The Voices of Africa platform is ten years old and has just recently won the annual popularisation prize of the Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics (LOT). High time for a chat with Jenneke van der Wal, Maarten Mous and Nina van der Vlugt about the importance of the platform and plans for the…

According to Nivja de Jong, second language acquisition is 'the most fascinating subject in linguistics'. As a recently appointed professor of Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy, she studies the question of how best to teach people a new language.

Researcher Max van Duijn and PhD student Bram van Dijk apply language models to stories told by children to investigate empathy. For this research, they received the Best Paper Award at the Computational Natural Language Learning Conference in Singapore.

Wopke Hoekstra, outgoing Minister of Foreign Affairs visited Campus The Hague on 6 July to talk to students about the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius.

Nikki Ikani (ISGA) and Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida (LUC) have received Veni-funding. A total of 188 scientists received grants in this round. Veni grants are awarded annually by NWO.

Professor André Baranski is a champion for improving organ procurement. He believes there should be standardised training and certification for procurement surgeons. This is what he said in his inaugural lecture on 16 April.

Nu de NAVO inzet op 5% defensiebudget, zoekt Nederland naar financiering. Politicoloog Van der Zwan ziet kansen bij pensioenfondsen—mits defensie duurzaam heet.

A new government, conflicts around the world and obviously a lot of science: these are the five stories about Leiden University that you enjoyed reading in 2024.

For their honours internship, second year students of the Honours College 'Governance & Global Affairs' created the serious game Fallen Angels. In the game you take on the role of NATO, and have to deal with a crisis. Last month, a new generation of Honours students had the opportunity to be the first…

When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, normal life there came to a halt. To ensure that affected students and researchers can continue their studies and work, professor Ellen Rutten (UvA) and assistant professor Dorine Schellens (Leiden) set up an international mentor network.

The Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights Research Programme at Leiden Law School had the honor to organise the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research Annual Conference.

Met haar spannende onderzoek naar strafrechtelijke waarheidsvinding in Europa sleept Linda Geven dit jaar de Gratama Wetenschapsprijs voor jonge talentvolle wetenschappers in de wacht.

On 3 June, Annetje Ottow (chair) and Hester Bijl (rector magnificus) met the Humanities faculty. Although a physical introduction was preferred, this visit also had to be done digitally.

Research

It has been just over a decade since the first students graduated with Leiden University’s unique Liberal Arts and Sciences Bachelor degree. We caught up with one of those pioneering graduates.

Exchange: What and why?

Lecture, Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History

Lecture, YAL & Studium Generale

Career and apply for jobs

In the Pioneers of Leiden University series we talk to past and present students who were the first in their families to go to university. In this third instalment we talk to Jos Schaeken (1962) dean of the Honours Academy and Professor of Slavic and Baltic languages and Cultural History: 'I had to…

Lecture, Com(parative) Syn(tax) Series

It was more than twenty years ago that the plan for a Japanese-Dutch dictionary was born. Now it contains over 65,000 words, and completion is tentatively coming into view. Dictionary makers Oscar Veltink and Hetty Geerdink-Verkoren talk about their enthusiasm for this decades-long mammoth task.

The New Scholar, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University, is launching its first issue, and how? With a double issue!

From deepfakes and disinformation to killer robots, surgical robots and AI lawmaking: AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing our world. That raises the question whether this requires some form of regulation. At eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, prof. Bart Custers…

The editorial board of the Leiden Elective Academic Periodical (LEAP) is proud to announce the release of the third edition , titled “Sense(s)”!

Martijn Kitzen has been appointed professor by special appointment of Military Science at ISGA on behalf of the Royal Netherlands Society for War Studies (KVBK).

Lecture, Book presentation

Lecture, European Union Seminar

Tuesday 27 January - A crisp winter morning and a busy Tuesday. Board matters, research safety, leadership and faculty profiling alternate throughout the day, with a focus on collaboration both inside and outside the faculty. A full day that ends with a game of darts.

From the First World War until the height of the Cold War, actors from the decolonizing world sought to build connections with international peace movements. These efforts produced new networks and practices of solidarity while also exposing tensions over the centrality of decolonization in global struggles…

In August 2022 we welcome our new colleague Dr Letty ten Harkel as Assistant Professor in Roman and Post-Roman Archaeology. For the past ten years she has built up an impressive track record in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford. Read the interview about her background and research…

An X-ray scanner, some small metal balls, and a newly developed algorithm. That is all you need to make a 3D model that enables you to look inside art objects without dismantling them. Thanks to the research of Francien Bossema (Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica and Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer…

As society becomes increasingly diverse, public organisations are being challenged to adapt their services to ensure that everyone feels heard and seen. 'Inclusive leadership is essential in this process,' says Dr Tanachia Ashikali. It calls for openness to different perspectives, active dialogue, and…

How can you figure out which points lie on a certain curve? And how many possible curves do you count by a given number of points? These are the kinds of questions Pim Spelier of the Mathematical Institute studied during his PhD research. Spelier received his doctorate with distinction on June 12.

It is sufficiently plausible that, during her employment, a professor of archaeology at Leiden University was guilty of prolonged transgressive and unacceptable behaviour, ‘which also at that time could be classed as unacceptable’.

In the next decades, thousands of wind turbines will be added to the North Sea. Environmental scientist Chen Li identified the most beneficial areas for their construction, focusing on material use, carbon footprint, and environmental impact. His paper was published in Environmental Science & Techno…

Can we reshape school playgrounds through data and design? By using AI and wearable sensors, data scientist Maedeh Nasri discovered ways to create environments where children, including those with ADHD and autism, can connect, play, and grow.

De faculteitsraad is het medezeggenschapsorgaan van de faculteit. De raad fungeert als de vertegenwoordiger van studenten en personeel, en als klankbord voor het faculteitsbestuur. De overlegvergaderingen tussen de faculteitsraad en het faculteitsbestuur zijn openbaar en vinden ongeveer om de zes…

Assistant professor Joost Willemse firmly believes that as a teacher, you’re never done learning. ‘Students ask questions about things you’ve never thought of yourself. Ultimately, that makes you better at your job.’ That’s why he always encourages his students to ask questions. And it’s appreciated:…

In this new series the Vice-Dean and portfolio holder of education in the board of the Faculty of Archaeology will reflect on the state of education. Posts can range from shedding light on current national shifts in the university landscape to arguments as to why it’s important to be timely with designing…

Cultural anthropology students study how architecture influences student behavior, safety, and community at MBORijnland through fieldwork research.

Give organisms like plants and animals the freedom to move, interact and meet their own needs, and they will thrive on their own, says Professor Geert de Snoo. Our interference often ends up doing more harm than good.

Rutger Leukfeldt has been appointed endowed Professor of Governing Cybercrime at the faculties of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) and Leiden Law School. Leukfeldt: 'It’s great that the two faculties are joining forces at a time when we’re faced with enormous challenges in the field of cybercrim…

PhD candidate Julia Wąsala searches for greenhouse gas emissions in satellite data. As a computer scientist, she bridges the gap between computer science and space research. ‘We really can't do this research without collaboration.’

Three Dutch-Belgian telescopes have started operating at the ESO La Silla Observatory in Chile. This so-called BlackGEM array will scan the southern sky to hunt for cosmic events that produce gravitational waves, such as mergers of neutron stars and black holes. Leiden astronomer Rudolf le Poole is…

Psychedelic drugs like magic mushrooms and LSD are embraced by some and seen as lethal by others. Cognitive psychologist Michiel van Elk delved into the world of psychedelic drugs and wrote a surprisingly sober book about them. ‘Without first-hand experience my story wouldn’t be complete.’

Training students to become medical professionals is an important task of a university medical centre. But teaching does not always receive the space and recognition it deserves. This needs to change, says Professor Alexandra Langers. Medical education is a profession in its own right.

How can initiatives aimed at environmental conservation and climate change mitigation in the eastern Himalayas proceed from the cultural expectations of its indigenous ethno-linguistic minorities? Enabled by an NWO Open L grant, the research project 'Futuring Heritage: Conservation, Community and Contestation…

Four lecturers from Leiden University will receive a 50,000-euro Comenius Teaching Fellow grant. This will enable them and their team to realise an educational innovation within their own teaching.