Not one, but two Olympic rowing medals with a Leiden-Delft touch. Master student Life, Science and Technology Stef Broenink won silver in the double pair. He and partner Melvin Twellaar were in front for a long time, but were overtaken by the French at the last minute.

The Dutch chemical industry is regularly in breach of safety legislation. These are the findings of longitudinal research by the Department of Criminology at Leiden University, in collaboration with the Department of Criminology at VU Amsterdam. Over the past ten years, the roughly 400 companies to…

By spreading fake news via TV spots and Twitter with the use of Social Bots, Pascal professor Heike Trautmann is investigating the characteristics of fake news. She is calling on Leiden researchers to cooperate in the project.

The design for the METIS instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is final. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has given the green light for production of all parts of the instrument. It is the first ELT instrument, designed and to be built under Dutch leadership, to formally pass the…

From March 27 to 31 Byvanck Professor Carrie Vout gave the intensive masterclass Classical Art - Definitions, Politics, Limits. This special lecture series was open to students and PhD candidates in Archaeology and Classics. One of the attendees, Nicky Schreuder, on the class: 'It was a critical and…

The Dutch police force is struggling with diversity. Women, officers who are gay or come from a non-western background often feel unsafe within the police force. That was the message of this week’s startling distress call by police coach Carel Boers, who has been a consultant for the police management…

Aske Plaat is the scientific director of LIACS, the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Systems. He is also an ambassador for Leiden University's LGBT+ Network. His enthusiasm shines through when he explains why.

How to get a PhD position is clouded in mystery. In one afternoon, Peter van der Putten and Maarten Lamers talk about how (they think) the game is played.

During her time as Speaker of the Dutch House of Representatives, Arib was, among other things, accused of creating an 'unsafe working environment'. To prevent disclosure of the case, she is taking legal action to demand access to all documents and their subsequent destruction. In addition, she is demanding…

The Dutch Student Orchestra (NSO) brings together more than a hundred of the best student musicians in the Netherlands. On 16 February the NSO will be performing in Leiden. Two Leiden members of the orchestra give a foretaste of the concert.

Scientists at the LUMC are working hard on potential virus inhibitors, antiviral screening and a treatment for COVID-19. SteunLeiden.nl has started a crowdfunding campaign for this research, under the hashtag #wakeuptocorona. Professor of Virology Eric Snijder explains why this is desperately needed…

King Willem-Alexander visited Leiden on 6 December to open the new wing of the Leiden Instrumentmakers School. Students of this vocational programme make instruments needed for scientific research.

The Old Observatory in Leiden has reclaimed its most important telescope. Since the 1960s, the Meridian Circle (also known as a transit telescope) had been housed in the Boerhaave Museum. After more than sixty years, the telescope is finally back in its original location. Now, the public can enjoy it…

At present, the cabinet still maintains that all provinces are motivated to cooperate with the sensitive issue of the nitrogen strategy. However, there are major concerns that the political landscape will look very different once the elections for the Provincial Councils on 15 March have been held.

On Monday 8 April, a high-profile guest visited Leiden Law School. Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Geoffrey van Leeuwen gave a powerful speech to students about defending our interests in all current global developments.

Every year the Leiden Centre for Science and Technology Studies publishes the Leiden Ranking, a league table of universities based on the quality of their academic education. But the data can be used for many different purposes, deputy-director Ludo Waltman explains.

What are you going to do for peace and justice? What will your contribution be to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals? And who or what do you need to make sure your idea has impact? Come to Humanity House in The Hague on 21 September.

Prof. dr. Marcel Cobussen has published a free e-pub: The Field of Musical Improvisation.

Ook Polen wil het recht op een tijdelijk afschaffing op asiel, zo maakte premier Tusk onlangs bekend. Hoe groot zijn de kansen in Brussel en vormt dit een optie voor Nederland? Mark Klaassen, universitair docent Immigratierecht, spreekt over de kwestie in het Algemeen Dagblad.

On Thursday 7 February 2019, the graduation ceremony for the executive master programme Cyber Security took place at The Hague Security Delta (HSD). The Cyber Security programme is a collaboration of University Leiden, Delft University of Technology, and The Hague University of Applied Sciences. A total…

Hortus botanicus Leiden is the first Dutch garden to receive an accreditation from Botanic Gardens International (BGCI). The Conservation Practitioner Accreditation is a certificate that recognizes the policy, knowledge & expertise and education with regard to plant conservation at an international…

Nowadays data-driven working is very important within Rijkswaterstaat. A Variety of employees is involved in analyzing the data collected on daily basis by Rijkswaterstaat. The goal is to ensure that we construct an infrastructure in the Netherlands which will be safe, accessible and liveable in the…

At the end of January, the fifth installment of the International Leiden Leadership Programme (ILLP) has started. This year twenty masters’ students from ten different countries were selected. In the coming months they will increase their knowledge on leadership and develop their own leadership skills…

What is the impact of humans on nature? In Science an article appeared in which researchers try to give an answer to that question. Biogeographer and postdoc at LUCL Sietze Norder is one of its authors.

The American Chemical Society’s Publication Division (ACS) and Dutch universities represented by the VSNU have reached agreement on including open access publication as part of the contract with publishers. From 2017, all new articles submitted by an author associated with a Dutch university or participating…

Bridging the gap between the space sector and society, together with students from other disciplines. That’s the aim of the LDE Space & Society Honours Programme, which is launching this year. Applications close 6 October 2024. Read on to discover if it’s for you!

On Thursday 17 October, Marieke Bos and Anika Bexkens went behind the scenes at the Jeugdjournaal, a Dutch television program that delivers news specifically for children. They talked to the editors-in-chief of Jeugdjournaal about what kind of questions they receive from children and advised how to…

This academic year Maxim Allaart will hold the position of assessor within the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Science. The assessor is a student member who represents the students’ interests within the Faculty Board.

On October 14, the first symposium of the university-wide initiative SAILS took place. Scientists from Leiden University and other Dutch universities came together to share their enthusiasm and expertise in the field of Artificial Intelligence in a festive symposium, in the atmospheric Museum of Eth…

Amino acids are the building blocks for life on earth. They may originate in space and reach the Earth via comets and meteorites. Daniël Paardekooper examined part of this hypothesis. PhD defence on 5 July.

From 22 to 24 October, researchers of the MARBLES-project informed museum visitors about microbes: bacteria and fungi that live all around us. The event was organised around the Micro-day of Leiden, which is this year’s EU City of Science.

The Student Living Room at the KOG will soon officially open its doors. All Leiden Law School staff and students are welcome to come and see this new space during the official opening event on Tuesday 23 May at 12.00 hrs. A free lunch will be provided for all, we’ll raise a toast with a glass of bubbles,…

A warm welcome to the students of the Master’s Programme in European Law starting in September 2017. Below you will find important information concerning the start of the new term.

If we want tax evasion to become a thing of the past then there has to be more balance in how tax advisers are educated, according to tax professors Jan Vleggeert and Jan van de Streek.

A clear, unambiguous definition of an extraparliamentary cabinet still seems to be missing in the political arena of The Hague. Caroline van der Plas, Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) party leader, wants to discuss this issue with the party chairs of the Dutch coalition parties. Wim Voermans, Professor…

Following the success of the Dutch version, the podcast 'Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature' is now also available in English. Senior University Lecturer Otto Boele guides listeners through eight infamous texts in this version.

25 selected LUC students were present at this year’s first World Class The Hague event with speeches from King Abdullah from Jordan, Pauline Krikke (Mayor of The Hague) and Mark Singleton (Director of the International Centre for Counter Terrorism and former diplomat). King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima…

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) appointed Professor Thomas Bäck as an IEEE Fellow in the class of 2022. Bäck is becoming a Fellow for his contributions in synthesising evolutionary computation. Less than 0.1% of voting members are selected each year for this member grade…

Na Zhou (PhD at ICLON) researched how vocational teachers’ learning takes place in a work placement programme and how their learning supports their teaching in school. Defence on 1 March.

John van den Dobbelsteen’s work is all about using medical technology to reduce the workload and increase the job satisfaction of healthcare staff.

Last month, Symposion, the study association for Philosophy students, organised this year's student-alumni career event. Four alumni joined the event to share their stories and insights. The alumni panel was held for all BA and MA students of Philosophy, in this thesis-writing and graduation-approaching…

Yesterday, an article appeared in Biznews about the watershortages in California. David Zetland, university lecturer at Leiden University College, gives his opinion about this problem.

In a week in which the threat of violent protest against taxi platform Uber made headlines from Athens to Amsterdam, Jorrit Rijpma (Europa Insitute) and Sophia Ranchordás (Groningen University) organised an Leiden Law Exchange (LLX) Roundtable on the recent judgment of the European Court of Justice…

How correct are mathematical theorems? And is all the theory around them correct? To find out, mathematics student Dominique Lawson converted a mathematical theorem into computer language. ‘This allows a computer to understand the theorem and check whether the proof behind it is entirely correct.’ The…

Is the American government behind the attacks on 11 September 2001? Could it be that the white contrails emitted by planes in the sky are actually ‘chemtrails’: chemicals that are deliberately being spread amongst us? And did the Dutch intelligence service order the murder of Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn?…

Hospital pharmacist and lecturer on the master’s programme in pharmacy Arianna Pranger has made it to the final of the Lecturer of the Year 2021 competition. Outgoing minister Van Engelshoven (Education, Culture and Science) will award the prize to the winning lecturer.

The American Library Association has selected the Space Scoop website as one of the Great Websites for Kids (GWS). Space Scoop, which launched a dedicated website one year ago, provides the latest space news to educate and inspire children. The website will be included in a compilation of exemplary…

Preventing or delaying disease often requires lifestyle changes, which turns out to be difficult. Valentijn Visch and Sandra van Dijk are researching how to help people change their behaviour.

Leiden University’s Master’s in Advanced Studies in International Dispute Settlement and Arbitration is one of the 15 ‘excellent master’s programmes’ at Dutch universities. This is according to the Keuzegids consumer guide to master’s programmes for 2025.

We don’t understand how some materials become superconducting at relatively high temperatures. Leiden physicists have now found a surprising connection with auxiliary black holes. It enables us to use our knowledge of black holes on the mystery of high-temperature superconductivity. Publication in Nature…