How do students’ interests develop over time and which interests are subsequently pursued in the higher educational choice of students?

How do lecturer-researchers at Dutch Universities of Applied Sciences perceive their academic identity after expanding their teaching-only work portfolios to include researcher roles, and how do they navigate attached identity-based role transitions, while balancing personal goals, institutional expectations,…

The Mathematical Institute has a rather liberal management structure. Tasks and responsibilities are distributed among the staff. Important decisions are taken by consensus. Various organisational divisions are featured below.

Roeland Merks is appointed as professor Multiscale Mathematical Biology (0.2 FTE) at the Mathematical Institute as from 15 January 2014.

What mechanisms shape faculty members' perspectives on their teaching role in research intensive universities?

Some examples of AI-research done at Leiden.

The hinterland of important centres like Petra (Southern Jordan) can provide essential information that contribute to the understanding of their rise, expansion and decline.

ICLON conducts research into primary and secondary education.

What is the impact of research-based learning on critical thinking competence and academic achievement in undergraduate education? What are underlying factors of research-based learning in the learning environment?

How do university lecturers perceive and exercise teacher agency, and what approaches can effectively explore agentic actions and underlying beliefs?

The overall aim of the project is to investigate effective ways to strengthen vocational identity of at-risk adolescents in order to contribute to a successful transition from late secondary to post secondary lower vocational education or to work.

A project aimed at understanding the complicated process of religious transformation in one of the centres of the early Muslim world.

Discover all the Leiden Science teaching talent that was part of this year's lineup.

This project aims to excavate and date the setting of the east gate of the Roman fortress of Udhruḥ. This will be compared with other Diocletianic military installations from the region. We also hope to retrieve another gate inscription which can shed light on the function and political embedding of…

Diversity and inclusion are core values of Leiden University. Leiden University is committed to being an inclusive community which enables all students and staff to feel valued and respected and to develop their full potential. Here we state the vision of the Mathematical Institute on diversity, equity…

The aim of this EU+ project is to study and develop instructional tools for inclusive pedagogies in higher education.

Five innovative and excellent teachers have joined the Leiden University Teachers' Academy (LTA). Members of the Academy exchange experiences and share their knowledge and expertise within Leiden University. Frank Takes, assistant professor at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS)…

Two directors. Both professors of mathematics, but one of them is a biologist. One comes, and the other goes. Roeland Merks will succeed Arjen Doelman as director of the Lorentz Center in September. What has been accomplished and what are the plans? And above all, what makes the Lorentz Center so un…

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2018, as well as special appointments and royal distinctions.

Sonja Boas developed new techniques to study vascular growth computationally. The results of her research provide a better understanding into mechanisms behind vascular growth, which is relevant to the development of medical therapies. She defends her thesis 'Computational modeling of angiogenesis'…

Plants not only sense when they are touched, but they can also adapt to it. For example, by strengthening or defending themselves. But how do plants do this? The Green TE (Green Tissue Engineering) consortium has been granted a Gravitation grant of almost 23 million euros to investigate exactly this…

A new mathematical model may explain how body cells get their shapes and what makes them move within a tissue. The model provides fundamental knowledge for applications in tissue engineering, amongst other things. Publication in open-access journal iScience.

Mathematical biologists from Leiden have developed a model that helps to explain how the spine and vertebrae, among other things, form during embryonic development. The same process, the other way around, plays a key role in cancer metastasis. Publication in iScience.

Three Leiden researchers have been awarded a prestigious Vici grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). They each receive 1.5 million Euro to develop their own research project in the coming 5 years.

An overview of the research at the Cancer Dug Target Discovery group.

A Vici grant and a Science-GROOT: scientists from the Institute of Biology Leiden have been awarded prestigious grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). From investigating bacteria without cell walls to harnessing plants with the help of microorganisms.

Higher education research improves the quality of education. And these investments more than pay for themselves in terms of well-being and prosperity. This is what Professor of Education Science Roeland van der Rijst will say in his inaugural lecture.

The moving boxes are unpacked, the floors are gleaming, and the workshop rooms look fresh and inviting. On Monday 16 June, the renovated Lorentz Center will be officially reopened by dean Jasper Knoester and rector Hester Bijl. Director Roeland Merks: ‘There’s a new energy running through our centre…

Mathematics can help predict thrombosis. Mathematician Mark Alber has developed models that even aid in suggesting treatments. In the Kloosterman lecture on 27 June, he will explain how this works.

The world around us is changing. What does that mean for the future of Europe, on this turbulent world stage? And what does it mean for our teaching, and for the expectations that Leiden University has of its students? These were the key questions during the opening of the 2018-2019 academic year on…

What do we really know about educational quality and its measurement? This was the subject of the first Higher Education Knowledge Café.

Leiden University was present for the second time at the second Leiden Pride on Saturday.

With a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros, Professor of Mathematical biology Roeland Merks will look for ways to fix messy and leaky blood vessels in tumours. His research combines mathematical simulations and lab experiments in a unique way.

Smiling faces, sweltering heat and a record-breaking donation – that was the Leiden Science Run 2025. On Saturday 21 June, the Leiden Bio Science Park turned bright orange as enthusiastic runners completed 4.5 kilometres to support research for vulnerable children.

The transition from single cells to multicellular organisms was a key step in evolution. Researchers from Leiden and Amsterdam developed a mathematical model that explains how this transition may have come about. They suspect cooperating cells may correct each other’s mistakes. Publication in eLife…

Mechanics play a larger role in blood vessel formation, and other developmental biology, than previously thought. Cells appear to respond to mechanical signals, such as pressure. Through the extracellular matrix, a network of fibrous proteins, cells can supposedly exchange those mechanical signals over…

On 12 September the students of the European Law Master gathered in the Lorentzzaal for the festive opening of their programme.

David Versluis successfully simulated an infant gut virtually. This is crucial for research on improvements in formula milk. Currently, such research primarily relies on diaper contents, which is not optimal. Versluis defended his doctoral thesis on April 23.

How do biological cells join forces to form a structure? In her PhD research, Daphne Nesenberend uses mathematics to show how forces and cooperation between cells create structure – and how simulations and experiments can reinforce each other.

Leiden University regularly confers honorary doctorates, and presents awards and prizes.