1 September 2026

Are you about to start working on your master's thesis? And are you a student at an LDE university (Leiden, Delft and Erasmus university) or a university of applied sciences in South Holland? Then join one of our LDE Thesis Labs. This is not just a thesis – it’s an adventure.

What is an LDE thesis lab?

• Write your individual MA/MSc thesis based on a real-life challenge
• Work with students from other disciplines
• Join an extracurricular programme with workshops & excursions
• Meet professionals, academic experts & societal partners
• Learn, share & collaborate towards a common interdisciplinary result

Each lab is built around a real-world challenge posed by an external partner, such as a company, government body, or NGO. Alongside your individual thesis, you join a small interdisciplinary group of fellow master's students to explore that challenge together and connect with the people who are directly involved: professionals, academic experts, and societal partners you meet through workshops, enrichment sessions, and excursions. You gain hands-on experience with real stakeholders, while the partner behind the challenge gains new insights from your research.

Who can apply?

The Labs are open to students of all study programmes. They offer a highly valuable extracurricular program that can support you in your master's thesis process.

Deadline

There are two application rounds:

• The first application round is open from 7 September to 4 October 2026.
• The second application round is open from 19 October to 15 November 2026.

Thesis labs available 2026/2027

• The Future of Repair II (De Reparatie Coalitie, Provincie Zuid-Holland, and the LDE Centre for Sustainability)
• Sustainable Healthcare (Medical Delta)
• Human-Nature Relationships for Thriving Biodiversity (Leiden Biodiversity Network)
• Sustainable Aviation: Wings of the Future (Flying Vision Accelerator, Airbus, NLR, Luchtvaart in Transitie, TU Delft, Schiphol Group, KLM, and NextGenerationEU)
• A Future for the Atlantic Wall? (Municipality The Hague, Erfgoedtafel Zuid Holland, Bunkermuseums The Hague, Municipality of Leiden, LDE, and independent researchers)
• Healthy City The Hague (Municipality The Hague and GGD Haaglanden)
• Circular Hubs in South Holland (Provincie Zuid-Holland and BRINK)
• Making Sense of the Digital City (Centre for Bold Cities and LDE)
• Earth Observation for the Dutch Caribbean II (The Netherlands Space Agency (NLSA)
• Global Thesis Lab in Kenya (Nuvoni Research and African Studies Centre Leiden)

More information and application

Are you interested? You can find more information on the website of LDE Thesis Labs.