The organisations and people who implement government policy face many different types of change. Academics from Leiden University research how they deal with these and advise them on how best to meet the needs and wishes of society.

On 14 September, Erik Plas defended the thesis'Material amendments to public contracts in public procurement law'. The doctoral research was supervised by Jan Hebly and Bart Krans.

The first global safety summit on Artificial Intelligence is a fact. Prime Minister Sunak organised the conference because he believes that the issues related to AI can only be dealt with by governments. But the real issue with AI remained undiscussed at the summit, Reijer Passchier claims in Dutch…

Jaroslaw Kantorowicz, assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, isolated the reaction of the public to the potential breach of constitutional fiscal rules from the reaction of other players, such as the opposition, media and civil society organizations.

On 25 October 2018, Tu Zhang defended her thesis 'Public Reason Secularism: A Defense of Liberal Democracy'. The doctoral research was supervised by prof. P. Cliteur.

Does the public speaking anxiety that many youngsters experience originates from specific characteristics in their earlier development?

Starting next academic year, part of the master's in Population Health Management will be available at the University of Birmingham in England. What is the advantage of studying at both universities? Master's student Ferdiko Hutamadella studied in Birmingham as well as Leiden before the partnership…

The two-years master's programme ICT in Business and the Public Sector (last intake in February 2025) at Leiden University provides students with a deeper understanding on our thinking on physical, geographical and industry boundaries, on distance, speed and communication. The programme offers two specialisations:…

In her dissertation, political scientist Alessia Aspide explores how public attitudes toward fiscal policy are formed. Her key finding: fiscal preferences are not shaped in a vacuum, but are deeply embedded in institutional, political, and societal contexts.

Three new ministries have been formed in the Netherlands: Asylum and Migration, Housing and Spatial Planning & Climate and Green Growth. Of course, this is not merely an administrative act. These ministries carry a strong and political charge and play a crucial role in shaping a government's political…

A selection of news from Leiden University.

Welcome to the news hub of the Master’s program in Health, Ageing, and Society at LUMC. In this section, you'll find the latest updates and articles about the program, covering a wide range of topics, from key achievements and milestones to insightful perspectives and recent developments. Articles are…

The research provides insight into disease behavior in both rural and semi-urban areas in Serengeti in Tanzania.

The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) of Leiden University and Art Institute West Den Haag are pleased to announce their close collaboration in the second season of the public series In the Making. This series, dedicated to the practice of research in the arts, will consist of seven public…

This article argues that opposition to government green investments is conditional on the method of financing.

How do public organizations use strategic regulatory communication in regulatory governance?

Onlangs verscheen de handelseditie van het proefschrift van Marieke van Wamel (Nijmegen).

The Convenors of the Standing Group on Interest Groups and the ECPR 2018 Section Chairs, have announced the winners of the best paper awards.

Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) implies that societal actors (researchers, citizens, policy makers, business, third sector organisations, etc.) work together during the whole research and innovation process in order to better align both the process and its outcomes with the values, needs and…

In the globalised world of today, traditional definitions of national Self and national Other no longer hold. The unmistakable transformation of German and Dutch societies demands a thorough rethinking of national boundaries on several levels.

Public funding for fundamental research is essential for innovation and the development of new medicines. This is demonstrated by Professor Science Based Business Simcha Jong and his colleague Hsini Huang after studying US federal funding restrictions for stem cell research under President George W.…

Co-production it is called: collaboration between citizens and public servants with reference to public services. Carola van Eijk defends het PhD thesis on this subject at the Institute of Public Administration in The Hague. Defense 11 October 2017.

(1) What are the institutional factors that influence AI adoption and implementation? and (2) How does AI reshape the exercise of administrative discretion within public organisations, and how do adoption and implementation choices moderate these effects?

YAL connects academics to society.

The newly launched Public Leadership in Collaboration partnership has been designed to enhance leadership within and across public sector organisations through research. This kind of leadership has a direct impact on society. Professor Ben Kuipers from the Leiden Leadership Centre (LLC) shares three…

Discover the MSc The Politics of Artificial Intelligence at Leiden University: analyse who designs, controls and benefits from AI while using core Political Science theories to address regulation, ethics and global impact.

Combining results from bibliometric analyses, a global sample of researcher opinions and case-study interviews, a new report reveals that although the benefits of open research data are well known, in practice, confusion remains within the researcher community around when and how to share research…

The new book by Dimiter Toshkov - associate professor of Public Administration at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs - has been recently published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) will handle more criminal cases without involvement of the courts. The aim: more community service and fewer prison sentences. Jan Crijns, Professor of Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law, commented on the proposal in ‘Trouw’ newspaper.

An overview of our exhibition catalogues and research monographs on the Middle Eastern collections.

During the project, this page will be updated with news updates and events organised as part of the research project.

This project seeks to close the gap between the three main players in the field of prescriptivism: the linguists themselves, the prescriptivists (as writers of usage guides) and those who depend upon such manuals.

Pathogenic bacteria are increasingly resistant to today’s antibiotics. Professor Gilles van Wezel seeks new forms of antibiotics in good bacteria that live in the soil.

There are thousands of stories to tell about our alumni. How they experienced their student days. Where they ended up and what they still dream about. We provide an overview of Leiden alumni with our newsletters and the alumni magazine Leidraad.

On 12 June 2025, Advocate General Ćapeta delivered her Opinion in WS and Others v Frontex, a Grand Chamber case currently pending before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The case concerns a Syrian family that was returned to Turkey in what is arguably a violation of the principle of non-refoulement…

Onlangs verscheen de handelseditie van het proefschrift van Margreet Brandsma (Leiden) over Margaretha van Bourgondië.

In the thesis the dynamics of strategies is studied from two perspectives.In the first part of the thesis strategies are considered to be opinions present in a community.