The bachelor programmes German Language and Culture, Classics, Dutch Language and Culture, Ancient Near Eastern Studies, Religious studies and Linguistics have received the predicate top rated programme from the Keuzegids.

Six programmes in the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded the designation 'top programme' by the Keuzegids. These are the bachelor’s in German Language and Culture, Greek and Latin Language and Culture, Latin American Studies, Ancient Near East Studies, Religious Studies and Russian Studies.

Education

In 2011, the University of Hussein Bin Talal in Maan and Leiden University initiated the joint Udhruh Archaeological Project, led by Professors Fawzi Abudanah and Mark Driessen.

Lecture

This fall, LUCIS will have the pleasure of welcoming Professor Hugh Kennedy from SOAS University of London to Leiden. He is the fourth Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation Visiting Professor in Arabic Culture at Leiden University.

This year marks a special occasion because it was just ten years ago that the Georgian language was taught for the first time at Leiden University. It is even more exciting that its first professor, Ramaz Kurdadze, will return to Leiden this year to teach students interested in the language. Kurdadze…

Leiden University’s Master’s in Advanced Studies in International Dispute Settlement and Arbitration is one of the 15 ‘excellent master’s programmes’ at Dutch universities. This is according to the Keuzegids consumer guide to master’s programmes for 2025.

At the start of the year a lot of journals publish lists of their most cited papers of the previous year. Three papers published by Leiden archaeologists were ranked in the top 10 of the Journal of Archaeological Science: reports.

Conference

For thousands of years, the prehistoric communities of the Low Countries followed their own path, compared with the rest of Europe. An international research team has now published these findings in Nature.

On April 22, Lasse van den Dikkenberg defended his dissertation: Living with Flint. For this, he examined flint finds from the Rhine-Meuse Delta. These finds belong to the Vlaardingen culture, which existed here from 3400-2500 BC. His research revealed that import played a larger role in the Neolithic…

A new study reveals how ancient Chinese farmers managed soil fertility and water resources over thousands of years. By analyzing carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in millet crops, the research provides long-term isotopic evidence of farmland management practices in the Guanzhong Basin—the political…

Expert in Classics Renske Janssen has been awarded a Rubicon grant. She will use the grant to conduct research at the University of Edinburgh into how Roman law was perceived by society at the time.

Archaeologist Jason Laffoon was awarded an NWO Vidi grant for an innovative investigation into ancient migrations in the western Caribbean. The innovative character of this research project lies in the wide-scale application of isotope analysis and isotope mapping. ‘We aim at further developing methods…

Translating ancient texts, filling in missing parts of clay tablets: articles are popping up more and more often about the possibilities offered by artificial intelligence for researching documents in the oldest scripts. Are we better off leaving the deciphering of ancient texts to computers from now…

The Botany Club, a group of enthusiastic archaeobotanists and -biologists, travelled to the Eifel in May 2022 for their annual excursion. The chosen destination was the former army barracks at Vogelsang located above the Rur valley between Schleiden and Simmerath on the western side of the Eifel region…

Four projects led by the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded KIEM grants. The researchers will receive €10,000 to carry out their plans.

Rapid developments in DNA techniques allow researchers to find out more and more about human genetics. An international group of scientists has drawn up five ethical guidelines to ensure that this DNA research is better regulated. Leiden archaeologist Marie Soressi – one of the signatories - explains…

When deciding what to study you undoubtedly read a lot of information about your study programme. Leiden University employs various systems to provide information about programmes and courses and to facilitate communication between lecturers and students.

When deciding what to study you undoubtedly read a lot of information about your study programme. Leiden University employs various systems to provide information about programmes and courses and to facilitate communication between lecturers and students.

Associate Professor Carolien Stolte has been appointed visiting professor at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR). Stolte will continue her research into global peace movements there during the coming semester.

Lecture, Herta Mohr-lezing

When asked about the mission of the Leiden Jewish Studies network, Jürgen Zangenberg, Professor of Ancient Judaism and Early Christianity at Leiden University, and one of the organizers of the event says: “We try to keep the network as broad as possible, and to attract as many people from the outside…

Three PhD candidates from Leiden University have been awarded a Mosaic 2.0 scholarship for their PhD research. The Dutch Research Council (NWO) Mosaic 2.0 programme is aimed at an underrepresented group of graduates with a migrant background.

Three programmes at the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded medals by EW and ResearchNed. The bachelor’s in German Language and Culture took gold, and the bachelor's in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and the master's in Middle Eastern Studies each earned a bronze medal.

Social

Five master's programmes from the Faculty of Humanities scored highly in Keuzegids 2026.

Lecture

Joëlle Kraaijeveld has won the Jan Brouwer Thesis Prize for history with her master's thesis.

A paper during her master's degree put student Luca Andrea on the trail of Roman coins. While on an internship at the Teylers Museum, she organised the coin collection and came across some fascinating stories. 'Coins have had all kinds of functions.'

2024 was an eventful year for the Faculty of Humanities. Despite becoming the centre of political discussion and budget cuts as faculty ourselves, exceptional research projects were carried out and new initiatives were launched.

The story of Tutankhamun, the Egyptian pharaoh, is world famous. But did you know that the Ancient Egyptians mummified not only people but animals too? The National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden recently put a bunch of animal mummies through a CT scanner. This was in collaboration with Canon Netherlands…

Festival, Study trip Greek and Roman History 2026

You can find an overview of the projects and a list of all research trainees below.

After completing one bachelor’s and two master’s programmes at Leiden University, alumnus in Philosophical Perspectives on Politics and the Economy Matthieu Agustoni finished his student life with a bang: he got his master's thesis published in a prestigious journal.

Here you can find some examples of previous projects and output.

A group of experts on ancient Greek religious practices has joined forces in the form of the HIERON network. In a grassroots fashion, they decided to host frequent get-togethers in order to share experiences, research ideas, and interdisciplinary views. Leiden archaeologist Michael Kerschner was one…

From a new generation of antibiotics and more-effective vaccines to a map of dark matter and new light on Hindu traditions. Four researchers from Leiden University have received a prestigious €2.5m ERC Advanced Grant to develop their research.

Party for Dispuut Pleyte (so called after the 19th-century Dutch Egyptologist). The study association for Ancient Near Eastern studies and Classics and Ancient Civilizations celebrates its 50th anniversary. Ahead of the festive symposium on 7 June, we look back and ahead with chairman Steef Haeldermans…

Three fundamental research projects at Leiden in physics, chemistry and medical science have received funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). They involve research on magnetic fields in the universe, the role of myeloid cells in cancer immunotherapy and the evolution of ancient proteins.

Lecture

To honour the work of its longstanding chair Nick Ryan, CAA International provides the annual Nick Ryan Bursary Award. The Nick Ryan Bursary Award winner is chosen from each year’s student paper presenters. The award goes towards the costs of attending the CAA Conference the following year, up to a…