The Grand Parade was a festive highlight of the 450th anniversary celebration of 3 October. Students and staff members from Leiden University participated with an impressive float.

We are launching more and more satellites and space is filling up as a result. Currently around 100 million pieces of space debris are floating around Earth. So who’s going to clear it up?

Do you consider applying for the Media Technology MSc programme? This is your chance to meet our staff and students, and learn how we connect creativity, science and personal curiosity!

Very few treaties that are negotiated by the EU, have triggered such resistance as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). From chlorinated chicken to a lack of democracy and transparency: emotions on TTIP run high. For that reason, the conference “TTIP: an EU perspective on global…

Every day we make use of devices, services and apps which contain algorithms that could be discriminating. These range from Facebook to self-driving cars, from the Tax Authorities to a rotating door.

The report of the Commission the Winter, a pre-study on violence against children in youth care, was launched May 17th 2016.

On Monday 24 August 2020 a small, intimate gathering of graduating students and staff took place in the Leiden University Academy Building’s Groot Auditorium. The other students participated online.

In 2017 saxophonist Dick de Graaf obtained his PhD degree with his thesis 'Beyond borders : broadening the artistic palette of (composing) improvisers in jazz'. His own views for over forty years on jazz and related styles (amongst other qualities) have lead to the Edison Jazz Oeuvre Prize.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law and Board member at eLaw, has been appointed to the Programme Committee of PLSC, the Privacy Law Scholarship Conference, one of the world's most attended academic privacy conferences. Gianclaudio is the only representative from a Dutch university and…

In Dutch magazine De Psycholoog, Anne-Laura van Harmelen talks about the use of the term resilience and argues that resilience is concept that needs further explanation.

From Monday 7 to Friday 11 June 2021, the fourth (virtual) edition of The Children’s Rights Moot Court Competition takes place.

Laura Groen, MSc student at LACDR’s division of medicinal chemistry, has been elected to attend the Science and Technology Leadership Assocation (STeLA) forum.

The Dutch Michelle Sweering became the best math girl in the world at the International Mathematical Olympiad in South Africa. She is the only girl who won a golden medal.

On Wednesday 7 June 2023, Dr Yvonne Erkens, Kate Verhoeff, Emma Snel, and Fleur Walravens of the Department of Labour Law in Leiden, gave a presentation on The Database of Business Ethics for the Oxford Business and Human Rights Network (OxBHR) at the University of Oxford.

Human Rights organisation Amnesty International recently set up a walk that passes by important locations in Leiden in relation to human rights. The Kamerlingh Onnes Building, home to Leiden Law School, has been included in the route.

On 18 July 2018 former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela would have been 100 years old. In 1999 the anti-apartheid activist received an honorary doctorate from Leiden University. His response was modest: 'This is not a personal achievement. It is a tribute to all those who were involved in the…

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Professor of International Relations and Diplomatic Practice at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), was interviewed by the NRC on 6 February about the government's warning words.

Marcel Cobussen wrote the essay “Listening as a Multisensorial Experience” for The Oxford Handbook of Western Music and Philosophy.

Leiden University has secured fifth place in SustainaBul, the sustainability ranking for universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands.

The Hague Diplomacy Podcast aims at bringing the themes of the journal's research off the page, and onto the discussion table. Each episode will feature a guest who will share their insights and personal experience within their practice of or research on diplomacy. Available via SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts…

On December 3, 2024, Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey delivered a Cleveringa Lecture in Vienna. Cramsey was the special guest of the Dutch Ambassador to Austria, Mr. Peter Potman.

Femke Bakker, political scientist at Leiden University, has been awarded a grant from the IPRAF (International Peace Research Organization Foundation) for her PhD research into the influence of political culture of different political regimes on individuals of these societies.

May 12 is Mother's Day in many countries. Becoming a mother is no mean feat: brain scientist Elseline Hoekzema has shown that a woman's brain changes drastically during pregnancy. She explained how in TV show De Kennis van Nu.

The special of the Dutch History Programme Andere Tijden 'Missie Geslaagd?' (Mission accomplished?) tells the story of the last fathers of the Holy Spirit Congregation who live in Gennep. Professor of Anthropology and Sociology of Africa Peter Pels is one of the specialists in this episode. He explains…

Pieterskerk and Leiden University are closely connected. The University was founded in Pieterskerk and to this day we celebrate that at the University’s annual Dies Natalis. Much has to be done to get the church ready for this special day. A photo series behind the scenes.

‘Who will succeed Frans Timmermans in Brussels?’ is the title of the article in Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad (FD). Various candidates have been reviewed and all are contenders. But a female candidate may still have an advantage, believes Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations…

Three Dutch universities: Leiden, Groningen and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam have joined forces this year to organize a first ever Pre-doctoral programme in Indonesia for future and potential Indonesian PhD candidates at Dutch universities.

Leiden University has made available Kiem (seed) grants of €10,000 - an initiative for developing new interdisciplinary, interfaculty research partnerships and encounters. Helen Pluut is part of a Kiem team, one that brings together researchers from Leiden Law School, LUMC, FSW and ICLON (and Young…

The LeidenGlobal Course ‘Discipline and Place' for ResMA and PhD students highlights the interaction of the disciplinary theory and the method with realities, representations, and issues of place, with lectures by fourteen LeidenGlobal experts. Registration is open until September 6th.

LUC The Hague congratulates the authors of this year’s Theses of Merit and the winner of the Brill Prize 2016!

Tanja heeft zich sedert 1985 met haar bijzondere en veelzijdige talenten ingezet voor het opbouwen van het internationaal Instituut voor Lucht- en Ruimterecht, waarvan zij vanaf de oprichting codirecteur is.

This week Dutch newspapers NRC and de Volkskrant consulted scientists from the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) about the impact of the Cambridge Analytica storm. This company gained insight into the data of 50 million Facebook users.

Unilever is considering staying in the Netherlands after all. This follows from draft legislation by the GroenLinks party introducing an exit premium that large companies leaving the Netherlands would have to pay to compensate lost tax income. Dutch radio programme BNR and newspaper the Volkskrant asked…

African researchers want more international research collaborations for better representation in the scientific community. As of now, their voices are often not heard, even when it comes to topics of interest to the African continent.

Great news! Leiden University ended up as 7th most sustainable university in the world, according to Green Metric. Meaning, that Leiden University moved one place up in the rankings. In this memo, participation in this ranking is evaluated, points for improvement are given and an ambition suggestion…

Are quantum computers the scientific breakthrough of our time? In this podcast, Carlo Beenakker, Professor of Physics at Leiden University, explains quantum technology.

Mid July 2017, the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA), together with the Confucius Institute, Institute for Philosophy and Digital Humanities, will move into the completely renovated P.J. Veth building next to the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden.

For years, Leiden anthropologists are doing fieldwork among the Agta, a hunter-gatherer group of the Northern Philippines. A new government road, which will cut through the Sierra Madre, recently attracted international press attention.

The annual Orpheus Doctoral Conference, organised by the second year docARTES PhD students, will take place on 28 and 29 May 2020. The call for proposals is now open. Proposals for presentations of any kind are welcomed: from scholarly papers to performances.

The third book in the Restatement of Labour Law Series has recently been published by German publisher Beck. This part addresses employment termination law. The book contains 36 chapters with an extensive overview of employment termination law in the different European countries as well as a comparative…

The book, published by Kluwer Law International, on drones entitled

At an extraordinary summit held in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, the ECOWAS states have decided to impose a string of economic, financial and diplomatic measures against Mali.

Na Shell en Unilever is DSM het derde grote bedrijf dat vertrekt uit Nederland. Fiscalisten zijn niet verbaasd: het sentiment over het vestigingsklimaat hier is momenteel minder gunstig.

On the 25th of February, CTC researcher Daan Weggemans participated in a hearing of the permanent commission for social affairs and employment. During the hearing the issue of radicalization was discussed in two sessions. The first session gave members of parliament the opportunity to discuss the manifestations…

Pop-up restaurant Happietaria has opened its doors in Leiden once again. Come and tuck in for charity between 4 February and 2 March. Students from Christian associations in Leiden will be preparing a delicious menu, and the proceeds will go to a charity that fights human trafficking in Southeast As…

What is the current status of the Dutch House of Representatives? Could anyone have predicted the collapse of the government?

Leiden University is advising its students to leave Hong Kong and return to the Netherlands. This is due to the worsening situation there.

Every year, the Netherlands Red Cross and Belgian Red Cross-Flanders organise the Frits Kalshoven International Humanitarian Law Moot Court Competition. Eight teams from Belgium and the Netherlands participated in the 17th edition of the competition, from 5-7 March 2025 in The Hague. The team from Leiden…

A message from our director

The ‘Kluitersprijs’ is awarded to students who achieve excellent results in the minor Intelligence Studies every year.