We are confronted on a daily basis with news about the Corona virus and its consequences. We read alarming headlines like 'Dutch becoming increasingly anxious about Corona virus' or 'Huge fears and stress about Corona crisis'.

Over the past 40 days people in Bulgaria been demonstrating against the deep-rooted corruption in the country. The anger of the protesters is directed predominantly at the government of Prime Minister Borisov. But not all arrows are aimed at their own leaders, some are also pointing towards Brussels.…

Linguist Willem Adelaar was appointed to Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion on October 1st. On that very same day he celebrated his 43-year connection to Leiden University. Adelaar has an impressive track record in the field of indigenous, and often endangered, Amerindian languages.

Two teams of Leiden Mathematics and Computer Science students have won the golden and bronze medals at an international programming contest with 605 participants. Member of Parliament and ICT politician of the Year Kees Verhoeven congratulated them personally.

Researchers from Leiden, in cooperation with Philips, have won a challenge in which international research groups dedicate themselves to accelerating MRI scans with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). They developed an algorithm with which it is possible to use eight times less data than normal…

Lev Manovich, world-renowned innovator in digital humanities and theorist of digital culture and media art, is the first speaker in the Media Technology MSc program's "Hello World!" lecture series.

Molecular Science & Technology student Renske Donkers has won the second edition of the Young Star Award. During the ceremony on Wednesday 17 February, no less than three teachers were awarded the title 'Teacher of the Year'. Finally, students had a surprise in store for all teachers: with a video they…

On Friday evening 17 September, Leiden astronomer Joe Callingham can be seen in a new series on Discovery channel. Killers of the Cosmos is about different deadly dangers lurking in the depths of space. Asteroids, cosmic debris, electromagnetic weapons… The show takes a film-noir approach to these threats,…

Individual molecules are extremely hard to see through feeble fluorescence. Tiny gold nanorods serve as new antennas to intensify their signal 500 times. Publication on 24 February in Angewandte Chemie.

Storing energy is one of the biggest challenges in the energy transition. Hydrogen could be a solution. Chemist Daan den Boer is researching how to make the chemical reaction needed to store energy in hydrogen as cheap and efficient as possible.

Thanks to Ian Cook’s ‘Who Made My Clothes?’ MOOC, thousands of students have researched where their clothes come from. How does this geographer from the University of Exeter manage to inspire such enthusiasm in his students? He and his student Zahra Ali will explain all during the Education Festival…

Not one, but two Olympic rowing medals with a Leiden-Delft touch. Master student Life, Science and Technology Stef Broenink won silver in the double pair. He and partner Melvin Twellaar were in front for a long time, but were overtaken by the French at the last minute.

Sanne Muurling is the new PhD student in Manon van der Heijden's 'Crime and Gender' project.

The academic year of Leiden University's Honours Academy opened on 9 October. The opening ceremony was held in the Hooglandse church in Leiden.

'There are far too few networking events for young scholars, even though they are eager to attend them;' states Judi Mesman, Dean of Leiden University College (LUC). On Wednesday 7 March, Judi Mesman organised the 'Interdisciplinary Networking Event for Young Scholars', a networking event specifically…

Why do some bacteria lose their protective cell wall under the influence of stress? Microbiologist Dennis Claessen of the Institute of Biology Leiden receives a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to investigate this paradoxical feature.

'Jammed' is released as a limited edition with music composed, recorded and mixed in the Institute of Sonology (Royal Conservatoire, The Hague) between January and June 2022.

Conflicts are good! According to Eefje Cuppen, Professor Governance of Sustainability at Leiden University's Institute of Public Administration. But what is the status of the energy transition? That is happening at a very slow pace here the Netherlands.

Every year in February, ninety students who love making music come together in Someren, a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. Through rehearsals and festivities over ten days, they transform into the latest version of the Dutch Student Orchestra (NSO), which then performs concerts in the Netherlands…

Halima Bouras leaves for the City University of New York with her Fulbright scholarship. 'I am very happy with the Fulbright grant and excited to continue my research project in New York next semester', reacts Bouras. The aim of her PhD research is to promote educational opportunities and educational…

Willem Heiser receives the 2017 Psychometric Society Career Award for Lifetime Achievement. 'Receiving this prize from my colleagues makes me very happy.' Heiser is professor emeritus in Psychology, Methodology and Statistics at the Leiden Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and professor of…

A man died in Assen while being detained by bystanders. The man allegedly touched a young girl inappropriately and the girl’s father is believed to have been one of the bystanders. Five men have been arrested by the police and later released. As a result, wild rumours have started circulating. How does…

If someone around you yawns, the chances are that you too will soon yawn. In orangutans it has now been found that scratching is very contagious. This is what cognitive psychologists from Leiden discovered at Apenheul Primate Park. Publication in American Journal of Primatology.

At present, the cabinet still maintains that all provinces are motivated to cooperate with the sensitive issue of the nitrogen strategy. However, there are major concerns that the political landscape will look very different once the elections for the Provincial Councils on 15 March have been held.

Alex West’s dissertation,

Rose Vossen has been named winner of the Young Star Award 2021. The Life Science and Technology student received the award on Monday from Ewine van Dishoeck, the founder of the award. Vossen wins a cheque for 2,500 euros for her exceptional results as a bachelor's student. During her final bachelor…

On March 16 students and alumni of the Advanced LLM in European and International Human Rights Law were brought together in an online Zoom event organized by our programme coordinator, Mahshid Alizadeh, and head of the LLM, Rick Lawson.

The new Asian Library in the centre of Leiden accommodates the dispersed Asian collection of Leiden University. The festive opening of the Asian Library was marked by the Tour of Asia, an exciting knowledge festival, with workshops, talks and film screenings. Leiden anthropologists that work on Asia…

Dr. Vlad Niculescu-Dincă (Institute of Security and Global Affairs) has been appointed a Knight of the Order “Merit for Education” through a decree of Romanian President Klaus-Werner Johannis.

A signal that is present both in the centre of our Milky Way and in distant places in the universe could reveal the origin of dark matter. This is what Leiden physicist Alexey Boyarsky concludes in an article in Physical Review Letters.

Arco Timmermans, Professor by special appointment Public Affairs at the Institute Public Administration discussed the proposed fine that is likely to prevent Unilever from leaving the Netherlands.

Following the success of the Dutch version, the podcast 'Scandal and Controversy in Russian Literature' is now also available in English. Senior University Lecturer Otto Boele guides listeners through eight infamous texts in this version.

The Executive Board has adopted a new Code of Conduct on Integrity for staff. This new code encompasses all the existing regulations within Leiden University, including in the field of research, behaviour towards students and purchasing. 'This Code of Conduct is a very clear statement,' commented Rector…

Welcome to 2024! I hope this message finds you doing well and reenergised following the holiday season. With that said, I can imagine that many of us are not quite ready to be back in the classroom (either as a student or a lecturer)! The good news is that we have plenty of activities to jump start…

Last Thursday, the last ILS Lunch Seminar of this academic year took place. In this successful and well-visited edition, Prof. Pablo Mendes de Leon and Albert van Marwijk Kooy gave two very interesting and engaging presentations.

Dear friends of the institute,

The Dutch cabinet will allocate a total of 40 million euros extra for institutions providing youth protection and youth rehabilitation over the next four years. Local councils must make the same amount available. Will that be enough to solve the problems?

On 20 & 21 April 2017 international researchers in the field of law and society and criminology presented their work in Brussels and shared ideas on discretion and decision-making.

De Declaration of equity helpt studieverenigingen op het gebied van diversiteit en inclusie.

Assessing Learning in Higher Education addresses what is probably the most time-consuming part of the work of staff in higher education, and something to the complexity of which many of the recent developments in higher education have added. Getting assessment ‘right’– that is, designing and implementing…

On Thursday 12 December, the last ILS Lunch Seminar of 2019 took place. Cecily Rose and Eduard Fosch Villaronga gave two very insightful presentation on their current and future research.

He presented his PhD research entitled “Kick-starting drug development; translational systems pharmacology using innovative zebrafish experiments and advanced computational modelling”. During his presentation, Rob highlighted the advancements he made in using zebrafish as model in system pharmacolog…

Leiden physicist Maarten Kruithof has discovered how our DNA is infallibly able to fold itself and to unfold again. In his dissertation he demonstrates how DNA is folded in a single long, very flexible spiral.

The second quantum revolution is in full swing, bringing all kinds of new technologies to within reach, and offering many opportunities as well as challenges. Leiden and Delft decided to join forces.

How many of our laws in the Netherlands are actually determined by the European Union? In many areas, the influence of the EU has increased. But 80 per cent – a figure referred to in 1989 by then European Commission President Jacques Delors – is a very wide estimate. Research from around 15 years ago…

As of 1 November, Jan Vonk has been appointed full professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute (MI). The institute is delighted with Jan’s appointment, as is he. ‘At the MI we combine the abstract with the concrete like no other.’

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Professor International Relations and Diplomatic Practice at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University spoke to Belgian (Flemish) news magazine Knack about the position of Europe in relation to the United States and China. ‘Europe has to be careful to avoid…

The National Bee Count initiative of Professor Koos Biesmeijer (Naturalis/Leiden) and Vincent Kalkman (Naturalis) has received the NWO Communication Initiative Award. The jury praises the initiative, which manages to reach a very wide and diverse audience, while at the same time contributing to the…

A glittering visualisation of dark matter by Dutch artist Thijs Biersteker is on display in the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin. The installation – ‘Dark Distortions’ – was inspired by Euclid, a forthcoming ESA mission to study the mysterious nature of dark matter. Leiden astronomer Henk Hoekstra…

On 28 January 2025, Philip Purnell successfully defended his PhD thesis at Leiden University, titled