From 1 June 2020, Jorrit Rijpma will be holding the chair in European Law, specialization Area of Freedom, Security and Justice.

The EU Product Safety Award encourages and honors innovative business initiatives and research that make a difference for consumers. This year, the Gold Medal was awarded to Eduard and Hadassah for their innovative research on diversity in robot design, testbed, and safety standardization

On Thursday 7 February 2019, the graduation ceremony for the executive master programme Cyber Security took place at The Hague Security Delta (HSD). The Cyber Security programme is a collaboration of University Leiden, Delft University of Technology, and The Hague University of Applied Sciences. A total…

On 26 June 2016 the Council of the Academia Europaea approved a class lists of scholars to be invited to accept membership at the Academia Europaea. Professor Lisa Cheng was elected for the section “Linguistic Studies”.

Paul van Trigt (LUIH) in collaboration with Paul Bijl (KITLV) and Manon Parry (UvA) received a NWO Creative Industry – KIEM Grant for the research project ‘Digital Disability Archive’ (1 September 2017 – 31 August 2018).

Professor of Developmental Biology Christine Mummery and chemist Dr Dennis Hetterscheid have each been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept grant. These grants are to explore the societal potential of ideas generated in previous ERC-funded projects.

From 25 May, a new European privacy law will apply. Companies and authorities must deal with personal data in a clearer and safer manner. Bibi van den Berg, Professor of Cyber Security Governance at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), tells in Nu.nl what the law entails and about the…

The practice of the application of pre-trial detention in the Netherlands raises questions in light of the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights and must be adjusted.

A revolutionary supercomputer with energy-efficient parts that are available in the shops. Professor of Computational Astrophysics Simon Portegies Zwart has been awarded an NWO Medium Grant to build this processing giant, which will have the power of a supercomputer but requires only one percent of…

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) makes recommendations for the future of the Social Sciences and Humanities research in Europe. Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) research is vital to build an innovative and resilient Europe.

As Leiden Law students, we are now in the digital age, 'where we believe law and technology should go together.' After all, for us, it is important to look beyond trodden paths of established legal knowledge. The books on law and case law surely will not be sufficient for the lawyer of the future. That…

Treating atherosclerosis with an anti-inflammatory drug. Amanda Foks receives €499.987,00 from the Dutch Heart Foundation to investigate this over the next few years. She will join forces with Tian Zhao from the University of Cambridge. Together they receive 1 million for the research project.

This year’s “best master’s thesis in the area of national or international history” was written by Bareez Majid, who has completed a research master's in Middle Eastern Studies. She wins the prestigious 2015 Volkskrant–IISG thesis prize for her courageous, solid research on a former “torture prison”…

What is the impact of humans on nature? In Science an article appeared in which researchers try to give an answer to that question. Biogeographer and postdoc at LUCL Sietze Norder is one of its authors.

The American Chemical Society’s Publication Division (ACS) and Dutch universities represented by the VSNU have reached agreement on including open access publication as part of the contract with publishers. From 2017, all new articles submitted by an author associated with a Dutch university or participating…

Terrorist organisation Boko Haram is gaining influence in the region, politicians who do not care about the people, extremists, separatists. The situation in Northern Cameroon is deteriorating. Mora is the last secure city, the area surrounding it is a war zone.

What happens when students are given the freedom to think outside the box? Honours College Law students got to try it through their 'unessays': an alternative final assignment. Their work will be on display in the KOG until 1 July.

On Thursday 17 October, Marieke Bos and Anika Bexkens went behind the scenes at the Jeugdjournaal, a Dutch television program that delivers news specifically for children. They talked to the editors-in-chief of Jeugdjournaal about what kind of questions they receive from children and advised how to…

The Green Office wants to help start a community garden in the open patio space of the Schouwburgstraat buiding in the Hague.

Jojanneke van der Toorn has been proclaimed the young and promising researcher of 2015. At the official opening of the academic year on 31 August she was awarded the Gratama Science Award for emerging talent.

Many humanities graduates find work in digital heritage, but a good pedagogical model to match education is lacking. University lecturers Karin de Wild and Peter Verhaar want to change this with a Comenius grant.

Amino acids are the building blocks for life on earth. They may originate in space and reach the Earth via comets and meteorites. Daniël Paardekooper examined part of this hypothesis. PhD defence on 5 July.

In the Port of Rotterdam, tiny industrial pellets leak into the environment, causing a form of pollution that’s hard to trace but highly persistent. Three students of the LDE Sustainability Honours Programme took on the challenge to identify sources of this pollution.

Surface Reaction Barriometry: Methane Dissociation on Flat and Stepped Transition-Metal Surfaces.

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.

Der Spiegel reports about the planned reform of the EU Code of Conduct aimed at tackling harmful tax practices of EU Member States. A reform is urgently needed to tackle remaining forms of tax competition, which cost EU countries billons of euros every year.

On 13 October, Assistant Professors Public Administration Toon Kerkhoff and Gerrit Dijkstra discussed whether leaking secret government conversations is a punishable offence.

Children are not always immediately helped due to staff shortages. For years, youth protection agencies have used an emergency protocol. Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law in ‘Trouw’: ‘It’s shocking that an emergency protocol has been used for three years.’

Public authorities are increasingly being fined for failure to comply with decision periods specified in the Dutch Open Government Act (Woo). But to what extent is this remedy still effective? Geerten Boogaard, Professor of Local Government, discussed this on 'Mr.', a recognised platform for legal professionals…

If we want tax evasion to become a thing of the past then there has to be more balance in how tax advisers are educated, according to tax professors Jan Vleggeert and Jan van de Streek.

Improving lives and fostering integration with Big Data

Biology student Floris Bonnet is one of the winners of the Van Bergen Award for organising an International Ball. The award aims to promote contact between Dutch and international students at Leiden University in order to foster a better understanding of each other's cultures.

Most families were utterly overwhelmed when they found out that their son or daughter had suddenly left for Syria, that is what Daan Weggemans, Marieke van der Zwan and Marieke Liem observe in their research on family members of Dutch jihadists.

Dr. Stephanie Rap, Denise Verkroost, LL.M. and prof. Mariëlle Bruning conducted a research on the participation of children in youth care in the Netherlands. In 2016 the first part, a legal desk-research on the possibilities for children to participate in youth care procedures and decision-making in…

On the past 6th of October, the Pillar A of the research program me Citizenship, Migration and Global Transformations finally had its awaited kick-off event, which was previously cancelled last spring due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A glittering visualisation of dark matter by Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker is on display in the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin. The installation – ‘Dark Distortions’ – was inspired by Euclid, a forthcoming ESA mission to study the mysterious nature of dark matter. Leiden astronomer Henk Hoekstra…

Chemical biologists from Leiden, led by Dr Mario van der Stelt, have discovered substances that can reduce inflammation processes in the brain. This is a first step in the development of potential medicines for the treatment of brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Published in Proceedings…

The Winter School of the Food Citizens? project has been a success! Running from Monday 24th January to Friday 4th February 2022, with this milestone we handed down the project’s methodological toolkit as a team. Nine participants attended in Leiden, coming from Belgium, Ghana, Italy, Lithuania, the…

When parking in reverse, your car skids off just a little, hitting the wall of the parking garage. On the car dashboard, a warning light immediately starts blinking. This technique from new cars can also be used for another purpose, namely in the treatment of Parkinson's disease patients.

The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is to appeal against a recent court ruling on the Public Access to Government Information Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur, WOB). The court ruled that the way in which the Ministry handles WOB requests was not in accordance with the law.

Research to experiment with bacteria that grow like plants has been granted the NWO XS grant. These bacteria use light and carbon dioxide to grow, and will be designed especially for use in the biotechnological field. Tijn Delzenne and his supervisor Dennis Claessen can spend 50.000 euros on the exp…

On Monday, April 24 the Austria Centre Leiden and the Leiden Jewish Studies Association hosted a special seminar with Prof. Edyta Gawron entitled “Politics and the Holocaust in Modern Poland.” Gawron is a historian and professor of Jewish Studies at Jagiellonian University in Kraków and a noted expert…

Psychologist Lorenza Colzato is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Cognitive Enhancement, a new interdisciplinary psychology publication. The journal will contribute to a higher understanding of research aimed at enhancing human performance and creative potential.

Mathematician Hester Bijl will be appointed Vice-Rector Magnificus and member of the Executive Board of Leiden University with effect from 1 November 2016. She succeeds Simone Buitendijk.

On Wednesday 6 September 2017 the Interest Group on Migration and Refugee Law of the European Society of International Law (ESIL/SEDI) hosted a workshop in Naples, Italy, in cooperation with the ILS 2.0 Project.

Is your strategic vote actually strategic? How can the Netherlands form a stable government? And what should the next government do about migration, defence and the housing crisis? This is what our experts have to say.

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.

From 1 August, Hermen Jan Hupkes has been appointed Professor of Non-Linear Analysis at the Mathematical Institute. 'Initially I don't think that much will change,' Hupkes says. 'My research and supervising future researchers will continue as before.'

Problems cannot always be solved from a desk. Students on the Master’s in Governance of Sustainability therefore went to various Leiden neighbourhoods, where they tackled topics such as litter, urban biodiversity and green spaces.

Dutch artist and visionary David Humbert de Superville (1770-1849) was the founder and first director of the Print Room at Leiden University. An exhibition and symposium are now being organised in his honour. What makes him so remarkable?