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.

What was life like for people with disabilities in the Middle Ages? University lecturer Krista Milne delved into medieval manuscripts and found more than thirty images of assistance dogs of all shapes and sizes. Now, a Vidi grant is enabling her to expand her research to include the question of what…

Boudewijn Röell's Olympic medal, an ancient skiff and photo's of memorable rituals. Asopos de Vliet - Princess Beatrix was a member - is celebrating its 55th anniversary with an exhibition in the Oude UB, from 1 November to 26 January.

On Wednesday 24 January 2018 Margaret Kuiper, a forensic psychologist, will defend her doctoral thesis ‘Het woord en de daad’ (The word and the deed). The defence will start at 16.15 hrs, at the Academy Building of Leiden University. Her supervisors are Professor E.R. Muller and Professor T.A.H. Doreleijers.…

Researcher Femke Reidsma has been awarded a prestigious Rubicon grant. With this fellowship, she will spend two years conducting research at Harvard University, where she will join a leading paleoecology laboratory.

Cyber-attacks, privacy-related problems or failures in functioning: many technologies that are used every day have security issues that are solved when the software is already in use. A new interdisciplinary project, in which Olga Gadyatskaya, Harry Wijshoff, Alex Uta and Kristian Rietveld from the…

Vincent van Heuven passed away unexpectedly on Friday 6 February 2026 at the age of 76 at his home in Kûbaard (Friesland), the Netherlands.

Meeting new people, exploring other disciplines and growing academically, professionally and personally. The Honours College makes it all possible. Three honours students tell why they do something extra during their bachelor.

The lecture series “Humanity in the Automated State” continued on February 12, 2026, at Leiden Law School with Professor Madalina Busuioc of VU Amsterdam, a public governance scholar, AI-DG Lab co-director, MSc programme founder, and recipient of a European Research Council grant.

Matthias Barz has been appointed full Professor of Biotherapeutics Delivery at the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR).

Cultural Anthropologist dr. Anouk de Koning has been awarded the Urban Citizen Fellowship to carry out research about democratisation of local democracy in Amsterdam.

An international team of astronomers has published a map of the sky showing over 25,000 supermassive black holes. The map, to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, is the most detailed celestial map in the field of so-called low radio frequencies. The astronomers, including Leiden astronomers,…

Leiden researchers, led by Sebastian Pomplun developed a new method to screen hundreds of thousands of molecules for drug discovery, using mass spectrometry instead of DNA tags. ‘We wanted to make drug discovery faster and more accessible.’

69% of young Dutch people are struggling financially. They’re more likely to take risks by gambling, investing in cryptocurrencies or paying on credit. Like most Dutch people, the young are turning to family and friends for help and advice, rather than experts.

Leiden University College and the Erasmus Center of Law and Digitalization, with the support of the Sectorplan SSH-Breed on Digitalization and the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research, are announcing a Call for Abstracts for a two-day workshop, Digital and AI Governance at a Time of Geopolitical…

Applications are now open for the Summer School ‘The European Union, the United Nations and Global Governance’ (12 - 23 June 2023) for Master-level and PhD students. The activity is supported by the European Union’s Jean Monnet programme (Erasmus+).

Master’s student Anna van Ark has landed her dream internship at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. For three months, she’ll be shadowing the curator and conducting research on Japanese prints for the acquisitions team.

The School of Democracy is an initiative of several Dutch political foundations aimed at engaging and empowering young people who are eager to strengthen democracy, starting in their own communities. Are you a young adult interested in politics, society, and making a difference? Do you want to become…

Goede en actuele data zijn cruciaal om infectieziekten effectief te bestrijden en de volksgezondheid te beschermen. Bijzonder hoogleraar Susan van den Hof en haar team zetten zich in voor betere data-methoden, zodat infectieziekten vroeg worden opgespoord en doeltreffend worden aangepakt.

The renovation of Cluster Zuid (Van Eyckhof-Van Wijkplaats) is the third project in the development of the Humanities Campus. The circular dismantling of Cluster Zuid has started.

A world-famous light experiment from 1801 has now been carried out with sound for the first time. Research by physicists in Leiden has produced new insights that could be applied in 5G devices and the emerging field of quantum acoustics.

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has elected 16 new members, including two academics from Leiden: internist-infectiologist Meta Roestenberg and Arabist Petra Sijpesteijn.

Op de Dag van de Persvrijheid (3 mei) verscheen de 16e editie van de Persvrijheidsmonitor, die de staat van de persvrijheid in Nederland in kaart brengt. Ondanks de hoge positie van Nederland op de wereldranglijst – plaats drie – blijft de veiligheid van journalisten een punt van zorg.

One of ECSL’s most prominent activities is the ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, welcoming students at all academic levels as well as select young professionals currently active in the space or related sectors. Now in its 34th year, the course has built a vast global network of alumni.

Four FSW researchers received good news at the end of 2025: they will receive an NWO-XS grant this year.

The study, made possible through funding from the Hersenstichting, is led by neurologist Brigit de Jong, in collaboration with psychiatrist Sonja Rutten, Karin van der Hiele and Aglaia Zedlitz. Other partners include University Medical Center Groningen, Klimmendaal Rehabilitation Centre and Amsterdam…

Leiden University Professor and world renowned Bach specialist Ton Koopman returned to the San Francisco Symphony for two weeks of concerts celebrating J.S. Bach and his legacy.

A tried and tested medication for treating ADHD works differently than expected in the brains of healthy individuals during rest: rather than stimulating brain activity, it suppresses it.

Panic disorder is associated with changes in the brain, both in children and adolescents and in adults. This is the main outcome of the largest brain study ever conducted on panic disorder. Lead researcher and coordinator of the study, Moji Aghajani (Institute of Education and Child Studies), explains…

The International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL), in partnership with the Sarin Memorial Legal Aid Foundation, was proud to co-organise the 17th Edition of the Leiden-Sarin International Air Law Moot Court Competition.

Voor het universitaire thema ‘Vertrouwen ten tijde van polarisatie’ slaan Leidse en Haagse onderzoekers de handen ineen. Op vrijdagmiddag 5 juni wordt het thema afgetrapt in Den Haag en komen collega’s samen om te verkennen en te ontmoeten.

How many cities were there actually in the Roman Empire? And why did some regions only have a few cities, while others consisted of a tight urban network? Luuk de Ligt, Professor of Ancient History, wants to know the answer to all these questions. With the ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million awarded to…

The Academy for Professionals project started in November. The project will focus on further developing existing and new educational programmes for professionals. ‘This is part of taking valorisation seriously.’

A Leiden-based team of researchers has taken over the editorship of the journal Global Governance: A Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. For the first time in its history, the journal is now based outside the United States. The new Editor-in-Chief, Associate Professor Alanna O’Malley…

The lecture series 'Humanity in the Automated State' concluded on 26 May 2026 at Leiden Law School with its closing lecture by Professor Natali Helberger from the University of Amsterdam.

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…

Conference, International Seminar, Hybrid

Conference, International Seminar, Hybrid

Conference

Lunch lecture

Lecture, Seminar

Student Session

Josephus Justus Scaliger was one of the most famous scholars of his time and yet today his name is likely to be met with blank looks. His correspondence shows that this Leiden professor was also irritable to say the least. Kasper van Ommen will defend his PhD thesis on Scaliger’s legacy on 2 July. Find…

She stands out for the moderate tone she takes in discussions on Dutch talk shows. Without judgement you can have an open conversation, criminal lawyer Natacha Harlequin learned in her student days in Leiden. ‘What I personally think of the alleged act doesn’t matter so much.’

Arts and leisure, Arts and leisure

This blogpost reports on one of these conversations, which Alessandro Pisano, political science student at the University of Turin, and I had with regards to the transforming neighbourhood of Mirafiori Sud.

What causes depression in a child and how can they get over it? Leiden Professor of Psychology Bernet Elzinga and behavioural scientist Carine Kielstra recently hosted a webinar on the subject of depression in teenagers. The level of interest was overwhelming.