The Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology conducts extensive research on imprisonment. Sending a person to prison is the most severe form of punishment that can be applied in the criminal justice systems of European countries. In most countries, the number of prisoners has risen in recent decades.…

It has been found that the better a prisoner is treated, the more effective the sentence. Leiden criminologists therefore research how detention can be improved in such areas as prison life and contact between prisoners and their children.

The Prison Project investigates to what extent imprisonment has consequences for the relapse, health, career and intimate relations of the (ex-)prisoners.

Compared to other countries, Dutch prisons have relatively few inmates. But who are behind bars in our prisons? Professor of Criminology and Comparative Penology Miranda Boone: ‘It's not the bad, but often the sad and the mad.’

A prisoner from Eindhoven who posted vlogs about his life in prison is attracting thousands of viewers on TikTok and other social media. Esther van Ginneken commented on regional news site ‘Omroep Brabant’: 'Contact is a human necessity.'

Ten years ago, a new reward system was introduced in Dutch prisons: the only way prisoners could earn extra ‘freedoms’ was through good behaviour. Jan Maarten Elbers concludes that this system does little to encourage behavioural change and can even be counterproductive.

Prison staff are working under high pressure. The current proposal for cell sharing is the final straw. Associate Professor Esther van Ginneken appeared on Dutch news programme ‘Nieuwsuur’: ‘Serious incidents have occurred, including the murder of a cellmate.’

On 28 May 2026, Lorenz Pardon defended the thesis 'Jail craft of prison officers in post-authoritarian prisons: a comparative research in Belgium and the Netherlands'. The doctoral research was supervised by K. Beyens and Miranda Boone.

On 11 October, Amanda Pasma defended the thesis 'Re-entry support from prison-based and community-based professionals'. The doctoral research was supervised by Paul Nieuwbeerta, Hanneke Palmen and Esther van Ginneken.

Er dreigen onmenselijke toestanden als gedetineerden niet twee weken eerder vrijgelaten mogen worden, stelt Miranda Boone, hoogleraar criminologie en vergelijkende penologie, in een opiniestuk in Trouw. ‘Waar de grens naar overbevolkte gevangenissen wordt overschreden, is er geen weg terug.’

The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (OM) will handle more criminal cases without involvement of the courts. The aim: more community service and fewer prison sentences. Jan Crijns, Professor of Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law, commented on the proposal in ‘Trouw’ newspaper.

The Life in Custody (LIC) Study comprises a large-scale research project into prison climate and the quality of prison life in Dutch prisons.

Er is een nijpend cellen- en personeelstekort in Nederlandse gevangenissen. En dit is niet voor de eerste keer. Miranda Boone, hoogleraar criminologie en vergelijkende penologie, sprak met Trouw over de problematiek: ‘Het aantal gevangenen is het resultaat van beleid.’

The thesis addresses the long-term dynamical evolution of hierarchical multiple systems.

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) has awarded Veni funding to two researchers from the Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology. Anke Ramakers and Hilde Wermink. This award offers these criminologists the opportunity to develop their own ideas over a period of three years.

Hilde Wermink, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology was interviewed on this topic for an article published in US News on 13 May.

The Computer Systems, Imagery & media (CSI) research programme performs research on methods and techniques for the design, implementation and application of advanced computer systems, in particular parallel, distributed and embedded computer systems.

Promotor: J.N. Kok, Co-promotor: H.J. Hoogeboom

Promotor: C. W. J. Beenakker, Co-promotor: J. K. Asboth

Er zijn structurele (sociale) veiligheidsproblemen in vrouwengevangenissen, blijkt uit onderzoek van Leidse onderzoekers Esther van Ginneken en Yara Abbing. Universitair hoofddocent Van Ginneken sprak met Trouw: ‘We moeten macht, seksualiteit en discriminatie bespreekbaar maken.’

What are the functions of the endocannabinoid system?

In this thesis, a system pharmacology approach, integrating metabolomics, pharmacology and chemical biology, was applied to understand and modulate the endocannabinoid system across different model systems (cells, zebrafish, mice and humans).

Dynamical systems describe the evolution of objects in a space over time and may be used to model physical phenomena. Due to this, much research is dedicated to understanding the mathematics of dynamical systems.

In modern information systems, a large number of different components are often active simultaneously. This phenomenon - known as concurrency - underlies not only the functioning of computer systems but of any system in which many processes take place at the same time.

Systems are called real-time systems, if the correctness of the system does not only depend on the correctness of the system output but also on whether the output is delivered on time.

Here are some systems and infrastructures that are useful to students.

The aim of the research programme Systems Pharmacology lies in the development of personalised medicine strategies, and development of new systems-based approaches in translational and clinical pharmacology.

Every year, Leiden University welcomes some 27,000 students from 115 different countries. In educating these students, we are committed to ensuring that the quality of our tuition meets or exceeds the highest-possible standards.

Adenosine is an endogenous ligand which exerts its action by activating adenosine receptors (ARs), while its circulating levels are controlled via a variety of mechanism and proteins, amongst others the equilibrative nucleoside transporters (ENTs).

This research area is focused on the development and application of novel concepts and models in the emerging area of quantitative systems pharmacology (QSP).

Researchers at LIACS are working to devise the computers of tomorrow that will be the backbone of the Cloud and Edge computing paradigms as well as the Internet of Things. In this respect, we are involved in research and development of high performance computing systems, embedded & real-time computing…

Mathematical models of software systems enable characterizations, abstractions, simulations, and analysis of complex software during its development.

The correctness of computational systems is of great importance to our society, since it becomes ever more reliant on the benefits of computing.

According to the amyloid cascade hypothesis, accumulation of beta-amyloid (Aβ) peptides initiates the pathological cascade in Alzheimer's disease (AD).

Making systems biology modelling a central pillar of research in biology

How do balanced lethal systems originate and persist in nature?

The research of our group is centered around dynamical systems, functional analysis and their interplay.

Researchers at LIACS are working to devise the computers of tomorrow that will be the backbone of the Cloud and Edge computing paradigms as well as the Internet of Things. In this respect, we are involved in research and development of high performance computing systems, embedded & real-time computing…

Students in Leiden are entitled to good teaching and good supervision. For their part, there are some conditions they have to meet to ensure that they complete their studies within the time allotted.

Promotor: A. Doelman, Co-promotores: P.J.A. van Heijster; A. Zagaris

Promotor: Arjen Doelman, Co-promotor: Vivi Rottschäfer

Search and conversational systems have become central to how people access information and perform tasks.

Four men have been sentenced to 25 years in jail for murdering a female relative. Jeroen ten Voorde, Professor of Criminal and Criminal Procedural Law, spoke to ‘Trouw’ newspaper about the court ruling: ‘They're all considered perpetrators under criminal law.’