Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

On 9 February, 2015, the 440th Dies Natalis, Peter J. Katzenstein will be awarded a Leiden University honorary doctorate in recognition of his contribution to the social sciences in general, and to political science in particular. Professor Katzenstein (Cornell University) is one of the most influential…

Archaeology can help us reflect critically on our European identity. This is what David Fontijn will claim in his inaugural lecture on 18 March.

Foute taal? Bestaat niet!

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker expressed his support in the media for 'The Real Opening,' the protest against government cuts. 'The plans are a disaster for higher education.' Professor Remco Breuker, one of the organisers of this protest on 2 September, called in NRC Handelsblad for a stop to the…

On this page you can learn more about the history of our Faculty Awards and view the previous winners.

The Leiden Lectures in Media | Art | Politics (MAP) is a series of talks organized by Pepita Hesselberth and Yasco Horsman. Speakers from various academic backgrounds and in different stages of their careers reflect on diverging ways in which technological and social changes challenge and transform…

The Leiden Political Economy Group (L-PEG) is a multi-disciplinary network of scholars with a research interest in (comparative / global) political economy based at Leiden University. Our members belong to various institutes and faculties across Leiden University, and from other universities across…

On Thursday 11 December 2025, Daan Roovers, the philosopher and former Denker des Vaderlands (Philosopher Laureate), will give the 54th Huizinga Lecture at the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden. Under the title What’s at stake: The boundaries of politics and fair play, she will reinterpret Johan Huizinga’s…

Recently, our respected and talented former colleague Bente Hilde Bakker passed away after a long and brave fight with illness. She received her mathematical training at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and also obtained her PhD there under the supervision of Jan Bouwe van den Berg and Robert van…

The central question in this study is: ‘What can the Netherlands learn from the way in which these countries have organized law enforcement and the rule of law in their overseas territories?’

We are a dynamic research group at the Leiden Institute of Physics. Our aim is to explore and understand quantum materials, including strange metals, high-temperature superconductors, and quantum critical electron matter.

On 17 October 2019, Laure d'Hondt defended her thesis 'Addressing Industrial Pollution in Indonesia. The Nexus between Regulation and Redress seeking'. The doctoral research was supervised by prof. A.W. Bedner and dr. J.A.C. Vel.

Peter Flach is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of Bristol. An internationally leading scholar in the evaluation and improvement of machine learning models using ROC analysis and calibration, he has also published on mining highly structured data, on knowledge-driven and explainable…

On 29 January 2019, Robbert van Eijk defended his thesis 'Web Privacy Measurement in Real-Time Bidding Systems, A Graph- Based Approach to RTB system classification'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. H.J. van den Herik.

What are the phylogenetic relationships among the members of speciation bursts?

Dialogue is a multi-dimensional communication mechanism whose processes can only be examined by means of an interdisciplinary approach.

Are you a student from Indonesia, planning to study in Leiden?

Through a lens that examines the intersection of ageing, gender, class, and migration, this project addresses the 'care deficit' in European countries and the employment of migrant women from Latin America to fill this deficit.

The overarching clinical aim of this thesis was to improve pharmacological pain management by characterizing the pharmacodynamics of analgesics.

Ever since the FDA approved the drug bedaquiline, which interferes with the bioenergetics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by inhibiting the activity the F0F1-ATP synthase, respiratory-chain enzymes have been an active target space for the discovery of new antibiotics. To aid in this pursuit, we aim to…

On 7 February 2019, Helena Ursic-Vrabec defended her thesis 'Uncontrollable: Data subject rights and the data- driven economy'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. S. van der Hof.

Stam defended his dissertation ‘Freedom of speech and the suppression of discrimination in the Netherlands: a constitutional-developmental approach’ on 12 November 2025. The doctoral research was supervised by Afshan Ellian and Bastiaan Rijpkema

On 28 February 2019, Kabir Duggal defended his thesis 'Principles of Evidence in Investor-State Arbitration, Burden, Standards, Presumptions & Inferences'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. E. De Brabandere.

There's a whole lot to discover and experience in nature. But children who grow up in the city are seeing less and less greenery. During the Out and About! days junior school pupils will be going on a green expedition in their neighbourhood.

The 80,000 visitors to the Liberation Day Festival in The Hague on 5 May can learn about 444-year-old Leiden University at a range of interactive events on Malieveld and in the Dutch Parliament.

On 21 March 2019, James Welch defended his thesis 'The Grotius Sanction: Deus Ex Machina. The legal, ethical, and strategic use of drones in transnational armed conflict and counterterrorism'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. P.B Cliteur.

Are there elements of the lost performance practice of the nineteenth century that we can rediscover and use to shed new light on the performance of Brahms’ music for orchestra today?

Madeleine O. Hosli & Jaroslaw Kantorowicz analyze EU states' foreign policy divergence at the UN General Debate, assessing if Lisbon Treaty reforms increased EU cohesion or if states maintain distinct positions.

The Darién region of Panama is the only land bridge connecting North, Central and South America. Nowadays home to descendants of African enslaved peoples, Indigenous peoples (Emberá, Wounaan, and Guna), and mestizos, Darién has been and still is fundamental to connectivity, cultural interchange, and…

Through a lens that examines the intersection of ageing, gender, class, and migration, this project addresses the “care deficit” in European countries and the employment of migrant women from Latin America to fill this deficit.

Ludo Block wrote the eleventh chapter of the book 'Post-Crimea Shift in EU-Russia Relations: From Fostering Interdependence to Managing Vulnerabilities'. His chapter 'Business as Usual? Police Cooperation under a Cloud of Political Animosity' can be found on page 204 of the book.

First held in 2013, the Europa Lecture is an annual lecture organised by the Europa Institute of Leiden Law School. It provides leading thinkers, scholars and politicians with a platform to share their views on questions of European integration with the academic community and wider public.

From where litter ends up to which languages are spoken in Leiden and The Hague: over 50 interesting, surprising, complex and entertaining questions were sent in for the Citizen Science project to mark our 444th anniversary. Not one but two Citizen Science projects will be starting this year in Leiden…

Does a moving hybrid zone leave a genomic footprint?

The area will undergo major changes, in a phased plan. Teaching will continue during this period. The existing education buildings will be tackled one by one. Some of the buildings will be reconstructed, and for others the building shell will undergo renovation. The Humanities Building is expected to…

The central aims of MicroClock project are to describe the B. subtilis circadian clock at molecular and functional levels, and discover the mechanisms of clock-regulated bidirectional signaling between B. subtilis and the model plant Arabidopsis

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Humanities with the Ivane Javakhishvili State University (TSU) in Tbilisi.

The mission of science based business (SBB) connects the domains of science, business, and policy. Scientific research we focus on at Leiden in areas such as artificial intelligence promises to reshape our societies for the better. Translating science into positive societal impact however requires new…

In recent years, and especially since the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, a growing body of research, media reporting, and scholarly literature has focused on the role of ‘Arab youth’ as the drivers of social and political movements across the Middle East and North Africa.

Get on your bike… or your tandem, unicycle, electric bike, tricycle, penny-farthing, rickshaw or road bike! We’re going on a bike trip!

What plants grow along ditches in the Leiden region? What does this say about vegetation quality? Could it be better? Naturalis and Leiden University's Center for Environmental Sciences are looking for your help to answer these questions.

On 9 January 2019, Marieke Wierda defended her thesis 'The Local Impact of a Global Court: Assessing the Impact of the International Criminal Court in Situation Countries'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. C. Stahn en Prof. dr. L.J. van den Herik.