Increased public trust in law, government and democracy.

What are the main issues leading to polarisation and division? What is the role of social exclusion in these processes? How can we inform and design better policies to safeguard young people from falling prey to intolerance and polarisation? The DRIVE project, led by Leiden University in The Hague,…

We know that armed conflict breeds conflict. We also know the political, economic and demographic factors that inform this repetition of conflict. But we do not understand why accumulated conflict risk factors sometimes do and other times do not pay out in more violence. What if we go beyond macro structural…

This project seeks to develop a conceptual framework and provide empirical evidence on academic leadership that builds a fairer world and fosters trust in polarised times.

A new way to decipher the light from distant worlds could give us unmistakable evidence of extraterrestrial photosynthesis, and maybe alien plants, finds astronomy author Colin Stuart in the New Scientist. In his article, he describes the work of the group led by Leiden astronomer Rob van Holstein.…

An international team led by Leiden astronomers has, after years of searching and defying the boundaries of a telescope, for the first time directly captured polarised light from an exoplanet. From this light they can deduct that a disk of dust and gas orbits the exoplanet. In this disk moons are possibly…

The Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law team regularly publishes in both Dutch and international academic journals and book series.

Staff shortages within the Dutch police force mean that fewer reported crimes are being investigated. Maarten Kunst, Professor of Criminology, spoke to Dutch public broadcaster NOS about the consequences of the staffing problems.

Leiden University is an international, broad-based university. We distinguish five core domains for our research and teaching activities.

How do opinions form and change in large groups of people? That's not just a sociological question, it's a mathematical one. PhD candidate Federico Capannoli studied opinion dynamics. He defended his thesis on November 19.

One of the key limitations of the direct imaging of exoplanets at small angular separations are quasi-static speckles that originate from evolving non-common path aberrations (NCPA) to which the primary adaptive optics system is inherently blind. The main focus of this thesis is the development and…

How did we come into existence? Are we alone? These questions have driven humans for centuries.

Water is all around us and is vital for all aspects of life. Studying the various compounds and life forms that inhabit natural waters lets us better understand the world around us.

We are pleased to invite abstracts for a conference on ‘Advancing Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights in a Polarised, Digitalised, and Unequal World’ to be held at Leiden University on 4 and 5 September 2025, in collaboration with Netherlands Network for Human Rights Researh (NNHRR).

It appears to be a paradox: ultra-thin material that absorbs all the incident light. Nonetheless, it does exist. Two Leiden researchers report on their research in ‘Applied Physics Letters’. The article is among the Top 20 of the most downloaded articles of this reputable journal in May.

The scientific research of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs is organised around a number of centres and institutes in The Hague, city of peace, security and justice.

Susanna Lindberg(ed.), Artemy Magun (ed.), Marita Tatari (ed.) With this book, we would like to resume the passionate conversation that Jean-Luc Nancy was engaged in throughout his life, with philosophers and artists from all over the world. Now that he has passed away, it is not enough for us to…

Half april verschijnt bij uitgeverij Walburg Pers: Jacob van Maerlant, Der Naturen Bloeme. Uit het Middelnederlands vertaald door Ingrid Biesheuvel.

Dutch politics is becoming increasingly polarised, and forming stable governments seems more difficult than ever. In the heat of the election race, a psychologist and a historian offer cool-headed advice.

Violence such as assault or head-butting causes pain, shock and distress. It is often seen as savage or senseless. But for those who commit it, violence has meaning, argues violence researcher Don Weenink in his inaugural lecture.

Social assistance and minimum income benefits are important instruments as a safeguard against low income and poverty. There have been major developments in minimum income benefits both in developed and developing countries over the last decades. Our study collects several empirical studies regarding…

Indigenous Pasts and the Roman Present

The Politics and Governance department of the Institute of Public Administration focuses on the complex interaction between politics and governance. Our research explores contemporary issues such as the impact of global crises, populism, and polarisation at various levels of government.

Na gedwongen uithuisplaatsing gaan vier op de tien kinderen terug naar huis. Van deze kinderen wordt een op de vier opnieuw uit huis geplaatst. Bovendien komt de uithuisplaatsing vaak onverwachts. Dit blijkt uit Leids onderzoek in opdracht van het WODC.

In Democratie en totalitarisme zijn de invloedrijkste opstellen van de Franse denker Claude Lefort samengebracht. Lefort laat overtuigend zien dat de kwetsbaarheid van de democratie juist ook haar kracht is. Voor democratie is essentieel dat de macht als ‘lege plaats’ verschijnt. Zij mag slechts tijdelijk…

Recente publicaties in de Leidse handboekenreeks zullen hieronder verschijnen.

This article reflects on the lessons of COVID-19 five years on. The crisis exposed deep vulnerabilities in health systems, governance, and social cohesion.

Terrorist attacks are not an end in themselves, but a means of creating unrest and fear. Terrorism policies and research should focus more on managing fear and social unrest.

Do objectively correct solutions to ethical dilemmas exist? Or is ethics always a matter of your opinion against my opinion? How do you know what to do? What kind of thing is ethics anyway? Can you be an expert in ethics?

The Terrorism and Political Violence research group at Leiden University examines the causes of radicalisation, the tactics of extremist groups, and the effectiveness of counter-terrorism policies. We also explore the role of the media and the influence of postcolonial legacies in the Global South,…

Is there extra-terrestrial life out there? It now looks as though we can sketch out an answer to this enduring question. Leiden Observatory is helping to build new instruments to find the most promising exoplanets.

The research of the Applied Mathematics cluster is concerned with such diverse topics as dynamical systems, representation theory, differential equations and pattern recognition.

This article presents the findings of an explanatory study into the perceptions of Dutch Muslims in The Hague concerning pre-emptive counter-extremism and de-radicalisation policies.

Can behaviour in an online economic game be understood as a representation of radicalisation propensity?

This thesis describes the development and validation of new high-contrast imaging techniques, with the ultimate goal of enabling the next generation of instruments for ELT-class telescopes to directly image Earth-like extra-solar planets orbiting around nearby stars.

This paper examines the need and possibility for developing online resilience-based approaches in response to COVID-19 vaccine conspiracies, often linked to the far right.

The Diversity and Inclusion domain consists of a three-day masterclass on Inclusive Leadership for Depolarisation (English). There are also Dutch courses on Diversity & Inclusion at the Centre for Professional Learning, Leiden University.

In the Master's programme Crisis and Security Management, specialisation Terrorism and Political Violence, we focus on the academic body of knowledge on different form of protests, contention, resistance and violence. We explore and explain the emergence of radical and extremist movement.

As a university we stand with both feet firmly in the world. Internationalisation is in Leiden’s DNA: from the very foundation of our university, the ideal of the free academy has always attracted researchers and students from across the whole world.

Op zaterdag 27 februari organiseert Stichting Zenobia het Vijftiende Zenobiacongres, met de titel Van de Levant tot de Lagune: Venetië en het Oosten. Het congres zal online plaatsvinden en is vrij toegankelijk.

Het project heeft plaats gevonden onder begeleiding van Prof.dr.ir.Tjerk Oosterkamp. De titel van de presentatie is:

Op vrijdag 4 april 2025 organiseert de werkgroep Stedengeschiedenis een bijeenkomst bij de Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed onder de titel ‘Archeologie en de stad’. De studiedag is gratis en voor iedereen toegankelijk.

Het project heeft plaats gevonden in de Gorter LUMC groep onder begeleiding van Dr. J.W.M. Beenakker en prof.dr.ir. T.H. Oosterkamp . De titel van de presentatie is:

Het project heeft plaats gevonden in de KM3NeT Nikhef Amsterdam groep onder begeleiding van Dr. D.F.E. Samtleben en Prof.dr.ir. T.H. Oosterkamp. De titel van de presentatie is:

Het project heeft plaats gevonden in de QMO groep onder begeleiding van Dr. Michiel de Dood en Dr.ir. Sense Jan van der Molen. De titel van de presentatie is: