How do lipases in Mycobacterium tuberculosis help the bacteria survive, and can we target them to create new antibiotics?

A global network of academic and non-academic partners connects Leiden University’s research, education and innovation activities to the world.

The two-year master’s programme in Philosophy at Leiden University investigates the philosophical foundations of particular disciplines. It provides you with the tools to think systematically and creatively about the foundations of your chosen discipline, using the conceptual and argumentative resources…

This dissertation together with the artworks documented in it is the result of an investigation across multiple media over a seven-year period of the cultural, artistic and spiritual legacy of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Lebensreform (Life Reform) movement.

At Leiden University, researchers from all disciplines work together to find answers and design innovations in the field of artificial intelligence.

Fundamental research teaches us how our brain decides to eat one more sweet, instead of doing exercise. A public information campaign about healthy lifestyle has little impact on the decision, as Professor of General Psychology Bernard Hommel is aware. However, he does know what works. But the question…

Covid-19 is een disruptieve ontwikkeling die hier en nu veel vraagt van zorgprofessionals, bestuurders en managers. Hoewel de crisis nog volop bezig is, is nu al duidelijk dat het Coronavirus een blijvende impact zal hebben op zorginstellingen en fundamentele vragen oproept over hoe we onze zorg optimaal…

Throughout all domains of life, from bacteria and archaea to eukaryotes, genomes adopt well-organized three-dimensional structures that can change in space and time to accommodate preferred transcriptional programs for environmental adaptation, the maintenance of cellular identity and differentiation…

The Honours Academy works closely with partner organisations where students carry out practical assignments. In addition, the Honours Academy collaborates with schools to realise Pre-University education.

Do you want to get your stay in Leiden off to the best possible start? Then you cannot afford to miss OWL, Leiden University’s introduction week for international students. In addition to having lots of fun, you’ll make new friendships and start getting to know the University and the city.

With your degree in Philosophy: Global and Comparative Perspectives, you’re more than a specialist in world philosophy. Alongside your subject expertise, you’ve developed a broad set of academic skills that give you a strong start to your career. Graduates often find roles where advising, archiving…

Discover all the Leiden Science teaching talent that was part of this year's lineup.

If you are about to embark on a master’s in Leiden and the city and university are completely new to you, you should seriously consider participating an introduction week.

University building Campus Spui The Hague

As a graduate of the BA English Language and Culture programme you’ll be very knowledgeable about a language that’s spoken all over the world and of a culture that’s influenced many other countries. With your ability to communicate and present yourself in English, you’ll be ideally qualified for a wide…

Our institutes abroad are instrumental for Leiden’s internationalisation activities.

Our institutes abroad are instrumental for Leiden’s internationalisation activities.

Get to know us through our online and in-person events for prospective students!

Dutch Studies is a unique bachelor’s programme in which you will quickly acquire fluency in spoken and written Dutch at a high academic level, while also gaining a deep understanding of the culture and history of the Netherlands.

Get to know us through our online and in-person events for prospective students!

This programme explores Graeco-Roman political, social, and cultural dynamics, focusing on empire development and its societal impact. It shows how imperial rule shaped cultures, religions, and identities, using inscriptions, papyri, coins, and archaeology to highlight perspectives beyond elite sour…

Physicists and instrument makers in Leiden have succeeded to optimise a spring that almost completely filters out vibrations at temperatures near the absolute zero. This breakthrough opens the door to a new generation of highly sensitive experiments.

The lecture series 'Humanity in the Automated State' examines how AI and automated systems are transforming government and public administration and what it means to be human within these digitised institutions.

In 2023, many of our students and staff won great prizes and secured important research grants.

In 2024, many of our students and staff won great prizes and secured important research grants.

ILS organizes a new lunch seminar series where all researchers from Leiden Law School can present their research. The idea is to hear in a simple and nice way what researchers from other research programs and institutes are working on. During a seminar two or three speakers will present their research.…

Leiden holds sixty very talented students, who – besides their Leiden University study – also follow a musical program (Practicum Musicae) at the Royal Conservatoire. Every last Thursday of the month these students perform in the Lokhorstkerk in Leiden. Concerts start at 5 PM and last an hour.

Practise in the Board Room and getting start-ups through difficult times. Students of Harmen Jousma, lecturer in Science Based Business, learn about the art of doing business. Jousma is one of the three nominees for the Leiden Teaching Prize.

Leiden University is 444 years old this year! And we have big plans to celebrate this special birthday in 2019 - together with the people of Leiden and The Hague.

The application window for the 26th ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy is now open. The deadline for applicants to send their applications to you is 30 June 2017.

The major aim is to develop, evaluate, and implement disease-generic cognitive-behavioral interventions through the internet in order to optimize tailored health care for patients with chronic somatic conditions.

The consequences of social tendencies for the legislation and institutions in the fields of social security, the labor market policy and pension reform are examined in this multdisciplinary research program..

Spui Campus has opened its doors to students, working professionals and researchers. At the site where the iconic V&D department store stood since 1928, Universiteit Leiden, TU Delft, Open Universiteit, LUMC en Universiteiten van Nederland are collaborating on solutions to current societal challenges,…

In terms of the breadth of their vocabulary, many Dutch rappers can easily match leading authors. This is the surprising conclusion drawn by language researcher Alex Reuneker on the basis of comparative research. Rapper Brainpower and author Ilja Leonard Pfeiffer will debate this issue on 16 September…

Leiden's Boerhaave Museum and Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have discovered parts of a skeleton in an 18th-century manikin. The manikin was once used as a teaching aid for midwives. As far as we know, this is the only one of its kind in the world.

How would you convert Egyptian hieroglyphs into Latin script? And what is actually the correct translation of dishes on a Vietnamese menu? On Saturday 28 January, high school students from all over the Netherlands will come to Leiden to ponder a series of language-related puzzles. Their goal? To win…

Rie Schild-de Groen watched over ‘her’ Gentlemen, the residents of the ‘t Heerenhoeckje (Gentlemen’s Corner) Minerva house at Rapenburg 110, like a mother hen for 70 years. She was moved by the stories of residents who had lost loved ones to cancer. Jaap Koster and a few other former housemates helped…

With the launch of the Albabtain Leiden University Centre for Arabic Culture, Leiden University and the AbdulAziz Saud Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation will join hands in promoting the understanding of Arabic culture. Have a look at the centre's plans for the years ahead.

Leiden will be scientific capital of Europe in 2022. The theme of the festivities was announce on 28 October: Who Knows. After all, does anyone have a monopoloy on wisdom these days? Who decides what is true? And does anyone actually know what the future holds?

Most people would not even consider it, starting a PhD at the age of 62. However, for the former Teylers Museum curator Bert Sliggers it was like a dream that came true: ‘The opportunity I was given felt like a gift, it brought me and Teylers Museum a lot.’

Visualising cell proteins without invasive techniques is possible with the help of fluorescence. During a lecture of the Natuurwetenschappelijk Gezelschap Leiden on 18 January, winner of the Spinoza Prize 2017 and founder of the field of single molecule optics Michel Orrit explained how this works.

The Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) collaboration receives the 2021 Royal Astronomical Society Group Achievement Award. In April 2019, the EHT team presented the first-ever photograph of the shadow of a black hole. Leiden professor Huib-Jan van de Langevelde has been director of EHT since last year. Three…

Professor Kurt Deketelaere (KU Leuven and LERU) will receive the first Scaliger Medal, a new award offered by Leiden University to honour people or organisations that uphold the University’s values in a unique manner.

Nadine Akkerman has deciphered the correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia, and studied 17th-century spies. Her fascinating historiographies have now been recognised with membership of the Young Academy.

The second instalment of the Humanities Lab - the three-year honours programme of the Humanities – has reached its conclusion. On 12 May, 11 groups of honours student presented their work in the Arsenaal building.

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…

How do you know if your idea has succeeded? The Queen coming to call a year and a half later might just be a clue. This happened to the Leiden student foundation ‘Door Het Geluid’, which promotes student well-being.

On this page you will find all information about the Bachelor of Security Studies that you need as a first-year student.

The Salt Farm Texel, supported by a number of professors from various Dutch universities, offered a report on saline agriculture to the Minister for Agriculture van Dam on Wednesday 22nd of February. The researchers report that a number of important crops are much more tolerant to salt than assumed…