'In Leiden, I can continue on the path towards my dream: having my own pharmacy,' says Duaa Abbas. She studied pharmaceutics in Syria and worked in a pharmacy there for a year and a half. After having to flee the country, she ended up in the Netherlands. Thanks to the help of the Foundation for Refugee…

Over the past two years, the institute has undergone important developments under the leadership of Scientific Director, Professor Hanneke Hulst. She also steered the Institute with passion and determination through this tumultuous period. She leaves behind a strong, resilient and forward-looking organisation.…

From 6-8 April 2026 the conference "From the ground up: The politics of burial and memory in the early Islamic world" will take place in Cairo, Egypt. Deadline for sending in your abstract: 21 June 2025.

Kunnen algoritmen een hulpmiddel zijn voor advocaten en hun cliënten wanneer ze onderhandelen over contracten? In het preventief recht is dit zeker mogelijk, zo toont het promotieonderzoek van Georgios Stathis. Geleidelijk neemt het algoritme hier juridisch werk uit handen.

Working as a diplomat for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: for many students it would be their dream. Alumnus Tom Groot Haar is busy making it a reality. 'My career seems like a preconceived plan, but it wasn't.'

How ethical is research involving humans and robots? And can research on artificial intelligence cause problems when it ends up in the wrong hands? In any research involving humans or their data, the ethics committee assesses where the issues are. Associate professor at LIACS Suzan Verberne chairs the…

By far the majority of users of child sexual abuse networks (or child porn forums as they are sometimes called) on the dark web do not actively communicate there but download illegal material, therefore committing a criminal offence. But they often stay under the police and judiciary’s radar. PhD candidate…

Reserve a seat, pack a nice lunch and leave a little extra time if you need to change trains. These tips come from colleagues who recently travelled by train for work. They found it a comfortable, productive and greener way to travel. ‘Just give it a try, to me it’s not very different from working from…

Expert in public affairs and politics Arco Timmermans advised the informer Kim Putters.

Markus Altena Davidsen was 'extremely happy' when he heard that he and his colleagues had been awarded a grant from the KNAW pilot fund for science communication. Together with partners from all over the country, they are working on a book that should inspire secondary schools to renew their education…

Sarah Cramsey was appointed professor by special appointment of Central European Studies at the Institute of History on 14 September. 'I am keen to incorporate different scholarly approaches into my work and raise the profile of Central European Studies in Leiden.'

Psychology students do not always feel sufficiently prepared for the responsibilities expected of them later in their studies. That is why they are now increasingly encouraged to learn autonomously at each course level. And that can be quite challenging, even for teachers.

Luca Giomi has the first results of his ERC consolidator grant. He discovered that epithelial cells move collectively but in different ways, depending on the scale you look at. It is hexatic at small scales, and becomes nematic at larger scales: it is a multiscale order. This collective movement of…

The results of the Personnel Monitor 2022 are out. Now the ball is in all of our courts. What does the Monitor tell us and how can we act on it? I hope that as an organisation we can get a good dialogue going as the first step towards improvement.

A passion for video games, visuals and science: it almost seems impossible to bring all of this together. Yet, scientific animator Vera Williams found that dream combination at NeCEN's microscopy lab. 'An image or animation can help clarify the content of complex research.'

In many Central and Eastern European countries, a period of greater openness emerged in the late 1980s. How did this affect the future perspective of residents? And can we learn anything from this period for our current times? University lecturer Dorine Schellens delves into the literature to investigate…

In response to the Personnel Monitor light, the Steering Committee on Work-Life Balance has produced a plan to improve work-life balance at our faculty. This interview with Annemiek Hogendorp and Adriaan Rademaker, both members of the Steering Committee, will shed more light on the plan.

The sustainable production of hydrogen could potentially be made more efficient by adding a cleverly chosen salt to the process. Researchers at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC), in collaboration with physicists at the University of Twente, have discovered that the type of salt present in the…

Four lecturers from Leiden University will receive a 50,000-euro Comenius Teaching Fellow grant. This will enable them and their team to realise an educational innovation within their own teaching.

The Honours College Law (HC Law) is soon going to look very different. What does the HC Law currently do, and what’s going to change? Why should you apply for it? To answer these questions, we spoke to Maartje van der Woude, Designated Professor at the HC Law. She’s designing the new programme in collaboration…

Automated government decisions can be cost-effective. But using algorithms also makes understanding the reasons behind decisions particularly complicated. Dr Melanie Fink, Assistant Professor at Leiden Law School, has received a Veni grant to fund her research into this.

What did medieval scholars think of the books they read? In her inaugural lecture, Professor Mariken Teeuwen will talk about the texts they wrote in the margin.

The challenges of building a sustainable society are unprecedented. But the Dutch municipalities cannot be faulted for their commitment. They are working hard, conclude Professor Eefje Cuppen and Lian Merkx, programme manager for energy at the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG). To exchange…

In May and June of 2021, Bachelor 1 and 2 students of the Faculty of Archaeology joined in the excavation at Oss. After the fieldwork itself, a second post-excavations week started in Leiden where each of them participated in small groups conducting archaeological find processing and working on creative…

What truly matters to you? And how do you take steps towards your goals, even when it feels daunting? In the introductory module of the Personal Professional Skills Lab, first-year students discuss these questions. ‘Ultimately, everyone struggles with the same things.’

A shepherd, but also a comparativist and historian with very broad interests. That is how Professor Philippe Buc describes himself. As of 1 August 2021, he will hold the chair of professor of Medieval History at the university. In an introductory interview, Buc introduces himself, his research and his…

Armed with sunglasses, a thick layer of sunscreen and several bottles of water, over 3,300 students have arrived in Leiden for their introduction week. The start of the 55th EL CID happened to be on the hottest day of the year.

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 the short term, no reorganisation is foreseen within the Faculty of Humanities, nor are any compulsory redundancies expected. Nonetheless, structural changes remain necessary. This is evident from the faculty’s draft budget for 2026 and the accompanying financial multi-year outlook.

Sky-high energy prices and a climate that keeps getting warmer: it’s clear that we have to turn down the heat. Sustainability Day on 10 October will mark the start of our five-month Energy Campaign and we’ll be making the switch. Sustainability Coordinators Aranka Virágh (Real Estate) and Marlies Nijemeisland…

In the past months of the coronavirus crisis, work continued steadily on constructing the Humanities Campus. The Arsenaal has been completed. Colleagues have moved to the Reuvens and Huizinga buildings, and the South Cluster is ready for the renovation to start. And now we have suddenly had to stop.

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

Eight scientists from Leiden University have been awarded a grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). With this Vidi funding, the researchers can set up an innovative line of research and further expand their own research group over the next five years.

'What nature made isn’t necessarily an optimized medicine to use in the human body,’ says Professor of Biological Chemistry Nathaniel Martin. That’s why a group of Leiden researchers is making a chemistry-based improved version of the frequently used antibiotic vancomycin. They received an NWO NACTAR…

You can make some astounding images using just a box with a hole. Inspired by the celebration of Leiden as the European City of Science, Professor Matthew Kenworthy left several pinhole cameras across the Observatory over the course of 2021. This is how the simplest devices may uncover the greatest…

On Wednesday 5 November, Jasper sets off on the annual study trip for the Board of Deans together with the Executive Board. Because of budget cuts, they’re staying a bit closer to home this year. But that doesn’t make the trip any less enjoyable — as you’ll read in this column.

A team of three students affiliated with Leiden University is shedding new light on the lives, diets, health, and mobility of individuals buried at the historic church site in Koudekerke, Zeeland. The project, a collaboration with the Walcherse Archeologische Dienst and funded by the Municipality of…

Four female computer scientists share a common goal: to showcase the significant contributions of women in computer science and inspire their students. Together, they are organising this year’s Alice & Eve event, a one-day symposium dedicated to celebrating women in computer science. The event, scheduled…

Rain or shine: in the course ‘The Ecology Project’ students of Leiden University College visit the nature of The Hague each week.

Research into our history of colonialism and slavery, heart-to-heart conversations at a Keti Koti table, exhibitions, lectures and podcasts that establish the link between present and past. Staff and students participated in the national Slavery Memorial Year in many different ways. What have we learned…

Most people think of waste as something dirty that needs to be disposed of as soon as possible, but Olivia Yun-An Dung's dissertation aims to show that this does not always have to be the case. For this purpose, she focuses on Tzu Chi recycling in Taiwan. There, an army of elderly volunteers has been…

Imagine: you’re seeking asylum in the Netherlands due to your sexual orientation or gender identity. The immigration authorities might question you about your sexuality. PhD candidate Elias Tissandier-Nasom, who is researching asylum applications submitted by LGBTQI+ children, explains that the process…

A huge shiny aluminium object stands in the middle of the Polderlab in Oud Ade. Are the researchers trying to make contact with extraterrestrial life? Certainly not; they are using the ’Moon landers’ to measure whether innovative forms of agriculture reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Fleur van Duin works…

Willemijn de Best’s career path led her to the media sector. Besides the more obvious legal professions, a degree in law actually offers many other possibilities: film and television production with celebrities as clients, for example.

Inequality could be addressed in the classroom without taking too much time, effort or money. By making one small change, teachers can make a big difference, says Professor by Special Appointment in Equal Educational Opportunities Lisa Gaikhorst in her inaugural lecture.

Three lecturers from Leiden University have been awarded a 100,000-euro Comenius Teaching Fellowship within the scope of the Senior Fellows programme. The grant will enable them and their project teams to carry out their own teaching innovation project.

There are approximately 60 million skateboarders worldwide. And yet in the academic world, this culture is not always looked upon seriously. Visual anthropologist Sander Hölsgens believes that this has to change. Last summer his book 'Skateboarding in Seoul' and the accompanying film 'Reverberations'…

Researchers from Leiden University analysed almost 30 years of communication on astrobiology. News articles proved most speculative, especially via quotes from scientists. Especially exoplanet research is often accompanied by high expectations about extraterrestrial life, they write in PLOS One.

The annual Korean Screen Culture Conference (KSCC) is dedicated to exploring all aspects of Korean screen culture, including television, K-pop, internet, computer gaming, webtoons, and film from both North and South Korea.

In 2018, the undergraduate programme Dutch Language and Culture embarked on sweeping programme innovations to educate its students ‘in a way that focusses more on the challenges of Dutch Studies in a 21st century society’. What does this entail and what was the approach? Esther Op de Beek, university…