The team of WIIS-Netherlands exists out of the board members and the advisory council.

Autism: for some, ‘we’re all a little bit autistic’, whereas for others it conjures up images of mathematical geniuses or boys lacking empathy. Pedagogical scientist Rachel Plak debunks these myths together with expert by experience Michelle.

The Health Humanities Network brings together researchers from a wide range of disciplines who explore questions related to health, illness, care, medicine, and wellbeing from a humanities perspective. This page provides an overview of the network's members and their areas of expertise.

Dr. Barbara Veselka recently published an article on Vitamin D deficiency in 19th century skeletal remains in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

Joris Larik Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU and International Law at Leiden University College The Hague was appointed as Secretary for a new Expert Commission on Interstate Use of Force and Humanitarian Intervention by the Dutch Foreign Minister.

Joris Larik, Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU and International Law at LUC The Hague and Convener of the International Justice major, presented his research at the Midyear Meeting of the American Society of International Law, which was hosted by Brooklyn Law School in New York City.

LiDAR, a laser-based remote sensing technology, is transforming archaeology by uncovering hidden landscapes beneath forests, vegetation, and shallow waters. Though initially designed for land management, its applications in archaeology have grown rapidly.

Last week, Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor of Comparative, EU and International Law at Leiden University College and convener of the International Justice major, gave a presentation at the Second World Meeting of Societies for International Law at the Peace Palace in The Hague.

A marvelous mosaic synagogue floor has been discovered at the Israeli excavation site of Horvat Kur. The timeworn stones of the mosaic clearly form the name ‘El’azar’. Leiden University researcher Jürgen Zangenberg and a group of Leiden students played a role in the excavation. ‘El’azar was likely an…

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and the Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR) are taking part in the phase 2 clinical trial of Janssen Vaccines’ candidate coronavirus vaccine. The vaccine will be tested on 45 test participants in Leiden from 14 September onwards.

Lecture, LIMS seminar

It is with great sadness that we have learned of the passing of our former colleague dr. Karin Willemse, who passed away on Saturday 18 March 2023.

In The Best of Times, The Worst of Times, environmental scientist Paul Behrens describes both hopeful and pessimistic scenarios for our future and that of our planet. With the book soon to be published, Behrens talks about its content and the writing process itself.

Every year, an outstanding lecturer receives the Faculty Teaching Prize from the teaching committee. The prize is awarded during the official opening of the academic year on 7 September. This year, students nominated eight candidates.

PhD defence

PhD defence

Herman Paul (professor of History of the Humanities) has been elected a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He will be officially installed on 30 September.

On 7 November, the Europe Hub welcomed Pierre Bachelier, Director of Student Affairs at the College of Europe, to Leiden University. Mr Bachelier presented the College of Europe's postgraduate programmes that Leiden University students can take once they have completed their master's degrees.

Aleksandrina Skvortsova has been awarded a Rubicon grant by the NWO. She will use it to conduct research at McGill University in Canada into whether memories and stress influence how we experience pain.

On 6 November 2025, the Europe Hub welcomed Mr. Pierre Bachelier, Director of Student Affairs at the College of Europe, for a visit at Leiden University. Mr. Bachelier presented the College of Europe's postgraduates programs, which Leiden students can join after graduating from their masters.

As of April 2022, Mark de Rooij has been appointed SAILS Professor AI and Data Theory at the Institute of Psychology. This position will enable him to contribute to the goal of the interdisciplinary programme: to build on and expand the current expertise on AI within Leiden University, working from…

Koos Biesmeijer, Professor of Natural Capital, and Claire van Megen, an Educational and Child Studies student, are in with a chance of winning Leiden’s Person of the Year title.

Can you talk for three minutes in glowing terms about your science or medical research? If so, sign up for the Leiden preliminary round of FameLab, the international competition for science communication.

Wednesday 23 of February the NESA Netherlands School of Anthropology) has been officially launched with the first Masterclass by Prof. Dr. Marja Spierenburg (Leiden University) and Dr. Anke Tonnaer (Radboud University). The NESA is a graduate program for PhD candidates of the five Dutch universities…

Following the elections for the University Council, the new student party ONS has won five seats, LVS two and CSL one. All the parties in the staff section have retained their seats. The turn-out was low for both staff and students.

Prof. Dr. Marieke Adriaanse has been appointed as strategic representative and new member of the steering committee of the Healthy Society Programme. This programme is a collaboration between Leiden University, Delft University of Technology, Erasmus University, Medical Delta, and the Province of South…

Professor of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry Marc Koper has been appointed as member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW). 'Very honourable, I see this as a confirmation of my work,’ says Koper.

The Aernout van Lynden Global Citizenship Award award is a recognition given by the LUC community. Each year a student who has demonstrated the qualities of active engagement, responsive and responsible participation in civic and/or community building, within and/or beyond LUC is presented with the…

It’s better to cut our nitrogen emissions now than to solve the consequences later at great expense. That’s the lesson we can learn from the Dutch nitrogen crisis, according to nitrogen expert Jan Willem Erisman. In Science, he shares this lesson with other countries. According to Erisman, we should…

The Aernout van Lynden Global Citizenship Award award is a recognition given by the LUC community. Each year a student who has demonstrated the qualities of active engagement, responsive and responsible participation in civic and/or community building, within and/or beyond LUC is presented with the…

EuroScience Open Forum – ESOF - is Europe’s biggest multidisciplinary and prestigious scientific conference. ESOF2022 will take place from 13-16 July 2022 and is hosted by Leiden as the European City of Science (in the Netherlands). The Kamerlingh Onnes Building is one of the locations of the ESOF and…

How important is a child’s right to meaningful peer relationships? Vaishnavi Ramalingam wrote her master’s thesis on this topic, and was recently awarded the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) Jan Brouwer Thesis Prize 2026.

On Thursday June 1 and Friday June 2 2017 the ‘Politicologenetmaal’ (‘24-hour Political Science Conference’) will take place in Leiden. Paper proposals are welcome. Deadline: 10 March 2017.

From 25 December till 3 January, all University buildings will be closed. The University Library and a number of faculty libraries will have limited opening hours.

The National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation need your vote for the best employer. This Award is based on the research project MS@Work from psychologists of the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit in Leiden. Last chance for voting on Thursday 14 November.

The Sinbad project has moved into the second year of its life

The Leiden Centre of Science and Techonology Studies has developed 10 principles that are intended to guide the responsible use of university rankings.

Anthropologist Marja Spierenburg talks in the Dutch newspaper NRC about the neoliberal system and how it has to change in order to solve the energy crisis in South-Africa.

Last week Anne Helder successfully defended her PhD-thesis. We were all joyous to celebrate this day and achievement with young Dr. Helder.

We would like to draw your attention to the following advertisement which was originally disseminated by the Dutch Breast Cancer Foundation, in collaboration with Leiden University

In Leiden University's video series on Leiden and The Hague as student cities, students interview each other at their favorite spots. In the fifth video of this series, archaeology student Julia spoke with Anthropology student Daria in Trianon, on Leiden's cinemas.

LUCL member prof. dr. Holger Gzella has been elected as member of the Academia Europaea (The Academy of Europe).

On 26 June 2016 the Council of the Academia Europaea approved a class lists of scholars to be invited to accept membership at the Academia Europaea. Professor Lisa Cheng was elected for the section “Linguistic Studies”.

On 15 November 2019, Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor at LUC and Convener of the International Justice major, convened a policy roundtable on “Brexit’s Next Chapter: The Revised Deal and Global Britain” .

LUC Alumnus, Vera Kranenburg, from the Class of 2018 is admitted to the prestigious Yenching Academy. Vera has been selected as one of the Yenching Scholars in the fifth cohort at the Yenching Academy of Peking University.

Mirjam de Bruijn has received a funding from the Research Council of Norway for the research project called 'Decoding Digital Media in African Regions of Conflict (DDMAC)'. The project is a collaboration with colleagues from Oslomet and Simula, Norway, Utrecht University, University of Addis Abeba,…

The logistics and organisation of LUC’s introduction week 2020 were put under the spotlight this year in light of the restrictions which remain in place with respect to COVID-19. In the face of adversity, LUC rose to the challenge and met the learning curve with patience, dedication and resilience.