With a single sample of water or soil, researches can analyse the DNA of everything that is living in that environment. During her research, PhD candidate Beilun Zhao discovered a way to analyse not only the kind of species, but also the age of the species in a water sample. The method showed its first…

Does a communal garden provide cool air and warm neighbourly relations? Does an additional row of trees increase biodiversity? These kinds of questions are key in the COMBINED project, on which Leiden scientists and residents of The Hague, among others, can work for six years with 4 million euros from…

On 21 March 2024, the ‘learners’ at Wolfert Bilingual in Rotterdam were not teenagers, but some 180 teachers and teacher educators from around the Netherlands and beyond. Those delegates were bound by a common interest in exploring and engaging with teaching and learning in linguistically and culturally…

We invite proposals for the conference entitled ‘Ruins and Memory in the Muslim World: Typologies and Motifs (622-1800 CE)’ to be held in Leiden between 14-16 September 2026.

During the Bachelor Honours Class ‘The world is quantum’, students from various disciplines learned about the rules of nature on the smallest scale: quantum mechanics. What opportunities and dangers do they see for their field of study?

The COIn grants enable researchers to improve the infrastructure for their research. The four initiators of two projects explain how the grant has helped them.

Five consortia within the Perspectief programme that include Leiden researchers have received funding to start their research projects. These projects focus on (further) developing technological innovations, with societal and economic impact at their core.

In cities, parks take the blame for mosquito problems. However, the real issue is usually a few streets away. Drains and standing rainwater create ideal breeding grounds for larvae. As a result, controlling adult mosquitoes in parks makes little sense, says environmental scientist Louie Krol in his…

In the Humans of Humanities series, we will do a portrait of one of our researchers, staff members or students, every other week.

The thesis is a major milestone for master students graduating in Political Science. It demonstrates their ability to conduct research independently and to provide a thorough, objective and sound analysis. That requires instruction, discussion, thinking and hard work. Lots of it. In some cases this…

On Sunday 28 October, the annual open day of the Old Observatory in Leiden takes place. During this day everyone can visit the Old Observatory for free and enjoy activities in this historic building.

Dr. Maartje Janse (History) and Prof.dr. Gert Oostindie (History, KITLV) have been awarded a seed grant for:

In his new book 'The Politics of Borders', Leiden political scientist Matthew Longo redefines the concept of a ‘border’.

Scientific director Herman Spaink brought almost all scientific staff members of our institute together in Noordwijkerhout for a two-day meeting about strategies for the future.

How can teachers engage students, make them curious and inspire them for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics? These questions were addressed during an international congress that took place from 15-17 April in Leiden, organised by the European science education project Teaching Enquiry…

The Berlagevlag goes to the Wijnhaven District, a design by Geurst & Schulze architects, with its Leiden University interior designed by Studio Leon Thier architecture with the assistance of StudioLEFT. The Hague Architecture Café (HaAC) and the BNA in The Hague want to use the award to promote the…

Publication by: Vanessa Frodermann, Janine van Duijn, Gijs van Puijvelde, Peter van Santbrink, Max Lagraauw, Margreet de Vries, Paul Quax, Ilze Bot, Amanda Foks, Saskia de Jager and Johan Kuiper. Journal of Internal Medicine. 2016;279:592-605.

Lions in West and Central Africa form a unique group, only distantly related to lions in East and Southern Africa. Biologists at Leiden University confirm this in an article published in Scientific Reports.

On March 6, Annelise Reid was granted the Speckmann Prize 2017 for best MA thesis of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology. Annelise Reid wrote her thesis on the Dutch Pentecostal community. Erik de Maaker was her thesis supervisor.

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day was held and the Dutch 2022 'Persvrijheidsmonitor' was presented. The safety of journalists in 2022 was the most important theme in the area of press freedom in the Netherlands. Tarlach McGonagle, Professor of Medial Law & Information Society in Leiden, and Otto Volgenant,…

An international team of astronomers has shown that a white dwarf and a red dwarf orbiting each other every two hours are emitting radio pulses. Through the discovery, astronomers now know that the monopoly on bright radio bursts is not solely held by neutron stars. The team of international scientists…

Academics are increasingly facing threats, harassment and hate speech following public appearances. The Dutch universities – united in the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) – is now adopting a number of national measures, from a zero-tolerance policty to psychosocial help for vic…

Salt crystals, a nano-sized golf stick and molten glass. The LION Image Award competition of 2023 yielded a lot of beautiful images once again. But in the end, only one can be the winner.

Leiden Biology student Pam Engelberts received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2016 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

Senior Researcher at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and Associate Fellow of The Hague Program of Cyber Norms François Delerue was awarded the 2021 Book Prize of the European Society of International Law for his book Cyber Operations and International Law published by Cambridge University…

Publication by: Amanda Foks, Gijs van Puijvelde, Jolien Wolbert, Mara Kröner, Vanessa Frodermann, Thomas van der Heijden, Peter van Santbrink, Louis Boon, Ilze Bot and Johan Kuiper. Cardiovascular Research. 2016;111(3):252-261.

A rejuvenated Naturalis opens its doors to the public on Saturday 31 August. Many researchers from Leiden University also work at the Naturalis research centre. Their workplace has also undergone a major facelift, and museum visitors can now watch their every move.

A new online platform makes it possible to estimate the state of agricultural crops and nature area’s around the world. This enables scientists and other users to consistently combine observations of different satellites for the first time.

Maikel Kuijpers was invited to join a session on material rights, resource use, and craftsmanship during the Carnegie Peacebuilding Conversations held in The Hague’s Peace Palace in September. Organised by Major Alliance the session brought together a diverse panel to discuss “The Universal Declaration…

On Sunday 28 October, the annual open day of the Old Observatory in Leiden takes place. During this day everyone can visit the Old Observatory for free and enjoy activities in this historic building.

A new social media campaign launched by students from across Europe, including Frederik Behre from the Europa Institute, is aiming to motivate young Europeans to go to the polls.

During the Opening of the Academic Year 2024-2025, we asked guests for their wishes and ideas for Leiden University's anniversary year in 2025.

What if you get excluded? Are apps against fear and stress effective? How do you keep your brain in shape? The first season of the new podcastseries ‘BreinGeheim’ is about the social contexts of adolescent development and how teens become resilient individuals. Leiden-based behavioural scientist sit…

Professor of Law and Society Maartje van der Woude (37) is one of the four young scientists who have been awarded a 2018 Heineken Young Scientists Award. Van der Woude is receiving the award in the field of Humanities for her research on the interplay between law and the public debate on such themes…

The C-SCAPE project has received funding of 1 million euros in the context of the NWO program ‘Living labs in the Dutch delta’. C-SCAPE, led by TU Delft, is a collaboration between the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), University Groningen, Deltares and HZ University of Applied Sciences. It…

The project will further the development of policies, practices, and capabilities in responsible academic career assessment.

On Wednesday 11 April, the festive ceremony of the leadership agenda took place, which was developed by the Leiden Leadership Centre in collaboration with partners from practice. The ‘Moving Forward with Public Leadership’ research and development agenda was handed over to Mayor of The Hague, Pauline…

Leiden University Libraries invites you to the public lecture by Ted Underwood, Visiting Scaliger Professor. This lecture will be held on Thursday 21 November, from 16.00-17.00 in the Lipsius building, Room 0.19, Cleveringaplaats 1, Leiden. Afterwards, you can meet the new Visiting Scaliger Professor…

How can humans and computers learn from data? To research this, scientists often use so-called Bayesian methods. Although these methods are widely used, they also have limitations and are not always easy to interpret. In her dissertation Rianne de Heide describes some of these problems and introduces…

The Leiden University team representing the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) won the World Finals of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition that took place in Paris on 20 September 2022.

On 16 January student Lisa Bruil from the Institute of Biology Leiden was awarded the annual prize from the Stichting Prof. dr. K. Bakker-Fonds for her outstanding results as BSc-student.

On 26 April Professor of Experimental Physics Jan van Ruitenbeek was made a Knight in the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands. He received the decoration from mayor Emile Jaensch in Oegstgeest, where he lives. Van Ruitenbeek received the honour for his services to physics.

Four Leiden researchers will be gaining experience at prominent international research research institutes funded by a Rubicon subsidy from NWO. One international researcher will be coming to Leiden.

In September 2019, the first students will start the new master's programme Governance of Sustainability. The programme has received an official accreditation from the Accreditation Organisation of The Netherlands and Flanders.

Nikki Ikani, Assistant Professor Intelligence and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), has recently published her latest monograph 'Crisis and change in European Union foreign policy' with Manchester University Press.

This year’s edition of the prestigious art festival Ruhrtriennale, carried in diverse locations around the cities of Essen, Bochum and Duisburg (Germany), has re-staged De Materie, ACPA professor Louis Andriessen’s exceptional opera which overcomes traditional patterns of the genre in terms of dramaturgy,…

Drained leaves and plants stripped bare. Insects can completely destroy crops. Soon, these situations may be behind us, with the new pesticide developed by Leiden and Wageningen researchers. With their plant-based ‘insect glue’, insects are incapacitated.