The Confederation of Laboratories of Artificial Intelligence Research in Europe (CLAIRE), Europe’s grassroots organisation of scientists and experts in Artificial Intelligence, announces the opening of administrative offices across Europe.

Horses were first domesticated in South-West Russia, is the conclusion drawn by an international team of researchers writing in the well-respected journal Nature. Their conclusion resolves a longstanding archaeological question. But, surprisingly enough, this domestication did not contribute to the…

More than 60 European researchers and industry partners have set out their roadmap for the application of graphene in marketed products. Leiden chemist Grégory F. Schneider believes that graphene and other layered materials can in the future be used for DNA sequencing applications.

The vulnerability of the European electricity sector to changes in water resources is set to worsen by 2030 as a consequence of climate change. This conclusion is reached by researchers at Leiden University in an article published in Nature Energy this month.

On April 13 2018 during the Arts Festivals Summit in Ljubljana, Prof. Frans de Ruiter has been appointed Honorary Member of the European Festivals Association, of which he has been President for 14 years.

This book, written by two representatives of Leiden Law School, describes the framework of the European Insolvency Regulation (recast) (‘EIR Recast’), in force since June 2017.

On 21 April 2016, Leiden University College The Hague, in collaboration with The Hague Institute for Global Justice and the T.M.C. Asser Institute, hosted a book launch and panel discussion for Dr. Joris Larik’s new monograph “Foreign Policy Objectives in European Constitutional Law”, which has recently…

Kirsten Sandberg appointed as Rotating Honorary Chair in Enforcement of Children’s Rights 2025/2026

EUROTYPES is a research project developed by political scientist Adina Akbik, for which she recently received a European Research Council Starting Grant. Her aim is to examine the impact of cultural stereotypes in European multi-level policy enforcement. One of EUROTYPES' innovations lies in its focus.…

A new social media campaign launched by students from across Europe, including Frederik Behre from the Europa Institute, is aiming to motivate young Europeans to go to the polls.

On 30 August - 3 September 2021, Valentina Carraro and Jan Aart Scholte presented their papers during the General Conference of the European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) in Innsbruck, Austria.

Why doesn’t the EU use market power to enforce migration readmission? Student Benoit Pols explains on the European Lawblog why trade sanctions remain politically sensitive — and legally tricky.

On 29 August 2025, the Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights programme celebrated its 10th anniversary with alumni, partners, and friends, marking the milestone with reflection, dialogue, and the launch of a new Education Fund.

This dissertation examines the European Union’s response to the growing problem of disinformation. It uses this case to critically analyse how societies interpret and manage information challenges such as ‘fake news’ and propaganda.

EUMOTIONS explores the role of emotions expressed by political elites (at EU- and member state-level) in framing the EU’s policy options during international crises.

Lecture, LUCL Colloquium | Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) Seminars

On 27 May, 180 pupils from Vlietland Secondary School visited Leiden University’s law faculty. At the school, pupils learn about themes that are important for them as well as for the world, such as sustainability, globalisation and children's rights.

On Friday 12 January 2018, the University of Curaçao celebrated its 39 years of existence. Prof. Ton Liefaard , Professor of Children’s Rights and UNICEF Chair in Children’s Rights addressed the audience with a lecture entitled: “20 years United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Do we…

On 27 February, Rodrigo Pica, Secretary of Chile’s Constitutional Court, gave a lecture to the students of the Advanced Master’s in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden Law School.

Alumni who live and work in Brussels met on 18 February at the annual Leiden Alumni in Brussels Event. As well as celebrating Leiden University’s 450th anniversary, they also looked at the challenges Europe faces.

How important is a child’s right to meaningful peer relationships? Vaishnavi Ramalingam wrote her master’s thesis on this topic, and was recently awarded the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) Jan Brouwer Thesis Prize 2026.

On 25 August 2018, the Leiden Adv. LLM Study Programme in European and International Business Law (EIBL) celebrated 25 years of its existence.

On 13 April, an expert meeting to discuss the doctoral thesis of Eduardo Arenas Catalán was held at Leiden Law School. The discussion, chaired by Aart Hendriks, Professor of Health Law at Leiden Law School, included the contributions from Javier Couso Salas, Professor at Universidad Diego Portales and…

The European University of Well-Being - EUniWell - unites the Universities of Birmingham, Firenze, Köln, Leiden, Linnaeus, Nantes and Semmelweis with 102 associate partners drawn from seven distinct regions of Europe. On their new website, you’ll read all about their shared vision for improving European…

On 26 and 27 October 2017, the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC) organized its annual meeting at the Academy of Sciences in Lisbon, Portugal. Prof. Arnold Tukker of CML, Leiden University, was invited to give a keynote speech on a circular economy.

On 4 March, KPN published the seventh edition of the European Cyber Security Perspectives. Els De Busser and Tommy van Steen, both Assistant Professors at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, have contributed an article on interdisciplinarity.

The European Rule of Law Conference 2025, hosted by re:constitution at the Berlin Social Science Center (15-16 September), brought together scholars, practitioners, and civil society to critically examine the challenges facing democracy and the rule of law in Europe and to explore ways of shaping their…

On 1 November 2023, Professor Ton Liefaard presented research on the rights of undocumented children to the Council of Ministers of Curaçao.

Claire Vergerio, political scientist at Leiden University, has been awarded a VENI grant by Dutch research organisation NWO. This will allow her to conduct an in-depth analysis of the legal rights and duties of non-state actors involved in warfare. The aim is to tackle some persistent blindspots in…

Professor Ann Skelton has been elected as Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child.

Political Scientist Gisela Hirschmann (Leiden University) asks how international organisations can be compelled to comply with respect human rights. She finds that this is done through ‘pluralist accountability’: external third parties such as courts, NGOs, or regional organisations holding international…

From 5 to 9 March 2018, the Child Law Department and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden Law School and the School of Law of the University of Curaçao Dr. Moises Da Costa Gomez hosted a Spring School on Children’s Rights in the Caribbean Region in Curaçao.

The Dutch State is set to challenge The Hague Court of Appeal's ruling that the Netherlands must stop exporting arms to Israel at the Supreme Court. The government believes that foreign policy falls within the political domain and not within the judiciary. Geerten Boogaard, Professor of Constitutional…

Leiden researchers have developed an app that doctors can use to more easily determine the right dosage of medication for corona patients. At the moment, doctors are prescribing many existing kinds of medication to patients. Using the app, they can determine a safe and effective dosage.

Dutch and Flemish partners, including Leiden University, are joining forces as the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) in the fight against the spread of fake news, and have received the support of the European Commission.

In 1986 a group of international human rights experts convened in Maastricht to discuss the character and scope of state parties’ obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights. This resulted in the Limburg Principles on the Implementation of the International Covenant…

Houben and Ten Oever investigate the relationship between public service obligations in EU law (PSOs) and human rights. PSOs served mainly as a correction to free market forces and did not originate from a human rights perspective.

After a year of hard work, the second class of students of the Master of Laws: Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights received their well-deserved master diplomas on Monday 28 August.

The 4G network will soon be replaced by 5G. 5G will enable users to set up faster and more reliable data links as well as better privacy protections. For intelligence agencies, however, the upgrade in data protections will create huge problems.

On Wednesday 12 December 2018, the department of Child Law, on the initiative of dr. Yannick van den Brink, dr. Stephanie Rap en prof. dr. Ton Liefaard), organized an expert meeting on ‘Equality, children’s rights and digital technologies’. The objective of the meeting was an in-depth exchange of ideas…

The book 'The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child' is the result of the international academic conference – ’25 Years CRC’ – which was held in November 2014 in Leiden on the occasion of the 25th birthday of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor at eLaw Leiden, was invited as a speaker at the Annual Conference of the European Academy of Law (ERA), on 21 March in Brussels.

The book “Becoming a European Homegrown Jihadist” of Dr. Bart Schuurman, Assistant Professor at Leiden University's Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), is published by Amsterdam University Press on 22 March 2018.

On 30 October 2017, the current class of students of the advanced LL.M. programme International Children’s Rights visited the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

We are pleased to invite abstracts for a conference on ‘Advancing Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights in a Polarised, Digitalised, and Unequal World’ to be held at Leiden University on 4 and 5 September 2025, in collaboration with Netherlands Network for Human Rights Researh (NNHRR).

Are you interested in meeting Bede Sheppard, Human Rights Watch’s Deputy Director of the Children’s Rights Department? Bede will be at LUC on Thursday the 26th of May for the #WatchOurSchools event in the auditorium, and we are giving our students the chance to meet with him before. In order to win…