Professor Meta Roestenberg has been awarded the Mercator Sapiens Stimulus 2025 by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW). The prize of EUR 1 million will allow Roestenberg and her team to further develop an innovative malaria vaccine.

(04-11-2020) The visitor center of the Old Observatory is closed until November 15th 2020 in line with the national corona measures in the Netherlands. When we reopen, please pay attention to our corona regulations:

In the theme of Big Cat Month, National Geographic interviewed Professor Hans de Iongh, guest researcher of the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) about lion conservation in Africa.

Doctorates, scholarships, or a trip around the world during a sabbatical: when it comes to our careers, we often talk about what went well. The CV of Failures exhibition at the Herta Mohr Building shows the other side of the coin. On large boards, university staff talk about rejections, setbacks, and…

This semester the institute of Public Administration launches two SPOCs about Public Values & Ethics and Research design. A SPOC is a Small Private Online Course, the ‘smaller brother’ of a MOOC. This is the first time at FGGA that on campus students can follow their on-campus course fully online. 13…

MA student African Studies Eline Sleurink is currently on an internship in Accra, the capital of Ghana. She’s sharing her adventures on The Leidener, a blog that is run by international students of Leiden University.

MSc Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology alumna Annelin Verkade is one of the four 'runners-up' for the IIAS Master Thesis prize 2017. Supervisor: Dr. Erik de Maaker. Award ceremony on 22 February 2018.

On on 29 January 2024, it was announced that Aylin Alexa Zainea has won the Thesis Award from the Dutch Data Protection Authority. She wrote her thesis for the Advanced Master programme on Law and Digital Technologies hosted by eLaw, Center for Law and Digital Technologies. Her thesis entitled ‘Automated…

Professor by Special Appointment Anouk Goemans has received the National Youth Care Award 2025 from the ‘Stichting Steunfonds Pro Juventute’. The cash prize of €30,000 will go towards her research on youth care and youth protection.

Leiden University has held its first university-wide iftar, an event aimed at fostering connection and dialogue on cultural and religious diversity. This initiative was made possible by the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, POPcorner-FSW, SABR student association and POPcorner The Hague.

Leiden University has the highest percentage of female professors of all the Dutch Universities. At 24 per cent, Leiden is well ahead of the other universities in the Netherlands.

The first successful Leiden Networks day took place on September 23, 2016. Six world-renowned speakers (see photo) in the field of complexity and network science provided their view on the field.

Since January 2019, The Leiden Institute for Advanced Computer Science is part of the RISE_SMA project. In this European project 6 universities, in collaboration with companies, government authorities and NGOs, will join forces to get more insight in social media data during crisis situations. The kick-off…

Following the success of the pilot calendar that was launched earlier this year, a new D&I calendar for the academic year 2022-2023 has been developed. This calendar is an effort to build awareness and a cultural understanding of important religious holidays and other special observances of the diverse…

For our course "Hardware & Physical Computing" several short videos about Arduino programming were recorded. We decided to share these video lectures publicly. They introduce Arduino boards through simple examples that demonstrate how to connect and program the Arduino. So you can decide if you can…

Prof. Suzan Stoter will be the Dean of Leiden Law School at Leiden University as of 1 January 2024. The Leiden University Executive Board has appointed her for a period of four years. Stoter succeeds Joanne van der Leun, who, together with the other members of the Faculty Board, brought great verve…

The winter season is almost here and so is the end of our exhibition More-than-Planet. From 1 November, you can only visit us with exclusive guided tours. During this tour, you will visit one of our historical telescopes and we will take you through the More-than-Planet exhibition.

As per 1st May 2019, Leiden University appointed Bram Klievink as professor of Public Administration with a focus on digitalization and public policy. The new chair has been established at the Institute of Public Administration of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University. Bram…

Beryl ter Haar is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland. The Law School is the oldest part of the university (founded in 1808), followed by the School of Medicine (founded one year later). The two schools became the heart of Warsaw University which was founded in 1816 by…

How can party bans be justified? Which parties were banned in post-war Europe – and why? Do militant democracy instruments work? Is an international militant democracy concept in the making?

On Thursday and Friday, 1 and 2 March 2018, ICCL students and staff enjoyed a study trip to Brussels, including visits to the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the European Commission and top law firm De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek.

Many deepfake porn videos are going around appearing to feature popular Dutch presenters, actors and politicians. These videos are banned, and yet they’re still being circulated. Dirk Visser, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, explains why: ‘There are enough rules telling us that deepfakes aren’t…

What should a confederal constitution for the EAC look like? What are the legal challenges for making the African Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) work? And what insights can be drawn in this context from the successes and failures in the EU?

Political scientist Karolina Pomorska (Institute of Political Science, Leiden University) has been awarded a Jean Monnet Chair. The aim of her chair, entitled The EU and the World, is to promote and strengthen teaching and research in European Studies in Leiden and in The Hague.

Professor of Radiology Andrew Webb and his collaborative partner Johnes Obungoloch from Uganda have won the 2023 Huibregtsen Prize.

The new student centre in The Hague, the Beehive, will be opening its doors in stages starting from 1 October. The name Beehive was chosen because it stands for connection, an individual identity, activity and belonging. This meeting place for students is dedicated to improving the living environment…

A warm welcome to the students of the Master’s Programme in European Law 2018-2019. This year, we expect around 60 students who will start this LL.M. programme, organised by the Europa Institute. Our faculty staff is excited to meet you and to teach you all aspects of European Law.

As of 1 October, Marlies Reinders (1973) will be the new Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and will sit on the LUMC’s Board of Directors. This will return the board to full strength.

On Friday 12 January 2018, the University of Curaçao celebrated its 39 years of existence. Prof. Ton Liefaard , Professor of Children’s Rights and UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights addressed the audience with a lecture entitled: “20 years United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Do we…

Due to a major telephone disruption, 112 was unavailable for hours on Monday 24 June. At Albert Heijn, Tuesday 25 June, cash registers refused service. Bibi van den Berg, professor in Cyber Security Governance at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, looks back on aspects of the disasters of…

The LIACS Media Lab has received a research grant from the worldwide leading graphics hardware company NVIDIA. The grant exists of newly developed hardware utilizing thousands of processors. LIACS researchers will use it to investigate deep learning in understanding imagery from sources such as MRI…

De formatie sleept voort en de roep om een minderheidskabinet klinkt luider. Staatsrechtgeleerde Wim Voermans, waarschuwt in een recent opiniestuk in de Volkskrant dat zo’n constructie instabiel is en de kans op een nieuwe kabinetsval vergroot.

From 1 August 2020, smoking on the premises of Leiden University will be prohibited. Dutch law obliges institutions of higher education to enforce a full smoking ban on their premises as of that date.

In het Sleutelstad radioprogramma Kennismakers legt hoogleraar sociaal recht, Yvonne Erkens, uit waarom dit rechtsgebied ons allemaal raakt en actueler is dan ooit.

The Dutch Police may receive an additional 300 million euros next year. Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science, spoke with current affairs programme 'EenVandaag' about the possibilities of using AI to support police work.

Experts warn that large-scale use of foreign cloud services poses risks. Reijer Passchier, Associate Professor of Constitutional Law and Professor of Digitalisation and the Democratic Rule of Law at the Open University, says it could be ‘life-threatening’ to Dutch RTL news.

Mirjam Sombroek van Doorm, Professor of Law and Health, became a member of the Netherlands Sports Council in September 2024. This council is an independent advisory body that focuses on bolstering high level sport, grassroots sport and exercise for Dutch society.

On 27 November the official opening of LeidenGlobal will be celebrated in the Rijksmuseum Volkenkunde/National Museum of Ethnology. LeidenGlobal is a platform for global expertise that responds to the call from Minister of Education and Culture Jet Bussemakers that academic and cultural institutions…

Nadine Akkerman released her new book Invisible Agents in July 2018. View the reviews on BBC History and Telegraph UK. Keith Simpson added it to his summer reading list recommendations.

Replicas of artworks by world-famous artist and political activist Banksy are being exhibited at several locations in Amsterdam without the permission of the anonymous graffiti artist. Dirk Visser, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, says this is ‘clearly copyright infringement’.

On 5 November 2021, the second PhD day organised within the context of the research theme Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI) took place in Utrecht. COI is a collaboration between Leiden University, Utrecht University, and Radboud University Nijmegen that serves to implement the Netherlands Sector…

Media Technology alumna Marianne Bossema has received a doctoral grant for teachers. This grant enables teachers to spend five years doing research that will eventually lead to a PhD graduation. Marianne will do her research on social robotics, under supervision of Leiden University's Rob Saunders.

Have you ever seen your friend smiling, and suddenly you started grinning too? PhD student Chris Riddell is researching how and why we copy body language. As a new Face of Science, he will take us along on his research journey for the coming year.

Leiden University would like to express its concern about the proposed Hungarian higher education draft law, which, if adopted, would make the functioning of Central European University (CEU) in Budapest nearly impossible. These changes would endanger the academic freedom vital for CEU’s continued operation…

Zsuzsa Bakk has been selected as the winner of the 2016 Distinguished Dissertation Award of the Classification Society for her thesis entitled 'Contributions to Bias Adjusted Stepwise Latent Class Modeling'.

Following the recent debate on the formation of a new Dutch government, there seems to be no clear definition of an extra parliamentary cabinet. Wim Voermans, Professor of Constitutional Law, discusses this in Dutch magazine ‘Vrij Nederland’ (VN).

Last year we organized a sustainability conference with much success together with the co-participation bodies of Leiden University.

Like every year, our institute organized the Cleveringa lecture to commemorate the courageous speech held by professor Rudolph Cleveringa on the 26th of November in 1940.

We are proud to see the work "Magische Korstmossen" by our alumni Carolien Teunisse and Sabrina Verhage exhibited at the Cinekid MediaLab 2021. Via augmented reality, "Magische Korstmossen" lets children interact with the magical world of lichens.

The Leiden bachelor’s programmes in Linguistics, Religious Studies and Ancient Near Eastern Studies have received the accolade of ‘top study programme’ in the Keuzegids (Study Guide) 2019 for Universities.