The electrochemical hydrogenation reaction is an alternative approach for the transformation of unsaturated bonds without the use of flammable dihydrogen gas.

PhD defence

Haunting the future through poetry

On Wednesday 3 September 2025 Yu Ai successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Are you thinking about studying abroad for a semester? We came across two students who want to share their experiences with you.

For a long time, even many researchers thought that guide dogs were a relatively modern invention. An accidental encounter with archival material showed university lecturer Krista Milne that guide dogs helped their blind owners as far back as the Middle Ages. Milne now has received an NWO XS grant to…

On 2 September 2022, 300 students received their Bachelor Diploma of International Studies. The students were awarded their diplomas in the historic Pieterskerk in Leiden, in front of a large audience of family and friends. With about 1000 people present, including the graduates, the International Studies…

At the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), scholars have been studying the Indian subcontinent with attention and expertise for more than 100 years. This part of South Asia is an economic giant with a population of over two billion. Nira Wickramasinghe, Professor of Modern South Asian Studies,…

On Friday 23 June, the Austrian Studies Fund was established with a festive gathering in the Faculty Club. This fund is the successor of the Austrian Studies Foundation and will continue and expand the program of activities of the Central European Studies chair at Leiden University, which was established…

The Leiden Jewish Studies Association is pleased to announce a call for nominations for the

The Fourth Annual Leiden Austrian Studies Lecture “Was the Habsburg Empire an Empire?” was given by Professor John Connelly on Monday, March 20, 2023 at Leiden University’s Faculty Club.

On Friday 29 August 2025, 370 students received their Bachelor's degree in International Studies. The diplomas were awarded in the historic setting of the Pieterskerk in Leiden. Family members, friends, and staff gathered to celebrate this joyous occasion with the graduates in a packed Pieterskerk.

On Wednesday 1 September, the first thirteen students of the new BA Urban Studies at Leiden University, received their diplomas in person in The Hague. During a festive graduation ceremony, they were congratulated by rector magnificus Hester Bijl.

Marian Klamer's LAISEANG project has been awarded a research grant by CLARIN.

The Foundation for Austrian Studies and the Institute for History are very glad to announce that Monika Baár has been appointed as the holder of the Special Chair for Central European Studies.

Are you interested in the BA programme International Studies but not yet sure what it all means?

Overview of granting opportunities in the wider digital humanities community. Follow links for the most up-to-date details on deadline dates/times and conditions for applying.

Chinese materia medica (CMM), comprising a diverse array of natural substances from plants, animals, and minerals, has been integral to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) throughout history. This study investigates the dynamic evolution of CMM, noting shifts in species for improved therapeutic effects…

On Monday 26 August, students were warmly welcomed at the Wijnhaven location with a blue carpet and live music. Accompanied by their friends and family, they gathered to receive their BSc Security Studies diploma.

On Wednesday 14 February 2024 Yorum Beekman successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

During their second year, the students of the bachelor Security Studies get a feeling of what their professional career might look like.

On Friday 29 August, the Wijnhaven was filled with a special mix of first-year students just beginning their academic journey, and students who, after 1,089 days of intensive study, were awarded their Bachelor’s degree in Security Studies. In two festive sessions, a total of 223 students received their…

Cramming from a book, making notes or learning summaries. In the past these were about the only ways to memorise your course material. But that has long since changed. Multimedia is the code word. But is it effective?

The nineteenth-century writer Nicolaas Beets and his son Dirk were thoroughly colonial, Nicholas without ever having been to the Dutch Indies, or any other colony for that matter. But they didn’t realise it. The new Scaliger Professor, Rick Honings, shows that writers’ archives are a treasure trove…

Aesthetic formations and cultural repertoires give meaning to our reality in ways that are never neutral. Focusing on the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and its global interlocutors, this project brings together a team of scholars from Leiden University who bring in inter-disciplinary, inter-area…

Memory, Imagination, and Mimetics in Contemporary Composition and Historical Performance

You have been admitted to a PhD track at Leiden University. What do you need to know when you start conducting your PhD research?

The skin has recently gained attention within body studies for its many specific cultural and social associations, in addition to its biology. This project aims to examine the different layers of meaning and the functions invested in the skin in ancient Greece: how did ancient Greek literary and medical…

Experimental research

The role of transnational, non-institutional networks in the opening up of British transatlantic trade at the end of the 17th/beginning of the 18th century

This research cluster explores processes of cultural creation, reception and transformation within a wide range of societal contexts from the early Middle Ages until c. 1800.

This research project is supported by an NWO Aspasia grant, DeepDish TV, crowd-sourced funding, and the Democracy and Media Foundation.

The aim of this project is the linguistic documentation of Bakola, a Narrow Bantu language.

The multidisciplinary one-year master’s programme in North American Studies provides students with comprehensive knowledge of North American history, literature, film, and culture and their connection to contemporary social, political, literary and cultural developments in an international perspecti…

Volume 4 and 5 of the Leiden series 'Dutch Sources on South Asia' are now available, written by Markus Vink (vol.4) and Carolien Stolte (vol.5).

How can pre-Islamic poetry be used as a source to reconstruct the history of central Arabia at the dawn of Islam?

Building on its extensive holdings in Asian studies, including much material that can support the study of “unofficial” histories and cultures, Leiden University Libraries has established the Leiden Chinese Queer Collection (LCQC).

This lecture will be hosted on Thursday, 9 April 2026 at 6:00 pm - 10:00 pm.

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) ensures that its research practices align with its commitment to inclusion, responsible evaluation, and open science. Our policies and guidelines provide clear principles for ethical research conduct, data management, sustainable travel, PhD supervision,…

Nuran Buket Cengiz defended her thesis on 13 June 2017

On 17 January 2024 Ying Wang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Interested in an internship at the Dutch Ministry of Defence? Good news! Leiden University and the Royal Netherlands Air Force have formalized their cooperation to offer students an unique opportunity to conduct an internship at an active military base in Woensdrecht, the Netherlands.

Beatrice Noun (alumna BA International Studies) currently lives in Paris and works for the World Bank as a consultant while doing a master’s degree at Sciences Po in International Development. We caught up with her and asked her a bunch of questions like which steps lead her to this career path? And…

On 25 January 2024 H.J. Pak successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Paolo Sartori is a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Iranian Studies of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna. In Leiden he will deliver one guest lecture on Twilight of the Persianate: The Vernacularization of Central Asia (18th - early 20th Centuries) on 12 April and a masterclass on How can we…