Court of Justice of the European Union has often referred to the best interests…

The number of children being housed in emergency asylum accommodation has skyrocketed over the past two years. Various agencies have been issuing warnings for several years about the distressing conditions found in emergency accommodation in the Netherlands. Dr Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor of…

Failed asylum seekers do not often return to their country of origin. The European Commission sees ‘return hubs’ as a solution. Dr Mark Klaassen discussed the proposal on ‘EenVandaag’: ‘I can imagine that such a return hub will act as an incentive.'

Het Hof van Justitie van de EU maakt duidelijk dat de doorlooptijd bij asielaanvragen in Nederland te traag verloopt. Mark Klaassen, universitair docent migratierecht, zegt in Dagblad Trouw dat personeelstekorten en/of achterstallig onderhoud bij de IND geen reden kunnen zijn voor het verlengen van…

The Netherlands is falling behind in Europe with strict asylum policy while other countries are tightening their rules. Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor in Migration Law, comments in Dutch newspaper ‘de Telegraaf’ that these rules might not stand up in court.

To mark the 900th anniversary of the city of Utrecht, the summer feast of city patron Saint Martin of Tours will be celebrated on 3 and 4 July 2022. The festival is a birthday gift from Utrecht University to the city, initiated by Saint Martin expert Els Rose.

On 20 May 2021, LeidenAsiaCentre and The Hague Journal of Diplomacy held a seminar on "The Recalibration of China's Diplomacy".

To mark the 900th anniversary of the city of Utrecht, the summer feast of city patron Saint Martin of Tours will be celebrated on 3 and 4 July 2022. The festival is a birthday gift from Utrecht University to the city, initiated by Saint Martin expert Els Rose.

In 2023, it will be fifty years since Vietnam and the Netherlands established diplomatic relations. This will be commemorated in both countries. At the beginning of November, outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte visited Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. On that occasion Leiden University Libraries will launch…

An international team of researchers including Leiden archaeologists has produced convincing evidence that 300,000 years ago pre-Neanderthal people had a high level of cognitive complexity. New insights into early human capabilities and behaviour.

A pop-up exhibition ‘All the Einsteins’ will open at Rijsmuseum Boerhaave on 29 May 2019. This is the first time that the museum will present its entire collection of handwritten letters and documents by Einstein. The exhibition marks, among others, the publication of the first photo of a black hole…

Leiden University is featured by French magazine L’Express as one of Europe’s leading ‘schools of power’, highlighting its Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs and the Institute of Security and Global Affairs in The Hague and its role in training future leaders in politics, diplomacy, and securi…

On Wednesday, 21 February, a diverse group of students, staff, and representatives from 21 embassies gathered in The Hague for International Mother Language Day. Under the banner of 'a bit of fun and many serious topics,' language took centre stage.

The political parties in the running to form a Dutch cabinet are looking into solutions to curb the influx of refugees. The plan is to designate refugee accommodation as a crisis. But is it as simple as that? Mark Klaassen, Assistant Professor in European law, discusses this on Dutch current affairs…

How can data analytics be used as a research method in the field of legal research? This question was addressed during the Research Lab Legal Data Science on 23 September, 2016.

Professor of Dutch History prof.dr. H. (Henk) te Velde will become interim Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University for a two-year term with effect from 1 March 2025. He will succeed prof.dr. M.R. (Mark) Rutgers. Mark Rutgers’ second term of office expires on 1 March 2025; he will be professor…

Covid year 2021 might have felt somewhat less strange than the year before, but the virus still left its mark on University life and our students and staff. Fortunately there was also room for research, visiting dignitaries and in-person classes. And our social media accounts weren’t only about covid…

Leiden University will continue to offer its BA in Italian Language and Culture. The Board of the Faculty of Humanities has reversed its decision to stop admitting new students as of the 2026/2027 academic year.

Tropical butterflies adapt to their environment to improve their chances of survival. The changes are triggered by hormone signals that transmit information about temperature to the butterflies' tissues. Biologist Ana Rita Mateus shows how a complex combination of environment, physiology and genetics…

The winner of this year’s Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award wants to raise more awareness for children who have a parent in detention: ‘It’s time we stop looking the other way and actually think about the impact.’

On 18 and 19 October 2018 the PhDArts Conference took place at the P.J. Veth building in Leiden.

You can't have missed it: Leiden University celebrated its 444th anniversary in 2019 with a year-long programme of activities for the people of Leiden and The Hague. The Dies Natalis on 7 February 2020 marks the end of this special year. High time to look back at what we did!

Ad IJzerman, Head of department Medicinal Chemistry, was elected “Highly cited researcher” by Thomson Reuters.

On 11 January 2019, Maastricht University and the University of Groningen hosted a workshop on the regulation of social media influencers.

On January 8 and 9, a conference will take place at Leiden University, titled: "The Plurality of Early Modern Media: 21st-Century Perspectives on Interdisciplinary Research in the Humanities". This conference marks the 25 years anniversary of the Intersections series (published by Brill) and reflects…

The Common Market Law Review is proud to present a Special Issue on legal issues relating to Brexit following the lustrum conference on Brexit and the Future of the European Union that was held in Leiden in 2017 to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Europa Institute of Leiden University.

The Graduation Ceremony 2022 of the master's Law & Society took place on 7 September 2022 in the Telders Room of the Academy Building in Leiden.

A special beginning of this unique faculty year 2020 - 2021: on Wednesday 2 September, the opening of the faculty year took place online from the renovated Arsenaal building. The opening started with a round table with nine special guests and was followed by a quiz and the presenting of the Faculty…

The renovated Arsenal building, part of the Humanities Campus, has been in use since April 2020. The building was officially opened on Monday 13 June by Martijn Ridderbos, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board, and Mark Rutgers, dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

Neanderthals were able to outwit straight-tusked elephants, the largest land mammals of the past few million years. Leiden professor Wil Roebroeks has published an article about this together with his German colleague Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser in the Science Advances journal.

The start of the renovation of Cluster Zuid was a long time coming, but the moment has finally arrived. On Wednesday 8 June, Dean Mark Rutgers, accompanied by the contractor Constructif, symbolically marked the start of the demolition and reconstruction works by demolishing part of the roof.

20 November 2024 is World Children's Day. To mark this occasion, the UNICEF Student Team Leiden is organising a lecture on children's rights. We spoke to board members Rewina Teferi Hagos and Tugwell Chadyiwanembwa to find out what motivates them.

After a big two-day conference, the Growing Up Together in Society consortium has officially begun. Researchers from seven universities will spend the next decade looking at how young people grow up as engaged and resilient adults. Leiden psychologists explain how they will do so.

One way for governments to conduct foreign policy and promote national interests is through direct outreach and communication with the population of a foreign country. This is called public diplomacy. Historians such as Helmer Helmers and William T. Rossiter have shown that printed media were already…

Many of the big challenges of the 21st century (climate change, international migration, financial instability, socio-economic inequality) find their origins in the organisation of the global economy. Any solution to the world’s big challenges therefore requires forceful policy interventions at the…

The Faculty of Humanities is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse community, where all students and staff are supported, respected, and empowered to do their best work, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, ability, age, religion, or socio-economic background.

The dissociative chemisorption of a molecule on a transition metal surface represents a rate-limiting step in many heterogeneously catalyzed processes, whereby most chemicals are made. In spite of the importance of this reaction, an accurate first principles approach to modeling it does not yet exist.…

We carry a profound responsibility for our research animals and strive to provide them with the best possible quality of life. In our studies, we make every effort to avoid and minimise discomfort for the animals. Below, you can learn more about how this is put into practice.

The activities of the Europa Institute (also known as the Department of European Law) are supported by ‘Stichting Europees Instituut’. This foundation was the first of its kind in both the Netherlands and Europe as a whole. Established in 1957, its aim was to ‘support and advance the study of scientific…

Leiden archaeologists investigate how people in the past impacted their environment. Together with scientists, environmental scientists, and humanities experts, they use this information to draw conclusions about the present – and show what we can learn from it for the future.

To be eligible for Assyriology (research) at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for Hebrew and Aramaic Studies (research) at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Postdocs, or early career researchers, play a crucial role at Leiden University. They make a major contribution to our research. In 2019, Leiden University employed around 400 postdocs across our faculties in Leiden and The Hague, LUMC not included.

To be eligible for Egyptology (research) at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.