From 24 to 30 November 2018, a delegation from Leiden Law School, led by dean Joanne van der Leun and Adriaan Bedner, visited several partner universities and other organisations in Indonesia.

The New York Times published a long article about the DNA investigation that the FBI has done on the mummified head of Djehutinakht from Dayr al-Barsha. Our assistant director for Archaeology and Egyptology, Dr Marleen de Meyer, excavated the room in which the head was found in 2009.

The Cairo semester of MA Archaeology/Egyptology for students from the Netherlands and Flanders has unfortunately come to an end.

A short video about the symposium!

De inschrijvingen voor de Keetje Hodshon Prijs zijn geopend. In 2023 is de Keetje Hodshon Prijs bestemd voor onderzoek op het gebied van de Historische wetenschappen, als aanmoedigingsprijs voor onderzoekers die in 2018 of daarna gepromoveerd zijn. Voordrachten dienen digitaal te worden ingediend uiterlijk…

On January 31, 2018 the Data Economy Conference will take place in Budapest. The conference is organized by IVSZ within the EuDEco project. It’s going to be an interesting event with many knowledgeable speakers.

Thanks to the Department of Ethnology of the Albanian research institute for Cultural Antropology and Art Studies (IAKSA) the lectures given during the Tirana Spring School are now available on YouTube!

In a promotional video for the SUNRISE initiative, prof. Huub de Groot explains the impact and ideas behind artificial photosynthesis.

Aleydis Nissen discusses her new book, The European Union, Emerging Global Business and Human Rights.

Lecture, Com(parative) Syn(tax) Series

What is public leadership? How does one promote research on public leadership? These and other questions will be addressed at the official presentation of the research and development agenda ‘Moving forward with public leadership’ on Wednesday 11 April. Mayor of The Hague Pauline Krikke and Rector Magnificus…

Seven bachelor students in Computer Science at Leiden University are participating in a research project on big data and event management. Their work should eventually result in a system that can be applied at the finish of the Volvo Ocean Race in The Hague in June next year.

The deadline for the final round of AMT2 Research Funding is 15 September 2018, 17 hrs CET. Application is open to all academic staff of Leiden University. IMPORTANT: THE AMT RESEARCH FUNDING SERVES FOR PROJECTS THAT PREFERABLY ARE IMPLEMENTED IN 2018 AND OTHERWISE MUST BE COMPLETELY ORGANISED IN…

On 25 January 2018, at 16:15 hrs, Yannick van den Brink will defend his doctoral thesis titled ‘Voorlopige hechtenis in het Nederlands jeugdstrafrecht’ (‘Pre-trial detention in the Dutch juvenile justice system’) at the Academy Building of Leiden University. The doctoral research is supervised by Professor…

Leiden astronomer Anthony Brown had the honour to give the prestigious Spitzer Lectures at Princeton University. In five lectures spread over the beginning of May, he gave an insight into the Gaia Mission. ‘One of the intellectual highlights of the year.’

The Netherlands-Flemish Institute is offering an internship in Cairo from January 2019 onwards. If you are interested please apply before 20 December, 2018. (See the details in Dutch only)

Why are we unable to address health-care inequality? This was the topic of the inaugural speech of Professor Jet Bussemaker on Friday 15 February 2019. She analysed why current policy does not suffice when it comes to protecting vulnerable groups and fighting inequality. She proposed an agenda that…

Are you passionate about building a better world? Do you want to connect with the young world leaders of today and tomorrow? If so, apply for the One Young World Summit in The Hague, to be held from 17 to 20 October 2018! Leiden University is sponsoring two tickets. Mayor of The Hague, Pauline Krikke,…

Hugo Koning, an expert in Greek mythology, has won the Lucas Public Prize because he has brought his research to the attention of the general public in so many different ways. This is the first Public Prize awarded by the Leiden University Centre for Arts in Society (LUCAS). Hugo says with a smile:…

‘We’ve only just begun,’ said Honorary Doctor Jennifer Chayes in her acceptance speech after receiving her Honorary Doctorate on 8 February. 'We are on the cusp of a data revolution, which will deeply impact both science and society.'

Professor Kees Waaldijk presented the report on the LawsAndFamilies Database to Pearl Dykstra, member of the High Level Group of Scientific Advisors of the European Commission on 25 April. This comparative study shows that in European countries same-sex partners are increasingly gaining equal rights.…

The Faculty of Archaeology is running a funding scheme to assist small-scale projects that contribute to diversifying archaeological practice in all domains, including classrooms, laboratories, museums, and the field. We discuss the grant with two representatives from the Diversity Committee: Tuna Kalaycı…

Professor Annetje Ottow will be appointed President of the Executive Board of Leiden University on 8 February 2021. She will be the first woman to be appointed to this post at Leiden University.

As of 1 September, archaeologist Amanda Henry has been appointed Full Professor at the Faculty of Archaeology, where she will hold the chair in Evolution in Hominin Diets. The appointment marks a new chapter in her academic journey, building on her longstanding research into ancient human diets and…

At the end of the year we always compile a list of our most interesting, most popular articles from that year. In the crazy year that was 2020 one topic was at the forefront of everyone’s minds: coronavirus. Fortunately, there was also room for other stories.

Leiden University is publishing a list giving an overview of its research collaborations with the fossil fuel industry.

Did you know that each year 18 billion animals die without making it to someone’s plate? Governance of Sustainability alumna Juliane Klaura has won the second prize for her thesis about the environmental impact of global food production. She won the prize at the university-wide master thesis award event,…

Inviting a navy officer to talk about piracy, inspiring critical thinking and offering to help with finding internships. Students appreciate that and therefore nominated Anita van Dissel, who teaches Maritime History, for the Lecturer of the Year Award.

Het zichtbaar maken van ongeschreven verhalen van inheemse culturen en volken van de Cariben. Dat doet de tentoonstelling ‘Caribbean Ties’ in de Oude UB.

30 July is the International Day of Friendship. The student years are a time when many close friendships are formed, and a surprising number of them last a whole lifetime. Two of our alumni share their stories about a special friendship.

Covid year 2021 might have felt somewhat less strange than the year before, but the virus still left its mark on University life and our students and staff. Fortunately there was also room for research, visiting dignitaries and in-person classes. And our social media accounts weren’t only about covid…

2024 has been an eventful year, and this is reflected in our social media posts. An overview of the most liked, most shared or most impressive posts.

‘You are the last generation that will have an effective influence on the future of the world.' This was the message given by guest speaker Maurits Groen to the 135 students who graduated at Leiden University College in The Hague on 6 July.

The train to The Hague holds no secrets for Jeroen Touwen anymore. Since October, the Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities has been part of the board of Campus The Hague. One day a week, together with Jan Crijns (Professor of Criminal Law and, as of February 15, Vice-Dean of the Law Faculty), he oversees…

The lecture series “Humanity in the Automated State” held its second session on January 12, 2026, at Leiden Law School. Dr. Aya Rizk from Linköping University brought her expertise on Information Systems whit a focus on how digital technologies and data drive organizational change, particularly in decision-making…

The lecture series

The Leiden University Green Office is pleased to announce its Spring Podcast competition -- Beyond the Safe Space -- on the theme: the Planetary Boundaries.

A record number of 417 PhD candidates defended their theses in 2016. How many of these were cum laude? What were their propositions? The advantage of dirty nappies, for example. Read about the facts and figures on PhD defences in 2016.

With the help of a LUF grant, archaeology student Anne Wagemakers investigated an archaeological assemblage in Spain. Now her research report has won the annual LISF prize.

The lecture series “Humanity in the Automated State” continued on 19 March 2026 at Leiden Law School with Dr. Mengchen Dong from the Center for Humans and Machines at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development.

The lecture series “Humanity in the Automated State” continued on February 12, 2026, at Leiden Law School with Professor Madalina Busuioc of VU Amsterdam, a public governance scholar, AI-DG Lab co-director, MSc programme founder, and recipient of a European Research Council grant.

Collaborating and learning from other fields – that is what bioinformatician Hannah Augustijn enjoys most about doing research. During her PhD at Leiden University, she developed new ways to search within bacteria for the antibiotics of the future.

The knowledge cafe in De Balie in Amsterdam has navigation as its topic. Ineke van der Ham was main guest, and discussed navigation ability together with experts on cartography, animal navigation and navigation technology. A video of the interactive event can be accessed through the link below.

Esther Kentin wrote a blog for the Leiden Law Blog about the EU Plastics Strategy: ‘Recycling as panacea for plastic pollution: the EU Plastics Strategy.’

Chemist Roxanne Kieltyka has been interviewed by Nemo Kennislink in the Dutch article:

Switzerland and the EU are conducting negotiations on a renewed institutional framework for a number of already existing and future market access agreements.

Martin van Hecke published an article in Nature, together with physicists from AMOLF and UvA. They have developed a metamaterial that folds itself up, even in multiple steps. Van Hecke appeared in the following media.

Maarten Aalbers was invited as a guest speaker by the University of Bergen (Norway) to present his views on the joint application of state aid law and free movement law concerning the adoption of sugar taxes.

In 2018, the Swiss Federal Government published the draft text of a Swiss-EU agreement intended to adapt the institutional rules of five existing EU Agreements.

On 8th October 2018 Daniel Carter presented part of his PhD research on the effects of precarious employment on intra-EU migration at the ‘Science Day’ at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and in the Hague. He presented a paper he is currently working on, which assesses the recent Proposal…