Museum De Lakenhal is displaying the smallest work of art in the world: a 3D-printed statue of Rembrandt van Rijn, made by sculptor Jeroen Spijker and researchers from Leiden University.

New archaeological research into grave goods and skeletal material from the oldest grave field in the Netherlands shows that male-female roles 7,000 words ago were less traditional than was thought. The research was conducted by a multidisciplinary team of researchers led by Archol, the National Museum…

Fanny Wonu Veys was appointed Professor of Art and Material Culture of Oceania on 1 August. Time for an introduction.

Professor Ian Lilley, the Faculty of Archaeology’s Willem Willems Chair in Archaeological Heritage, was invited by Her Excellency Mrs. Marion Derckx, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Australia, to present the 2022 commemoration speech for Netherlands Memorial Day on May 4th at the Netherlands-Australia…

Two hundred years ago Caspar Reuvens was appointed as the first professor of archaeology in the Netherlands. He was to lay the basis for both the National Museum of Antiquities and the Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University. To mark the occasion, the faculty is organising an anniversary lecture…

Tim Rietbergen, master student Evolutionary Biology at Leiden University, won the award for the best Leiden University Fund (LUF) grant application of 2018. The jury praised his proposal ‘On the origin of Bats’ to be the most creative and of exceptionally high quality. Rietbergen will spend the prize…

What do children think about computer science and the profession 'programmer'? Shirley de Wit and her colleagues from the Programming Education Research Lab (PERL) are investigating how children see programmers and whether they have stereotyped images of this profession. Last summer more than 550 children…

For the annual Week of Classics, Dr Marike van Aerde and her team made a documentary about their research project Routes of Exchange, Roots of Connectivity. In the film the team touches upon the interactions of Greeks and Romans with the wider ancient world, ranging from the African kingdom of Aksum…

On 1 October, Yvonne Bleyerveld, Senior Curator Drawings and Prints at the RKD, becomes the Professor by Special Appointment 'Art on Paper and Parchment' at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University. The chair, established by the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD), is hosted by the Leiden…

Op zaterdag 3 juni vindt de Museumnacht Leiden plaats. Ook dit jaar zijn Leidse wetenschappers en studenten onderdeel van de programmering.

Many humanities graduates find work in digital heritage, but a good pedagogical model to match education is lacking. University lecturers Karin de Wild and Peter Verhaar want to change this with a Comenius grant.

For decades, academic publishing has followed a familiar script: Conduct research → write a paper → submit to a journal → (wait) → peer review → (revise) → maybe get accepted → finally, publish. Yet, this traditional model is increasingly under scrutiny, as several structural issues have become difficult…

During this presentation Professor Sarr will engage with epistemological questions such as What types of knowledge? How are they produced? For which purposes? These questions are fundamental to Africans in their struggle for political, cultural and economic emancipation. In order to imagine and construct…

This week the good news broke as the Egyptian authorities have given their permission to continue the excavations in Saqqara in 2019!

The subsidy funds new research into the: Economies of Destruction. The emergence of metalwork deposition during the Bronze Age in Northwest Europe, c. 2300-1500 BC.

This year's London Hellenic Prize is awarded to Caroline Vout for her excellent study of representations of the human body in sculpture, Exposed: The Greek and Roman Body.

Museum Jan Cunen in Oss presents the very first retrospective exhibition of the richest graves from the early Iron Age (800-500 BC), including the one of the iconic Lord of Oss. Leiden archaeologist Richard Jansen was guest curator and the exhibition tells the story of the funeral rituals of the local…

In 1993, Prof.Dr. L.J. Slikkerveer was appointed as Chairman of the Pithecanthropus Centennial Foundation, commemorating the centenary of the discovery of ‘Java Man’ (Pithecanthropus erectus) by Eugène Dubois in 1893 in Trinil, Java, Indonesia with an International Conference at Leiden University on…

The new special issue on non-western non-state diplomacy, edited by Natalia Grincheva and Robert Kelley, is available online now and contains two Forum essays, four articles and two book reviews.

Marijke Brouwer started as an archaeologist, excavating Iron Age settlements in the Dutch polder regions. Today she is the director of medieval Huis Bergh, one of the largest castles in the Netherlands. How did this unusual career development come about?

During the 20th anniversary meeting of the Netherlands' Catalysis and Chemistry Conference, Marc Koper received the Netherlands Catalysis and Chemistry Award. ‘The ultimate candidate for the prize’, it says in one of the recommendation letters.

The Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) has appointed four Leiden professors as members. Petra Sijpesteijn, Vanessa Mak, Mariska Kret and Miranda van Eck have recently joined the KHMW.

In July 2019 Asser Press published the book 'Sweetie 2.0—Using Artificial Intelligence to Fight Webcam Child Sex Tourism’ which was coedited by Simone van der Hof en Bart Schermer from the Center for Law and Digital Technologies, Bert-Jaap Koops from the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society…

Employees are now in a better position to negotiate the terms and conditions of their employment. This is mainly visible in wage increases and fringe benefits. Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics at Leiden University, spoke to NU.nl about workers' improved negotiating position.

Archaeology is the only science that allows us to study the material traces left by most of human evolution. But what happens when we bring philosophy into the picture? A new series of papers demonstrates how philosophical reflection can enrich archaeological research - especially when grappling with…

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy regularly updates its digital bookshelf with recommendations of recent books on diplomacy, global affairs, and international studies.

The Faculty of Humanities offers an inspiring international working environment with room for diversity and innovation to staff and students from home and abroad.

My name is Pepijn Reeser, I’m 34 years old and I graduated in 2008 as a historian. I’ve been working in the museum world for about ten years, mainly as a freelancer. My most important project is Het Taalmuseum (the Language Museum); I’ve been involved in that since 2016. Leiden University is one of…

In collaboration with the The Hague Historical Museum and photographer Dagmar van Weeghel, Leiden University Libraries (UBL) is the first to present a retrospective exhibition of the photographic oeuvre of Alexine Tinne (1835 – 1869). New research into her life and work is the reason for a reappraisal…

For many people, five o’clock signals the end of their working day. But not for the motivated students of the Honours College Law. With some drinks and snacks, they keep going well into the evening. This time, they met for the festive conclusion of a course which brought the history of Dutch crime to…

A passion for video games, visuals and science: it almost seems impossible to bring all of this together. Yet, scientific animator Vera Williams found that dream combination at NeCEN's microscopy lab. 'An image or animation can help clarify the content of complex research.'

Beads are among the oldest types of human artistic expression. Even so, the small ornaments have a bad status record regarding archaeological investigation. PhD candidate Mette Langbroek, usually at home studying early medieval beads, had the opportunity to work on a publication and exhibition on 5000…

Seven large reproductions of works by Rembrandt on seven Leiden University buildings reveal the relationship between the painter and the University. Rembrandt van Rijn enrolled in the University in 1620 and painted the portraits of various alumni of the University. In addition, the University Library…

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…

What do you do when you never got the chance to sign your name in the Sweat Room after graduation? Alumni Brantly Hancock and Kent Moore from the U.S. emailed the alumni officer with a request and came back to Leiden two years after graduation, to finally sign: “It’s a good feeling!”

This month marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphic writing. NINO, the Language Museum, Things that Talk and the National Museum of Antiquities are seizing the opportunity to organise the first Week of Ancient Writing.

From games to scavenger hunts: museums already do all sorts of things for children. But how do children really look at art? Do paintings affect them more if they receive information that is specially tailored to young visitors? Join psychologist Francesco Walker at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and see…

On 8 October 2021 (15.00-17.00) Prof. Dr Lena Liepe (Linnaeus University, Sweden) will hold a lecture entitled: "Exhibiting the Sacred: Holy Matter in Museum Displays".

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day was held and the Dutch 2022 'Persvrijheidsmonitor' was presented. The safety of journalists in 2022 was the most important theme in the area of press freedom in the Netherlands. Tarlach McGonagle, Professor of Medial Law & Information Society in Leiden, and Otto Volgenant,…

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will head a delegation that is visiting Indonesia at the end of June. The visit is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Leiden’ institute KITLV-Jakarta. What does this institute do and why is Indonesia important to the University?

They call their team ‘The Walking Dead’: Leiden Egyptologists Lara Weiss, Huw Twiston Davies and Nico Staring. A fitting name for a group that conducts research into Saqqara, an Egyptian city of the dead. ‘We are trying to trace religious traditions. What did these mean for people’s lives and burying…

‘We’ve come because our granddaughter started studying archaeology here this year. But I’m really interested in archaeology too.’ The Open Day at the Faculty of Archaeology on 12 October was a field day for archaeology fans: workshops, lectures, activities for children and a pub quiz that covered the…

After a big two-day conference, the Growing Up Together in Society consortium has officially begun. Researchers from seven universities will spend the next decade looking at how young people grow up as engaged and resilient adults. Leiden psychologists explain how they will do so.

Stijn Bussels and Bram van Oostveldt have both contributed with an article in the book of Caroline van Eck: Idols to Museum Pieces. The Nature of Sculpture, its Historiography and Exhibition History, 1640-1880.

A Centre for Global Heritage will be set up at Leiden University, that integrates the unique global breadth and quality of academic expertise at the University and the Leiden Museums with the global infrastructure of practical consultancy expertise built up over the past years by the Centre for International…

From 19 to 21 September, the Third annual conference of the Law and Development Research Network took place at the National Museum of Ethnology (Museum Volkenkunde) Leiden.

‘Fernweh: Crossing borders and connecting people in archaeological heritage management ’