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

The government, the people and the country were in desperate straits. This about sums up the state of affairs in the Disaster Year of 1672. It was 350 years ago, and to mark the occasion PhD candidate Roosje Peeters collaborated on a series of letters to and from a key political figure Johan de Witt,…

Professor Eline Slagboom has been studying multiple generations of families for over 20 years. She collects data on why some people age healthily and others decline early.

Yousef Yousef is a 'self-made man'. But he first obtained his bachelor's degree in tax law in Leiden. 'A CEO needs to have a basic understanding of the principles of law', he says.

Marjolein van Reisen has been Institute Manager Finance for a year, and Wiesje Zikkenheiner has been Institute Manager HR for two months. This duo job is by no means a luxury in an ever-growing organisation. Marjolein: 'We’re both new to this world, so we have our hands full.'

For every period, it is a challenge to unearth the details of political trafficking; yet the effort needs to include all relevant persons, groups, and institutions – not only those wielding formal responsibilities. We hope to reinvigorate this effort by inviting specialists to present their research…

Five students who graduated from the Bachelor Security Studies share their experiences. Where did they end up after graduation? Are they still using the skills they gained during their studies?

The first hybrid Leiden Research Support Conference – organised for and by research support staff – took place on 27, 28 and 29 September and focused entirely on organising effective research support.

This February Metje Postma will stop teaching and retire. But she is not done with the discipline yet: she will finish her PhD and there are still five films on the shelf that she plans to complete.

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

In November, the Dutch will elect a new parliament. Not all eligible citizens will go out and vote, however. How can this be explained, and how big of a problem is it? International research into voter turnout can shed new light on this issue – and offer possible solutions.

In 2022, every euro in the Netherlands lost about 10% of its value, price increases comparable to the stagflation period of the 1970s. In the same year, the value of the Argentine peso halved, while prices in China only rose by 2%. How well do we understand the economic mechanisms behind inflation?…

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

Work balance is an important issue within the Faculty of Humanities. Education coaches Astrid Van Weyenberg and Maarten van Leeuwen also deal with this regularly during their coaching sessions with lecturers. They have listed their most important tips.

Even voorstellen het HR team stelt zich voor

The new SSH labs will offer great opportunities for FSW and FGW staff engaged in experimental research. The labs will be a place of inspiration, not only because of the state-of-the-art equipment, but also as a result of the increased interaction with colleagues in other disciplines.

Should we cut our ties with Israel or maintain them? The event ‘A university conversation on Israel/Palestine’ on 1 July revealed the depth of feeling about the conflict, with students and staff grappling with academic values and moral dilemmas.

How do we offer students a helping hand without losing sight of our own well-being? This was the question that study advisers, lecturers, deans and student support staff tried to answer at the Staff Symposium on Student Well-being.

On Monday 14 November 2022, our faculty student workgroup Diversity & Inclusion + Student Wellbeing will start working. The workgroup consists of seven motivated student assistants under supervision of the Faculty Coordinator Susanne Deen will get started on making the topics diversity & inclusion and…

On Monday 23 January 2023 J.T.P. (Hans) de Bruijn passed away at the age of 91. Until 1995 he held the Chair of New Persian Language and Culture at Leiden University.

At least six people are off to a good start of the summer, because they are the recipients of a Meijers grant. For the next few years, these researchers will be able to devote themselves to their PhD research. Let’s meet these new PhD candidates!

In traditional style, 2025 was ushered in at our faculty with the Meijers Lecture followed by the New Year's Reception. On Thursday 16 January 2025, the Meijers Lecture took place in the Lorentz Lecture Hall where the Meijers Prizes and the Van Wersch Springplank Prize were also awarded. At the New…

Public agencies are keen to use new technology such as AI to speed up their primary processes. But the internal organisation is often a major stumbling block. SAILS researcher Friso Selten conducts research at the interface between data science and public administration.

The impact of a ceasefire shifts over the course of a conflict, as conflict party leaders learn more about each other’s military and political aspirations and adapt their use of ceasefires accordingly. That’s the key message of the dissertation of Valerie Sticher, PhD-candidate at the Faculty of Governance…

Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2022. In recent years, the alliance has expanded to include centres and new programmes as well as a curriculum of its own. What do the next ten years have in store?

Four PhD candidates from Leiden University started the two-year Europaeum Scholars Programme this month. They have now completed the first week of the programme. How was it and what do they expect from this programme?

Students of the Biology minor course Molecular Design have successfully boosted their skills in collaboration, research and writing with the recently developed E-learning Skills Platform. The biology students and their teachers greatly value the initiative. ‘Sometimes I couldn’t believe what progress…

Een mijlpaal voor de Class of 2025 van de MSc International Relations and Diplomacy: een prestigieuze en internationale opleiding gevierd in Den Haag en Leiden.

The Faculty Council issued a favourable opinion regarding the Faculty Board’s proposal to withdraw the research master’s programmes in African Studies and Latin American Studies. This was not a proposal we were eager to put forward, but unfortunately it was necessary, in view of the problems we are…

It was announced in December that a new draft urban development plan for the Humanities Campus is now ready. In drawing up this plan for the various buildings, outdoor space and traffic routes on campus, the facilities and layout of the buildings themselves were, of course, also considered. Discussions…

Leiden University has an active open science community. Open science means transparency in all phases of research by precisely documenting every step of the way and making this publicly available. ‘It’s time to be open,’ say psychologists Anna van ’t Veer and Zsuzsika Sjoerds. There is increasing awareness…

This year, the Netherlands and China reflect on fifty years of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level. How has the relationship between the countries developed over the past half century? An interview with university lecturer Vincent Chang.

Chaos in the Lipsius building! Master's students zigzag through the classroom, write on whiteboards and discuss tensely. In a simulation of the Leiden Leadership Programme, they experience what it is like to deal with a crisis as an office holder.

Our university labs are bursting with cutting-edge research, but how do you commercialise these inventions and discoveries or translate them into outcomes that benefit society? Professor of biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin started a spin-off company with his team. ‘When it comes to valorisation…

Hanneke Hulst has held the new Leiden chair in Neuropsychology in Health and Disease since 1 September. From 1 January she will also be chair of the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology (HMN) unit. ‘HMN is my new base. I’m curious to find out about the people who work here, what they do and what motivates…

Leiden students are producing ‘College Tour, the podcast!’ with TV presenter Twan Huys. In next to no time, they have to find top journalists and prepare hard-hitting interviews. We take a look behind the scenes.

The theme of the opening of this year’s academic year was peace and justice. With the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine, these are turbulent times. During the ceremony those present reflected on what the academic community and universities can mean in times of crisis and conflict.

Is aggression always bad? PhD research by psychologist Simone Dobbelaar shows that it is not. In fact, children who occasionally fiercely defend themselves and stand up for their peers often feel better mentally.

Sexual harassment was the theme of the recent annual symposium of student ambassadors to the Leiden-Bollenstreek police in collaboration with the police and the municipality. An extremely important issue to students − if the 100 places being claimed as soon as the symposium was announced was anything…

Research Director Judy Veldhuijzen, who started her new role this month, answers questions from colleagues. What is her vision for the institute? How does she view open leadership? And: how healthy is the GMN researcher herself?

AI ultrasounds: LUC alumna empowers women in rural Africa

Corinna Jentzsch, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Institute of Political Science and co-convener of the Leiden University Center for International Relations (LUCIR) has conducted extensive fieldwork in Mozambique. Her resulting book, Violent Resistance: Militia Formation and Civil…

Three alumni of our Master’s degree programme in Ancient History talk to us about how they found a job after graduation during the coronavirus pandemic. During the interview, Gabriël hung a huge board covered in post-it reminders behind his laptop, Molly was glad that the members of the selection committee…

The digital age offers unprecedented opportunities: information is always accessible, systems are interconnected, and processes are automated. However, these developments also give rise to new threats. During the Night of Digital Security on 26 May at the Wijnhaven building, more than experts shared…

The SAILS conference The Future of AI is Here (and Guess What … it’s Human) brought together researchers and policy makers to discuss the important issues in the area of artificial intelligence (AI). Where are the opportunities and what are the dangers?

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will retire on 8 February. If there’s one theme running through his career, it’s the links between the University and society. In this series of pre-retirement discussions, Stolker will talk one last time to people from within and without the University. This time he…

Meijerslezing, Meijersprijzen en Van Wersch springplankprijs en Nieuwjaarsreceptie 2024

We can accrue pensions, reinforce dykes and make our homes more sustainable. But how do we make our higher education fit for the future? And what skills should we be teaching our students now for jobs that don’t yet exist? Lecturers and educational developers looked to the future during the keynote…

André Leliveld has won a grant of 100,000 euros within the Comenius Senior Fellow programme for the project ‘Learning globally, acting locally: co-creation of an international multidisciplinary online learning environment around Frugal Innovation'. André is academic coordinator of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus…