The 2018 IEEE Computer Society PAMI Mark Everingham Prize has been awarded jointly to Wessel Kraaij, Alan Smeaton, Paul Over and George Awad for the “TRECVid Video Retrieval Evaluation 2003-2018”.

After the KHMW Brouwer Thesis Prize for History, Vicente Fischer de Miranda Rodrigues has also won the Cornelis Thiele Prize of the Dutch Society for Religious Studies.

Vincent Bakker, PhD Candidate at the Department of Economics, was awarded the Research Master’s Thesis Prize 2017 of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Science.

Dr Kabir Duggal, who recently obtained his PhD at Leiden University, has been awarded the

Thomas Hansen is the recipient of the 2020 KNCV-Backer Prize for best organic chemistry thesis in the Netherlands.

Professor Mariska Kret has received the Mercator Sapiens Stimulus, a new science prize from the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW). The prize consists of a sum of 1m euros.

Writing a master’s thesis in Political Science is a demanding yet rewarding journey. Every year, students deliver impressive research that showcases their analytical skills and academic rigor. This year, one thesis stood out for its exceptional quality. On 31 October 2025, during the master’s graduation…

On 6 September 2021 Dr Vestert Borger, Assistant Professor of European law, was awarded the Best Book Prize by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES). Borger received the prize for his book 'The Currency of Solidarity: Constitutional Transformation during the Euro Crisi…

This dissertation reports on the beliefs and perceptions of Chinese and Dutch university teachers regarding the role of research in university teaching and how these beliefs and perceptions can be explained by their cultural, institutional and individual background characteristics

Sinologist Florian Schneider was awarded the LUS Teaching Prize, officially making him this year’s best Leiden University lecturer. Schneider was commended for his innovative teaching methods based on role-playing.

During the award ceremony of the Christiaan Huygens Prize on 16 October, mathematician Rosa Schwarz received an honourable mention. Schwarz, former PhD candidate of the Mathematical Institute, received the mention for her dissertation ‘Logarithmic approach to the double ramification cycle’.

Samuel Jong has won the Institute of Political Science MSc Thesis Prize 2016. With ‘Bridging the Gap: Do Ideological Differences Determine Whether Center-Right Parties Cooperate with the Radical Right?’, Jong completed his Political Science master studies. His research findings, according to the jury,…

On 28 and 29 April 2022, the fourth annual PhD Workshop on European and International Insolvency Law took place, organised by the Foundation Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection (BWILC). A shared first prize was awarded to Gert-Jan Boon (Leiden University) and Theodora Kostoula (European University…

On September 12, Michel Orrit received his Spinoza prize in the Royal Theatre in The Hague from OCW Secretary of State Sander Dekker. With the award comes a budget of 2.5 million euro, to be spent freely on scientific research, and the coveted Spinoza statue. Orrit shared the honor with Eveline Crone…

The Leiden students who participated in the iGEM synthetic biology competition have won the prize for best production. They developed a way to have bacteria produce the substance suckerine, a protein derived from the Humboldt squid. By doing so, they want to help heal burn wounds. ‘The announcement…

On 14 December 2017 Charlotte Mol was awarded the fifth Jaap Doek Child Law Thesis Prize for her thesis: ‘The Child's Right to Representation of Article 12 UNCRC in Family Law Proceedings: A comparison and evaluation of the legal frameworks in Australia, France, the Netherlands and South Africa’. This…

Astronomer Jos de Boer has received the Chesneau Prize in Nice for his research into so-called protoplanetary disks. The prize is awarded to the best astronomical dissertation in the field of high angular resolution. 'I consider it a good opportunity to talk about my research.'

Professor of Brain, Safety and Resilience Anne-Laura van Harmelen has been nominated for the Huibregtsen Prize. The winner of the prize will be announced on the Evening of Science & Society (4 October).

Math girls Jeanine Daems and Ionica Smeets have received the Mr. K.J. Cath prize during the opening of the academic year in Leiden.

Natalia Ortiz, a current PhD student in our department, was awarded the KNMP Student Prize during the last autumn Congress 2014 of the Royal Dutch Pharmacists Association (Koninklijke Nederlandse Maatschappij ter bevordering der Pharmacie, KNMP), held in Utrecht at the beginning of October.

The Modderman Prize is awarded once every two years to advance research in the field of criminal law science.

Kohei Suzuki and his co-authors reflect on their extensive scholarly experience teaching comparative public administration across diverse countries including Canada, the Netherlands, Qatar, and the United States.

Chrisandya Sinurat (Sandy), an alumnus of the International Civil and Commercial Law Program from Leiden University, has been awarded the gold medal in the research competition of the International Insolvency Institute’s (III) 2024 Prize in International Insolvency Studies. Sandy was honoured to be…

Health Day has won the LUF Relationship-Promoting Activities Prize (LUF RAP). This 5,000-euro prize is awarded to an initiative by Leiden University students that brings the academic community together.

Assistant professor Stephanie Noach has won the Dissertation Prize of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation. She is receiving this prestigious prize for her research on darkness in contemporary art from Latin America and the Caribbean.

Nieuwscheckers, a team of journalist fact-checkers from Leiden University, received the Mr. K.J. Cath Prize at the opening of the academic year on 5 September. This biennial prize is awarded to students or staff who have enhanced the University’s good name.

The Psychology Teaching Award goes to the entire team of teaching staff. PhD candidates Wouter van Loon and Hilmar Zech wrote the best scientific articles. The master's thesis awards go to Robert-Jan de Rooij and Florian Thomas-Odenthal. Marion Duijsman gets an award for administrative staff and Gert-Jan…

The following lectures/courses are given in the framework of the EU Jean Monnet Chair EUTAXGOV at Leiden University. Topic of this Jean Monnet Chair: EU Tax Governance and International Tax Law Making by the EU.

On Saturday 15 February 2020, the Leiden University Thesis Prizes were presented during the Dies celebration day for alumni. Joint first prize went to Vincent Peeters, who was awarded a cum laude master's degree in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure in August 2019.

The Fritz Zwicky Prize 2022 for Astrophysics & Cosmology has been awarded to Prof. Ewine F. van Dishoeck for her pioneering, decades-long work in astrochemistry and molecular spectroscopy, as well as for her leadership within the astronomical community. The award was announced today by the European…

Matthias Flór receives the KHMW Graduation Prize in Theoretical Physics for his master's thesis. His research on exotic superconductors at Leiden University and TU Delft struck a chord with the jury. The jury unanimously chose to award Flór noting that ‘he demonstrated impressive technical abilities…

Quick resuscitation can save lives, but under 1% of the population of Leiden is a community first responder. Student associations and various partners in Leiden want to give a resuscitation course to 500 residents and students of Leiden. This special project has won the LUF’s Snouck Hurgronje Prize.

In 2020, many of our staff and students have again won prestigious prizes and been awarded important research subsidies.

PhD researcher David Font Vivanco, together with Ester van der Voet, Reinout Heijungs and Renée Kemp (Maastricht University) won the Graedel Prize 2014 for best paper published by a junior author in the Journal of Industrial Ecology.

Citizens and government collaborate increasingly, for exampe in neighborhood prevention teams. Assistant professor Carola van Eijk looks into these kinds of cooperation. Today she will hear if she will be awarded the important prize in the public administration field.

PhD student of the division Pharmacology, Jantine Brussee has won the second prize of the Figon-Pfizer PhD student Competition, at the Dutch Medicine Days in Ede.

An important award like the Spinoza Prize, the 'Dutch Nobel Prize', generates lots of media attention. An overview.

Dr Ruixuan Chen, an alumnus of the LIAS and now assistant professor in Buddhist Studies at Heidelberg, has been awarded the Ernst Waldschmidt Prize. The award ceremony is postponed due to the pandemic and will take place in Berlin presumably in early 2021.

Leiden Law School has awarded two students from the Van Vollenhoven Institute’s Master in Law and Society prizes for best thesis.

The University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES) has shortlisted ‘The Currency of Solidarity: Constitutional Transformation during the Euro Crisis’, written by Dr Vestert Borger, for its Best Book Prize.

Together with patient representatives, clinician-researchers from Radboucumc (Internal Medicine) Amsterdam UMC and researchers from Leiden University (Andrea Evers and Henriët van Middendorp) have received the Medical Inspirator Prize 2019 of The Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development…

Ionica Smeets is planning to give the prize money that she won with the Iris Medal, a prize for excellent science communication, to student projects.

This year, the second Hugo Weiland Thesis Prize of the Foundation for Austrian Studies has been awarded. This prize, in honour of the founder and long-standing chair of the Foundation of Mr. Weiland, is awarded to high quality theses dedicated to the history, culture, and politics of Austria and Central…

Recently graduated Biology student Julia López Delgado is one of the winners of the Holland Society Young Talent Awards 2019. She received her prize during the festive award ceremony on 25 November in Haarlem.

Anthropology students investigate how care is perceived in LGBTQ+ communities in the Netherlands, winning the prestigious Speckmann Prize. Insights on safe spaces and community diversity.

The book 'Darwin comes to town’ by Menno Schilthuizen has been awarded the best nature book in the Netherlands. The Leiden biologist received the Jan Wolkers Prize, awarded annually by Dutch TV and radio show 'Vroege Vogels'. In his book Schilthuizen describes evolution in one of the newest and most…

Dutch and international students brandishing bows and arrows fire at each other on the fields of the University Sports Centre on 11 May. This is the aim – not the shooting each other, but the act of getting together.

The Dick Stufkens Prize 2025 for best PhD thesis of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC) has been awarded to Begüm Demirkurt for her thesis “Mechanical Contact Imaging using Fluorescence Techniques”. Demirkurt, who obtained her doctorate from the University of Amsterdam last March,…

During the Faculty of Science New Year's reception, Daniël Rozen was named Discoverer of the year 2015. Nienke van der Marel and Koen van der Maaden both won the prize for the best dissertation and Jeroen van Smeden was named Best Teacher of 2015.

Pupils and students learn best if they are actively doing something with the material. Professor Wilfried Admiraal is studying the best teaching methods and assignments to achieve this.