A new study sugggests that through informal networks, Mesopotamian merchants established a standardized system of weights that later spread across Europe, enabling trade across the continent. The advance effectively formed the first known common Eurasian market more than 3000 years ago. “This is…

Less meat and dairy means more space for nature, leisure, climate, biodiversity, more justice, and it's good news for the economy. That's according to the thought experiment conducted by Strootman Landscape Architects and Leiden environmental scientists. They presented their findings on 11 April.

In the summer, the government fell over migration. The more conservative course of the VVD went straight against the more progressive course of the smallest governing party. New elections were called for 22 November. This meant that the incumbent government would present a new budget just before the…

The world’s population is expected to rise to 9 billion people in 2050. At the same time, climate change urges us to dramatically reduce our use of resources. Does the transition to a circular economy offer us a way out, and if so, how? Master Honours Class’ students are looking into this issue: ‘Change…

On Sustainable Tuesday, two weeks before Dutch Budget Day, the Dutch cabinet receives a suitcase full of sustainable ideas and initiatives. The initiators' aim: to make the government plans for the upcoming year a little more sustainable. At the Leiden Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), assistant…

Robin Smith, post-doc of the 'Food Citizens?'-project wrote an interesting blog for the Leiden Anthropology blog on the basis of her previous fieldwork on the role of trust in the wine industry in Istria.

Dr. Sara Brandellero, expert in Lusophone literatures and cultures and member of the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society, will lead a research project about urban night life and migration, culture and integration in eight European cities. The project aims to support community well-being…

Each year, the Dutch government publishes its Budget Memorandum on Budget Day, or Prince’s Day as it is known. The economy is doing well, and elections will be held at the start of 2021, so it’s most likely that many a rose-tinted plan will emerge from the briefcase on Prince’s Day on 17 September.…

The Dutch government has come up with a package of financial support to help businesses and the self-employed make it through the corona crisis. Economist Wimar Bolhuis sees it as a clear signal that the government is prepared to bear the brunt of the economic blow. ‘For the time being it has sufficient…

Research on this theme concerns the legitimacy and effectiveness of Europe’s institutional order in the face of public alienation and normative contestation.

In countries with complex domestic situations, citizens have little opportunity to exercise influence on governance and policy. Leiden academics research these situations and share their insights with the public, such as in Nigeria for instance. This enables the people and their communities to improve…

Religion, Philosophy, and the Pre-modern World

The research project MAXCAP: Maximizing the integration capacity of the European Union: Lessons and prospects for enlargement and beyond starts with a critical analysis of the effects of the 2004-2007 enlargement on stability, democracy and prosperity of candidate countries, on the one hand, and the…

At Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP) Leiden University works together with the business community, the LUMC and the Municipality of Leiden.

The oldest university in the Netherlands was founded on 8 February 1575 in the Pieterskerk in Leiden. This was at the time of the Eighty Years’ War with the uprising of the northern provinces against domination by the Spanish.

This project explores the decline of shifting cultivation in Northeast India. What is the impact on society of people’s deepening engagement with markets and the state?

For a long time, the painful history of colonial slavery received too little attention. People whose ancestors lived in slavery are now asking critical questions about how we should address that past. Leiden University researchers study the history of colonialism and slavery and their long-term impact…

As environmental and ecological changes and their impact become more urgent, demand for Industrial Ecology experts is rising. More and more national and international companies, local and national governments and NGOs are interested in our alumni, who possess the interdisciplinary perspective and skill…

In this project, we will study the genetic and environmental drivers of woodiness and stem lignification at the level of plant‐to‐gene‐to‐molecule.

A new special issue on translation and the cultural Cold War sheds light on the understudied and yet important role of translation in cultural transfer.

Overview of Leiden publications on Central Asia. For additional publications dedicated to a single country, please go to individual pages of the researchers, which you can access through the Researchers page.

Various coursework and training modules are offered at the level of the LIAS, the Faculty of Humanities, and the University. Some are available to PhD candidates for free, and some charge a fee. All modules offered by the LIAS are available for free, and are announced to all PhD candidates on email…

Below you can find lists of Leiden-based and international organizations working on Central Asia, and an overview of useful resources on Central Asia.

The Cleveringa chair was installed by Leiden University in memory of Professor Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa and the courage he demonstrated in November 1940 during the German occupation . It also commemorates the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945.

The Just Peace Dialogues were a set of meetings for public deliberation of key aspects of building peace in today’s world. The dialogues were held across seven days at the heart of the Just Peace Festival (16 - 22 June 2025).

The center studies the many ways in which issues of law and justice are dealt with in art and literature with a focus on liminal issues and cases. These are issues and cases where law comes to the limits of what it is capable of dealing with and art and literature explore the implications of what is…

The CEES Centre regularly hosts (guest) lectures, roundtables, and film screenings.

Together Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam form the strategic alliance Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities.

Research on this theme concerns Europe’s position in global markets, its response to the emergence of new international trade and financial actors that challenge institutions where Europe has long had considerable influence.

The extensive use of electronic communication channels and other devices has opened new possibilities for collecting data on human behavior. This information is sometimes openly accessible, but largely part of administrative registration systems that are not open to the broader public. The data provides…

Loopholes in international tax legislation contribute to the misuse of tax rules by multinationals. Leiden University legal experts investigate how the complex national and international tax rules can be made more consistent in order to create a better tax system.

Every semester, LUCIS invites a scholar to Leiden to provide a lecture series on a topic of their choice. With these lectures, we aim to present state-of-the-art research in Islamic studies to the Leiden academic community and beyond, and to offer students and junior researchers the opportunity to get…

In July 2022, Leiden hosted the ESOF conference.

The International Relations and Diplomacy programme gives you a unique combination: a thorough academic education in international relations and political science with practice-based training in international negotiation and diplomacy.

Your tuition fee depends on a number of factors, such as your nationality and your previous Dutch higher-education qualifications.

The NWO-funded Vidi project “American foreign policy and liberalism” challenges the idea that the United States has created and sustained a “liberal international order” since World War II. It instead explores the ways in which illiberal ideologies – such as those underpinning racial hierarchy at home…

Every year, the World Cultural Council grants special acknowledgements to five to ten young researchers or scholars of the host country who have achieved outstanding performance in the fields of science, education or arts.

The Social Assistance and Minimum Income Levels and Replacement Rates Dataset, assembled by Jinxian Wang and Olaf van Vliet (version December 2016), provides data on minimum income benefit schemes in 33 countries from 1990 until 2009.

In our European and International Business Law Advanced Master programme, you learn to decipher the hierarchy of European & international business law

Africa is fascinating! In today’s globalised world, the continent plays an increasingly important role in international, social and cultural developments. Would you like to explore the many sides of Africa and its impact on the rest of the world, while also learning one of its languages? Our African…

What are the institutional dynamics of the adoption of internal market legislation?

It’s Not Easy Being Green – but we’re here to help! Do you want to live more sustainably but have no idea where to start? Are you interested in making the world greener and do you want to get to the bottom of hot topics? Or are you sceptical about climate change and do you want to hear about the…

To be eligible for Southeast Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

Your tuition fee depends on a number of factors, such as your nationality and your previous Dutch higher-education qualifications.

The Zmapp medicine has been developed with funding from the US government within the framework of the Small Business Innovation Research programme. The European Commission tried to emulate the success of this programme within the EU. Has its effort been adequate and sufficient? Is procurement of research…

The minor ‘(Inter)national Tax Planning and Policy’ offers a programme for career-oriented students, combining a strong focus on skills development with state-of-the-art knowledge of the (inter)national tax arena in which the interests of stakeholders – businesses, citizens, NGO’s, governments and states…

To be eligible for East Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

To be eligible for South Asian Studies at Leiden University, you must meet the following admission requirements.

With a MSc in Chemistry you are well prepared for a wide range of career opportunities. The chemical industry is one of the largest contributors to economic prosperity worldwide.