Subtle changes in eye appearance can influence how people perceive others and affect their generosity. Articles from PsyPost and The Washington Post highlighted two experimental studies in which psychology researchers from Leiden University, including Mariska Kret, explored this phenomenon.

Physicists have studied the astrophysical neutrino signal as reported by the IceCube collaboration from a different angle with their ANTARES detector. The Milky Way centre was an obvious prime suspect to be a source, but this hypothesis is now only closer to debunked than confirmed. Publication in Physical…

Prof. David Fontijn’s Economies of Destruction team was invited by Museum Midtjylland to participate in this year’s excavation in Boest, Jutland (Denmark). The exceptional site of Boest includes burial mounds, an alignment and depositions, consisting of axes, spearheads and rings, dating to the Bronze…

At the end of 2020 researcher/lecturer Erwin Dijkstra joined the editorial team of academic journal Handicap & Recht (Disability & Law), published by Boom Juridisch. The December issue also includes an article he wrote.

The symposium will be held on 11 June 2025 from 10.00-17.00 and is organized as a starting point for the publication of an edited volume – a selection of symposium attendants will be invited to submit book chapters.

Patrick van der Meij has been appointed Professor of Criminal Law Practice at the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology from 1 January 2024. This is an Endowed Chair established by the Professor A. E. J. Modderman Foundation, which is affiliated with Leiden University in order to boost research…

On 1 April 2023, Rowie Stolk of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law started a new appointment for 0.7 FTE at Empirical Legal Studies Leiden (ELS@Leiden). ELS provides a platform that brings together legal scholars and social scientists to collaboratively explore legally relevant…

Freya Baetens, Professor of European Law, has been awarded a Chair by the Francqui Foundation in Belgium for the impact of her work on lawmaking and policymaking in Europe and beyond.

Professor Joanna Aizenberg (Harvard University) is the recipient of the 2017 Havinga Medal. She is awarded for her eminent and original contributions to the field of biologically inspired materials science.

Academics are increasingly facing threats, harassment and hate speech following public appearances. The Dutch universities – united in the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) – is now adopting a number of national measures, from a zero-tolerance policty to psychosocial help for vic…

On 13 May 2025, Melanie Fink presented her latest research on the role of the duty to reason and other explanation rights to safeguard human dignity in the automated state at the AI & Law Summer School hosted by the University of Tübingen.

The United Nations has declared May 22 the International Day for Biological Diversity. A moment of global reflection on everything on Earth and its indispensability. Anthropologist Marja Spierenburg stresses the importance of the interaction between natural and social sciences in addressing sustainability…

Campaign initiated at Generosity to cover the cost of construction.

Thousands of Ukrainian children have been transferred to Russia from occupied territories in eastern Ukraine, reports say. Is this, as the government in Kyiv has claimed, an act of genocide? Defined as an intent to destroy a particular group of people, the term genocide was first coined amid the horrors…

Leaders of the ASEAN Member States, Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and New Zealand have signed the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Agreement.

On the 1 June 2021, Professor Eric De Brabandere and Dr Daniel Peat of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden Law School launched the Leiden Investment Treaty Arbitration Database.

Students awarded the highest scores to Leiden University and the Radboud University Nijmegen. These are the findings of an annual survey by Elsevier into the best study programmes in the Netherlands. Elsevier Magazine has a weekly readership of half a million, making it one of the most iinfluential…

On Thursday, 17 September 2015, the latest project of the Leiden International Humanitarian Law Clinic (the IHL Clinic) on ‘Principles of International Humanitarian Law applied to Cyber Warfare’ was concluded and presented to the Netherlands Red Cross.

The first phase of the construction of the new building for the Faculty of Science is finished. The Cell Observatory of the Institute of Biology Leiden will be moving to the new building on the 19th of May.

One of the tasks of Leiden University Libraries is to manage academic heritage, including letters and scholarly archives of leading researchers. Much of this material is nowadays created digitally and email is one of the main forms of communication. Hence, the UBL launched a pilot for acquiring and…

On Sunday 18 June 2017 Melanie Fink, Postdoctoral Researcher at the Europa Institute, held a lecture on Schengen and the new European Border and Coast Guard Regulation in the framework of the ‘Open Doors’ Summer School on Migration, (Sea) Border Control and Human Rights.

This month's news and events by the profile area Political Legitimacy features the announcement of two PhD defences and several interesting seminars and conferences at Leiden University.

In 2024, Professor Joanita Vroom received a substantial grant from the Packard Humanities Institute (PHI) in support for her Hinterlands of Medieval Chalcis Project (HMC Project) in Greece. PHI, a California-based non-profit organization, is dedicated to archaeological research as well as to the preservation…

The Sport Data Center, a consortium of universities of which Leiden University is leader, is recognised as a Certified Partner of Sportinnovator. This makes the Sport Data Center an important part of the Sportinnovator ecosystem. Sportinnovator is the national programme for sports innovation, initiated…

On 19 and 20 March, the reporters of the ELI Project on Rescue of Business in Insolvency Law (Prof. Bob Wessels Prof. Stephan Madaus, Halle-Wittenberg, Ass. Prof. Kristin van Zwieten, Oxford) chaired a conference to present the preliminary results of this project. The project, initiated by the European…

Dutch-Caribbean research will get a boost. Gert Oostindie, working at the Institute of History and KITLV, has received a grant from NWO, consisting of 750,000 euros, for his research project 'Confronting Caribbean challenges: hybrid identities and governance in small-scale island jurisdictions'.

We hebben 6 van de 9 grenzen overschreden die bepalen of menselijk leven in de komende generaties nog mogelijk is op aarde. Kunnen we het tij nog keren?

Deadline approaching: Applications are still open for the Summer School ‘The European Union, the United Nations and Global Governance’ (16 - 20 June 2025) for Master-level and PhD students. Application deadline: 15 May 2025.

The Summer School ‘The European Union, the United Nations and Global Governance’ is open to Master-level and PhD students. It is supported by the European Union’s Jean Monnet program.

Nadine Chahine, designer of Arabic typefaces and external PhD candidate at Leiden University, has been named in Fast Company's 2012 ranking as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. ‘I see type as the means to engage in the larger context of culture and society,’ commented Chahine.

Jus post bellum, the body of laws and norms governing the transition from armed conflict to peace, has emerged as a crucial issue for international law scholars, governments, and all concerned with building a just and sustainable peace. The Jus Post Bellum Project, funded by the NWO and hosted by the…

William Pestle and Jason Laffoon recently published a new article entitled 'Quantitative paleodietary reconstruction with complex foodwebs: An isotopic case study from the Caribbean' in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

The Humanities Campus will take further shape in 2024, with the completion of the South Cluster in February and a whole series of moves that will then take place in the spring and summer. A few highlights of the upcoming moves are described below.

The intestinal bacterium E. coli can adapt to changes in its surroundings. Leiden scientists have discovered how the H-NS protein makes this possible. This new knowledge can be an important starting point in combatting bacteria and diseases such as peritonitis. Publication 2 October in the journal e…

On 24 May 2023, Professor Wannes VandenBussche of Ghent University delivered his inaugural lecture to accept the TPR rotating professorship in the Leiden Academy Building. The title of his inaugural lecture was: ‘De EU-dimensie van het burgerlijk bewijsrecht: een mozaïek van opportuniteiten en valkuilen’…

The 16-year-old girl was staying in a closed juvenile care institution where, among other things, she was administered 'pain stimuli'. The charges are the first of their kind, says Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, to Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant.

Authorities in Denmark and Sweden are examining whether it is possible to ban Quran burning following recent incidents. These have caused tension in many Islamic countries as well as in the countries where they occurred.

Is it acceptable for an algorithm to make mistakes? Quinten Meertens investigated this at Leiden University and the UvA and has been nominated with his research for the prestigious Christiaan Huygens Science Prize. The winner will be announced on 11 October. In April, Meertens received his doctorate…

Travel grant call for applications open to people who were identified as female at birth or who identify as female at the time of application for externally-funded Ph.D. students (not funded by any outside source such as ERC, NWO, etc.) and/or staff members (postdoc, docent, UD, permanent/non-permanent…

CompaRe’s third virtual PhD roundtable was held on 29 March 2023. In attendance were the head of the centre, staff and PhD candidates. The roundtable focused on brainstorming a wide range of questions around the research process.

On Thursday 8 and Friday 9 May 2025, the Conference of European Restructuring and Insolvency Law (CERIL) is hosting an international conference on New Horizons for European Restructuring and Insolvency Law. The two-day conference is organised at Leiden University with support of Business & Law Research…

From Friday evening 23 October Leiden University will receive 120 refugees in our University Sport Centre (USC) on the Einsteinweg in Leiden. The refugees will stay for a week, up to and including Friday 30 October. This measure has consequences for students and staff. Sporting activities in the sport…

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy calls for paper proposal submissions. Accepted papers will be included in the journal's special issue on Japanese diplomacy under the broad theme of 'Japan between the West and the East'.

On 19-20 September, Leiden University Child Law Department and Terre de Hommes co-organized an expert meeting on ‘’Sale of Children and Illegal Adoption’’ at Leiden University.

On Saturday 17 September Leiden will once again be the setting of the Night of Art and Knowledge. Come along and enjoy a fascinating mix of knowledge, theatre, music and art in the museums and academic locations such as the Hortus botanicus. Tickets are now on sale.

On 14 September the construction of the Spui university building officially began.

Eduard Fosch-Villaronga, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Researcher at eLaw- Center for Law and Digital Technologies, just published a book on Robots, Healthcare, and the Law. Regulating Automation in Personal Care.

From 5 to 9 March 2018, the Child Law Department and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden Law School and the School of Law of the University of Curaçao Dr. Moises Da Costa Gomez hosted a Spring School on Children’s Rights in the Caribbean Region in Curaçao.

Political scientist Femke Bakker (Leiden University) is going to investigate whether meditation affects political behaviour. Bakker has been awarded a PEACE Grant by the Mind & Life Institute, which enables her to conduct innovative, experimental research. The aim is an answer to the question whether…

On Friday 14 June 2019, the second young researchers workshop was held within the framework of the Jean Monnet Chair on Mobility and Security in Europe. It was followed by an expert round table organized in cooperation with the Centre for the Law on EU External Relations (CLEER) of the Asser Institu…