Aukje Beers combined theory and practice, as well as chemistry, biology, and computer models. In this way, she discovered two protein inhibitors during her master’s project that could contribute to the development of a new cancer drug. For her research, Beers received the Unilever Research Prize on…

If you've ever wondered why people behave the way they do or how societies work, studying cultural anthropology and development sociology could be for you. Although these two disciplines once followed separate paths, they are now closely intertwined. This article explores what each involves, where they…

In the Leiden Municipality Challenge, 25 students investigated how Leiden could become more sustainable. In doing so, they enlisted the help of the city's citizens. 'When citizens themselves participate in the research process, they have a better understanding of how science works.'

For decades, unmarried girls and women in the Netherlands were forced to give up their newborn children. The impact was profound and persists to this day for the mothers, fathers, relinquished children, and the adoptive families in which they were raised.

On Monday 10 December, the Polish Commissioner for Human Rights dr. Adam Bodnar delivered the eighth Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture on Human Rights at Leiden Law School. The event marked the annual celebration of International Human Rights Day, which was proclaimed to commemorate…

Vanaf september 2025 biedt de Faculteit Governance and Global Affairs de bacheloropleiding Cybersecurity & Cybercrime aan. Deze unieke Nederlandstalige opleiding leidt studenten op tot veelzijdige cyberexperts. ‘Er is veel vraag naar specialisten op het gebied van cybersecurity en cybercrime’.

Neanderthals used careful techniques to hunt their prey at close range. This is the conclusion of an international team of archaeologists, including researchers, in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. Publication 25 June.

The Mesoamerican research group 'Time in Intercultural Context: the indigenous calendars of Mexico and Guatemala' funded by the ERC and directed by prof. dr. Maarten Jansen, met up in Mexico from the 13th until the 23rd of February for a field seminar in the states of Tlaxcala and Hidalgo.

Postdoc and linguist Evelyn Bosma receives the Keetje Hodshon Prize for her dissertation. For her research on the multilingualism of Frisian children, Bosma previously won the Klokhuis Science Prize and the Campus Fryslân Science Prize.

Meticulous analysis of hundreds of photographic plates from the star J1407 between 1890 and 2007 show no stellar eclipses. Robin Mentel, a master student at Leiden University, could not detect eclipses of the star J1407 by a planet hypothesized to have giant rings, called J1407b. However, an eclipse…

On Monday 11 December, human rights activist Ms. Wai Wai Nu will deliver the seventh Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lecture on Human Rights at Leiden Law School. This events marks the annual celebration of International Human Rights Day, which was proclaimed in 1950 by the United Nations…

The way age is determined by the IND is being questioned as a result of several court rulings. The problem is that it is difficult to determine whether a young asylum seeker is just over or under the age of 18. So far there is no suitable way to determine exactly how old someone is, Mark Klaassen, associate…

This international conference, held in Leiden form 22 to 24 May 2017, focused on adat law in Indonesia a century after the Adat Law Foundation (Adatrechtstichting) was set up in Leiden by the famous professors Van Vollenhoven and Snouck Hurgronje. In the decades that followed the Adat Law Foundation…

The international travelling exhibition Caribbean Ties will open at Museon in The Hague on Saturday 25 May. It tells the untold story of the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and their lives before, during and after European colonisation. Caribbean Ties will be on show simultaneously in 11 countries…

With the emergence of social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, it’s easier than ever to share information. Including disinformation. During his PhD computer scientist Xueqin Chen developed a new way to recognise fake news and predict how messages spread within online social networks…

A report by Casper Stubbé, a Master Industrial Ecology Student, about the debate between minister Timmermans of European affairs and students of Leiden University on climate politics on the upcoming climate conference in Copenhagen

Harvesting rice from the same field, without planting new rice plants? A discovery may bring this scenario closer. Leiden scientists have discovered a gene that allows annual plants to grow after flowering, instead of dying. Publication on 13 April in Nature Plants.

Explore how cultural heritage can proactively respond to global crises, from geopolitical conflicts to climate change, through innovative cross-cultural collaboration between Latin American stakeholders and Una Europa.

According to the LUMC, patients experience 30% fewer serious side effects when medication doses are tailored to their DNA.

Ben Kuipers is benoemd tot hoogleraar Publiek Leiderschap bij FGGA. De leerstoel Publiek Leiderschap (0,2 fte voor een periode van vier jaar) wordt extern gefinancierd vanuit het samenwerkingsverband VPL (Verder met Publiek Leiderschap) en is ingebed in het Leiden Leadership Centre (LLC)

Amsterdam-based bicycle company VanMoof was declared bankrupt in court this week. The company had been struggling with financial problems for some time and recently closed its doors, causing great concern among customers. Several affected customers whose newly bought or repaired bikes were still being…

Leiden University is going to offer two new Economics degree programmes at its campus in The Hague: the bachelor’s in Economics and Society and the master’s in Public Sector Economics. The NVAO has decided to award accreditation to both programmes, which will be taught in Dutch. The bachelor’s programme…

Researchers from Leiden University, KU Leuven and Paris II compared the French legislative proposal with the Dutch Civil Code. They published their findings in the Revue internationale de droit comparé (RIDC). Some recommendations have been adopted by Jean-Jacques Urvoas, the Minister of Justice.

Memorandum of Understanding Signed Between the Child Friendly Justice European Network and Leiden Law School - Child Law Department

In recent decades, women in Japan and South Korea have been catching up in terms of educational achievements and economic activity. Yet the number of women in leadership positions is still lagging behind. PhD candidate Yorum Beekman investigated why this is.

On 1 February 2014 the second issue of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference, titled 'Death: Ritual, Representation and Remembrance', was published.

The Office of Leiden University in Indonesia has a vacancy for an Academic Staff Member and University Lecturer for LDE (Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities)

Together with the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and creative partner Big Orange, Laura Bertens, Sara Polak, Yra van Dijk, and Thony Visser will investigate possible uses of the voice in cultural memory.

Each year the NSE (National Student Survey) gives students the opportunity to express their opinion on their studies. The results are important not only for improving study programmes but also for helping new students to choose the programme that’s best for them. This year the survey was completed by…

The way in which written language is processed in the brain is a hot topic in cognitive research. Cognitive psychologist Rinus Verdonschot studied a Japanese script in which a single character can have up to three possible pronunciations. He discovered that all three are simultaneously activated in…

Leiden University is entering into a strategic partnership with the Leiden student associations and the Local Chamber of Associations (PKvV). The parties are committed to maintaining and strengthening the existing good relations between them.

On 14 February, the second student edition of Mediaforum, journal of media and communication law, was festively launched with a symposium in the Academy Building of Leiden University. During the symposium, the student authors, some of them from our own ranks (Roosmarijn Altink, Roosmarijn Niesing and…

In the 18th century, the French colonial empire teemed with protectionist laws. Nevertheless, businessmen from the Republic played an important role in the French economy, and thus in the colonial system. PhD student Tessa de Boer explored how this came about.

Yvonne Erkens has been appointed Professor of Labour Law at Leiden University as of 1 January 2026.

More than 40 years ago, a wrecked merchant ship was found in the Wadden Sea. PhD student Geke Burger looked at this archaeological find from a historical perspective.

Showing your face at dinners and parties at court: it was the way to get noticed by the king in William I's time. Joost Welten's latest book reveals how, during the reign of William I, the elite danced around his throne both literally and figuratively.

Children who lost their fathers in early modern England ran the risk of being sold to the highest bidder. Although Shakespeare wrote about it in his plays, the practice disappeared from collective memory for a long time. University lecturer Lotte Fikkers is bringing it back to light in a new Vidi research…

In the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge, students from across the globe build and race boats powered by sustainable energy. Leiden public administration student Damiaan Bertrams has entered with a team from Delft University of Technology.

How did science relate to politics and colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Assistant Professor Lauren Lauret has been awarded an NWO XS grant to map the colonial and political activities of nineteenth-century scientists.

Nadia Bouras will give the Annie Romein-Verschoor Lecture on 6 March. She will call for academic freedom for everyone.

There are effective treatments for people with autism, says Wouter Staal, professor of Autism Spectrum Disorders, in his inaugural lecture on 4 May. However, it is not yet clear which treatment is most effective for which individual.

Where European integration has long been understood as a peace project, Joris Larik argued in his Havel-Cleveringa Lecture that recent developments point to an accelerated shift towards a European Union that places its interests, security and geopolitical position more centrally.

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), as a partner in the reNEW consortium, is once again receiving tens of millions of euros for research into new treatments based on stem cells. The collaboration will receive a total of €150 million to develop new therapies in regenerative medicine.

The shock wave triggered by one of the five galaxies making up the iconic Stephan’s Quintet appears to be less disruptive than previously thought, with the shock likely being cushioned by dust particles in the surrounding gas. This is according to the analysis of the first scientific observations of…

‘Wonder is the beginning of insight. Don’t let that academic curiosity erode.’ This was Jan Anthonie Bruijn’s call to administrators and funding bodies in his valedictory lecture.

Depression or ADHD? Neatly delineated diagnoses fail to do justice to the infinitely complex reality that they refer to, argues Eiko Fried in a new paper for JAMA Psychiatry. His proposal: to map the underlying mechanisms of mental health problems using a Mental Health Atlas.

In a new piece for The Conversation UK, Michiel van Elk examines whether mystical experiences are essential to psychedelic therapy. 'If the field is to mature, it may need to move beyond the assumption that transcendence is the secret ingredient.'

The ISSC's ICT helpdesk receives dozens of questions from staff and students every day. A collaboration between TNO, LUCL and the ISSC aims to determine whether a specially designed chatbot could provide support in this area.

Over the coming years, LUCL will be collaborating on the development of Macroscope, a new scientific infrastructure that maps social change at the population level. Professors Gijsbert Rutten, Stephan Raaijmakers and Carole Tiberius tell us more about the project.

A delegation from Xi’an Jiaotong University visited Leiden University on 25–26 March, celebrating ten years of cooperation in education and research, and exploring new opportunities for future collaboration.