Claire van den Helder (fourth-year Cultural Anthropology student) and Orestes Kyrgiakis (second-year Cultural Anthropology student) won the Pieter de la Court Medal 2021. The Pieter de la Court Medal is an initiative for students by students and is awarded annually to students who voluntarily contribute…

For the first time in the history of the Van den Berg prize, there are two winners: the ‘traditional’ one for the best thesis by a student in the Dutch bachelor’s programmes in Political Science, and, as of 2020, one for a graduate from the International Relations and Organisations (IRO) specialisation.…

This spring the Netherlands holds the presidency of the European Union. Leiden Europe researchers have taken the opportunity to examine the future of the European Union and where appropriate to give advice. They will present their book on Friday 29 April in Nieuwspoort.

Psychologists Marieke Tollenaar, Anne Miers and Esther van den Bos received donations from the Leiden University Fund and Stichting Praesidium Libertatis to take crucial first steps in research projects that may eventually contribute to the well-being of vulnerable youth.

A new discovery proves that it matters which approach researchers take in analyzing large physical, social or biological systems that have a networked structure. Ever since the early 1900s, scientists have assumed each approach is equivalent. Now many results in statistical physics may no longer hold.…

Two black holes, in close orbit around each other. Have they slowly drifted together, or did they emerge from two orbiting stars? Together with to colleagues form Amsterdam, Leiden astronomer Simon Portegies Zwart calculated that the second scenario is rather likely.

On Thursday 14 February, the first ILS Lunch Seminar of this year took place. Beryl ter Haar and Yannick van den Brink gave two very insightful presentations on their current and accomplished research.

Goede en actuele data zijn cruciaal om infectieziekten effectief te bestrijden en de volksgezondheid te beschermen. Bijzonder hoogleraar Susan van den Hof en haar team zetten zich in voor betere data-methoden, zodat infectieziekten vroeg worden opgespoord en doeltreffend worden aangepakt.

The Jean Monnet and Common Market Law Review (CML Rev) Launch Conference of the CML Rev extraordinary issue ‘EU values and interests in a time of geopolitical transformation’ was held on 10 April 2026 at the University of Zagreb, Croatia.

Thijs Porck, expert in medieval English, has won the LUCAS Public Prize because he has made his research and education visible to a wider audience. Thijs has reached the national media, secondary schools and a lot of views with his blogs and videos. The prize consists of a certificate, trophy, 1000…

The LUCDH foster the development of new digital research by awarding a number of Small Grants each year. These are our past awardees.

Light, open and green: a description that fits the new, renovated location of the Faculty of Humanities. The official opening of the Herta Mohr Building took place on 8 October, and it has many remarkable features: for example, recycled ‘mushroom columns’, a pedestrian bridge to the University Library…

his fall we welcome our new PhD-candidate Amy de Bruïne. Amy received both her bachelors degree and her research master degree ’Developmental Psychopathology in Education and Child Studies’ at Leiden University.

The imprisoned leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, called for a peace settlement between Turkey and PKK on 28 February 2015.

From ransomware to Citrix traffic jams: over the past few months Dutch organisations were regularly brought to a standstill by serious cyber attacks. We can only face these threats by standing as one, and universities and government should take the lead. These are the words of Leiden professors Bibi…

Op 14 oktober vindt in de KB Nationale Bibliotheek in Den Haag een studiedag plaats over de toepassing van het begrip ‘multimodaliteit’ op laatmiddeleeuwse en vroegmoderne bronnen. Er zijn een aantal plekken voor promovendi en masterstudenten beschikbaar, die 1 ECTS kunnen verdienen met het bijwonen…

In this NRC article, sociologist John Boy together with Martijn Lampert and Lonneke van den Berg discuss the three biggest paradoxes of Generation Z: limitless freedom but experiencing enormous stress, being culturally independent but economically dependent and being highly idealistic but also constantly…

On 26 October 2018, the 4th CML Rev on tour took place in Warsaw. The workshop on ‘The Prospects for Social Europe’ was organized in cooperation with the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw.

On 8 February 2016 prof. Jennifer Chayes received her Honorary Doctorate at Leiden University as part of the 441e Dies Natalis. A video registration of this special event has now been published. For the ceremony of Jennifer Chayes’ Honorary Doctorate, please scroll to the 82th minute.

On Europe Day (9 May), we celebrate the creation of the European Union. How well do you know the EU? Take part in our quiz on unexpected and interesting facts about Europe, compiled by our experts. Have fun!

The Common Market Law Review (CML Rev) ranked #4 in the field of Law in the 2018 Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports, based on the 2017 Journal Impact Factor.

In nearly every Dutch primary and secondary school classroom, at least one child is bullied. The common perception is that the most popular child in the class is often the bully, while less popular children are more likely to be bullied. Is this image accurate? Bullying researcher Mitch van Geel knows…

On 12 November Ingrid Leijten was a guest on Dutch NOS NPO Radio 1 programme Met het Oog op Morgen. She was asked to speak about the right to freedom of expression.

Kunnen algoritmen een hulpmiddel zijn voor advocaten en hun cliënten wanneer ze onderhandelen over contracten? In het preventief recht is dit zeker mogelijk, zo toont het promotieonderzoek van Georgios Stathis. Geleidelijk neemt het algoritme hier juridisch werk uit handen.

The ninth issue of the Journal of the LUCAS Graduate Conference has been published. This time the theme is ‘Reinventing Boundaries in Times of Crisis.’

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the annual Meijers prizes and thesis prizes were awarded at the online New Year’s event broadcast from the Old Observatory.

October and November not only bring a number of proud Political Science graduates, it is also the season to determine who wrote the best bachelor’s thesis. For 2021-2022, fifteen theses were nominated. During the various graduation ceremonies the two final winners were announced: Essi Maria Teresia…

The Middle Ages are becoming increasingly more popular: just look at the popularity of such ‘medievalist’ TV series as Game of Thrones and Vikings, and let’s not forget popular re-enactments of medieval battles. Leiden University is home to many specialists of this fascinating period and this new blog…

Twenty-one dedicated teachers were awarded their Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) on 21 January. Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl congratulated them in a ceremony in the Academy Building with an extra celebratory touch as the milestone of the 100th SKO certificate was reached.

Do you gain enough practical experience in an academic language and culture study programme? Certainly, proved the bachelor students of Italian this summer. For the Transfer IT programme, they combined their own interests with the knowledge they gained during their studies. This resulted in vastly different…

Research on this theme concerns the legitimacy and effectiveness of Europe’s institutional order in the face of public alienation and normative contestation.

Religion, Philosophy, and the Pre-modern World

The Department of Archaeological Heritage and Society focuses on the relationships between past and present, the role of heritage in society, and how heritage conceived broadly can contribute to improving quality of life.

Read about experiences of former students.

Leiden is the ideal city for students. There is a wide variety of activities you can do next to your studies, to make the most out of your student life.