This year the Volkskrant and the IISG are once again looking for excellent theses on a historical subject. Students of other studies than history are also welcome to compete for the prize. The IISG will make €1,500 available for the winning thesis. De Volkskrant will publish an interview with the winner.…

What makes South Korean films successful? In the first part of the video series 'The World of the Korean Wave', University Lecturer Peter Verstraten discusses the recent success of South Korean cinema.

Neanderthals were the first people to make glue, but how did they do that? Leiden archaeologists discovered how, and their findings did not go unnoticed.

Cancer is one of the main causes of death in the Netherlands. Leiden researchers are working to improve the treatment of different types of cancer in order to increase the patient’s quality of life. A better understanding of how cancer develops will make it possible to deliver personalised and precise…

ACPA PhD Michael Drapkin has been commissioned by The Venice Symphony (Florida) to rescore The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky for chamber orchestra.

Newsweek has published a story on Leiden Alzheimer research led by physicist Lucia Bossoni.

Utrecht University Library invites researchers, students and other users of their digital collections to complete a survey about this: what material are you looking for (and can you find it), what functionalities do you use, what do you like and what could be improved? The library uses the suggestions…

Predictable variation in children’s dosage Professor Catherijne Knibbe – Pharmacology There is no adequate foundation for te dosage of medicines prescribed for children in 40-80% of cases.

On 25 April 2016, Suliman Ibrahim, Senior Researcher at the VVI, was a guest expert on the weekly radio program: 'Huna Libya', a joint initiative by the Libyan al-Wasat Radio and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW).

Over 4,000 visitors came to the seventh edition of the Night of Discoveries, a festival of knowledge and culture, on Saturday 21 September. On this the last summer evening of the year, the festival-goers were treated to over 170 acts on the theme of light and dark, making it a vibrant, busy, educational…

CLARIN is the European research infrastructure that makes digital language resources available to scholars, researchers, students and citizen-scientists from all disciplines. It is happy to announce the CLARIN Annual Conference 2021 (27-29 September 2021) and calls for the submission of extended abstracts.…

Brand-new professor Gerard van Westen works at the intersection of artificial intelligence and drug development. For the new chair in Artificial Intelligence and Medicinal Chemistry, he uses computer models to make drug development more efficient. Our ultimate goal is a virtual human which allows you…

Make a difference! Join the interdisciplinary Minor Sustainable Development and learn everything about the challenges we are facing and how to find solutions. Discover your sustainable future!

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The circular economy is typically seen as the progressive alternative to our wasteful linear economy, where raw materials are used to make the products that feed today’s rampant consumerist hunger, which are then thrown away. In a fascinating article, archaeologist Maikel Kuijpers reflects on the recycling…

Nearly all documents from the 16th and 17th centuries were written by more than one person but attributed to only one author. Professor Nadine Akkerman wants to rectify this oversight in her research on scribes.

Since the beginning of September, it is a fact: our faculty has a new strategic plan. The plan outlines what we will collectively commit to in the coming years. Is that important? For sure, say our directors Suzanne van der Pluijm (Operations) and Bart de Smit (Education). ‘The purpose of a strategic…

Can students help make our cities more sustainable and resilient? The Resilient Cities Hub thinks so: during its knowledge café on 16 January, passionate students talked to municipal officials and pitched their master’s research. ‘In this way, the students learn to step out of the academic world and…

Laughing, crying or even having a moan together: close friends are worth their weight in gold in good and bad times. Researcher Lisa Schreuders explains the effects on body and mind. Can we give that magical click a helping hand? And what advice does she have for first-years in their new city?

People are keen to make a contribution that will be valuable for scientific research. Many thousands are taking part in the Major Flu Survey. Leiden researcher Anne Land is publishing on this subject in the Journal of Science Communication.

In the ‘Educatips’ column, lecturers in Child and Education studies share their most important insights on teaching. This month: Tirza Smits, Kim Stroet and Marit Guda observed frustration among students working in groups, often due to poor communication. So they decided to build a tool to help.

Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (76) passed away on 14 March at his home in Cambridge, having been a long-term sufferer of the muscular disease ALS. A number of Leiden scientists look back at the life and scientific career of this world-famous physicist. 'He was very approachable and extremely…

Aad van der Vaart, professor of stochastics at Leiden University, has been awarded the NWO Spinoza Prize for his groundbreaking research in statistics. Van der Vaart conducts fundamental research on models that can help, for instance, to identify genes that play a role in cancer.

The brain is a complex organ, and researching medicine to treat brain disorders is equally if not more complex. Elizabeth (Liesbeth) de Lange, Professor of Predictive Pharmacology, calls for a structured approach. ‘In effect, it's like playing Mastermind.’ Inaugural lecture on 22 March.

Friday 5 July 2019 was the graduation of the Advanced Master International Relations and Diplomacy (MIRD). ´If the MIRD is like a good wine, this has been a vintage year'.

Three lecturers from Leiden University have been awarded a €100,000 Comenius Teaching grant within the Senior Fellows programme. A further two lecturers have been awarded a €50,000 grant within the Teaching Fellows programme. The grants will enable the lecturers and their project teams to realise an…

What do people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Barack Obama have in common? They have mastered the art of public speaking. There are plenty of books on learning this skill, but one aspect of rhetoric remains underexposed in science: how do you make sure the audience remembers your message? Martijn Wackers…

An international team of astronomers has shown in a laboratory at Leiden University (the Netherlands) that methane can form on icy dust particles in space. The possibility had existed for quite some time, but because the conditions in space were difficult to simulate, it was not possible to prove this…

On April 14, 2025, Dr. Hans Petschar, the recently-retired Director of the Bildarchiv und Grafiksammlung at the Austrian National Library in Vienna, delivered the Sixth Annual Austrian Studies Lecture 'Austria’s Present Past: A visual journey through Austrian history 1925 – 2025'.

Veel mensen denken dat zware metalen giftig zijn en mens en natuur altijd schade aanbrengen. Dat beeld moet genuanceerd worden, vindt hoogleraar Sylvestre Bonnet.

Young people are more likely to find long texts unappealing to read, particularly with all the digital distractions. To improve young people’s reading skills, Elise Swart and Hannah De Mulder are starting an innovative study to make reading fun again.

Flying is cheaper than driving a car, but a disaster for the environment. Yet few politicians dare to levy excise duty on kerosene. This is only one example from a world where emotions and yelling are burying facts, and in which scientists lose connection with society.

From closed government systems in the Middle East to an exceptionally open Dutch government. Public administration lecturer Alex Ingrams is an expert on transparency: ‘Why are some countries secretive? And what role does technology play?’

The ILS Lunch seminars bring colleagues and students from Leiden Law School together, providing an informal setting to hear what researchers from other research programs and institutes are working on. On Thursday 14 February, the first edition of the ILS Lunch Seminar series of 2019 takes place. This…

Many European citizens feel connected to the European Union and place trust in it, Eva Grosfeld found in her PhD research. Yet around a quarter do not identify with the EU at all. How can the EU regain their trust?

‘No choice is forever’, states Tracy Evans. ‘You can change your mind and go in a different direction when the circumstances change.’ When Tracy was 60 years old, she felt the need for a change herself. It lead to her earning a PhD degree six years later.

On October 15, 2020, international academics, practitioners, and students gathered online at the conference 'Leadership in Progress: Science Meets Practice' organized by the Leiden Leadership Centre. Together with renowned speakers from academia, politics and the civil service a multidisciplinary exchange…

Early diagnosis, new treatments, and personalised care: all of these are possible if we can better unlock the wealth of information hidden in health data. Unfortunately, this data is often poorly organised, difficult to access, and not interoperable. The new international Leiden Institute for FAIR and…

How to take ownership of your career? To find out, students from ‘Design Your Career as a Climate Change Maker’ visited a farmer who has done just that. They learned from him that it’s never too late to start working on something you believe in.

Universities cannot survive in this highly competitive world without collaboration. And the ultimate aim is to make the world a safer and more sustainable place. This was Rector Carel Stolker’s message during the 441st Dies Natalis.

The goal of alumnus International Studies Dennis Jansen (24) is to make the voice of young people heard in the climate debate. In November he is going to el-Sheikh in Egypt, where the Climate Change Conference is being held.

Professor Judi Mesman interviewed 40 people of colour in leadership positions. What can we learn from them?

As a result of the current coronavirus outbreak, almost all of our teaching is done online. However, even before this, several teachers were involved with remote education. Madi Ditmars and Maurits Berger talk about their experiences.

With a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros, Professor of Mathematical biology Roeland Merks will look for ways to fix messy and leaky blood vessels in tumours. His research combines mathematical simulations and lab experiments in a unique way.

Inspiration from outside and best practices from inside the University. These were the most important ingredients of the symposium on inclusivity organised by the Diversity Office at Leiden University on 22 November.

Increasing resistance and a lack of new antibiotics are a serious problem for public health. Against this background, Gilles van Wezel of the Institute of Biology Leiden is looking for new medicines. Together with former PhD student Changsheng Wu and colleagues he discovered the special antibiotic lugdunomycin,…

In July, Leiden will be hosting the EuroScience Open Forum conference. Humanities scholars from Leiden will make use of the opportunity to stress the importance of art in science. ‘Artists have the ability to show the consequences of science.’

Lights out, spotlight on, the LU talks begin. In the small Imperium Theatre, next to the Leidse Schouwburg, students take turns walking up to the round blue carpet. There they have five minutes to present their first LU talk to lecturers, fellow students, and the camera. ‘Extremely useful and instructive’…

Part Three: A Change of Course

Third-year cultural anthropology student Claire van Helder (24) says she can't be kept still. She has her own blog, is active on Instagram and recently started a YouTube channel. She is a member of the student party LVS, elected to the faculty council and will become the president of WDO in September.…