LUCL is pleased to announce that Professor Johan Rooryck has been awarded both an NWO Horizon Grant for his project entitled 'Knowledge and culture', and an NWO Vrije Competitie Grant for his project entitled 'Lend me your ears: the grammar of (un)transferable possession' for a total of €2.75m.

This year’s EUSA biannual research conference, which took place in Miami in May 2017, saw a large delegation of the Europa Institute Leiden leaving its mark. In several panels, Prof. Luuk van Middelaar, Dr. Moritz Jesse (Associate Professor at the Europa Institute), Dr. Armin Cuyvers (Assistant Professor…

Architect Elisa Meijer is the face of the Humanities Campus. She knows all the buildings, from the Reuvensplaats to the Matthias de Vrieshof, like the back of her hand. In her role as Housing Adviser she has now spent more than three years dealing with everything necessary for the development of a new…

Stacked layers of graphene can act like a mirror for beams of electrons. Physicists Daniël Geelen and colleagues discovered this using a new type of electron microscope. In an article in Physical Review Letters, they describe their results, which could lead to the development of optics for electron…

It’s Circular Economy Week, from 1 to 6 February. But what is it that makes an economy circular? And just how circular is our university? René Kleijn, lecturer on the honours class Circular Economy: from challenge to opportunity, explains.

According to some stories, Einstein washed his hands there only once. According to others, students moved it as a joke. Whatever the case may be, Einstein's sink has enjoyed mythical status among students and employees of the Faculty of Science for decades. But what is the real story? Alumnus Alex Pietrow…

How can the Dutch Sand Motor strengthen our coasts in a natural way? And how can this knowledge and experience help prevent coastal erosion in Jamaica? Researchers Alexander van Oudenhoven (Institute of Environmental Sciences Leiden) and Arjen Luijendijk (Delft University of Technology) have compiled…

On 21 and 22 March 2019 the workshop 'Criptic Identities. Historicizing the identity formation of persons with disabilities across the globe' takes place at the Leiden Institute for History.

Minority governments only become an option when attempts to form a government collapse. PhD candidate Corné Smit explored why such governments have become rare in the Netherlands and what advantages they might offer. ‘Broad majority coalitions often fail to make substantial progress on key issues.’

Leiden University is seeking bids from developers for housing in Nieuw Rhijngeest-Zuid, the Oegstgeest part of the Leiden Bio Science Park.

While offshore wind farms generate clean and green energy, scientists are becoming increasingly aware of the harmful impact they may have on marine life. To get a better overview of these impacts and to find the best locations for future wind farms, environmental scientist Yali Si and her colleagues…

Underwater noise from seismic surveys affects the behaviour of Atlantic cod. These are the results of research by Leiden biologists in collaboration with colleagues from Belgium. During such surveys the fish are less active than usual and their circadian rhythm is disrupted; soon after exposure they…

Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, opened a complex of 467 student flats in Leiden on 26 August. This is the (Y)ours development on the sustainable ‘Leidse Schans’ campus at Lammenschans train station.

Spui Campus, Leiden University’s fourth location in The Hague, will soon open its doors. The former V&D department store’s transformation into a university campus is becoming more visible by the week. Removal vans will soon be driving back and forth to move all the furniture there in time. The first…

We invite proposals for the conference entitled ‘Ruins and Memory in the Muslim World: Typologies and Motifs (622-1800 CE)’ to be held in Leiden between 14-16 September 2026.

It is a warm day. The sun is shining brightly while biologist Marco Roos makes his way through the bushes towards a peculiar little plant. Insects buzz, birds chirp. In the background rises the LUMC: at the Bio Science Park in Leiden, people and nature come together in a special way.

Alumnus Robert van Asten has been an MP for D66 since 2025. He studied Tax Law at Leiden University from 1997 to 2005. After a career in that field, he switched to local politics and later national politics.

Like many others, Ruurd Halbertsma has had a rollercoaster of a year. His museum, the National Museum of Antiquities (RMO), was closed for a long while because of the lockdown. Visitor numbers picked up again from September, but it the next few weeks will be tense now the hospitals are full again. Halbertsma:…

Various consortia in which Leiden University is represented are beginning interdisciplinary research, which will bring scientific and societal breakthroughs within reach. Knowledge institutions, government and private parties are working closely together on the projects.

Climate change is made up, the secret services murdered Pim Fortuyn and JFK, and the moon landing was a fake show. Conspiracy theories are of all times, providing sensation and entertainment, but also unrest and fear. The corona pandemic is new fuel for conspiracy theorists who set fire to 5G masts,…

Campus The Hague has forged its own identity: alongside interdisciplinarity, interaction with the city is its defining feature. ‘The campus is now a young adult. It is well beyond puberty,’ says campus chair Erwin Muller. An ambitious new strategy reveals this.

On the 3rd of November the first ever FGGA PhD Conference took place in the 'Wijnhaven' Building. Organized by the faculty Graduate School and of course intended for PhD candidates. About thirty of them were present.

How can we manage our natural resources more sustainably? That’s the key question behind the United Nations’ International Resource Panel (IRP). The panel recently welcomed a new member: René Kleijn, Professor of Industrial Ecology at Leiden University. We asked him three questions about his new rol…

With the economic surge in East Africa, the East African Community, formally founded in 1999 and now consisting of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, is rapidly developing. A common market is being established, and a monetary union is under construction. The EAC thereby forms an important…

Today, the Dutch Advisory Board on public access and government information (ACOI) issued its opinion on how the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) makes documents on Covid policy accessible to the public.

On Thursday 23 November, Professor Betty de Hart delivered the lecture ‘Exploring the Legal Archive on Race: Methodological Challenges’ as part of the lecture series ‘Reconsidering the Socio-Legal Gaze’ organized by the Van Vollenhoven Institute. Over 40 people attended the lecture, held online due…

On December 6th, 2024, Rector Hester Bijl welcomed participants at the Leiden Jewish Studies Association’s First Annual Conference “Jews at Home: From Creation to Corona” and also presented two Leiden University students with the inaugural Leiden Jewish Studies Association “Best Thesis in Jewish Studies”…

This week sees the first edition of the textbook Mouse&Manuscript published online. Mouse&Manuscript is a collection of interactive lessons on codicology and oriental manuscripts. Its aim is to stimulate teaching on codicology in and outside of the classroom, and to contribute to the disclosure of Leiden…

On 18 June, 2015, Erik Kwakkel was elected to the Comité International de Paléographie Latine (CIPL), a scholarly committee that specialises in the study of the medieval book.

With the passing of Stephen Haigh on 9 September 2022, Leiden University's Institute of Political Science has lost a dedicated and inspiring instructor.

Joris van der Voet’s article “Organizational Decline and Innovation in Public Organizations: A Contextual Framework of Cutback Management” won the 2019 Camilla Stivers Award for best article in Perspectives on Public Management and Governance.

Voters sent a clear signal in the recent Dutch provincial council elections with the 'monster' victory for the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BoerBurgerBeweging, BBB). This sign of ‘social resistance’ has consequences for the policy on nitrogen emissions, according to Geerten Boogaard, Professor of Local…

On 24 and 25 April 2025, the Trippenhuis in Amsterdam — home to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) — hosted an interdisciplinary workshop organized by dr. Rafal Matuszewski, an ancient historian at the Institute for History in Leiden.

Leiden University will be opening a new Student Centre in The Hague, in the Orion Building at Turfmarkt. The Centre will have room for social and cultural activities, study workplaces and a fitness room for the growing number of students and staff at the Hague Campus.

Salvador Santino Regilme has been selected for a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) in Amsterdam. From September 2022, he will spend 5 months at NIAS working on his research project titled 'The Normative Order of the Global War on Drugs'.

This theme is central to the recently published book 'Onze Constitutie' by Wim Voermans, professor of constitutional and administrative law. The colossal book has no fewer than 911 pages, but Voermans has managed to turn it into one very readable book, with fluent pen, with an eloquent tone and, moreover,…

An acute shortage of social care staff means that family members often quit their jobs to care for relatives with severe disabilities. This seems too good to be true – and there is a catch. Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour law, discusses this on Dutch consumer programme ‘Radar’.

Leiden University has taken eighth place in this year’s SustainaBul, the sustainability ranking for universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. It was in 18th place last year.

In een uitzending van Pauw & De Wit geeft Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staatsrecht en voorzitter van de Vereniging Thorbecke, zijn visie op het belang van de Thorbeckeprijs als symbool voor politieke welsprekendheid. De prijs komt voort uit een eerbetoon aan de grondlegger van het Nederlandse parlementaire…

Hans Slabbekoorn, researcher at the Institute of Biology Leiden, is one of the editors of the latest volume of the Springer Handbook of Auditory Research (SHAR). This book is filled with everything known about the effects of sound on vertebrates. Slabbekoorn’s contribution to the book as a co-author…

The first phase of the construction of the new building for the Faculty of Science is finished. The Cell Observatory of the Institute of Biology Leiden will be moving to the new building on the 19th of May.

The 11th annual conference of the Academic Society for Competition Law (ASCOLA) of 2016 took place this year on 30 June- 2 July at Leiden University.

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 Dutch Black Holes Consortium receives 4.9 million euros from NWO for unravelling the mysteries of black holes and other mysteries of the universe. The Astronomy and Society group at Leiden Observatory is affiliated to use the leading research to introduce people of all ages and background, and children…

On September 9th 2009, the study Life Science and Technology (LS&T) celebrates its 10th anniversary. In 1999, a group of enthusiastic pioneers within the Technical University Delft (TUD) and Leiden University (LU) founded a novel study based on the biotechnological expertise of research institutes within…

Charles wrote an article 'Assimilating Afro Caribbean Carnivalesque Culture' for the publication 'Understanding América. The essential contribution of Afro-American music to the sociocultural meaning of the continent'

On Monday 4 September, Professor Christopher Martinez, from the Universidad de Concepción (University of Concepción), Chile, was invited by the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law to introduce his forthcoming book at our university.

The restoration of the Sterrewacht is proceeding well and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. On Thursday 11 March, the highest point was reached with the restored domes being replaced on the roof.