Your local city park may be improving your health, according to a new paper led by Leiden environmental scientist Roy Remme. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Remme and his colleagues describe how access to nature increases people’s physical activity—and therefore overall health—in…

Leiden biotech startup Azafaros has successfully completed a funding round, raising 25 million euros of investments for developing treatments of rare metabolic disorders. The company holds exclusive license to a library of novel patented compounds discovered by experts from Leiden University.

The Leiden archaeologist Wil Roebroeks has been awarded the Spinoza prize for his original observations about early hominins and the development of human society, NWO (Netherlands organisation for Scientific Research) announced on Monday 4 June.

The master thesis: for many students it is a true crowning glory. Some theses are truly excellent. Those are rewarded with the FSW Thesis Prize. This year, this award was won by Roosmarijn Goldbach (master’s Psychology) and Matija Čuljak (research master’s Psychology), who respectively researched borderline…

Getting out and exercising rather than slobbing on the sofa, breathing in fresh air instead of cigarette smoke and grabbing healthy snacks instead of junk food. In a new interdisciplinary Medical Delta programme, researchers are going to investigate how to help people live healthier lives. What are…

In the 1960s at MIT, cognitive scientist Marvin Minsky told a couple of graduate students to program a computer to perform the simple task of recognising objects in pictures, thinking it would be a nice summer project. Scientists from Leiden and the rest of the world are still working on it today.

Level Up is a non-profit project led by a multi-disciplinary team of doctoral researchers in the framework of the Europaeum Network was founded by the University of Oxford University. Sophie Veriter explains the importance of Level Up, the development of the ‘Level Up Toolkit’, and why this project…

Adolescents with good friendships experience fewer anxiety and depression symptoms, PhD student Iris Koele discovered in her research on high school students' social relationships. 'As a psychologist, I include friends in the treatment plan: who do you call when things are not going well?'

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.

Also in 2024, our colleagues from the Institute of Psychology were visible in the media in various ways. Check out their appearances in Dutch media, from NRC to the Podcast psychologist.

On a sunny afternoon in early June, the KCPEB Spring symposium ‘Spring for everyone’ was held in Leiden’s former orphanage, organised by the Expertise Centre for Psychology and Economic Behaviour. The theme of existence security and insecurity built further on the earlier Autumn Symposium. How is this…

Language is omnipresent: when you talk, app or meet in Teams. Understanding how we communicate with one another and what communication does to us is essential. In her inaugural lecture, Nivja de Jong will call to redress the balance between the sciences and the humanities.

Stressful events and a lack of support from the environment are both consequences and causes of mood swings in people with a bipolar disorder. This is the finding of PhD research by Leiden clinical psychologist Manja Koenders. PhD defence 7 April.

Flitsinterview met alumnus Kees van der Staaij: ik ben en blijf een jurist in hart en nieren

Science is under pressure and ‘alternative facts’ are increasingly being taken as truth. On 22 April, scientists will let their voices be heard on Museumplein in Amsterdam, for anyone with a passion for science. Zsuzsika Sjoerds is co-organiser of this March for Science and explains why knowledge is…

On 22 January, Annemarie Madani-Abbing will defend her dissertation 'Art therapy and anxiety' regarding her research into the effectiveness of anthroposophic art therapy in treating anxiety in women. We asked her about her research and what it was like to combine a job outside academia with studying…

In medical and psychological sciences, little research has been specifically conducted on women. Hormonal fluctuations were considered too intricate. Yes, research into sex and gender differences is complex, acknowledge neuroscientists Ellen de Bruijn and Lara Wierenga, but that’s precisely why it's…

A large interdisciplinary NWO research project attempted to discover the cognitive origin of the human ability to learn linguistic rules. This is not so simple, according to linguist Andreea Geambaşu and her colleagues. PhD defence on 11 December.

People in the Early Bonze Age used bronze artefacts as a means of payment. This is the conclusion reached by archaeologists Maikel Kuijpers and Catalin Popa in a PLOS ONE article published on 20 January.

It does not happen very often that a research project for a second-year bachelor's course gets turned into a proper academic paper. But International Studies students Pia Kurz, Coleen Gonner and Monika Bartnicka did just that. How did they manage it?

Professor Miguel John Versluys of Leiden University has been recognised with the esteemed Humboldt Research Award, a testament to his groundbreaking work in global archaeology, reception-studies and the deep history of globalisation. The award, granted by the Alexander von Humbold-Stiftung, celebrates…

Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from eLaw collaborates with researchers from the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIIT-Delhi) and University of Delhi (DU) in an effort to explore and reflect upon the potential legal, ethical and pedagogical challenges of deploying a social robot in…

Stress among students is a growing problem. A new Student Wellbeing taskforce will be looking at the mental health of students at Leiden University.

Five Leiden researchers have been nominated as members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW).They will be inaugurated on 16 September.

Dialysis patients experience a range of physical and mental symptoms that interact and influence each otherIn her doctoral research, psychologist Judith Tommel wanted to find the optimum approach to help these dialysis patients improve their quality of life. ‘We need to make sure we avoid excluding…

'Working on your leadership starts tonight,' says lecturer Sandra Groeneveld at the introductory meeting of the Leiden Leadership Programme. The programme has been renewed this year, and students are ready to dive into it: 'I hope to get to know myself.'

Parents’ talk about new stimuli such as persons or objects strongly affects how avoidant or fearful their child will react. No stronger effect was found when parents had an anxiety disorder or in children with fearful temperaments. Publication by a team of Leiden psychologists in 'Clinical Child and…

With what skills do Humanities students distinguish themselves on the labour market? How can we offer students insight into their personal profile? Can they train and monitor their skills and increase their chances on the labour market this way?

In our collective journey to bridge social, economic, and cultural inequality in society, we must al play a part, says Wilco van Dijk. Unfortunately, notes Carolien Rieffe, minority groups are often not included in this 'we.' This became a focal point of discussion during the fifth Psychology Connected…

On 12 January ten driven lecturers obtained their Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO). Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl congratulated them in the Academy Building. We asked three of them how the SKO programme had benefitted them, what they think ‘good teaching’ is and what makes them so passionate about…

For the next couple of years, Joris van der Voet, Associate Professor and researcher at the Institute for Public Administration will be heading a research project on top-level bureaucrats and how they go about making choices and prioritizing issues. He has been awarded a Vidi grant by the Dutch Research…

Ineke van der Ham has been appointed professor of Technological Innovations in Neuropsychology on 1 January. She researches how virtual reality and games help people navigate better. And this matters, as good navigation skills are about more than coming home safely.

Patients with chronic itching often cannot focus their attention on anything else. Psychologists want to help them, but they need more knowledge about itching and attention. Jennifer Becker therefore investigated this relationship in healthy individuals. She will defend her PhD thesis on 25 June.

It is with deep sorrow that we share the news that our dear colleague Andrea Evers passed away on Monday, 4 August 2025. Since 2013, Andrea had been affiliated with the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at Leiden University as Professor of Health Psychology. She was an undeniable driving force…

On 21 March 2024, the ‘learners’ at Wolfert Bilingual in Rotterdam were not teenagers, but some 180 teachers and teacher educators from around the Netherlands and beyond. Those delegates were bound by a common interest in exploring and engaging with teaching and learning in linguistically and culturally…

‘Jelena Prokic, university lecturer and researcher at the Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities, will be preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the digital world. In September, six modules will start on subjects such as statistics and digitally searching through texts.…

It is important for social animals to be able to recognise one another quickly. Humans are able to recognise each other immediately from their faces. Faces are also important for chimpanzees, but a new study by neuropsychologist Mariska Kret in PLOS ONE shows that the animals' buttocks also play a…

Livia, aged 7, was in class four. She loved to chat and was good at reading aloud. At least, at home. At school she never read aloud and she hadn't spoken a single word. What was going on? Selective mutism was the subject of the inaugural lecture by Maretha de Jonge, Professor by Special Appointment…

Four researchers from Leiden University will receive funding from arthritis foundation ReumaNederland over the next five years. This should facilitate long-term research into arthritis.

Light makes us flourish – in this respect we humans are just like a rose or an azalea. Light can also be used to treat people who are ill. In Leiden, Sylvestre Bonnet and Esther Habers are working – each in their own discipline – on new applications of light in a clinical context.

Neanderthals were able to make fire on a large scale with the aid of pyrite and hand-axes. This means they could decide when and where they wanted fire and were not dependent on natural fire, as was thought earlier. Archaeologist Andrew Sorensen has discovered the first material evidence for this. Publication…

In the very first Korean class that teacher Eun-ju Kim taught, there were already students with dyslexia. With a background in special education and clinical developmental psychology, she developed a new method to help them, partly based on teaching methods from Dutch first language education.

A new health programme will reward patients with - or at risk of developing - cardio-vascular diseases for keeping to a healthy lifestyle. A research group including psychologist Andrea Evers has been awarded 2.5 million euros by the Dutch Heart Foundation and the Ministry of Public Health, Welfare…

‘Very interesting’ is what two bachelor students have to say about the stories by Liesbeth van Vliet and Niki Antypa during the Psychology Science Day. The icing on the cake were the poster presentations about the bachelor's theses, admired and commented on by scientists and fellow students. Teachers…

After receiving positive feedback from peers, socially anxious young people feel as confident about themselves as their non-anxious counterparts. 'These young people are then able to handle new social situations more confidently,’ says Leiden psychologist Anne Miers. Her research is published in the…

Knowing whether or not a treatment is working just by wearing your watch? Data scientist Ahnjili ZhuParris has identified a lot of opportunities for the use of machine learning in clinical research to monitor test subjects at home.

Mountains of pepernoten, shelves full of chocolate letters and adverts showing the perfect Christmas table. With the holidays approaching, supermarkets are trying to entice us to buy all sorts of treats. Cognitive neuropsychologist Judith Schomaker researches how by directing consumers’ attention, you…

We are all at home in familiar surroundings. Not only is this boring but it can also have a negative influence on our learning, explains cognitive neuropsychologist Judith Schomaker. ‘Discovering new environments gets our brain learning and remembering. We are now missing this stimulus.’

Evidence that the right diet can prevent or alleviate depression is weak. In literature reviews on the subject, the authors often reach strong conclusions, nonetheless. This is what Florian Thomas-Odenthal, a master’s student in Psychology at Leiden University, discovered in his thesis research. Publication…

We know we should do it, and we often want to, but… Why is it so hard to live a healthier life? Professor of Behavioural Interventions in Population Health Marieke Adriaanse explains.