Recently, a new edition of the ELS bulletin was sent out. Furthermore, we are thrilled to share the Midterm Report of the ELS lab @Leiden with you!

Quasicrystals are crystals with ‘impossible’ five-fold symmetries, which nevertheless were synthesized in the lab in 1982. Paul J. Steinhardt helped figure out their structure, but he didn’t stop at that.

Ben Wielstra studies balanced lethal systems, in which half of the offspring die before birth. In the journal Current Biology, he explains in an accessible way how such a disadvantage can originate in nature.

On March 7th 2019, eLaw (the Center for Law and Digital Technologies of Leiden University) will participate at the INFORM Final Conference 'Data Protection Summit: Beyond being INFORMed' at the Hilton Hotel in Sofia, Bulgaria.

The ASA Board of Directors notes that, serving for almost a decade, the editors transformed History in Africa “into a peer-reviewed journal that not only engages a broad range of historical issues but commands respect throughout the field.” The award will be presented during the African Studies Association…

What did the pub culture in Leiden look like in the nineteenth century? Where do specific signs in sign language originate from? How did scholars collaborate in research projects before the era of digital communication?

We are very honoured to announce that on the 1st July Bart Custers has been appointed Professor of Law and Data Science and has thus become the first Professor in the new 'stimuleringsprogramma' SAILS.

Political philosopher Nicholas Vrousalis (Leiden University) has been awarded a EURIAS Fellowship at Aarhus University’s Institute for Advanced Study (AIAS). From from 1 October 2018 to 31 July 2019 Vrousalis will work at the Danish research institute on his project ‘Inequality against Freedom: Economic…

Scientific methods and techniques have been employed in archaeological research since the very birth of the discipline. It is impossible to imagine modern archaeology without this expertise in archaeological sciences. These archaeological sciences take centre stage in the new temporal exhibition at…

On Saturday 3 August 2019 at 10:30 am, a fatal shooting took place in a Walmart in El Paso (Texas, USA). Twenty people died and 26 people were injured. Several researchers from the Institute of Security and Global Affairs of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) have appeared in the media…

Jan Vleggeert is a tax specialist with an independent and critical voice in the debate on tax avoidance by multinationals. His appointment commenced on 1 October 2019.

Yvonne Erkens, Associate Professor at the Department of Labour Law and Social Security co-organised a symposium entitled ‘Misdirected allegations of breaches of research integrity’ with Frits Rosendaal (LUMC) and Ivan Oransky (Retraction Watch) at the World Conference on Research Integrity. The conference,…

Academic studies or an academic career are a big challenge if you are deaf. Particularly in Africa, where many countries don’t even have secondary schools for the deaf. A team of Leiden academics has organised the first summer school for and by deaf academics on the African continent, in Ghana. We spoke…

In September 2019, Manon Mulckhuyse will start a position as assistant professor in the Cognitive Psychology Unit.

The most densely populated country in Africa, Nigeria, is fighting a war on two fronts. Not only is Nigeria being confronted with violence on a national level by terror group Boko Haram, on a regional level there are conflicts between shepherds and farmers.

On 1 January 2019, Gijsbert Rutten became LUCL’s new Director of Education. We asked him about his plans.

Leiden University is demolishing a number of old laboratories of the Faculty of Science in a sustainable way. The Dutch Green Building Council, an organisation that seeks to ensure sustainable construction and demolition, awarded this approach four stars.

Wout Broekema is shortlisted for the Els Witte Prize 2019, an award for best Doctoral dissertation in political science. The prize is instated by the Nederlandse Kring voor de wetenschap der Politiek (NKWP).

Leiden University kicked off the first PhD Symposium ‘Institutions for Conflict Resolution’ (COI). COI is a nation-wide partnership that serves to implement the Dutch Legal Sector Plan (2019 – 2024). This partnership aims to preserve the authority and legitimacy of government institutions and the judiciary,…

On June 7 Restless Horizon, a composition by Richard Barrett and Milana Zarić, premiered online.

Tanja Masson-Zwaan and Dimitra Stefoudi of the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) in Leiden, along with two others, co-edited the book ‘Building Blocks for the Development of an International Framework for the Governance of Space Resource Activities. A Commentary’.

Privacy continues to keep the attention: from MeToo! to Facebook. The legal magazine 'Ars Aequi' has published a special issue 2019 dedicated to the concept of Privacy. Three contributions originate from eLaw, the center for Law and Digital Technologies at the Faculty of Law.

On 1 November 2019, the annual awards of the NLF (Nederlands Lucht- en Ruimtevaartfonds) were presented at a Gala Dinner at the Hotel van Oranje in Noordwijk.

Dr. Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh has been selected for a stay at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS-KNAW) in Amsterdam.

At the International Federation of Classification Societies (IFCS) conference 2022 in Porto, psychologists Tom Wilderjans, Jeffrey Durieux and Julian Rossbroich won the IFCS Cluster Benchmarking Challenge. They wrote the best paper on benchmarking and were awarded with an official plaque and book voucher…

When it comes to wealth distribution in the Netherlands, you often hear that there is a huge gap. Is that true? And is this gap also widening, as is often claimed?

Despite repeated warnings, John Chau visited the remote Indian island of North Sentinel. His goal: to convert the North Sentinelese to Christianity. These islanders, however, aren't in for outsiders and killed the missionary upon his arrival. Anthropologists Erik de Maaker, Tessa Minter and professor…

“I’m determined to innovate the healthcare system to suit the needs of an ageing population.” As the student ambassador, Merel Vangeel will be the first contact for prospective students who are curious about the Master Vitality and Ageing. She will use her own expertise of the master’s to advise new…

Pancras Hogendoorn, Professor of Pathology and Dean of the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), received an honorary doctorate from Semmelweis University in Budapest on Friday 8 October 2019.

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy is delighted to announce it will be starting its own podcast series! The series will be aimed at bringing the themes of the journal’s research off the page, and onto the discussion table. Each episode will feature a guest who will share their insights and personal experience…

Practically the whole world came together on International Cultural Night on 29 November. International students got together on this night organised by Meeting Point for Refugee Students and showed their culture through dance, poetry, film and of course food. A great source of inspiration for fascinating…

After successfully completing the Media Technology MSc program, Tom Kouwenhoven became a PhD student. He now investigates how humans and Artificial Intelligence can better communicate with each other, to avoid awkward confusion.

On 15 April 2019 upon the invitation of SIB-Amsterdam- Dutch United Nations Student Association Monika Baár gave a masterclass on the contemporary political situation in Austria and its historical antecedents.

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.

From 27 to 31 January, a workshop on the regulation of plastic pollution based on scientific evidence will be held at the Lorentz Center in Leiden.

On Sunday 28 October, the annual open day of the Old Observatory in Leiden takes place. During this day everyone can visit the Old Observatory for free and enjoy activities in this historic building.

On Tuesday 24 September the Marengo trial, also known as the trail against the so-called Mocro Maffia, continued behind closed doors after the fatal shooting of barrister Derk Wiersum. The main suspect is Ridouan Taghi. He is believed to be residing abroad along with several accomplices.

The university has been shaping the city of Leiden for 450 years. A brief history of the university buildings that have helped define the city.

In the summer there are three big introduction weeks for new students – EL CID, HOP and OWL – but students also begin their studies in Leiden or The Hague halfway through the year too. International students, for instance, who are coming for on an exchange for a few months. They got to know the University…

The strangest things come out at night. This is the motto of the Leiden Museum Night due to take place on 28 May. Leiden University is once again playing a key part.

This event is in Dutch. De Verenigde Naties hebben 11 februari uitgeroepen tot International Day of Women & Girls in Science. De Universiteit Leiden viert deze dag met een open publieksevenement met vrouwelijke topwetenschappers van haar bètafaculteit. Iedereen is welkom vanaf 13:30 uur in het Kamerlingh…

Het NIMAR is een instituut van de Universiteit Leiden dat studenten van verschillende studierichtingen de mogelijkheid biedt om zich te verdiepen in de Marokkaanse cultuur.

Assistant professor Political Philosophy Dorota Mokrosinska has received the ERC Starting Grant for her project Democratic Secrecy: A Philosophical Study of the Role of Secrecy in Democratic Governance. The project, running from 2015 to 2020 is funded by the European Research Council

A European team of astronomers, led by Leiden-based researcher Konstantinos Migkas, has uncovered a large filament — a long, thread-like structure — of hot gas connecting four clusters of galaxies. This filament is made up of what scientists call the warm-hot intergalactic medium.

An international team of astronomers has shown that a white dwarf and a red dwarf orbiting each other every two hours are emitting radio pulses. Through the discovery, astronomers now know that the monopoly on bright radio bursts is not solely held by neutron stars. The team of international scientists…

Antique wooden oars, hard-fought medals and iconic photos from rowing history. An exhibition at Oude UB spotlights key figures and moments from the 145-year history of Njord Royal Student Rowing Club.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has formally approved the withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from the regional body. The approval comes just days after President Bola Tinubu promised German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier that ECOWAS would handle the three countries'…

Nematic liquid crystals form the key ingredients of most tv screens. The active version of these complex fluids forms a useful model for physicists to research the responses of active matter—like bacteria or traffic flows—to mechanical and geometrical cues. An international research team publishes their…

During the week of 15 November, Little Amal, the larger-than-life doll visited The Hague. Naturally she received a warm welcome by Leiden University during her visit. Little Amal (art project The Walk) was invited by Amare.

Following developments in the US, the EU has now also opened the door for large-scale State aid to its own sustainable industries. A means to curb China’s power. However, this plan is driving the EU and the US apart.