Lecture, Environmental Humanities LU Talk

‘It is a fantastic sum of money,’ enthuses classicist Professor Ineke Sluiter. ‘It gives me not just an award, but a task as well. And in all honesty, I prefer it that way.’ She is already brimming with ideas about what she will do with her Spinoza Prize.

That Tessa Schiethart finished her bachelor's degree in International Studies with a thesis on Indonesian women's reasons for veiling was a coincidence. Or so she thought. Six years later, her book Seeing and Being Seen, in which she writes about her life with a wine stain and vision loss, is in the…

From a meaningless block of plastic to an advanced component that contributes to the energy transition. The technicians and scientists of our faculty think it out in detail and make it a reality. This special project shows that they need each other.

There is certainly some variation in terms of pupils’ performance and motivation. This is evident from the GUTS teaching innovation project conducted by education specialist Lindy Wijsman in the first three classes at a secondary school in Rotterdam. In the first three years, the level of pupils’ performance…

Tuberculosis stands as one of the most lethal infectious diseases worldwide. A significant challenge in combatting tuberculosis lies in the emergence of antibiotic resistance triggered by genetic alterations, commonly known as mutations. These mutations can diminish the responsiveness to antibiotics,…

Medical psychologist Willeke Kitselaar developed a model that helps identify patients with persistent somatic symptoms earlier, based on an extensive large medical database. ‘I advise GPs to ask patients to fill in a questionnaire about both physical and mental symptoms at an earlier stage.’ PhD defence…

On 27-28 January 2022, Leiden University’s interdisciplinary seed grant programme ‘Beyond Anthropocentric Interests and Values? Human Rights and Climate Change’ hosted a conference on human rights and climate change.

Huiselijk geweld is een ingrijpend probleem in Nederland, met jaarlijkse fatale gevolgen. De impact gaat verder dan alleen de slachtoffers zelf en raakt ook nabestaanden en de samenleving als geheel. Tot nu toe/Momenteel ontbreekt het echter aan een gestructureerde manier om fatale gevallen systematisch…

On December 16, 2023, our respected and beloved former colleague prof.dr.ir. Bert Peletier passed away.

On 1 and 2 September, colleagues of Leiden Law School participated in the very first International ELS Conference, organised by the ELS Academy in Amsterdam.

Clothes designer, manager at a multinational or dermatologist: the twenty refugee students who are taking part in the Preparatory Study Year in Leiden (VJL) are burning with ambition. The study year started on Thursday 26 January in festive style.

Naomi Ellemers, Professor of Social Psychology of Organisations, is one of the four winners of the Spinoza Prize for 2010. ‘This is absolutely fantastic – something that as a researcher you hardly dare to dream of!’

For six months, Rachel and Daan, students of Italian language and culture, are studying in Rome on an Erasmus scholarship. Below they talk about their experiences.

From Soledad Acosta de Samper and Albalucía Angel to Hazel Robinson Abrahams and Amalialú Posso Figueroa. During the Symposium & Workshop Experience and Voice: Library of Colombian Women Writers, we focus on books written by Colombian women writers from different historical periods. The symposium and…

The Municipality of The Hague called on researchers to come up with a proposal for an innovative research project on problems big cities face such as energy transition. Four of the five projects that have been granted funding come from researchers from Leiden University.

What should future education look like? And how can we make sure that young people develop to their full potential as bright and socially-minded adults? These and other questions were at the heart of two of the National Research Agenda's research routes. The first results of the routes were presented…

When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, normal life there came to a halt. To ensure that affected students and researchers can continue their studies and work, professor Ellen Rutten (UvA) and assistant professor Dorine Schellens (Leiden) set up an international mentor network.

On Friday 10 July the Towards Biosolar Cells research programme was granted a budget of 25 million euros by the Dutch Government. The Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality recommended the programme because it will contribute to green energy, improve food supplies and a create a more sustainable…

Easily detecting chemical substances that indicate whether or not someone is ill, or measuring how healthy the environment is, and directly linking that result to that person. In a nutshell, this is what researchers within the Dutch National Research Agenda (NWA) want to achieve in the ‘Measuring and…

Is our musicality unique? That’s what the Bird Singalong project aims to find out. And for that, they need the help of feathered friends from all around the world. ‘By researching how parrots learn songs, we also learn more about the origin of our own musicality.’ Do you have a parrot that can sing…

Why do some people with adverse childhood experiences develop mental health conditions whereas others do not? A Leiden research project is looking for volunteers aged between 18 and 24 to help us understand more about human resilience.

From games to scavenger hunts: museums already do all sorts of things for children. But how do children really look at art? Do paintings affect them more if they receive information that is specially tailored to young visitors? Join psychologist Francesco Walker at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and see…

Karwan Fatah-Black and Lauren Lauret are co-authors of Geketend voor Hollands Glorie (The Chains of Holland’s Glory) that studies the political and economic connections between South Holland and slavery. The findings of this research will be presented with Dr. Joris van den Tol (Radboud University)…

The enthusiastic finalists of the Sustainable Business Battle proved that sustainability and business can go together well. Fire in their bellies, they pitched their green solutions, ranging from an Energy Race app for DUWO to a cycle parking facility covered with plants at the Bio Science Park.

The transition from single cells to multicellular organisms was a key step in evolution. Researchers from Leiden and Amsterdam developed a mathematical model that explains how this transition may have come about. They suspect cooperating cells may correct each other’s mistakes. Publication in eLife…

Fantastic plants, dizzying patterns and pulsating sounds: researchers from Leiden are going to study the effects of a simulated psychedelic trip on the mind and body at Lowlands Festival. Why might this be interesting for therapies?

With the new Euclid satellite, scientists are going to map a large part of the sky. The satellite ofthe European Space Agency (ESA) will soon give them a better view of the galaxies and matter in the universe. Professor of Galactic Astronomy Koen Kuijken and a team of Dutch scientists are receiving…

Leiden University is becoming increasingly aware of the importance of diversity and inclusiveness, but there is still plenty of room for improvement. This is the key message from the first annual report of the Sounding Board on Diversity Policy, presented to Vice-Rector Hester Bijl on 15 February.

Ten Leiden researchers have been awarded a Veni grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The grant, of up to 280,000 euros, will enable them to elaborate their ideas over a period of three years.

The internet is a good place to rapidly collect large amounts of data. But if you don’t watch out you’ll collect very biased, one-sided data. These were the warning words of the speakers at a symposium on 5 March about transparency and responsible data science.

Leiden Professor of Maths Frans van Schooten Jnr. (1615-1660) and his wife Margrieta were painted by Rembrandt. This is the claim made by mathematician and art historian Johan Zwakenberg in his recently published article in the 2018 Leiden Yearbook. Leiden art historians are not completely convinced…

Various projects at Leiden University have been awarded an Erasmus+ grant, an EU funding tool. This is a substantial boost to the internationalisation of our research and teaching.

Within the next five years, Leiden University wants its campus in The Hague to become a leading international academic centre with research and teaching that correspond with the city’s profile. All of the faculties will help achieve this, and the University has also signed a partnership agreement with…

During adolescence, some young people have stable best-friend relationships, while others change best friends frequently. Developmental psychologist Lisa Schreuders has studied the brains of young adolescents: ‘It seems that friendships in your early years can have consequences for your friendships…

Dutch and Flemish partners, including Leiden University, are joining forces as the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) in the fight against the spread of fake news, and have received the support of the European Commission.

La Universidad de Leiden tuvo el placer de presentar el X Congreso Internacional de la Asociación de Hispanistas del Benelux (AHBx), Transhispanismos: contactos y contagios, del 1-4 de noviembre este año. La AHBx es un punto de encuentro y enlace entre hispanistas de diversas disciplinas y profesiones…

The Sport Data Center wants to unravel the secrets of Dutch and Brazilian football, together with a diverse group of partners. Furthermore, the consortium will in both countries measure the health risks that arise from being bound to a wheelchair.

Historian Marjan Schwegman is the new Cleveringa Professor. Her lecture on 27 November will focus on Eduard Meijers, the Jewish professor who was dismissed by the Nazis. Schwegman's previous posts include Director of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies.

Prof. Jan Adriaanse and Dr. Jean-Pierre van der Rest are currently completing an edited volume on Turnaround Management and Bankruptcy which will be published by Routledge in December 2016. A book written by leading experts in the field of business, law and finance, this edited volume brings together…

She has had the idea for seven years, but now environmental scientist and conservation biologist Kat Stewart finally gets to work on it. She has been awarded a Vidi grant by NWO to find out how DNA from water can be used to shed light on invasive species and their impact on native populations.

A shadow cabinet has just been formed. This one consists of students from all the Dutch universities. They will be keeping politicians on their toes in the coming year, and want to show that progress cannot be made without academic research and teaching. Master’s student Zeineb Romdhane is Minister…

Healthy lifestyle campaigns are often unsuccessful. It is hard to get people to eat healthily or do more exercise. Behavioural science expertise should be drawn on at a much earlier stage in policy development, say twelve behavioural scientists in a position paper. They will present the paper to Maarten…

Using speech analysis to resolve crimes. That's what Meike de Boer (26) is aiming to do with her PhD research. 'By analysing how a person pronounces

Niels Laurens recently started as the new Director of Operations at the Faculty of Archaeology as well as the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. We sat down with him for an interview on his background, his drive, and his take on archaeology. ‘My main drive is to enable researchers and lecturers…

Studying law and then working in sales … Dion Latten loves Leiden and he loves law, but what he loves most is working for BMW. Currently Legal Counsel at BMW, he’ll soon be joining the sales team. ‘Don’t be swayed by the fear of making the wrong choices.’

By adding their signature to the collaboration agreement on 31 May, Leiden University, TU Delft, space research institute SRON and NWO confirmed the move of SRON from Utrecht to South Holland. From 2021, the headquarters of the space research institute will be located on the Campus of Leiden Univ…

Have you got an old mobile phone lying around? If so, you can hand it in at Funky Phone in Lipsius. The phone will be recycled and you get to play an old-fashioned arcade game on the Funky Phone games computer built from discarded electronics. Vice-Rector Hester Bijl kicked off the Funky Phone Challenge…