Kim Jong Il, leader of North Korea, is dead. His youngest son Kim Jong Eun is expected to be his successor. Remco Breuker, Leiden Professor of Korea Studies, gives a profile of the new leader.

The NWIB Visiting Professors Programme offers assistant professors, associate professors and full professors at participating universities a unique opportunity to work undisturbed in an inspiring and stimulating environment. This programme enables you to stay at one of the five Netherlands Scientific…

Eco-innovations like more economical cars do not generate the environmental benefits predicted by the manufacturers. This is the result of the so-called rebound effect, concludes Leiden industrial ecologist David Font Vivanco on the basis of new algorithms. PhD defence 3 March.

North Korean detention camps are no different from Nazi prison camps. But as long as the country remains economically isolated, international criticism will be ineffective, writes North Korea expert Remco Breuker in the opinion section of Dutch newspaper NRC on 21 February. Breuker advocates using the…

Leiden University is happy to announce that it has won a prestigious Jean Monnet grant for a Centre of Excellence. The Centre, called CompaRe, focusses on comparative regional integration.

The Chairman IBM Europe & Country General Manager IBM Netherlands, Harry Van Dorenmalen, gave a guest lecture in the M.Sc. ICT in Business course ‘˜Change Management‘™. Van Dorenmalen emphasized the need in the current knowledge economy for people to become specialists. His lively lecture discussed…

The European University for Well-Being is organising a hackathon from 14 to 21 September to generate concrete proposals for this virtual university and to create a EUniWell identity. Leiden students and staff are welcome to take part.

On 12 and 13 September 2019, the Institute of Tax Law and Economics from Leiden University hosted 29 PhD researchers from around the world to engage into collective discussions at the Multilateral Cooperation in International Tax Law seminar.

You’re about to start your minor at Leiden University. Make sure you are well prepared and get your studies off to a good start.

Following a highly successful first edition, we are delighted to announce the second Leiden eLaw Summer School on ‘Regulating AI in the EU Digital Market’ taking place from 23 to 27 June 2025, both in person in Leiden and online.

Historical figures such as Columbus have returned to the centre of public debate. Much remains to be discovered about his legacy and current impact on our society. A new study shows the ecological footprint that the arrival of Europeans left in the Caribbean islands.

An online course offered by Leiden University on the European Union is among the top 50 MOOCs in the world. This was announced recently by MOOC platform Class Central.

On Saturday, February 11, 2023, at the Dies for Alumni event, archaeology alumni Everest Gromoll was awarded the LUF Thesis Prize. His thesis, titled ‘Neolithizers by Nurture’, explores parallels between the only two comparable climatic shifts in the history of modern humans: that of the one 12,000…

Every year, the Leiden University Student Platform (LUS) chooses the best lecturer in the university. The prize is awarded during the Opening of the Academic Year, this year on 5 September.

Why did fewer women suffer from osteoporosis in the past than today? And which aspects of a city make public spaces safe, accessible and comfortable for all residents? These two research questions will be explored in more detail thanks to an Impulse Grant from the Leiden University Fund.

This spring the Netherlands holds the presidency of the European Union. Leiden Europe researchers have taken the opportunity to examine the future of the European Union and where appropriate to give advice. They will present their book on Friday 29 April in Nieuwspoort.

Dr. Elif Naz Kayran received the Best Dissertation Award from the Migration & Citizenship Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA) for her dissertation 'Political Responses and Electoral Behaviour at Times of Socioeconomic Risk Inequalities and Immigration'

LUMC Campus The Hague will be contributing to the health of the inhabitants of The Hague with research, teaching and a training programme for GPs. The new campus is an initiative of the LUMC, Leiden University, the hospitals in The Hague, the Area Health Authority and the municipality of The Hague.…

The extension of the Dutch government’s Covid-19 relief measures for businesses has ensured that in the last six months of 2020 the number of bankruptcies was at an all-time low. However, according to the Bijzonder Beheer Barometer (special risk management barometer) an initiative of PwC and the Department…

Hans-Martien ten Napel has been awarded a Research Fellowship in Legal Studies at the Center of Theological Inquiry (CTI) at Princeton University, USA, which enables him to be in full-time residence at CTI for the academic year, 1 September 2014 to 31 May 2015.

Hybrid Workshop: In person and online on 26 – 27 January 2023.

Professor of Korean Studies Remco Breuker has been awarded a subsidy from the European Research Council to study the dispute between both Koreas and China on the history of Manchuria. Political scientist Daniela Stockmann will be examining the role of social media and how the Chinese authorities handle…

Today’s world faces large-scale climate change and other environmental disruptions. Meeting these challenges involves major adjustments to economy and society, with substantial potential for conflict and violence. This dialogue assembled leading authorities on the relationship between climate and peace,…

Foreign investments in the Dutch East Indies during the colonial period could have been of more benefit to the Indonesian economy. Foreign investments in the Dutch East Indies during the colonial period could have been of more benefit to the Indonesian economy. But the complicated relationship between…

‘Make use of us!’ This is what the collaborating universities of Rotterdam, Delft and Leiden have to say to administrators and policymakers. And the call has not fallen on deaf ears, says Marja van Bijsterveldt, the Mayor of Delft. ‘Now more than ever we can use knowledge to solve societal issues in…

If you look closely, you may recognise the metal beams from the skeleton of the Circular Pavilion near Leiden Central Station: they come from the demolished Gorlaeus Highrise. The same beams have also been used for the circular construction of BioPartner 5 at the Leiden Bio Science Park, which will…

As the father of a family with four children, he already visited the Hortus regularly. Now Tom Schreuder also comes there for his work. Every day he travels from Lisse by bike. The new Director Operations calls it a ‘perfect match’.

How do you go about the sustainable restoration of a nineteenth-century ship without affecting its historical worth? Leiden University students from the master’s programme in Industrial Ecology spent six months working on this question. We spoke to Hidde Boom (25) and Tycho Jongenelen (25), two of the…

Understanding what our buildings and cities are made of is an important step in making them more sustainable. Industrial ecologist Tomer Fishman (CML) has received an ERC Starting Grant to map the construction materials used in buildings in the Global South. 'Without the data, you can't formulate po…

Together with 4 other students and ENGIE, Hein Laterveer, a Public Administration student, won the Rotterdam100, a talent contest for young entrepreneurs with ideas for the ‘Next Economy’. The Dutch winners travelled to Singapore for the international final. Hein talks about this special trip and educational…

Rong Yuang, PhD candidate from the Institute of Environmental Sciences investigated the impact of the renewable energy expansion on China’s carbon emission. On 17 May, she will defend her thesis. China is investing heavily in the development of low-carbon electricity sources, like nuclear, hydro-,…

In the current political situation of Bulgaria, it seems that a long-term caretaker government is the only viable option at the moment. Dimiter Toshkov, Antoaneta Dimitrova and Bernard Steunenberg of FGGA analyse what the Bulgarian caretaker government can learn from its Dutch counterpart.

In 1808, the United States banned the transatlantic slave trade. Not everyone was happy about this, as Marcella Schute discovered. In her thesis, she shows how politicians from Louisiana made serious attempts to restart the slave trade in the mid-nineteenth century.

Europe can only maintain its level of consumption by structurally relying on resources extracted abroad. This finding was published in the September issue of the prestigious journal Global Environmental Change, in a paper that was co-written by scientists at Leiden University.

No fewer than 194 students received their bachelor's diplomas in International Studies on Friday 26 August.

After ISGA and LUC had been at the forefront with the first live webinars, the Institute of Public Administration followed last Friday with the first live webinar for the Bachelor in Public Administration. While LUC and Security Studies provided an English webinar for both national and international…

An enormous number of monumental buildings, such as burial tombs, appeared in Mycenaean Greece after 1600 BC. Why did this urge to build come to an abrupt end 400 years later? Archaeologist Ann Brysbaert investigates the possible causes thanks to her ERC Consolidator Grant.

On Thursday 15 February, the second ILS Lunch Seminar of 2018 took place. Prof. Jean-Pierre van der Rest and Maria Berghuis gave two excellent presentations on their particular research topics.

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker expressed his support in the media for 'The Real Opening,' the protest against government cuts. 'The plans are a disaster for higher education.' Professor Remco Breuker, one of the organisers of this protest on 2 September, called in NRC Handelsblad for a stop to the…

On Monday 30 January, some 550 students from the International Studies programme in The Hague were the first to enter the largest lecture hall in the new Wijnhaven building. Here they were personally greeted by the Rector Magnificus of Leiden University and an alderwoman from the Municipality of The…

'If a local dares to speak to you, do interact, but mind what you say.' This was the advice given to Stephanie van den Akker, second-year student of International Studies, during her visit to North Korea. And yes, one local did actually speak to her, leaving her completely speechless.

Researchers from Leiden and Indonesia work together on a range of projects on topics such as disappearing languages and cultures, the role of Islam, circular economy, biodiversity and medicine. They also work on projects to improve legal education and make Dutch sources and Indonesian heritage accessible…

The NWO just announced the results of the Vrije Competitie proposals. Paul Smith, professor at the French department is, as a member of LUCAS, one of three scholars within the Faculty of Humanities at Leiden University who has been awarded this grant.

Op 26 april 2012 kwamen ze samen om ervaringen te delen met Leidse staf: twaalf Chinese promovendi die in Nederland zijn in het kader van het beursprogramma van de China Scholarship Council. Tien dagen eerder, op 16 april, ontving de Universiteit Leiden een delegatie van Peking University.

Vincent Bakker has won the 2017 Thesis Prize of the research master’s programme Political Science and Public Administration. His study of labour market effects of social investment policies is the crowning achievement of Bakker’s work as a MSc student. It also marks the start of his academic career.…

A diverse team of Leiden archaeologists applied for, and was awarded, the KNAW ‘Appreciated!’ grant, meant to further their science communication endeavours. We speak with Dr Maikel Kuijpers, who is the main contact person of the application.

To generate renewable energy takes more space than one might think. New research by environmental scientist Paul Behrens and master's student John van Zalk shows how much space is needed for nine specific types of energy. Biomass, hydro and wind, while vital, take up the most space. Natural gas and…

‘The Hague is rapidly developing to become a knowledge city and Leiden University is making an important contribution to this development.' These were the words with which alderman Joris Wijsmuller opened The Hague Day of Architecture on Saturday 20 May 2017. Wijnhaven was the focal point of the day…

On Thursday 3 March , Prof. Margaret Moore will give the annual Centre for Political Philosophy lecture.

Research organisation NWO has awarded a VICI grant to five Leiden researchers. In total, 32 leading researchers in the Netherlands have been awarded a VICI grant.