How can our university really become inclusive? This is what students and staff discussed at our annual Diversity & Inclusion symposium. ‘It’s moving from a have-to to a want-to’

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,…

If a young person from a migrant background climbs the social ladder despite internship discrimination, the exclusion often gets worse. It is only when we acknowledge these problems that we can resolve them, say Nadia Bouras and Tikho Ong, who are both experiential and academic experts. ‘Racism and…

The theme of the Opening of the Academy Year on 4 September was sustainability and how the university could take the lead as a change agent. How is it going about this and what else can it do? There was also room for a critical note.

‘Culture change takes time,’ said Vice-Rector Hester Bijl at the closing panel of the University’s Diversity Symposium on 26 January. She talked about the road to a diverse and inclusive university. The symposium provided plenty of concrete examples of small steps that can already be taken.

Four students who completed the Bachelor's in Security Studies share their experiences. What did they learn? Where did they end up after graduating? And do they still use the skills they acquired during their studies?

Medici kunnen veel repareren, maar ziekte voorkomen of uitstellen is beter. Daarvoor is vaak leefstijlverandering nodig en dat blijkt lastig. Gezondheidswetenschappers Sandra van Dijk (Universiteit Leiden) en Valentijn Visch (TU Delft) doen onderzoek naar de vraag hoe je mensen kunt helpen met gedragsverandering…

As University historian, Pieter Slaman researches the University’s past, but he’s equally interested in its present. ‘It’s useful to be familiar with issues from the past. Not to be rooted in the past because some developments from history are things you definitely don’t want to repeat.’

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?…

How do we create connection? And how can we build student resilience? These were just some of the questions explored by study advisers, teaching staff and student counsellors during the Staff Symposium on Student Well-being.

Professor of Machine learning Holger Hoos together with Frank Hutter, Lin Xu and Kevin Leyton-Brown won the prestigious Artificial Intelligence Journal (AIJ) Prominent Paper Award of this year.

Organisation

Nearly all university buildings at the Leiden Bio Science Park will be open and operating again as of Wednesday 24 May. Last night a team worked hard to restore the power to the buildings in phases and this was successful. Students and staff can work and study there again.

Economic Anthropologist Erik Bähre talks on the Dutch News Radio Channel BNR about the effects of the Russia-Ukraine grain agreement for African countries.

Christopher Green has won the Teaching Prize 2024. The assistant professor of Korea Studies was presented with the prize during the opening of the faculty year in the Hortus.

Considering the fact that PhD candidates spend a lot of time on teaching and develop valuable transferable skills in this process, the Doctorate Board agreed that teaching hours (for a max. of 20 hours) can be included as transferable skills. So this counts as part of the compulsory 140 hours of transferable…

The ‘University of the Netherlands’ is a series of lectures in which academics address topics based on their expertise. In the latest instalment, cultural historian Simon Willmetts discusses how intelligence services operate and what has changed since 9/11.

Education, Research

Education

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) was launched in Leiden 20 years ago. LERU is a partnership of 23 leading research universities, including the universities of Oxford, Cambridge, Leiden, Leuven and Heidelberg. It celebrated this anniversary last week with a multi-day conference in…

ICT, Research

In the episode 'Intersecting vulnerabilities of humanitarian disasters' of the 'Talking Humanitarianism' podcast, Andrew Littlejohn talks with host Ekatherina Zhukova (Lund University, Sweden) about our understanding of vulnerability in the context of humanitarianism to locate responsibility not in…

Leiden University's humanities have one of the top places in the Times Higher Education Rankings. This year, we were placed 26th.

Organisation, Social

The Leiden University Fund (LUF) invites researchers of all faculties to submit applications for the Leiden Empowerment Fund (LEF).

A newly opened museum in China appears to be devoted to the origins of the Austronesian-speaking peoples, who some 5000 years ago spread from East Asia across the Pacific, seeding it with a distinctive culture and some 1200 languages. But those displays are also a statement in the long-running dispute…

Now the number of people with COVID-19 is increasing and we are faced with stricter measures once again, the question arises whether compulsory vaccination could be allowed.

Three programmes at the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded medals by EW and ResearchNed. The bachelor’s in German Language and Culture took gold, and the bachelor's in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and the master's in Middle Eastern Studies each earned a bronze medal.

At the Leiden University Thesis Awards ceremony, law student Bettina Schmiedler won third prize for her socio-legal study on corporate social responsibility.

It is with great sadness that we have received the news that Hugo Annard passed away on 30 July after a strenuous illness. Hugo had been enrolled at our Faculty as a student Public Administration, specialisation Economy, Policy and Management since 2019. He was also a member of the B.I.L. study asso…

We are concerned about our research and teaching cuts announced in the provisional deal between the Dutch coalition parties. This will have a profound impact on our students and staff, and on teaching, research and innovation in the Netherlands.

University Lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe discusses on The Conversation how Trump's Greenland proposal overlooks the historical discrimination faced by Indigenous Alaskans.

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor at eLaw – Centre for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, was recently interviewed on the Legal 4 Tech (L4T) podcast. The discussion centred on legal vulnerability in digital platforms, including challenges individuals face in asserting their fundamental…

Facility, ICT

Can a robot rekindle the waning interest in Buddhism in Japan? University lecturer Peter van der Putten researches the philosophical and social questions related to artificial intelligence. He also investigates whether computers and robots can take over creativity, emotions and other human characteristics.…

Next year, Leiden and the surrounding area will be all about science. The Faculty of Science will also play an important role. Therefore, we could really use your help.

Education, ICT

On Thursday 9 September, Lord Martin Richardson (Scottish Supreme Court judge) gave a keynote speech to the new group of Advanced Master’s students.

Begin oktober vond de eerste Psychology Connected van dit nieuwe academische jaar weer plaats. Met de vallende herfstbladeren voelen velen zich ook somberder. Onderzoekers delen hoe je een winterdepressie verzacht, en hoe je als ouder het beste kunt omgaan met de depressieve klachten van je kind.

Psychologist Anne Urai has received the Young talent award from the Dutch Neuroscience society. She was described as a 'talented, promising early career researcher' and complimented on her international profile, having spent time in London, Paris, Hamburg and New York.

Professor Steven Truxal was invited to address the 15th European Civil Aviation Conference (ECAC) Forum of Directors General in Paris on 6 December 2022.

From September 2024, Berber Verhalle is the new assessor of the Faculty of Science. She thus takes over from Nalani Verwoord. Berber completed her bachelor's degree in Biology this year. Next year, she will start the master's in Biology & Business.

On 23 June 2021 Melanie Fink spoke at the second event in a series of six on push-backs and sea rescue at the EU external border.

From self-driving cars to innovative drug development, artificial intelligence (AI) is going to fundamentally change our lives in a variety of ways.

The carnivore diet, a fact or just a trend?

Museum Jan Cunen in Oss presents the very first retrospective exhibition of the richest graves from the early Iron Age (800-500 BC), including the one of the iconic Lord of Oss. Leiden archaeologist Richard Jansen was guest curator and the exhibition tells the story of the funeral rituals of the local…

In the new video series 'The World of Linguistics', alumni and researchers talk about their passion for their field. Professor of African Linguistics Maarten Mous explains the importance of hearing your language at school.

Why are the majority of our national holidays based around Christian festivities? Arabist Maurits Berger talks about this in an article on Ruetir.

Research

Research