The purpose of eLaw's Working Groups is to stimulate a productive working environment for cooperation within the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University.

The "Research Skills Assessment" aims to assess the academic research skills of the person doing the assignment. Successful evaluation of the assessment is a requirement for admission into the Creative Intelligence & Technology MSc program of Leiden University.

From deepfakes and disinformation to killer robots, surgical robots and AI lawmaking: AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing our world. That raises the question whether this requires some form of regulation. At eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, prof. Bart Custers…

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that often puts women and minority groups at a disadvantage because it tends to be developed by straight white men. What if that changed and women were the driving force behind AI? This is the thought experiment at the heart of Maaike Harbers’ Annie Romein-Verschoor…

From ransomware to Citrix traffic jams: over the past few months Dutch organisations were regularly brought to a standstill by serious cyber attacks. We can only face these threats by standing as one, and universities and government should take the lead. These are the words of Leiden professors Bibi…

Gerard van Westen and his group, together with pharmaceutical company Galapagos, start on developing software that invents new effective molecules. They will receive an NWO LIFT grant of 280,000 euros, of which 63,000 euros will come from Galapagos. The company will also bring its expertise in biology,…

Better pay and new agreements with streaming platforms: the actors’ strike that brought Hollywood to a standstill a few days ago is mainly about money. But there is something else that film actors are worried about: the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence. Is this fear justified?

The fact that scientists are increasingly better able to access molecular cell and tissue data also brings with it a new challenge: how can scientists find the information they need for research among the vast amount of data available?

For decades, linguists have racked their brains over the question of precisely how the syntax of various languages is different. PhD candidate Martin Kroon has developed a computer system that brings us closer to finding an answer. His PhD defence is on 10 November.

Leiden physicists Carlo Beenakker and Bas Hensen receive 35 million euros in a consortium with researchers from QuTech and Delft University of Technology. They will investigate the fundamental limits of quantum physics.

Wat kun je als burger doen wanneer de overheid je persoonsgegevens gebruikt en daarmee besluiten neemt waar je het niet mee eens bent? Fatma Çapkurt promoveerde op een onderzoek hiernaar. Burgers moeten verwerking van hun gegevens beter kunnen beoordelen.

In high school, Tim van Erven read about an artificially intelligent algorithm that could solve mazes. From that moment on, he was sold: ‘There’s something magical about algorithms. With a list of fixed rules you can make them learn the most diverse things.’ This year, he won a Vidi grant, which he…

What began as a PhD project has grown into a website with 120,000 unique visitors each year. With the platform OpenML, researcher Jan van Rijn is contributing to open science, aiming to make machine learning more transparent, accessible, and fair.

Training a robot in a real-life environment is more or less impossible. Computer scientist and psychologist Roy de Kleijn switched to training in a simulated, virtual one instead. ‘You do have a reality gap, but the more precisely you train the robot, the better it is in practice.’ His inspiration:…

In December 2024, the book Redressing Fundamental Rights Violations by the EU: The Promise of the ‘Complete System of Remedies', edited by Melanie Fink, was published fully open access with Cambridge University Press. The EU prides itself on having created a legal system that puts the individual at…

In STAYAHEAD data-intensive approaches are being developed to ”decode the human immunome” with a focus on a global vaccine strategy. They have developed a rapid mass spectrometric test to analyse in real-time large numbers of variants of SARS-CoV-2 and the host immune response, and use these data to…

The majority of scientists, from archaeologists through to zoologists, collect huge volumes of data. Their massive databases contain large amounts of information which is difficult for humans to filter. With a solid grounding in statistics, we can develop algorithms for analysing and identifying patterns…

Making choices is part of life. You make larger or smaller choices in everything you do, and you progress from one choice/decision to the next. All decision-making processes involve three aspects: making a choice, experiencing that choice and reflecting on it.

This PhD project investigates how automatic sign language recognition technology can be further developed to analyse static images and textual descriptions of signs.

Exploring the value of data-driven approaches in education: collecting, analysing, and interpreting data from educational environments to improve teaching and learning outcomes.

eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies offers educational programs at Pre-University, Bachelor, Master’s, Advanced Master’s, and postgraduate level in the field of law, technology, and society.

AI4Europe is one of the projects, funded under the Horizon Europe programme, that is responsible for the management, development and facilitation of the AI-on-Demand Platform (AIoD).

In the Master's programme Crisis and Security Management, you will study contemporary security challenges from both local and global points of view, gaining a deep understanding of the ‘wicked problem’ of security and crisis topics in a complex and globalising world.

So you graduated from the Creative Intelligence & Technology or Media Technology program? Congratulations, Master of Science! Here you find information that is relevant after your graduation.

LUC's Liberal Arts and Sciences programme is centered around Global Challenges: complex problems which affect all humans living together on this planet.

On 26 June 2025, Melanie Fink delivered a presentation titled 'Good Administration in the Age of AI: Explanation Rights and Human Oversight under EU Law' at the European Ombudsman.

Anne Meuwese is appointed Professor of Public Law & Governance of AI at Leiden University as of 1 November 2020. This position is part of the University SAILS network, one of the new university-wide interdisciplinary development programmes funded by the Executive Board of Leiden University.

Jelle van Buuren, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, in conversation with the NOS, warns to remain alert despite the reduced threat level for terrorism.

Did he dare take a gamble with his PhD research? Jeroen Methorst didn’t have to think long about it. It could fail or turn out very well. The latter is the case. Methorst developed a computer system that helps researchers find the protein they need. ‘Our whole group is now using this program.’ Methorst…

How do we deal with large sources of greenhouse gases? Do schools provide a socially-inclusive environment for all children? And how can we protect Earth’s nature? These questions have two things in common: they are complex global challenges, and data can help answer them. Mitra Baratchi is computer…

Search engines are getting better at answering our questions. And chatbots are increasingly likely to search the internet for relevant sources. ‘Search engines and chatbots will become more closely entwined’, says Professor Suzan Verberne.

She develops algorithms that outperform leading optimization techniques and can be applied in many fields. For this work, Niki van Stein and her team have won the GECCO Humies Award. ‘With our method, we can create and refine algorithms for a wide range of applications—algorithms that are better than…

To tackle deepfakes, Denmark proposes expanding copyright law so everyone gets copyright over their own face and voice. There are similar ideas in the Netherlands with an online consultation. In Latvian newspaper ‘Latvijas Avīze’, Dirk Visser and Bart Custers discuss the proposals.

GRIPonMASH will address the unmet public health need of reducing disease burden and comorbidities associated with Metabolic dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD).

Health Data Science Leiden University

The dissertation by Max Kusters (PhD at ICLON) examined ‘teacher agency’: the capacity of university lecturers to actively and purposefully influence their teaching practices and work conditions.

Linde Desmaele explores how the United States is recalibrating its stance on European unity amid growing strategic competition with China.

After 20 years of police reform, Jasper De Paepe and Marleen Easton look back and discover what we can learn about partnerships between police and science in Belgium.

The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) of Leiden University proudly establishes the Blaise Pascal chair. The chair applies for one year and is meant to strengthen the cooperation of the Leiden computer science research with foreign institutes.

Learn about information events and activities for the MSc International Organisation at Leiden University, including webinars, virtual sessions, and application Q&A.

Explore the information activities for the MSc Democracy and Representation at Leiden University, including online open days, Q&A sessions and virtual campus tours.

Along with your application, you will have to submit a variety of documents. This information only applies to students who need to submit an application for admission. Only if you have a Dutch vwo diploma with wiskunde B, you won’t need to submit additional documents.

Our education specializes in creative exploration and a broad understanding of scientific research and technology. It prepares students for a career involving creative and critical thinking, and in particular for a future in scientific research.

Find out about information activities for the MSc International Politics at Leiden University, such as webinars, online Q&A sessions and events for prospective students.

Welcome to the Fair Educational Assessment in the Age of AI (FAIR-ASSESS) project!

ChEMBL is a large-scale drug discovery database containing bioactivity information primarily extracted from scientific literature.

In this article, Linde Desmaele examines the dilemmas created by US burden sharing policies from the perspective of Washington's European protégés.

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) is a scientific institute that specialises in security issues.