The student loan system, implemented in 2015 in part to improve the quality of Dutch education, is facing political backlash. Despite having signed the student loan system agreement in 2015, both GroenLinks and PvdA have had a change of heart.

When general laws and regulations no longer fit individual situations, can customisation offer a solution? In the special issue ‘Maatwerk' (customisation) of Boom Bestuurskunde, researchers have tackled the questions that customisation brings to public organisations. The symposium ‘Maatwerk onder maatschappelijke…

Three researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council. The subsidy will allow the researchers to set up their own projects and put together a research team.

The pews of the Walloon Church were filled on Friday 23 May, as more than 120 former students of the French Language and Culture programme gathered to attend mini-lectures, a short theatre performance, and a discussion about the state of the discipline.

As with other dual-use technologies, non-lethal drone applications are increasingly becoming both a cause for concern and an exciting area of development.

Europe in lockdown: Member States acted on their own initiative to into lockdown, and all back to normal at the same time? It’s not that simple, and it doesn’t have to be.

Op woensdag 24 april 2024 organiseerde de studievereniging Suum Cuique haar jaarlijkse congres, dit jaar met het thema ‘De WAMCA en ideële vorderingen’. Branda Katan, bijzonder hoogleraar Corporate Litigation bij de Universiteit Leiden en partner bij Stibbe, sprak samen met Robin Tess Bolland, advocaat…

At a recent meeting, the leaders of the European Union formally approved Ukraine and Moldova’s candidate status to join the bloc. The message is: you are welcome to join our European family in due course.

Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions, recently wrote an op-ed in Dutch daily newspaper NRC.

The Leiden University Labour Law Department started a new cooperation with the Law School of the China University of Labor Relations in Beijing. The agreement was signed by Dean prof. Jiang Ying during the visit of her delegation on 19 September 2019 in Leiden. Also Vice-Dean prof. Li Wenpei and Lecturer…

‘Who will succeed Frans Timmermans in Brussels?’ is the title of the article in Dutch financial newspaper Financieele Dagblad (FD). Various candidates have been reviewed and all are contenders. But a female candidate may still have an advantage, believes Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations…

From Thursday 14 to Sunday 17 June the Hugo Sinzheimer Moot Court Competition took place in Cassino, Italy. During this moot court, in the field of European employment and labour law, thirteen teams acted as lawyers in front of a special court composed of professors, judges and lawyers.

On 23 March 2023 Weidong Zhang defended his thesis in Leiden on achieving decent work in China. This research analyses to what extent China is achieving decent work based on a case study of decent working time. The word ‘achieving’ underlines that China is still in the process of securing this aim.…

Lamberto Zannier, Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), gave a lecture on ‘The OSCE, a bridge between East and West and a platform for dialogue on European security’

In 2018, Megan Griffiths, then a student of the MA North American Studies, won the Theodore Roosevelt American History Award for her master’s thesis ‘Radicals, Conservatives, and the Salem Witchcraft Crisis: Exploiting the Fragile Communities of Colonial New England’.

Professor Joke Bouwstra has been elected as member of the Koninklijke Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW, The Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences). This is a very prestigious recognition and a great honor for Joke. You can find the announcement by the KNAW below (short version) and as an attachment.

Erkens and Boot were participants at the 21st Conference of the European Association of Labour Court Judges that took place from 8 to 10 June 2017 in Prague.

Last year the research program Teaching and Teacher Learning of ICLON Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching had its recurrent external review.

On 21 February 2025, Sarah Coombs successfully defended her PhD thesis at Leiden University in which she analysed the impact of research conducted by Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS).

Whether it's brushing up on a language, a course on current legal issues, or a master's degree in cybersecurity. Get inspired at the Online Open Day for Professionals on 2 November.

How can mentors and social workers foster the vocational identity of at-risk youth and improve their prospects? This is the subject of Rineke Keijzer-Groot's thesis. She is a dual PhD candidate at ICLON and Dual PhD Centre. Defence on 18 November.

Many of our staff and students have won an award, received a grant, obtained an academic fellowship for their quality or have been socially engaged due to their specific expertise. See below for an overview per year.

The Executive Board of Leiden University appointed Dr. Johannes Magliano-Tromp as interim member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs with the portfolio Education.

Other COI publications can be found on Leiden Law Blog, the Leiden Law Methods Portal, and in the drop-down tabs below.

In 2023, many of our students and staff won great prizes and secured important research grants.

Jos Winnink will defend his PhD dissertation, entitled “Early-stage detection of breakthrough-class scientific research”, on Wednesday February 22, 2017 at 3 pm. The two PhD supervisors are Prof. dr. Robert Tijssen and Prof. dr. Anthony van Raan (both at CWTS, Leiden University).

Biologists Michelle Spierings and Ryan Bogaars are 2 of the 4 winners of the Leiden heat for the international FameLab competition in talking science during a public presentation.

Not one, but two initiatives won this year's Van Bergen prize. The prize was awarded during the university's Diversity symposium on 22 January. One of the winners is OpenUp, an interactive symposium on coping with stress and fear. Students are invited to tell their stories. The Hague Campus' study advisers…

On Friday February 25, student Mitchell Bosch will present his Media Technology MSc graduation thesis work. In 20-25 minutes Mitchell will present his project, followed by 10-15 minutes public discussion. Everyone is invited to attend. The presentation is in English.

Rising geopolitical tensions are causing states and national elites to innovate their use of the past for present-day political ends. This is certainly true for the People’s Republic of China, which celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2024 amid mounting superpower rivalry, ideological tensions with the…

Postdocs, or early career researchers, play a crucial role at Leiden University. They make a major contribution to our research. In 2019, Leiden University employed around 400 postdocs across our faculties in Leiden and The Hague, LUMC not included.

Both good employer practices and good employee practices are open norms. These open norms can lead to uncertainty about what employers should focus on and what rights (and obligations) employees have in that respect. The objective of this study is to give substance to the norm of good employment practices…

The main purpose of DNAmarkerpoint is to better understand the ecology, evolution and biodiversity through the study of ancient- and modern DNA.

SAILS (Society, Artificial Intelligence and Life Sciences) is a universitywide initiative aimed at facilitating collaboration across disciplines on the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). It is one of Leiden University's interdisciplinary programmes.

LUC's Liberal Arts and Sciences programme offers you the opportunity to specialise in one of six Majors while keeping the Global Challenges at the centre of your studies.

How do tax treaties have to be explained and implemented, and what role does the supranational regulatory process play in this? Which objectives are meant to be used in establishing tax regulations and to what extent are such legislative practices undertaken in a goal-oriented manner?.

As of March 16 two PhD candidates have started their work on the project Empirical Legal Studies as part of the sector plan for Law.

The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities strategic alliance celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2022. At the ‘The Next Ten Years’ anniversary celebration in the Faculty Club on 12 April, the partners looked back on their achievements and ahead to the major social challenges of the next ten years.

On Monday, 1 February a beautifully designed and accessible book appeared about two centuries of student financing and apprenticeship in the Netherlands, entitled Kansen in het Koninkrijk (‘Opportunities in the Kingdom’). The book was presented to Job Cohen, a Leiden University professor and chairman…

Terwijl NAVO-landen hun defensiebudgetten fors verhogen, ontstaat ruimte voor start-ups om innovatieve technologie te leveren. De flexibiliteit en snelheid maken hen aantrekkelijk voor defensie, maar de opmars brengt ook risico’s met zich mee, waarschuwt Louisa Handel-Mazzetti, promovenda bij Lucht…

Ewine van Dishoeck was broadly covered in national and international media with her prestigious Kavli prize for astrophysics. She won 1 million dollars voor her groundbreaking work on star and planet formation and on extraterrestrial life.

In the upcoming Dutch general elections, the focus of the party campaigns is on national issues. Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions, argues in a column in Dutch newspaper NRC that foreign policy should also be on the agenda.

De modest fashion-industrie is een miljardenindustrie, ontstaan vanuit de behoefte van vrouwen om zich meer bescheiden (lees: bedekt) te gaan kleden. Het Stedelijk Museum Schiedam presenteert daarom in samenwerking met Arminius het Modest Fashion Symposium.

For the second time in six months, Hans-Martien ten Napel has been invited to write the opening essay for a series of international blog posts.

In maart 2024 is het wetenschappelijk onderzoek naar de versterking van de verantwoordelijkheid van gecontroleerde entiteiten zelf rondom de accountantscontrole en de jaarverslaggeving uitgebracht. Dit boek bevat de uitwerking van een onderzoek voor het ministerie van Financiën opgesteld door de Afdeling…

Donald Trump’s re-election: it could become reality after the November 2024 elections. According to various experts across Europe and the US, Europe needs to prepare for the potential implications of this scenario for European security. Professor Luuk van Middelaar, an expert in European Law, discussed…

From 15-19 July 2019, the department of Labour Law hosted the first Global & European Labour Law Summer School. Participants from 10 different nationalities and 3 different continents joined the Summer School.

Graduate students at Central European University and the University of Vienna invite abstracts from MA and PhD students in the fields of Late Antique and Byzantine Studies for a graduate conference with the theme 'Receiving Byzantium, Byzantium Receiving' (16-17 May 2025, Vienna).

The Netherlands is informal, friendly and welcoming. Everyone can feel at home here, regardless of religion, ethnic background or sexual orientation. The Dutch speak many languages and the countryside and cities are easy and safe to travel through, by any means of transport. No matter where you come…