On 10 May 1940, the Netherlands was taken completely by surprise by the attack of the German army. Wasn’t it? In his dissertation, Wouter Linmans debunks the idea that the Second World War took the Netherlands by surprise. ‘From 1935 onwards, all major political parties wanted to invest in the military.’…

The Institute for History announces vacancies for three PhD positions on Rethinking Disability: the Global Impact of the International Year of Disabled Persons (1981) in Historical Perspective and one PhD position to conduct research on the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

Prof. Giles Scott-Smith has made the first History MOOC (Massive Online Open-Access Course) produced by Leiden University. The MOOC 'The Rooseveltian Century', which covers the influence of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt through the 20th century, is now online at Coursera. The successful MOOC…

Professor Herman Paul has been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of History from 1 February 2025. ‘Especially in these times, transparency is essential.’

A big performance by André Rieu, food trucks in The Hague and more contact with the Royal Family: grand plans were announced in April to make the State Opening of Parliament (Prinsjesdag) a real ‘crowd puller’. For this year, however, we will just have to make do with slight differences in emphasis.…

Pieter Slaman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of History and the University’s university historian, has won the 2024 LUS Teaching Prize.

175 years ago, the Netherlands took great strides towards parliamentary democracy with a revamped Constitution. Where does the Constitution stand today?

It is one of the most personal and simultaneously most universal experiences of human life: caring for a young child. Professor Sarah Cramsey has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to investigate how factors such as nationality, political systems, and religion influence the first thousand days after…

Recently, the BAIS Alumni Association organised their yearly reunion. Due to the current circumstances, there was a twist: the reunion – as many events that are currently being organized – took place online. This was a perfect solution for a Bachelor programme that finds its students from all over the…

Prisoners who are visited regularly by family or friends are less likely to be reconvicted in the short term than inmates who rarely or never receive visits. Visits should therefore be encouraged and facilitated, according to PhD candidate Maria Berghuis, who will defend her doctoral thesis on 23 June…

Three Leiden professors have recently been awarded the most prestigious scientific accolade in the Netherlands: Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Marc Koper have been awarded a Spinoza Prize and Judi Mesman a Stevin Prize. They received their prizes on 13 October.

Archaeologist Hayley Mickleburgh has already appeared in the Dutch papers a few times already due to her unusual work: the study of decomposing bodies. She studied at Leiden University, where she is now a researcher.

Recently, we have witnessed an increased interest of the public and media in the hidden world of underwater archaeology sparked by the identification of a shipwreck as

Two short documentaries by Till F. Sonnemann highlight the work conducted by Leiden archaeologists on Hispaniola as part of the Nexus1492 project.

In the project ‘Coin production in the Low Countries: 1334-1789’, Leiden University, the International Institute of Social History, and Het Nederlands Economisch-Historisch Archief, team up to create a website that provides access to five centuries of coin production figures.

Dr. Sarah Cramsey, University Lecturer Judaism & Diaspora Studies, has been awarded an Early Career Partnership by the KNAW.

Bernhard Rieger has been awarded a fellowship at the Historisches Kolleg Munich. This will allow him to work on his current book, entitled

Dr. Anne-Isabelle Richard has received a Veni grant for her research project ‘Eurafrica, African Perspectives, 1918-1970s’. The project will examine the relationship between Africa and Europe from an African perspective.

History and Religious Studies in Leiden rank # 17 and #32 in the QS World University Rankings by Subject. With this, History in Leiden ranks as the best in The Netherlands and Religious Studies ranks as second best.

University lecturer Lauren Lauret has been awarded the D.J. Veegens Prize 2022 for her dissertation on the meeting practices of the States General during the time of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces compared to those of the Lower House during the first half of the 19th century.

The new academic year is on its way and for most students it takes some getting used to being present at the KOG every day. What about international students? We spoke with three internationals who have been studying at Leiden Law School since this academic year.

Non-urban settlement organization and Roman expansion in the Roman Republic (4th-1st centuries BC)

In 2022, many of our staff and students won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants.

ILS organizes monthly Lunch Seminars in which all researchers from Leiden Law School can present their research. The idea is to share in an open and accessible way what researchers from other research programs and institutes are working on. During a seminar, two or three speakers will present their…

In 2021 many of our students and staff won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants. This is our traditional review of these successes as the end of one year marks the beginning of another.

This research project from Leiden University looks at the opportunities and threats that flow from the existence of institutional and normative diversity in the area of fundamental rights for the effective protection of those rights in a pluralist world.

Subproject of

Maria Moser, Mischa de Jong, and Ander Damiano Delliturri are the newly appointed student representatives on the Programme Committee (OLC). This committee provides advice to the Executive Board and the Faculty Board on various educational issues, including the development of Course and Examination Regulations…

The celebration of our up-and-coming science talent, that is the Psychology Science Day. Students stand proudly by their research posters and enrich the insights of fellow students, PhD candidates, postdocs and faculty with their explanations.

On December 13th & 14th harpist Maria Cleary will defend her thesis 'The “harpe organisée”, 1720-1840. Rediscovering the lost pedal techniques on harps with a single-action pedal mechanism' to obtain her doctoral degree.

A stretchy sheet over a bowl representing space, a marble on it's surface creating a dimple, deforming space. Simple classroom experiments like these are featured in new educational videos by AstroEDU. In the videos Leiden astronomers Maria Cristina Fortuna and Henk Hoekstra explain what we know of…

The Digital Legal Talks (DLT) conference is part of the Dutch Sector Plan Law, which is a key component of the broader Sector Plan Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH). This initiative represents a collaborative effort between Tilburg University, the University of Amsterdam, Radboud University Nijmegen,…

The Faculty of Archaeology has a new Centre of Archaeological Studies in Italy.

The seminar is dedicated to the work-in-progress of Leiden Centre for Continental Philosophy staff and doctoral students. The paper is sent in advance and discussed in the meeting. The seminar is open to all.

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.

LEAP is a peer-reviewed journal founded in 2021 by a team of junior and senior scholars of Leiden University as part of a Faculty-broad Master course. Each year the journal has a new editorial board and a new theme. Series editors Astrid van Weyenberg and Nanne Timmer guide this process and are assisted…

The editorial board of the Leiden Elective Academic Periodical (LEAP) is proud to announce the release of the third edition , titled “Sense(s)”!

The theses awards go to Maud van den Eijnden (MSc) and Michael Aristodemou (MSc research). PhD candidates Frank Doolaard and Meriem Manaï wrote the best scientific articles. Anna van Duijvenvoorde wins the Leiden Psychology Blog Award. Corry Donner gets an award for administrative staff of the Institute…

On 5 December 2019, Judge Christine van den Wyngaert gave a guest lecture at LUC : ‘International criminal justice; A view from the Bench’.

During the summer, staff of the Faculty of Archaeology travel to all parts of the world, initiating or joining fieldwork projects. Read some of their stories here!

Over the last few years, human Rights have become subject of intense debates in historiography. Sam Moyn’s provocative book The Last Utopia (2010) made in particular clear how important it is to investigate precisely which meaning human rights have been given in a particular context. During the research…

Television presenter and journalist Twan Huys will be a lecturer in Journalism and New Media at Leiden University from 1 September 2024.

On October 11, the Austria Centre Leiden teamed up with the Leiden Jewish Studies Association to welcome Dr. Lena Sadovski for a lunch time talk. Fifteen colleagues from across the university, including retirees and graduate students, attended Dr. Sadovski's fascinating lecture entitled “When religion…

Comparing gazes between Turin and other cities in the global north.