The oldest university in the Netherlands was founded on 8 February 1575 in the Pieterskerk in Leiden. This was at the time of the Eighty Years’ War with the uprising of the northern provinces against domination by the Spanish.

In the past decade many population studies have been performed with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) to understand the bulk properties of protoplanetary disks around young stars. These population studies mostly consisted of low mass stars, with relatively few of the disks around…

You often hear that the public find court sentences too short. Professor Jan de Keijser emphasises that the gap is reduced if the public is given more information about a case and the sentence.

What is effective viewing behavior for foreign language learners and how can teachers effectively train language learners to apply effective viewing strategies that will maximize their learning when viewing subtitled materials?

Astronomer and Marxist Anton Pannekoek was a remarkable figure. This book aims to study the connections between his life as a socialist theorist and as a pioneering scientist through the prism of Pannekoek's biography.

Starting next academic year, part of the master's in Population Health Management will be available at the University of Birmingham in England. What is the advantage of studying at both universities? Master's student Ferdiko Hutamadella studied in Birmingham as well as Leiden before the partnership…

Within the field of astronomy, understanding how galaxies grow and evolve from the Big Bang to the present day is a challenging and complex question.

This PhD project investigates how grammatical features and lexical elaboration in Fulfulde Juguureere reflect aspects of cattle culture.

Lecture

Can subgroups of people be differentiated whose attitudes on the Sinterklaas festivities and Black Pete cluster with either a) high Dutch national identification or b) a strong preference for social hierarchy, also known as social dominance orientation (SDO; Pratto et al., 1994)?

The zoo of detected exoplanets reveals both the uniqueness of our own Solar System and the complexity of planetary system formation, sparking fundamental questions about how planetary systems form and evolve.

The origin and evolution of galaxies are closely tied to the cyclic feedback processes between stars and the interstellar medium (ISM).

The Low Frequency Array enables studies of low-frequency carbon radio recombination lines with unprecedented sensitivity, spectral and spatial resolution.

In this dissertation, a corpus of 595 seventeenth-century letters (mainly private ones) written between 1664 and 1672 is examined from a sociolinguistic perspective.

This article provides a behavioral perspective that examines responsibility attribution to the national government (upward) and policy implementers (downward) as a function of performance relative to decision-makers' aspiration levels. The study proposes that perceived accountability increases the propensity…

The sixth issue of Ex Novo explores how ‘peripheral’ regions currently approach both the practice and theory of public archaeology placing particular emphasis on usually underrepresented regions of Eastern and Central Europe, the Mediterranean and beyond.

On 29 April a live viewing event was held on the Spanish Stairs at the Wijnhaven building in The Hague broadcasting the ‘Spitzenkandidaten’ debate held at the Theatre at the Vrijthof in Maastricht. The debate between the lead candidates of the European political parties for the presidency elections…

In the media, we hear a lot of worrying news from Africa: refugees, attacks, Ebola, starvation, corruption... But Africa is much more than that: it is a continent in transition, with developments occurring at breakneck speed. African Studies scholars from different academic disciplines in Leiden conduct…

We talk with Michiel van Elk, about his research into mapping what effects psychedelics have on the human brain and what this means for the possible clinical application of these drugs. The cognitive psychologist shares his findings with a sober view, bringing critics and fanatics closer together for…

Leiden art historian Juliette Roding spent her sabbatical in Denmark, researching a 17th century court artist. She not only learned more about the artist, she also got to know present-day Denmark.

Many hot, rocky planets outside of our own solar system started out as large, gaseous Neptunes. This is what astronomers at Leiden University contend in a recent online publication.

Explore the One Among Zeroes |0100| project and its role in shaping the future of the digital economy, human-environment dynamics, and urban heritage in Indonesia's cities.

Viktorija Kostadinova, from Macedonia and currently a second-year PhD student at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, has just returned after two and a half months at the University of Michigan: ‘It was a truly rewarding experience.’

Synthetic fuel is cleaner than natural oil, but its production process needs to be more efficient. Now for the first time, physicists have directly observed the molecules produced in the chemical process. This paves the way for designing more efficient catalysts. Publication on September 19th in Nature…

This study focused on how households' food consumption and waste were adapted to lifestyles during COVID-19.

The idea that prejudices about the (Middle)-East came to be during the colonisation of North-Africa in the 19th century is false. Mounir el-Badri wrote a cum laude bachelor thesis about orientalist judgments with which 18th century slaves in Morocco much earlier characterised their captors with.

Sufyan Al Karaimeh, a guest researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology, is currently involved in the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan (AAJ) Project. Over the past 25 years, the individuals involved in this project have not only compiled an expansive collection of photographs but have also helped discover…

Over 80 speakers from around 15 different countries came together to discuss the latest developments in multilingualism during the Conference on Multilingualism 2019 (COM2019). This year’s conference was hosted by Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) at Leiden University.

Hidde studies Public Administration and did an internship at the Kennemerland safety region. During his internship, he conducted research effective collaboration on the Environment and Planning Act at the safety region.

Every year many Leiden lecturers and students visit an international university for the purposes of research or study. In the coming newsletters a different Leiden scholar will give his or her view from abroad.

Three new initiatives will provide a more diverse view of Leiden’s academic history, literally and figuratively: a historical study on the background of students and scientists, a new book about the Academy Building, and two new sculptures of female scientists, Ewine van Dishoek, Professor of Molecular…

'After my BA International Studies I decided to do the MA International Relations, and that proved to be a good choice,' Mats Radeck (23, Trier, Germany) says. He is in the last phase of the MA, working on his thesis on

Music from a compostable cello, photographs and scents of fungi and a woven tapestry. With her upcoming multimedia project Super Organism, visual artist Suzette Bousema enables people to experience the underground fungal network with all their senses. Environmental scientist Nadia Soudzilovskaia and…

Many thanks for visiting the Master’s Open Day on Friday 15 March! We hope that you enjoyed the day and that all your questions were answered.

'If a local dares to speak to you, do interact, but mind what you say.' This was the advice given to Stephanie van den Akker, second-year student of International Studies, during her visit to North Korea. And yes, one local did actually speak to her, leaving her completely speechless.

Municipalities claim successes in the fight against radicalization. But when do you call deradicalisation policy a success? Trouw gives 4 options.

Many thanks for visiting the Master’s Open Day on Friday 2 November! We hope that you enjoyed the day and that all your questions were answered.

Peter Webb is one of the four young Leiden Humanities researchers to receive a Veni grant from the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Webb will use the funding for his project EPIC PASTS: PRE-ISLAM THROUGH MUSLIM EYES, to reevaluate the ways in which Muslims in early Islam remembered…

The democratic rule of law is under pressure due to a series of scandals and integrity issues, as seen in the recent parliamentary inquiries. Professor Ronald Kroeze explains: 'Public office holders are expected to show complete dedication, but that norm is quite absolute, and what we mean by it is…

Leiden University has designed a new Urban Development Plan for the Humanities Campus. This plan incorporates participation from the immediate environment (neighbours and nearby residents). The plan will be available for viewing at the Leiden city council offices from 22 December for six weeks.

Researchers from the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries and from universities in the Netherlands have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before the colonisation of America.

Plants use sunlight to perform photosynthesis, but with too much light they have to dim their activity and protect their cells against photo damage. The protein PsbS acts as a light-stress sensor and plays a key role in this process. Article in Nature’s Scientific Reports.

In a remote cave on the Indonesian island of Borneo, a series of rock art paintings have been discovered. The oldest painting might be the oldest-known example of figurative cave art. Wil Roebroeks, not himself involved in this project, reflects on the findings in several media.

Earning some quick money by drug trafficking, committing an act of violence or almost collapsing under performance pressure. In the four-part NeurolabNL Young vodcast young people talk openly with neuroscientists about high-risk behaviour and performance pressure. How did they find their way back?

On Saturday October 16, the special exhibition ‘Shared Sky: Canvases of the Universe’ opens in the Old Observatory in Leiden. The exhibit takes a cultural look at the starry sky by Aboriginal Australian and South African artists, and features colorful artwork that explores how these Indigenous cultures…

What does it mean to be a migrant in a big city? According to assistant professor Kamila Krakowska Rodrigues, artists have the answer to that question. In a new ERC-funded project, she will explore the representation of contemporary urban diversity in films, performance art, written literature and spoken…

At the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), scholars have been studying the Indian subcontinent with attention and expertise for more than 100 years. This part of South Asia is an economic giant with a population of over two billion. Nira Wickramasinghe, Professor of Modern South Asian Studies,…

Through the clever use of two types of telescopes, a team of researchers has produced stunning images of clusters of galaxies. This not only produces beautiful images, but also provides more information about the enormous amounts of energy released around supermassive black holes in clusters. The astronomers,…

On November 27-28 2025, the congress 'Disability and inclusion in the medieval city: a comparative view between Europe and the Islamic World' will be held at the university of Cantabaria, Spain. The deadline for submissions is 13 October, 2025