Assistant professor and dual PhD candidate, Pieter Slaman writes in Binnenlands Bestuur about the fact that the German occupier lengthened the period of mandatory education in The Netherlands.

The Leiden Law Blog has been completely renewed. It is now more interactive and blogs can be more easily shared.

Caroline van Eck has been awarded the Descartes-Huygens Prize. She will receive the award in March 2014. The prize includes a period as a guest researcher in France. Van Eck has been awarded the prize for her excellent research and her contribution to French-Dutch collaboration.

In recent years, much research has been conducted at the Department of Labour Law on the topic of sustainability and fundamental labour rights. Linked to this field is a journal: the International Labor Rights Case Law Journal (ILaRC).

Two AI research projects receive funding; one in the field of oncology and one in the field of cardiology.

Dr Yannick van den Brink, Assistant Professor at the Department of Child Law, has been awarded a grant from the Rubicon programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to conduct research for a period of eighteen months at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology,…

Deep-brain stimulation (DBS) is the most promising surgical treatment for movement and neuropsychiatric disorders, but is accompanied by unwanted side effects. Birte Forstmann, professor by special appointment, has been awarded a ERC Proof of Concept Grant to create an atlas of the human deep brain…

Nico Schrijver professor emeritus in Public Law and State councillor at the Council of State has been appointed by the European Union and the United Kingdom as a member of the Arbitration Panel which is authorised to settle disputes on the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement.

Het Centraal Orgaan opvang asielzoekers (COA) moet dwangsommen gaan betalen aan de gemeente Westerwolde bij overbezetting in Ter Apel. Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staats- en Bestuursrecht, spreekt zich bij Sven op 1 uit tegen de maatregel: ‘Ze willen chaos creëren.’

The Centre for Global Heritage and Development has been successful in applying for a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) on the topic of threatened heritage at ICTO, the platform for innovation and education at Leiden University.

The book ‘The Riemann Hypothesis: A Million Dollar Problem’ has been elected by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) as one of the best books on mathematics. On 13 January assistant professor at Leiden University Roland van der Veen and co-author Jan van de Craats will receive the MAA Beckenbach…

On Monday, 25 April 2019, a video appeared on the Internet where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was seen and heard. The Islamic terror group IS has distributed this video on the internet. Baghadadi has not appeared in public since 2014.

Three students of Leiden University’s “MSc. ICT in Business” programme, Erwin Marges, Stefan Zhelyazkov and Georgios Valouras, have been awarded with the prize of Galileo Master of the South-Holland region, for their business plan idea “SnowMate Alpine Assistant”.

As of July 1, Professor of Bio-organic Synthesis Hermen Overkleeft will be appointed as the Scientific Director of the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC). He will succeed Jaap Brouwer, who has been managing the institute for the past twelve years. Overkleeft has been appointed for a period of four…

Between November 2022 and December 2023, 45 one-off and 14 structural security measures were taken for academics or university staff. This is what it says in the External Intimidation, Hatred and Threats against Academics Monitor published by the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the Dutch Research…

By the time you read this message, it will already be February. But since this is our first newsletter of the year, I still feel compelled to wish all of you a very happy New Year!

A discussion is currently being held about whether a demonstrating policy official employed by the Municipality of The Hague, who is also a local councillor in Rijswijk, can remain in office after she participated in Extinction Rebellion’s recent climate protest. The VVD party in The Hague claims this…

Until September 2016, Hannah Plug was Research Assistant for the Consolidating Empire Research Project under the direction of Dr. Bleda Düring. Now, she has just begun her new appointment at Liverpool University, UK. Here she tells all about it.

Richard Barrett has launched a new digital music label on Bandcamp.

Municipalities claim successes in the fight against radicalization. But when do you call deradicalisation policy a success? Trouw gives 4 options.

Ludo Waltman, professor of Quantitative Science Studies at Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS), has been awarded the Derek de Solla Price Medal.

The American security services brought down American President Nixon, not the media as people generally believe. Andrew Gawthorpe, researcher on diplomacy and American foreign policy, hopes that the security services under Trump also make the right decision.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is refusing to release documents on the safety of Schiphol Airport, despite a court ruling that they must be made public. The case has been running for four years and was brought by current affairs programme EenVandaag.

After 30 days of work, the experimental reconstruction of the iron age canoe of Vlaardingen Vergulde Hand is finished! Its maiden voyage will take place on Friday the 16th of February when it will be paddled for the first time by schoolchildren from Vlaardingen.

A message from our director

Martijn Ridderbos has been reappointed vice-chairman of the Executive Board of Leiden University by the Board of Governors.

Work started today on the Kolffpad student complex, with 289 flats for students from Leiden University. Stichtnig DUWO will own the building and the University owns the site at the Bio Science Park. The building should be complete by mid-2023.

The ‘New Way of Working’ has become a reality at Leiden Law School with light, transparent and flexible workspaces, Rector Carel Stolker said at the grand opening of the revamped third floor of the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw.

The winner of this year’s Iris Medal for Excellent Science Communication is Professor of Science Communication Ionica Smeets.

150 new Biology students have arrived in Leiden. This is more than ever and we seem to settle among the big three Universities for Biology in the Netherlands.

Prison staff are working under high pressure. The current proposal for cell sharing is the final straw. Associate Professor Esther van Ginneken appeared on Dutch news programme ‘Nieuwsuur’: ‘Serious incidents have occurred, including the murder of a cellmate.’

The decision by the court in preliminary relief proceedings to immediately lift the curfew in the Netherlands – following a case brought by pressure group Viruswaarheid (Virus Truth) – has been overturned until the appeal on the case is heard this Friday. The government is doing everything in its power…

A number of calls for proposals have been launched to finance innovative educational projects. An overview is given below.

On Thursday 23 May, a jointly organized Lunch Seminar between the Leiden Research Lunch and the research program Interaction Between Legal Systems takes place. In this special seminar we have the honour of receiving Maria Weimer from the University of Amsterdam, who will present her new book on

Professor of Korean Studies Remco Breuker has been awarded a subsidy from the European Research Council to study the dispute between both Koreas and China on the history of Manchuria.

There are plenty of reasons to look back on a very successful year. TRI Leiden has made great progress with its various projects and activities. This has been achieved with the much valued input of many experts involved in the projects and Leiden Law School students.

On 21 May 2025, the chief negotiators of Switzerland and the EU Brevier initialled a package of agreements intended to strengthen their legal ties that have developed since the 1950s

De Tweede Kamer wordt de meest versplinterde ooit, met zeven partijen van drie zetels of minder. Waar verschillende experts waarschuwen voor bestuurlijke chaos, ziet hoogleraar staatsrecht, Wim Voermans, hierin juist de kracht van de Nederlandse democratie, zegt hij in het NRC.

A Niels Stensen Fellowship has recently been awarded to Vestert Borger. Since the 1960s, the Fellowship is awarded each year to 6 or 7 scholars at Dutch universities across all disciplines who have recently defended their doctoral dissertation. The Fellowhip enables them to conduct research abroad at…

‘If you are studying to become a lawyer, but are not certain if the legal profession is the right place for you, then my advice is to just do it. Try it!’ This was one of the many recommendations from Leiden alumnus Mark Moolhuizen, a partner at law firm Van Doorne, given during a webinar held at Leiden…

LUC The Hague is honoured to announce that, for the fifth time, its Liberal Arts & Sciences: Global Challenges programme has been awarded the ‘Top Rated Programme’ quality seal by the Keuzegids Universiteiten 2018!

Ontwikkelingshulp- en migratiedeskundigen zien dat er lessen zijn geleerd in het nieuwe regeerakkoord op het gebied van asielbeleid. Maar aan veel toezeggingen kleven cynische voorwaarden.

Mediterranean archaeologist Dr Anita Casarotto has been awarded a grant of € 5,800 from the Byvanck Fonds for her research on unlocking important data for regional archaeological investigations in the Mediterranean. In collaboration with Leiden University and the KNIR (Royal Netherlands Institute in…

A team of surgeons at Leiden University Medical Center and the Centre for Human Drug Research have removed a lung tumour that they pinpointed using fluorescence. This is the first time that this technique has been used in Europe in a patient with a lung tumour.

Several cases inspired by the Urgenda case have now been filed. For example, by the Portuguese, concerning widespread forest fires, Swiss women of a somewhat respectable age (known as the ‘KlimaSeniorrinnen’) who suffer from the heat, and the mayor of a French city situated by the sea who fears the…

Health psychologist Liesbeth van Vliet receives International recognition for her research on doctor-patient communication in the setting of advanced, life-limiting illnesses. She has been awarded the Post Doctoral Research Award at the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) World Congress…

New technological applications which the government wants to use need to be thoroughly examined to prevent them causing problems for citizens. Currently, things often go wrong – the childcare benefit affair being an extreme example – says Anne Meuwese, Professor of Public Law and Governance of AI, in…

The master’s programme 'Jeugdrecht' (Child Law) at Leiden Law School has been awarded the gold medal by EW Beste Studies. It is the only degree programme at Leiden University to have earned this top award. Professor Mariëlle Bruning says, 'it’s the best compliment you could ever get in your career'.

There's a myth that people with autism avoid eye contact in conversations. This can come across as indifferent. Unjustified, stresses Jiayin Zhao, who is doing her PhD research on the socio-emotional development of children with autism. 'That people with autism don't care is anything but true.'

On Wednesday 11 December 2019, Marieke Liem, Associate Professor, appeared as a guest on the NPO Radio 1 podcast. The central topic of the podcast was risk perception among the Dutch population.