Alexander van Oudenhoven is the brand-new education director of the master's in Governance of Sustainability. The study has already entered its fourth year and Van Oudenhoven is very enthused. What makes this a special programme and what are his plans?

The Legal Post-graduate Training (JPAO) of Leiden Law School changed its name to Leiden Law Academy on 1 May 2023. A new name for the educational programme for professionals and the place to be for events and conferences. What changes will be made and what does the team hope to achieve in the coming…

Most students of Psychology want to work in mental healthcare (GGZ). This makes the master’s specialisation in Clinical Psychology a logical choice. It was an option for alumna Ruth van Vugt for a long time, but she decided to explore further and has since successfully completed the Health and Medical…

A psychology degree, a career that started in the commercial sector and now a role where she feels she can make a difference. For alumnus Marisse van Os (34) everything has come together in her current job at an innovative mental health services provider.

As of 1 September 2024, Thed van Leeuwen is professor by special appointment of the chair “Monitoring Open Science Policies and Practices” at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University. The mission of the chair will be to understand the changes in policies and practices…

At the entrance of the Van Steenis building you may now visit an exhibition on material culture. Unexpectedly, it does not display pottery or tools, but building materials. And recent ones at that! Check out the exhibition on Legos lost at sea, conceived and assembled by PhD candidate Maia Casna. ‘These…

The ‘Schijf van Vijf’ is the Dutch official dietary guideline, similar to a food pyramid, that shows what a healthy daily diet looks like. The updated version places more emphasis on plant-based eating. But how big is the impact of that shift really? We asked environmental scientist Joran Lammers.

University lecturer Gerlov van Engelenhoven was to be a guest in one podcast by culture maker and anthropologist Yanise Zijlstra on intangible heritage. The collaboration went so well that they are now making a short film together for young people.

Not only the United States but also the Netherlands are faced with 'systemic problems' to do with racism and discrimination, according to Dutch Prime Minister Rutte during a press conference held on 3 June. The Prime Minister responded to the events taking place in the United States after the death…

Assistant professor Looi van Kessel writes in The Conversation about the passing of drag performer The Vivienne, reflecting on their significance for LGBTQ+ advocacy in Europe.

What interests and motives shape how people cooperate, clash and place their trust in one another? For more than 36 years, Van Dijk explored these questions using experimental games in the laboratory. 'Games strip complex issues back to their core.'

After 14 years of chairing the Faculty Council, Associate Professor Jan Sleutels is handing over the baton. Student Susan van Grol takes over the chairmanship. Time for an introduction to Susan.

In 2022, Leiden will be the European City of Science. The preparations are in full swing, so we would like to give you a look behind the scenes. This time we talk to Ewine van Dishoeck. She is the driving force behind the annual programme at the Faculty of Science. As far as she is concerned, there…

Lichens enthusiast Sander van Zon was eager to use his knowledge for his internship. He wrote an excellent thesis on lichens’ biodiversity in the city, of which his first scientific publication will appear soon. With it, he is nominated for the Leiden Science Young Talent Award 2022.

Many people don't know exactly what Open Science is or why it is important. In a short interview, Anna van 't Veer explains her take on it.

On November 29, Stéphanie van der Pas receives the ASML Graduation Prize for Mathematics at the Royal Holland Society of Sciences (KHMW) in Haarlem. She proved that a new method to choose a research model works better than the usual standard method.

In a closed room in the Van Steenis building, hundreds of boxes are waiting under fluorescent lights for someone to come and see them. The jumble of handwritten and printed labels unveils how often the collection has been reorganized, moved and rearranged. Boxes full of potsherds and pottery, human…

The newly established Luxembourg Centre for European Law held its inaugural conference on 10-11 October 2025, exploring the theme of “European Union law and values in a changing world”. Martijn was invited to speak about the relationship between European values and democracy.

Over a century ago, Alexandra van Elroy's great-grandfather left for Japan, where her grandmother was born. Together with her mother, Maaike van der Loon, she reminisces about her family history, through which a key thread is the study of Japanese and Chinese.

How does Russia use propaganda and what characterises Russian propaganda in terms of language and argumentation?

Almost all the western countries were too late responding to the outbreak of Covid. Why was that? Three governance experts, including Leiden professor Arjen Boin, have written a book about the response to the pandemic. ‘Our current system isn’t geared towards identifying and managing a long-term crisis,’…

A delegation from Leiden University visited the Netherlands Institute Morocco (NIMAR) in Rabat at the end of February.

Do young people trust the law? That is what HC Law students are trying to find out. Regular guest speaker and social worker Carlito Jones invited the students to the Bezuidenhout-West neighbourhood centre in The Hague to talk to youth workers and neighbourhood police officers: what do they run into…

In a sailboat, a canoe or stowed away on a ship: during the Second World War, many Leiden students tried to cross the sea to join the Allies in Britain. ‘Soldier of Orange’ is the most famous, but who were the other ‘England voyagers’ or Engelandvaarders as they are known?

This PhD project investigates the different ways in which honorific forms are used in Japanese other than to express politeness, and how different factors affect perceptions about these uses.

Bob de Brabandere discovered his deep passion for cinema through a minor in Film and Theatre Studies. He currently serves as Assistant Manager at Bioscopen Leiden and as a programmer for the Leiden International Film Festival, which commences on 9 October.

“Europe must look […] southward, where the global majority resides. The BRICS countries alone represent almost 50% of the world economy and a quarter of the world trade, it is where the youngest populations lives, with an enormous amount of creative energy, something that is often lacking in the northern…

On 12 December 2019, Dr Yannick van den Brink, assistant professor at the Department of Child Law and Rubicon Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge, gave a keynote speech at the conference ‘Strengthening Juvenile Justice Systems in Europe’, which was organised in Valencia, Spain.

Study information

Lecture, Leids Actualiteitencollege

Valedictory lecture, minisymposium

Study information

On 8 and 9 May 2018 the Workshop 'Challenging the Liberal World Order: The History of the Global South, Decolonization and the United Nations, 1955-2000' takes place at Leiden University.

Starting your PhD during two major crisis in your country; it happened to Kamaran Palani, PhD student at the Dual PhD Centre and ISGA who lives in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. In spite of the difficulties in his county, Palani (34) stuck to his PhD-research about the fluidity…

On Thursday 28 September 2017 the Institute of Public Administration of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) organizes the event ‘Good Governance in Asia and the West: What is the Difference?’ as part of the Leiden Asia Year. Below you can read the interview with professor Zeger van der…

At the Institute’s Council meeting of last December the Institute’s biannual prize for teaching was awarded. The award is named after Carla Musterd, a former, highly valued, member of staff, who was famous for her unflinching dedication to teaching standards and excellence.

Dominique Brommers, Lilly Brouwer, Annemiek Buijze and Kyra van Meijgaarden were granted the Bachelor Speckmann Award for their report ‘Community of Healing: Pentecost Revival Church’ (supervisor: Nienke van der Heide). Alumna Louise Nisbet received the Master Speckmann Award for her thesis ‘‘Alright,…

New research published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology suggests that these changes to the behavior of the immune system are persistent and can continue even after diet is improvedAlmost everyone knows that improving your eating habits will most likely improve your health. What most people may not…

Marcel Cobussen, professor of Auditory Culture and Music Philosophy, has made listening his speciality. From the sounds of a microwave to chirruping birds, he studies how people treat noise in their environment and what kind of information sounds can give. His mission: to teach people to listen better…

Researchers, civil servants and local residents met on 27 September to talk about partnering for sustainability. What were the results? In a green ‘city oasis’ in the centre of The Hague they spoke about the energy transition, bottom-up initiatives and citizen science.

What’s really happening in the space between the cells in your body? With the Collagen Canvas project, students from Leiden University invite you to explore this question by blending science with art. This interactive artwork immerses you in the dynamics of the extracellular matrix—the invisible structure…

The new institute manager of the IBL studied biology for six months, but went in a completely different direction: development cooperation and the financial sector. Three decades later, Resi Janssen is making a radical career switch. Or isn’t she? 'In ten years’ time I want IBL to be in a new, sustainable…

From 6-8 April 2026 the conference

In December 2024, Dr. Jonathan Singerton (University of Amsterdam) was the featured guest speaker at the last lunch talk of the Fall 2025 semester. A full house assembled to hear Dr. Singerton take us on a journey across the Habsburg Empire and to spots far-flung from Vienna. Dr. Singerton told us a…