Several media published articles on the latest research from a team including Thijs Bosker, Associate Professor Environmental Sciences, last week. The research has shown that whales in the vicinity of Auckland New Zeeland consume three million microplastics a day.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has granted four grants to Leiden humanities scholars. They get to spend this money on research on a topic of their choice, without thematic preconditions.

On Thursday 10 January the annual Meijers prizes were awarded for the best published article, of each faculty research programme, written by Assistant Professors or other academic staff members. The winners received a certificate and a sum of money to spend on research.

What are you going to do for peace and justice? What will your contribution be to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals? And who or what do you need to make sure your idea has impact? Come to Humanity House in The Hague on 21 September.

Winning gold in speed skating at the Olympic Games is not just a matter of training hard; data science can also lend a hand. Jeroen van der Eb of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) developed the measuring skate for this purpose, with which he recently won the Nationale Sportinnovator…

The Winter School of the Food Citizens? project has been a success! Running from Monday 24th January to Friday 4th February 2022, with this milestone we handed down the project’s methodological toolkit as a team. Nine participants attended in Leiden, coming from Belgium, Ghana, Italy, Lithuania, the…

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

On Monday, 1 February a beautifully designed and accessible book appeared about two centuries of student financing and apprenticeship in the Netherlands, entitled Kansen in het Koninkrijk (‘Opportunities in the Kingdom’). The book was presented to Job Cohen, a Leiden University professor and chairman…

Ups and downs for students from year 12 and/or vwo 6 who are selected for the Academic Challenge and the Dutch version of this challenge, the ‘Wetenschapscongres voor vwo’.

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

A ‘new governance culture’ – a hot topic for a number of years now. What kind of culture of public administration do we have in the Netherlands and how do you change it? This question is the focus of the podcast Het Spel & De Macht (the Game & the Power). Each episode considers one theme related to…

The inner city of Leiden has gained three new wall formulas. On Wednesday 22 November at 15:30 in the Klein Auditorium, alderman Robert Strijk will reveal the paintings of Lorentz contraction, Oort constants and electron spin.

Historian Robert Stein is a lecturer in Medieval History. He was recently awarded the Senior Teaching Qualification. What did he learn from the STQ track and what lessons does he plan to apply in his hybrid lecture room?

What is the best way for us as a society to deal with all the different forms of diversity? Professor Marlou Schrover will use the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) to explore this question with colleagues and the public.

On Thursday 11 December 2025, Daan Roovers, the philosopher and former Denker des Vaderlands (Philosopher Laureate), will give the 54th Huizinga Lecture at the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden. Under the title What’s at stake: The boundaries of politics and fair play, she will reinterpret Johan Huizinga’s…

Looking for a job after a financial crisis is not easy, but Ward Hoskens (28) managed to take his fate into his own hands. During an internship, he found his way to the Pieterskerk, where he now works as a junior curator. Director Frieke Hurkmans took him on.

Scientists of the faculty of Governance and Global Affairs research completely different subject, among which terrorism, cybercrime and migration. In the upcoming weeks we will give the floor to several of our very best researchers. In this episode: Constant Hijzen researches secret services.

Of the 87 Vidi research subsidies awarded by NWO, five have been awarded to Leiden researchers. This represents almost 6 per cent of the successful applications.

On 1 November 2018, Marieke Bloembergen was appointed Professor of Archival and Postcolonial Studies at the Institute for History.

The Military Information and Security Service (MIVD) prevented a Russian hacker attack on the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) in The Hague. Scientists Paul Abels, Willemijn Aerts, Constant Hijzen and Sergei Boeke of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs responded to…

On Tuesday 20 March, Constant Hijzen, Assistant Professor of Intelligence Studies at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), gave a lecture in the Diplomacy and Global Affairs Research Seminar series of Diplomacy and Global Affairs Research, titled ‘Of ticking bombs: Western services against…

On May 25th, Prof. Damian Pargas will hold his inaugural lecture

On 28 December 2019, Dutch newspaper Trouw published an essay by Constant Hijzen, Assistant Professor Intelligence Studies at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and the Institute for History. In the essay, he discusses two books on a new genre of espionage: the authors provide access into…

A bloody civil war has raged for years in the Central African Republic. PhD candidate Crépin Mouguia points out a tragic pattern: young people have been recruited as fighters or soldiers for generations and thus fuel the conflicts.

Herman Paul (professor of History of the Humanities) has been elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He will be officially installed on 30 September.

Dossier AIVD: that is the name of a new podcast launched by Assistant Professor Constant Hijzen (Intelligence Studies) together with research journalist Wil van der Schans on Tuesday 29 October. Five questions about the NPO Radio 1 podcast produced by Dutch broadcasting cooperation KRO-NCRV.

Italian historiographers in the 16th and 17th centuries wrote remarkably often about the Dutch Revolt, better known as the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). Their works influenced public opinion both in Italy and in the Netherlands. This is the conclusion reached by historian Cees Reijner in his dissertation.…

The Chinese History chair has a long, rich history within Leiden University. Since 1 February, this position has been held by Ying Zhang. ‘Leiden University brings together a legendary range of Asian knowledge.’

The International Workshop 'Maritime Conflicts and their Resolution in Atlantic Europe (13th-17th Centuries)' takes place at the University of La Laguna, Tenerife (Spain) from 21 to 22 April 2017.

Too expensive groceries, diseases suddenly breaking out: from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, hundreds of people documented the world around them in chronicles. A significant number of these texts have been digitised in recent years. Professor of Early Modern Dutch History and project leader…

A permanent job or start your own company? After her studies in English Language and Culture and History, Anna Visser (28) was faced with this exact choice and chose the latter. She started working as a freelance translator. How did this go and how did her studies benefit her?

Historian Dario Fazzi is the new professor by special appointment at the Roosevelt Institute for American Studies (RIAS), a strategic partner of the Faculty of Humanities. He starts on 1 September and will combine his new position with his current teaching duties at the Institute for History.

In September 2025 Leiden University hosted a greatly successful academic conference

Lecture

Assistant professor Carmen Van den Bergh has been nominated for the Leiden University Teaching Prize. ‘I combine literature education with social relevance and personal experience.’

In De Kookshow, Universiteit Van Nederland explores the scientific world behind food. Ever wondered which senses influence how tasty you find something? And why do you always have room for pudding after a meal? Leiden historian Kim Beerden is among the scholars providing answers.

On the 26th of February, 2018, it was exactly 25 years ago that the coins of ‘Verzameling Mr. B. Kolff’ were handed over to the Leiden Papyrological Institute.

Vegetarian cafés/ Vegetarische cafés

On Tuesday 9 June 2020, researcher Maral Darouei defended her PhD thesis on sustainable careers. A large part of her research dealt with working from home.

After the fall of the Dutch cabinet, the Party for Freedom (PVV) ministers have resigned. They are now entitled to redundancy pay. Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour Law, answered questions on the topic in the NPO podcast ‘Alledaagse Vragen’.

Researchers from Leiden University have investigated the living conditions of Dutch fighters in Syria. Their report is central to a panel discussion on Tuesday, 24 May.

De deadline voor de scriptieprijs van de Stichting tot Gedachtenis is verlengd tot 4 januari

Although both government and the public would like scientists to share their work with the widest possible audience, this does not always seem an easy route for scientists.

Yiya Chen has been appointed professor of Phonetics at Leiden University as of March 1, 2020.

The Sebeok-Love Award is awarded annually by the editorial board (a selection of articles is shortlisted by editors) of Language Sciences, for the best article published in the previous year.

Arco Timmermans, Professor by special appointment of Public Affairs, discusses the current protests in the Netherlands and whether this is a new phenomenon

Dutch households, especially those on middle and high incomes, pay billions of euros more in tax than promised in election manifestos. Companies, on the other hand, generally pay less tax than initially announced. These are the conclusions reached by Wilmar Bolhuis, PhD student at Leiden University.…

Election Day is over, but it's by no means clear who the new President of the United States will be. On the morning after Election Day, US expert Sara Polak relects on the results that are in so far, and looks ahead to the coming days.

Great news: the MOOC

Conatus News has publiced an extensive review of the book The Fall and Rise of Blasphemy Law by Paul Cliteur and Tom Herrenberg.