Which brilliant scientist will be our Discoverer of the Year 2019? Will it be a physicist, biologist, drug discoverer or an astronomer? Or an environmental scientist, a mathematician, chemist or computer scientist? As of now, you can cast your vote.

‘Quantum technology is going to change the world, but most people don’t feel connected to it. I want to change that,’ says Julia Cramer, assistant professor at Leiden University. Known for her passion for science communication, Cramer actively seeks opportunities to share the wonders of quantum technology…

Following a period of intensive discussion, the University Council (UR) approved the University Quality Standards Plan on 10 December. The UR endorses the content of the plan in broad terms and is pleased with the extra efforts made by the University.

Leiden University has become a partner of the Global Coalition for Social Justice.

Around 150 international scholarship students at Leiden University were invited to Leiden's Town Hall on Wednesday 16 November. They were each presented with a certificate by deputy-Mayor Paul Dirkse to mark their study time in Leiden.

Cultural heritage throughout the world is under threat from wars, neglect and looting. Learn more about it during a free online course.

In the opinion article ‘Maak praten over de dood niet tot een morele plicht’ (Don’t turn talking about death into a moral obligation) Annemarie Samuels and Liesbeth van Vliet, argue together with Marike de Meij and Sander de Hosson that it is important to have conversations about death and dying but…

The past decade, against the backdrop of a fragmented political landscape, has witnessed the greatest changes to the Netherlands since the aftermath of the Second World War. The labour market, the housing market, the energy market, the bank system, the pension system, the healthcare system, to name…

Health psychologist Kaya Peerdeman has won the article award of the Postgraduate School For Research and Education in Experimental Psychopathology (EPP) for the best academic paper in 2015-2016. Published in European Journal of Pain on 19 April 2017.

The Psychology Teaching Award goes to the entire team of teaching staff. PhD candidates Wouter van Loon and Hilmar Zech wrote the best scientific articles. The master's thesis awards go to Robert-Jan de Rooij and Florian Thomas-Odenthal. Marion Duijsman gets an award for administrative staff and Gert-Jan…

SRON, the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, is holding an open day on Sunday 25 September. It has had a branch at the Leiden Bio Science Park since 2021 and works closely with Leiden University.

Today’s protest at the University’s Academy Building and the Hortus botanicus ended at around 16.30. The dozens of demonstrators left the grounds voluntarily after the university summoned them to leave.

The Leiden University Team became the runner-up at the finals of the 42nd Edition of the Telders International Law Moot Court Competition, which was held at the International Court of Justice at 25 May.

A new book, Learning to Play: Learning Reinforcement and Games by Aske Plaat is now available.

Japanese newspapers, photo archives from the Dutch East Indies or information on gender and sexuality: all these can be found in the University Library's 621 humanities databases. A flyer campaign to raise awareness of them begins this week.

Dr Antonio Missiroli has been appointed as Associate Senior Policy Fellow for Emerging Security Threats at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA).

Monday 5 September the eighth edition of the interdisciplinary Minor Sustainable Development started. With 65 students coming from more than 20 different disciplines we've a record number of students and backgrounds.

The latest episode of the ‘Betrouwbare Bronnen’ political podcast is devoted to the Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP). One of the speakers is Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl, who talks about the importance and future of this internationally renowned Leiden knowledge centre.

The British police discovered 39 bodies in the back of a lorry earlier this month. The refrigeration unit in which the bodies were found had entered the United Kingdom via Belgium.

For the first time, international researchers have mapped the network of bacteria on coral reefs. They write about it in Nature Communications (9 April). Professor by special appointment Nicole de Voogd (Naturalis Biodiversity Center & Institute of Environmental Sciences) and two of her PhD students…

Renovation work on the Arsenaal is set to begin at the start of January! Careful preparations by the Real Estate Directorate and the faculty have laid the foundations for construction company Du Prie to get to work on this second building to be renovated as part of the Humanities Campus project.

Leiden and The Hague have an extra 450 trees thanks to a special campaign to mark the 450th anniversary of the Relief of Leiden and Leiden University’s foundation. Over the past few months, Stadslab Leiden has worked on an initiative to plant young trees with the residents of the two cities.

Leiden University’s Department of Labour Law and Social Security is proud to announce that the International Labor Rights Case Law Journal (ILaRC) is set to publish its tenth volume this year. A valuable initiative of Paul van der Heijden, Emeritus Professor at the Department of Labour Law and former…

There was a lot of fuss last week about the ‘dragnet law’, in which intelligence services are now authorised to conduct large-scale tapping of cable communications. The public image here is that the privacy of innocent citizens will almost certainly be violated. Paul Abels, professor of governance of…

Students of the Faculty of Science have chosen Dennis Claessen (IBL) as the best teacher of last year.

It is with great sadness that Leiden Law School has learned of the sudden death of Professor Aart Hendriks on 9 February 2025.

Since 1 November 2022, Brechtje Paijmans is endowed professor of Conflict Resolution and Legal Protection in Education. Dutch trade journal Mr. interviewed her about her appointment.

Where do Humanities alumni work after they graduate? And how should they prepare to enter the labour market? According to three Humanities alumni and their employers, the answer is: ‘Find the biggest challenges the world has to offer – they hold all kinds of possibilities for ambitious people.’

Ad IJzerman, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacochemistry, was made a Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands on 26 April. He was presented with the royal honour by Mayor Elbert Roest in the town hall in Bloemendaal.

Political scientist Gisela Hirschmann (Leiden University) has been awarded a fellowship at Harvard University. During the 2020 Spring semester she will join the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs to further her research on multilateralism.

On 23 February, Daniel Somart and Karolina Wróbel, students of the BASS took part in the 2023 SAGANET Awards, a competition in which participants can show a serious game they developed.

No more smelly lorries disposing of building waste or delivering building materials to the centre of Leiden. That’s Leiden University’s ambition for its future renovation or construction projects in the city centre. Electric boats should make the process cleaner and less inconvenient for the people…

The worldwide protests following the police violence in the United States show how deep-rooted and wide-spread racism is across the world. As an academic institution doing research on law & society, the Van Vollenhoven Institute is very much aware of systemic racism and speaks out in support of these…

Neuropsychologist Mariska Kret is through to the next round in the 2016 Science Talent contest organised by New Scientist magazine.

On 11 November 2022, a number of (internal and external) PhD candidates in the field of civil procedural law presented their research. The seminar took place in the building of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

On 15 November 2019, Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor at LUC and Convener of the International Justice major, convened a policy roundtable on “Brexit’s Next Chapter: The Revised Deal and Global Britain” .

On 15 May 2024, master’s students and staff from the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) visited Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, the Netherlands' main international airport and the world’s third busiest airport for international passenger traffic.

No less than 172 international master students coming from 30 different countries visited the Faculty of Science on 29 August during the OWL: the Orientation Week Leiden.

The

Learn all about the rich history of navigation, from ancient Greece to Europe’s Gallileo Programme, in the course ‘Navigation through the Ages’. This course is the second MOOC of Space Awareness and is aimed at teachers; registration is now open.

How can governments reach their policy goals in the most effective way? Which manner of financing is the most suitable? Does the spirit of our times call for new forms of subsidy? What does the future of subsidy law look like?

In SustainaBul, 16 higher education institutions are ranked on sustainability each year. Leiden University has managed to keep its fifth place. A good position, but with room for improvement.

Dr Ruixuan Chen, an alumnus of the LIAS and now assistant professor in Buddhist Studies at Heidelberg, has been awarded the Ernst Waldschmidt Prize. The award ceremony is postponed due to the pandemic and will take place in Berlin presumably in early 2021.

Suzanne van der Pluijm will be appointed Executive Director and Member of the Board of the Faculty of Science with effect from 1 June 2022. She succeeds Ed van den Berg, who has held this position on an interim basis since 1 September 2021 .

I would like to start with my “personal safety risk”. In the last years I noticed it is becoming more accepted to listen to music using earphones in the hallways, offices and laboratories. But how does this affect our safety and should we accept this?

Tuesday May 24th, the LACDR Annual Spring Symposium was held.

What is the impact of digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the functioning of our constitution? Reijer Passchier, Assistant Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, warns in an article in Leidraad that digitalisation is giving the executive branch more and more power, and that…

Leiden University won three prizes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moot Court Competition – English edition. The final round was held on 27 June 2022 in Courtroom I of the ICC in The Hague (the Netherlands). Due to current COVID-19 related restrictions, it was a hybrid hearing with judges…

The short film Alma & Esperanza , directed by Itandehui Jansen, a PhD candidate (directing supervisor Professor Dr. Kitty Zijlmans) of the Leiden University Academy for Creative and Performing Arts, has been selected to the Short Film Corner of this year’s edition of the Cannes International Film Fe…

Studying hard at one of our locations? Doing research in the lab? Or enjoying the sun at a friendly pavement café? Record your summer in Leiden and/or The Hague and see your photo on our Facebook page. Who knows, you may win the top prize!