In my research, we developed a method to distinguish knots. A knot is a mathematical depiction of the everyday knot that occurs in ropes and cords.

Since the horrific events of October 7, 2023, Leiden students have grappled with difficult questions about Israel, Gaza and Israel/Palestine conflict more generally. Drawing on her expertise in the history of the Jewish experience in the diaspora and beyond, Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey has held multiple…

On Tuesday November 25, 2025, Sarah Cramsey travelled with students from her masters seminar on 'New Approached to the Holocaust in Central and Eastern Europe' taught at the History Institute to Amsterdam for a unique opportunity. There, Lotte Sophie Groenendijk, an alumna of the History Research Masters…

Hoping to learn something about the human brain, Leiden researchers are creating a setup to shoot single photons, particles of light, into someone’s eye. ‘The eye is a passageway to the brain.’

Novel language learning activates different neural processes than was previously thought. A Leiden research team has discovered parallel but separate contributions from the hippocampus and Broca's area, the learning centre in the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere of the brain also seems to play…

Many primary school children suffer from anxiety and their numbers are increasing. Psychologists from the Knowledge Center Anxiety & Stress (KAS) are developing and researching preventive training.

For almost 25 years, ‘de Handboeken Veiligheid’ have been a phenomenon. Who does not have a copy on their bookshelf? In 2024, the series will be celebrating its 25th anniversary and next Monday, the Public Prosecution Handbook will be presented: the latest volume in the series. Erwin Muller talks about…

How do practice and theory reinforce one another in neuroscience? Professor Birte Forstmann’s inaugural lecture on 2 October will be about building interdisciplinary bridges between cognitive neuroscience and cognitive models. Her approach may lead to brain research with fewer side-effects for patie…

PhD defence

The curriculum of the master's specialisation School Psychology is in total 60 EC and can be completed within one year. The programme offers a variety of courses and a supervised master's thesis.

In the specialisation Child and Adolescent Psychology , part of the Master in Psychology, you develop practical skills in assessing and managing developmental psychopathology.

Clinical psychologist Bernet Elzinga has been appointed as Professor of a personal chair at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. This professorship will contribute both nationally and internationally to the broader promotion of Leiden University in the field of stress and psychopathology.

Psychologist Daphne Tona is one of the first to investigate a small nucleus in the brain stem 'in vivo' in living volunteers. That nucleus is involved in cognitive function and neurological and psychiatric disorders. With this research Tona is further mapping the brain. PhD defence on September 10.

Three Psychology students will present a poster of their thesis research on Alzheimer’s and dementia at the international conference AAIC Neuroscience Next. ‘I remind myself to recognise - without fear or shame - when I don't know something.’

Is our musicality unique? That’s what the Bird Singalong project aims to find out. And for that, they need the help of feathered friends from all around the world. ‘By researching how parrots learn songs, we also learn more about the origin of our own musicality.’ Do you have a parrot that can sing…

Disruption to the gut flora can affect your mental health. How could this knowledge be used to prevent stress-related disorders? This is what psychologist Laura Steenbergen will investigate with the aid of a project grant from the Leiden University Fund (LUF) and the Gratama Foundation.

Could ketogenic therapy change the future of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) treatment? Bret Scher sits down with Eline Dekeyster to explore how nutritional ketosis may support individuals with autism and other brain-based conditions.

Decades of evidence suggests that the trillions of microorganisms living in people’s guts, called the microbiome, can influence the brain. And now, new research says they might influence how people feel day-to-day, too. Laura Steenbergen explains.

Demonstration experiments are a potentially powerful instrument to improve the micro-macro thinking of students in secondary education. Therefore we want to design a practical and generative approach to assist teachers to develop lessons with a demonstration experiment.

A virtual hand that feels as if it is your own. Feeling happier because a virtual face is smiling with you. Cognitive Psychologist Ke Ma discovered using virtual reality that the way we experience our body is more flexible than we thought. Ma: ‘We can think up some fantastic applications.' PhD defence…

Issue 1

What is the role of memory in contemporary music?

The STRINGS project is mapping development pathways for science, technology and innovation that best address the UN Sustainable Development Goals. A consortium of seven universities led by Tommaso Ciarli at SPRU at the University of Sussex and the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) have worked…

The research master’s programme in Linguistics at Leiden University combines leading expertise with a flexible programme format.

The Master in Psychology is an academic degree focussed on human behaviour and cognition from a multi-level perspective in which you will hone your research skills. You will combine research with practical experience, working on real life applications of knowledge on the psyche while being taught and…

Do you want to know the best reasons to study at Leiden University or want to know what's it like to live in the student cities Leiden or The Hague? Our students tell you why you have to choose Leiden University to study your bachelor's programme.

Where you end up depends on the chosen study direction, your own skills and interests.

To be eligible for the Clinical and Health Psychology Research Master's specialisation at Leiden University, you must meet the following requirements.

To be eligible for the Research Master's specialisation Developmental Psychology, you must meet the following admission requirements.

A master's degree in Psychology at Leiden University combines theoretical knowledge with academic and professional skills, making you an attractive candidate for many employers.

Somatic symptoms, such as pain, itch, and fatigue have been shown to have a bidirectional relationship with mental symptoms. Although acute somatic symptoms serve some adaptive properties, chronic symptoms can instead lead to interference in daily activities and lower quality of life.

The Faculty of Science

ICLON conducts research into primary and secondary education.

All languages use melody in speech, primarily via rises and falls of the pitch of voice. Such pitch variation is pervasive, offering a wide spectrum of nuance to sentences – an additional layer of meaning. For example, saying “yes” with a rising pitch implies a question (rather than an affirmation).…

docARTES is a doctoral programme for performers and composers. It offers a unique environment for critical reflection on musical practice.

Our team is involved in the translation and adaptation of several questionnaires, for research purposes. Information about each questionnaire is listed below.

In what way is constructivist logic able to account for both the role of the judging agent in inference and the universal claims of logical validity?

Experimental research

Parents may pass anxiety onto their offspring by exposing them to anxious behaviors in novel situations. Just as the parents’ anxious signals lead to anxiety, parents’ confident signals can ward off anxiety in the offspring. This project is seeking a new way to break anxiety transmission in the family…

The Co-Align Conference 2023 will be held on 16 May 2023 at Leiden University.

In the future, physicians may be able to identify dementia much earlier than they can today because a computer algorithm will be able to predict from brain scans how our memory is going to develop.

LUCAS members are experts in the fields of literary history and theory, film and media studies, and art, architectural, and book history.

The main interest of this project concerns learners’ perceived learning outcomes in massive open online courses and the factors related to their perceived learning outcomes.