Within the space of a few months, the Heritage Quest citizen science project, whereby volunteers scan elevation maps of the Veluwe area for burial mounds and other prehistoric remains, has already led to groundbreaking new insights. Hundreds of burial mounds have been found, as have a huge number of…

The Guggenheim Fellowship is a prestigious award for US nationals. There are more than 3,000 applications every year, and this year only 188 were honoured. Professor Jonathan Silk is one of these 188, the first ever at Leiden University, and he tells us more about the fellowship and what he will do…

The number of women in the Netherlands dying before, during or after childbirth has halved.

Dr Thomas Fossen (Institute for Philosophy) has been awarded with an NWO Veni grant for his research project 'Critical moments: How do events affect how we should judge the legitimacy of political authorities?'

More than 40 years ago, a wrecked merchant ship was found in the Wadden Sea. PhD student Geke Burger looked at this archaeological find from a historical perspective.

The Lakenhal depot houses three nineteenth-century sample books in which the cotton company De Heyder & Co kept precise records of who placed which orders. History student Marit Scheepsma used them to find out more about the company's colonial contacts.

Charlotte Holt is a second year International Justice student at Leiden University College. She did an internship at Academia Neerlandesa; a language school that offers Dutch language courses to medical professionals. ‘An internship can become very beneficial for those who wants to discover where their…

On 8 December, Dirk Visser was awarded a ‘Gouden Peer’ in intellectual property law by legal platform 'Mr.'. He received the prize after being nominated by 25 fellow experts.

Leiden University is entering into a strategic partnership with the Leiden student associations and the Local Chamber of Associations (PKvV). The parties are committed to maintaining and strengthening the existing good relations between them.

Pieter Slaman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of History and the University’s university historian, has won the 2024 LUS Teaching Prize.

Professor Dario Fazzi has been organising virtual exchanges for students with various American universities for a number of years. Now he has been awarded 400.000 euros from the Erasmus+ programme Cooperation Partnerships to further develop the virtual component of his teaching.

The Executive Board of Leiden University has appointed Dr Alicia Schrikker as Professor of Dutch History in the World, effective 1 January 2026. The chair is based at the Institute of History (Faculty of Humanities).

LDE-FISIP UI Joint Minor students brought various issues in the Greater Jakarta Area to their final assignment in the form of policy briefs. The policy briefs are based on a month of research on the topics of waste management, the myth of the Jakarta dream of the younger generation, urban farming, energy…

From a bachelor's degree in English Language and Culture to a master's degree in International Relations: a minor made it possible for Evanthia Andreadaki. 'For me, this is the perfect combination.'

What do you do when a discovery in the lab shows real promise? Scientist Mirjam Huizenga founded a startup to develop a new treatment for nerve pain caused by chemotherapy. ‘The goal is to give patients a better option.’

Cultural Anthropologist dr. Anouk de Koning has been awarded the Urban Citizen Fellowship to carry out research about democratisation of local democracy in Amsterdam.

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

Astronomer Jos de Boer has received the Chesneau Prize in Nice for his research into so-called protoplanetary disks. The prize is awarded to the best astronomical dissertation in the field of high angular resolution. 'I consider it a good opportunity to talk about my research.'

Ester van der Voet received the International Society Award in Industrial Ecology. She is awarded this price for her outstanding contributions and leadership in the field of industrial ecology, and her tireless efforts to promote sustainability and resource management. The ceremony took place on the…

Medicines are becoming increasingly precise and innovative, but at the same time increasingly expensive. With their innovations, it is up to universities to increase competition, thus causing prices to drop. This is what newly appointed Professor of Biomolecular Analysis Hubertus Irth argues. His inaugural…

The mandatory diversity quota in the Netherlands means that considerably more women are on supervisory boards of listed companies. This is evident from research conducted by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB) to which Leiden University also contributed.

Vier leden van het Grotius Centre, Larissa van den Herik, Carsten Stahn, Anna Marhold en emeritus hoogleraar Nico Schrijver, stellen in verschillende media dat de recente aanval op Iran in strijd is met internationaal recht.

In the Bachelor Honours Class ‘The Noble Art and Tricky Business of Translation’, Honours students learn about the tricky business of translation. To gain hands-on experience, students had to translate a poem for the seminar on poetry. For some translators-to-be, one language was simply not enough.

If you could design your own education, how would you do it? That is what the students of the Bachelor Honours Class 'Rebuilding Education' asked themselves. The students were divided into five groups in which they designed workshops to improve education. They presented their workshops in December in…

What role does the frontal lobe play in understanding sentences? Assistant professor Jurriaan Witteman has received a grant to replicate a leading study on this question. ‘As there is some doubt about the reliability of existing neuroimaging results, it’s important to replicate influential studies.’

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.

The AI chatbot ChatGPT has a clear left-liberal bias when filling in the Stemwijzer voting advice application. This was discovered by master's student Merel van den Broek during an assignment for the Machine Learning for Natural Language Processing course.

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The rise of authoritarianism, the strengthening of the radical right, and the role of the EU in defending democracy—these are just a few of the issues causing concern today. Is the EU capable of defending democratic values within the Union and beyond its borders? In an interview from the Lithuanian…

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In November, Leiden organized a book presentation to celebrate the first Dutch translation of the collected works of the twentieth-century poet W.H. Auden. A poetry translation contest added lustre to the occasion. There were no fewer than three winners.

After a long period of formation, the Rutte III cabinet presented itself on 26 October 2017. The coalition agreement on which ministers will build is called ‘Vertrouwen in de toekomst’ ('Confidence in the future'). But what impact will this new cabinet have on our future? We asked our researchers in…

No procession of professors, just a handful of people in the church and snowdrifts outside Leiden’s Pieterskerk: 8 February 2021 was no ordinary Dies Natalis. Carel Stolker transferred the rectorate to Hester Bijl, and Annetje Ottow became the new President of the Executive Board. With an honorary doctorate…

Rower Boudewijn Röell (31) already has one Olympic medal, but he's hoping to win another in Tokyo. 'At some point, though, you do have to stop.' Easier said than done in a time of corona.

Never before has so much research been carried out on the therapeutic effect of psychedelic drugs. Researchers at the LIBC Public Day are happy about the effect the drugs can have on depression, anxiety and PTSS, but at the same time they have some doubts. ‘The hype is bound to crash before long.’

Many an archaeologist, at some point in their career, is asked what type of dinosaur they discovered. Instead of once again patiently explaining that we do not do dinosaurs, the Faculty Board has now decided to listen to society’s call. ‘It is clear that the general public feels that dinosaurs are relevant…

Many people have fled to the Netherlands since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, including students. But even before this war, students with refugee backgrounds were eager to study at Leiden University. How does the University help young people from various backgrounds find their way around the Dutch…

PhD candidate Vincent Walstra reflects on alternative social interactions and mutual aid in the city of Rotterdam during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

From molecular ping-pong to cassava in the Amazon, and from extraterrestrial life to special antibodies. Twenty-five researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Veni grant from the NWO. A grant of up to 250,000 euros will give them the opportunity to further elaborate their own ideas over…

In 2011 Leiden University came into possession of the skeletons from a graveyard in Middenbeemster. But what could be done with all these bones and skulls? Well, the answer is: more than you might think. Since the excavation, it has been raining interesting scientific discoveries at the Faculty of Archaeology.…

Shyness is perfectly normal, Michiel Westenberg stated in his farewell lecture. But that doesn’t mean that social anxiety shouldn’t be identified and addressed in good time. ‘Serious shyness has strong genetic roots; you don’t just get over it.’

PhD candidates Vincent Walstra and Leen Felix in dialogue

Few have dared declare a winner of the debate between American president Donald Trump and his Democrat challenger Joe Biden. It was more about who was least worst. What do psychologist Willem van der Does, historian Andrew Gawthorpe and policy science scholar Brandon Zicha make of the debate?

Eiko Fried has been appointed professor of Mental Health & Data Science. This combined chair neatly fits the view that understanding complex mental health issues require the integration of statistical methods. ‘The idea that mental health problems are monocausal entities with simple etiologies is no…

This year’s edition of PRINS, the International Studies’ consultancy course, proved to be an inspiring event for most of its participants. Students, coaches and representatives of organisations are looking back on this rollercoaster of a course and reflect on why the PRINS experience is so special.