A flint tool covered with a tar-like substance has turned out to be a top scientific find. Research by a Dutch team of scientists showed the find to be a piece of birch tar that was extracted 50,000 years ago by Neanderthals using complex techniques. The tar was used as an adhesive to make it easier…

LUC The Hague Celebrates its 9th Birthday!

Loss of cultural heritage first brings to mind the destruction in the Middle East. But in the Caribbean it is mainly natural processes such as coastal erosion and human interventions driven by economics that are damaging the local natural and cultural heritage. A conference is taking place on Bonaire…

Elephants ranged over Schöningen in Lower Saxony 300,000 years ago. In recent years, remains of at least ten elephants have been found at the Palaeolithic sites situated on the edges of the former opencast lignite mine. Now, a collaboration of archaeologists from University of Tübingen and the Lower…

Fossil teeth can preserve remarkable information, much like a biological identity card with data about the lives of individuals tens of thousands of years ago. By analyzing teeth, a new study published in Science Advances reconstructed the life history of four straight-tusked elephants (Palaeoloxodon…

Director General of ESO, Tim de Zeeuw received President of the Republic of Chile, Michelle Bachelet Jeria for a ceremony marking the first stone of ESO’s Extremely Large Telescope (ELT).

A novel in vivo model system for studies on glucocorticoid resistance

The research focuses on the understanding of symbolic stratigraphy of the land (through time) from the worldview of the People of the Rain (one of the Indigenous Peoples of southern Mexico), by studying contemporary cultural heritage in communities of the Mixtec Highlands.

Subproject of the NWO Smart Culture Grant research project 'The Critical Visitor'.

The African Studies Centre Leiden’s Research Programme for 2025-2029 is called ‘African Trajectories: Past Dependencies and New Directions’. Building on its former programme, it extends the recognition of Africa’s pivotal role in world affairs. The continent’s global significance has become increasingly…

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden Law School with University of Sarajevo in Bosnia Herzegovina.

The Department of Archaeological Heritage and Society focuses on the relationships between past and present, the role of heritage in society, and how heritage conceived broadly can contribute to improving quality of life.

In addition to the walk-in tours at the visitor center, we also offer private tours for groups. These tours delve deeper into the history of the building, but also offer the opportunity to learn more about astronomy in general.

How did British scholars and scientists in the period of discipline formation envision, experience and resist scholarly temptations?

1) How natural cycles and activities are interconnected for building the time in one community? 2) What perceptions of Ñuu Dzaui peoples about their landscape can be connected with precolonial times?

Leiden archaeologists investigate how people in the past impacted their environment. Together with scientists, environmental scientists, and humanities experts, they use this information to draw conclusions about the present – and show what we can learn from it for the future.

Dr Kim Duistermaat (NVIC) en Niels Groot (TU Delft)

Following your personal interests, you may choose one of three area specialisations. Will you focus on the archaeological history of the European continent? Or do you prefer to dive into the Mediterranean world? Or would you rather study pre-Columbian America? The choice is up to you!

Tracking early human behaviour through plant processing and -exploitation.

Methods of treatment for chronic illnesses are limited. Doctors and researchers at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Leiden University are working on new therapies as an alternative for organ transplants. The goal is to cure the illnesses by restoring organs to their original function. Stem…

To be eligible for Museum Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

The renovation of the Herta Mohr building (formerly known as Cluster Zuid) is completed. It is the third project in the redevelopment of the Humanities Campus. With the renewal of these buildings, the university ensures a sustainable campus with modern facilities. The university wants to create an attractive…

Subproject of the NWO Smart Culture Grant research project 'The Critical Visitor'.

Life Sciences Artificial Intelligence Data Science

The need for novel drugs as well as innovations in their development and application is as urgent as ever. Below we present our vision , mission, and our key research areas.

The emergence of metalwork deposition during the Bronze Age in Northwest Europe, c. 2300-1500 BC

With its iconic buildings, Leiden University has a strong presence throughout the city. The university has left its mark clearly on museum collections in the city.

In early 2019, the QANU (Quality Assurance Netherlands Universities) published its Report on the Research Review of Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL). This review takes place every 6 years as part of the overall monitoring and safeguarding of research quality in the Netherlands.

In this project the already developed parcel based historical GIS (HISGIS) for the Dutch province of Friesland (Frisia) will be extended with a series of crucial datasets and map layers.

Central in coordination and organometallic chemistry is the synthesis of new chelating ligands, the synthesis and characterization of metal complexes with these ligands, and the study of their properties. An important goal in my research is to create understanding of the relation between the structures…

The following maps show institutional collaborations and with indigenous communities (scroll down).

Plants, algae and cyanobacteria have the amazing capacity to perform delicate photophysical and photochemical processes of light capture, excitation transfer, charge separation and catalysis in fluctuating living environments. As a consequence, photosynthetic proteins and membranes form dynamic architectures.…

For present purposes, it is important to distinguish between an early period of settlement, about 6800-6200 BC, and a late period, about 6200-5800 BC, at Tell Sabi Abyad.

On the 24th of November Aditi Mukherjee successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Considering Mesoamerican Precolonial books as material objects

To make digital communication more secure, we need to tighten up the legal frameworks and identify the biggest cyber threats.

How did local lifeways and crafting practices persist and develop in the diverse environments of the increasingly interconnected Gulf of Fonseca (AD 400-1521)?

The extensive use of electronic communication channels and other devices has opened new possibilities for collecting data on human behavior. This information is sometimes openly accessible, but largely part of administrative registration systems that are not open to the broader public. The data provides…

To what extent are there differences between countries in and outside the European Union and the Schengen area in the level of crimmigration, the merger between migration control and crime control, and to what extent can these differences be explained by the way in which state and non-state actors in…

How can we develop new chemical biology tools and approaches to understand and interfere with glucosylceramide metabolism in relation to Gaucher disease?

There are various links between Rembrandt and Leiden University

the production, use and exchange of bodily accoutrements through the lenses of the microscope

To be eligible for Art History at Leiden University, you need to meet the following admission requirements.

Do you have a question about our course offer? View the most frequently asked questions below.

WORLDING AMERICA researches how ‘play’ has been a key force in the past and present process of creating America as a coherent and hegemonic ‘world,’ from 1503 to the present.

An Investigation into the role of copper-alloy craft production in the early medieval economy of northwest Europe.