Associate Professor Mirjam Sombroek has been asked for advice on account of her expertise in the area of health law and children’s rights.

Bart Barendregt explains his new Unesco Chair in Anthropology of Digital Diversity in an interview on the Unesco website.

Leiden University has had a turbulent week. There have been protests inside and outside our buildings that have evoked reactions, and students and staff have felt unsafe. We want with this message to look back at the past week and look forward to the future. What happened and how do we now want to move…

Video conferencing from your sitting room and algorithms on social media that know your interests: new technology is an increasingly integral part of our lives. At the same time there is a growing call to protect our privacy, and this is causing friction, at the University too. In part because of the…

When we think of unethical medical experiments, we tend to think first of Nazi Germany. What is less well known is that experiments were also carried out in colonised areas without the explicit consent of the test subject. University lecturer Fenneke Sysling has received a European grant to research…

Leiden University has set up two committees to consider issues that are the focus of much attention within our community and society at large. They are the Knowledge Security Committee and the Fossil Fuel Industry Collaboration Committee. Former dean Joanne van der Leun will chair both.

The interdisciplinary AI & Society minor of Leiden University brings together students and lecturers from a wide range of disciplines. Together they look at the impact of AI on society. Students are enthusiastic about this merging of worlds.

There are differing opinions about healthcare for transgender young people. Lieke Vrouenraets investigated the ethical dilemmas.

From historical understandings to new treatments: during the Public Day of the Leiden Institute for Brain & Cognition, curious visitors learned how rapidly research into brain disorders is evolving. ‘I found the neurosurgery and the research on organoids on chips particularly fascinating.’

Care robots, medical treatments, deepfakes and self-driving cars all with the aid of artificial intelligence (AI). The BrAInpower exhibition at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave shows spectacular applications of AI and explains how it can make such huge leaps. Bas Haring, Professor of Public Understanding of Science,…

Two Leiden legal scholars have been awarded funding from the KNAW pilot fund 'Science communication by scientists: Appreciated!'. The fund supports scientists who have demonstrated a continued commitment to science communication.

During the final event of the PRE-Class Rechtsgeleerdheid, secondary school pupils organised a mock trial on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society. Together with the audience, they explored the possibilities and pitfalls of AI. ‘They all did a wonderful job.’

After a week of shadowing for her master's degree in Public Sector Management, it has become very clear to student Loes what a manager's day looks like. 'He was putting out fires all day.'

Every year, an NWO PhD in the Humanities grant is awarded to a prospective PhD candidate at the Faculty of Archaeology. This year, the grant went to Maia Casna, enabling her to study respiratory disease in the past. ‘My hypothesis is that the rapid formation of cities in the medieval Netherlands, must…

Jildau Bouwman has been named as professor by special appointment of the chair ‘Remote Health Monitoring’ at Leiden University. The systems biologist and TNO Digital Health Innovation figurehead will investigate how digital solutions can contribute to better healthcare at home. ‘Home care is often more…

In a new FSW Honours College course students from various academic disciplines dive into the world of artificial intelligence (AI). The course, 'Artificial Intelligence: Understand and Create' was designed by Marc Cleiren and Pieter Pierrot to be accessible to all students, regardless of their prior…

It is becoming increasingly common to collect data from children and young people through digital means. The impact of this so-called ‘dataveillance’ on children, who are monitored from birth via smartphones and Fitbits, is great.

'Engaging With Everyday Sounds' is a rich and inspiring exploration of the role of sounds in everyday life, including their impact on human actions, emotions, and imagination. Marcel Cobussen intertwines sonic studies with philosophy, sound art, sociology and more to create an impressively lucid and…

Education

Three new minors at the intersection of security and resilience will launch in September 2026 at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. A distinctive feature is that all three combine academic coursework with a practical placement in the field, within defence, the police, or emergency service…

After the new government announced its plans to cut expenditure on academic education, the Faculty of Humanities launched the flash campaign ‘Stop the Catastrophic Cuts to Universities!’. Now academics across the university have been explaining why their discipline is needed.

In recent months, a number of academics, a sounding board group and the relevant directors of education, in collaboration with Campus The Hague, have been working on the development of a new Master’s programme: Environmental Humanities. With this programme, we aimed to offer a new and necessary perspective…

Affective Computing (AC and sometimes called ‘Emotional AI’) provides opportunities to automatically process emotional data. However, is EU data protection law fit for purpose when it is applied to such AC approaches?

The KNAW has rewarded 11 Leiden scientists for their commitment to science communication, by awarding them 10,000 euros each from the ‘Appreciated!’ fund.

Facility, Human resources, Social

Education

Tijdens het symposium ‘Transdisciplinary Study of Just Public Algorithmic Systems’, op vrijdag 24 maart in Den Haag, staat onderzoek naar het gebruik van algoritmische systemen in de publieke sector centraal. Een actueel onderwerp dat de laatste tijd veel in de belangstelling staat. Vijf vragen over…

Bart Barendregt receives a Vici grant of 1.5 million euros from the NWO for his research project 'One between the Zeros, an Anthropology of Artificial Intelligence in Islam'.

Religious studies specialist and historian Tom-Eric Krijger talks about the new pope. Will he be a mediator or someone who dares to take a stand?

‘Children’s rights are somewhat of a poor relation’, says Professor of Law and Health Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm. In her inaugural lecture, she will emphasise how more attention needs to be paid to children’s rights in current thinking on law and health.

Developmental psychologist Ili Ma has been awarded an ERC grant to investigate misinformation among teenagers, aiming to bolster their resilience against its potentially severe consequences.

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?’

Nine students dove into a challenging iGEM project this summer. With their idea, they aim to make antibodies more efficient - and in the meantime learn at least as much about collaboration, creativity and their own future.

How should tests and assessments be organised now that students can use generative AI? This was the subject of one of the first meetings of the newly established AI Student Network. From their unique perspective, the students came up with some very interesting ideas.

Lou Boshart won the Excellence in Visual & Multimodal Ethnography Thesis Prize for his film ‘Layers of Confidence’. Lou produced a multimodal thesis about the way rat catchers in New Zealand enact conservation policies and reflect on the ethical challenges of eradicating invasive species. Xiaohui Liu…

The rise of extremism in Europe has increased polarisation. The EU-funded DRIVE project, led by Tahir Abbas, Professor of Radicalisation Studies from Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs, explores how social, structural, and individual factors contribute to radicalisation, offering…

Two years ago, Russian tanks crossed the border into Ukraine. The war seems to be getting closer and closer. Is it time to dust off and reintroduce military service? Our students have their say.

Students and researches from all faculties at Leiden University are warmly invited to a lunch meeting on Monday 14 October, discussing the rise of AI and the challenges this poses for various governance structures. The event is hosted by Leiden University’s interdisciplinary programmes GTGC and SAIL…

Technology is spreading its tendrils into the classroom. But who is in control?

From 1 March 2025, a new university ‘fossil fuel collaboration’ committee will assess potential new collaborations with the fossil fuel industry and determine whether they comply with the Paris Agreement.

The KNAW has appointed 17 new members, including Leiden University's Vanessa Mak, Professor of Private Law, and Herman Paul, Professor of History. The KNAW has approximately members, who are outstanding scientists and scholars from all disciplines.

Organisation

The Future of Dying: End-of-Life Care in a Time of De-medicalized Death explores how patients, their relatives, and healthcare providers make decisions about end-of-life care when such treatments are readily available.

Biotechnological developments are moving fast. From genetically modified plant varieties we are now moving to cultured meat. These developments require moral interpretation - and they get it in the form of art. Lotte Pet wrote a dissertation about it.

Five questions about PREPARE, the new research project funded by the EU and led by Joana Cook. Cook is Assistant Professor of Terrorism and Political Violence at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and lead investigator on PREPARE.

Jelle Wouters (RTC Bhutan), Erik de Maaker (CADS Leiden) and Radhika Gupta (CADS Leiden) have been awarded a €260.000 grant by the Gerda Henkel Foundation for the research project ‘Perpetuating Highland Heritages of Bhutan’. This 4-year research project focuses on vernacular and unacknowledged heritages…

Why does EMDR therapy actually work? And how do people experience a small dose of psychedelics? Curious Psychology bachelor's and master's students investigated these and other questions through their research projects. They presented their findings during Science Day.

Now that war is once again raging in Europe, the question of when you need to stand up against injustice has become more relevant than ever. In his Cleveringa lecture on 24 November historian Gert Oostindie will discuss why colonial domination was not regarded as an issue in Leiden for a long time.

During Cyberweek, from 17-24 October, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) highlighted its research and teaching on cybersecurity, digital developments, and their impact on society.