What are International Studies Alumni doing after graduation? Get to know Guido, Paulien and Lennart. They all studied International Studies at Leiden University in The Hague and are now working in three different fields.

On Thursday 28 March 2024 Said Reza Huseini successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Material culture and the role of rural communities in exchange systems of the eighth and ninth centuries

On 30 January 2024 Jurre van der Meer successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The project is inspired by the Faro convention

Cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) is a powerful technique used to visualize the inside of cells and to study specific protein complexes. Within this thesis, I describe the use of various cryo-EM techniques to gain insight into the structural changes of the human pathogen, Vibrio cholerae, as it…

Global climate change is manifest by local-scale changes in precipitation and temperature patterns, including the frequency of extreme weather events (EWEs). EWEs are associated with a myriad range of adverse environmental and societal consequences, including negative impacts to agriculture and food…

This PhD project analyses the politics and aesthetics of depictions of torture in American and European ‘war on terror’ films.

Exploring cultural production in Europe, Latin America and Africa, the institute’s research programme focuses on the continuous interconnectedness of the Arts and Society in both the textual culture of literature, learning and public debate and the visual culture of art, architecture, film, photography…

Stylianos Irakleous defended his thesis on 6 February 2020

Studies on representative bureaucracy have often confirmed the positive performance effects of bureaucracies mirroring the demographic characteristics of their clientele. However, little is known about the underlying individual level mechanisms leading to these outcomes.

2017 was the Leiden Asia Year. Leiden has had connections with Asia and built up extensive knowledge of the continent over many centuries. This Leiden-Asia link has been in the spotlight for the past year.

Channi Li defended her thesis on 15 October 2019.

Exactly 230 students received their Bachelor’s Diploma of International Studies on 1 September 2017, in front of a large audience of family and friends. With almost 1,000 people present this was the largest graduation ceremony of the programme since its founding in 2012.

A fully corona proof graduation at Campus The Hague and the first class of graduates for the Bachelor Security Studies. It was a day to be remembered for 36 students and their families.

Source: Br. J. Pharmacol., Volume 172, Issue 3, pp. 940-55 (2015)

Niek Strohmaier and Gitta Veldt will start as assistant professors within the project Empirical Legal Studies (ELS). Their appointments are part of the sector plan of Leiden Law School.

Leiden heritage expert Sjoerd van der Linde is carrying out research on the heritage of the Caribbean region. This research forms part of the international Nexus 1492 project on the consequences of colonisation for the Americas. ‘We first have to find out what the local population wants.'

Abstract submission is now open for the international conference of the ELS Academy, in Amsterdam on September 1 and 2. For the 2022 International ELS Conference, we invite all involved in legal research using qualitative and/or quantitative methods to submit abstracts, that may focus on ongoing or…

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

Archaeologist Annelou van Gijn received an NWO Archeologie Telt grant to investigate domestic craft and subsistence activities of late Neolithic peoples in the coastal area of the Netherlands

Do citizens care for interest representation? A study on citizens’ perceptions and feelings towards the representative potential of civil society

An international team of researchers, involving members from the ERC Synergy project NEXUS 1492 based at the Leiden University, the Universities of Oklahoma, Copenhagen and York reveal challenges when studying ancient microbiomes in a recent issue of Scientific Reports.

On Wednesday 5 February 2025 Milan Ismangil successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Ambroise Paré, Thomas Sydenham and Herman Boerhaave: all were great medical innovators in their time. We know far less about the 19th-century Russian physician and scientist Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov. PhD candidate Inge Hendriks researched him in Dutch and Russian archives and collections. She discovered…

On 1 April 2023, Rowie Stolk of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law started a new appointment for 0.7 FTE at Empirical Legal Studies Leiden (ELS@Leiden). ELS provides a platform that brings together legal scholars and social scientists to collaboratively explore legally relevant…

The archaeology of transregional exchange (1st millennia BCE-CE)

What socio-cultural transformations did indigenous communities in the Lesser Antilles undergo from the late precolonial to the early colonial period in response to Amerindian­ European-African cultural encounters? How did Amerindian populations realign themselves in response to the colonisation…

Philology and Manuscripts from the Muslim World

How can we organise society so as to keep our planet habitable for us and for all other life forms around us? To answer this question, Leiden researchers collaborate across disciplines, from biology to data science, and from environmental economy to archaeology.

The project

If you would like to apply for this programme, you should first check the admission requirements.

LUCAS hosts a wide variety of research. Here we outline some of the most important research themes.

Chiara Piccoli has been awarded a scholarship by the Italian Research Council to work at the Virtual Heritage Lab of the Institute of Technologies applied to Cultural Heritage (ITABC-CNR) in Rome.

In this ‘Educatips’ column, Psychology lecturers share their most important lessons about teaching. This month: Zsuzsika Sjoerds and Sebo Uithol teach students critical thinking with their app 'Family Dinner'. With success: 'The old exams have become too easy.'

On Wednesday 25 June 2025 Dechun Zhang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Wednesday 24 September 2025 Marija Šerić successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Every January, students of the Minor Sustainable Development have the opportunity to put what they’ve learned over the last few months into practice in a choice of exciting and practical courses called Area Studies. This year, for the first time, there was a choice of four locations: The Netherlands,…

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PhD defence

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

A study programme all about cities and their issues. Three years ago, the bachelor's programme Urban Studies was a newcomer in The Hague. By now, the first theses are being written. André Gerrits, programme director, talks about the programme’s success: 'The intake of first-years has increased from…

Course

Leiden University has launched a unique new interdisciplinary study programme: Urban Studies. Studying Urban Studies, students will research present-day and future urban issues. It’s the first Leiden University programme that’s a collaborative effort of five different faculties.

The BA Religious Studies programme has been awarded the label 'Topopleiding' (Top Education) in the Keuzegids 2021.

The battle at the Tollense valley took place in 1300 BC, the Bronze age. The archaeological site now is being threatened by climate chance. In an international collaboration, archaeologist Martijn Manders and his students are involved in the ongoing fieldwork.