United Nations Global Pulse, an initiative of the UN Secretary-General on big data and AI, recently launched the Data Fellows program. Kevin Duisters, PhD in Statistics at the Mathematical Institute, was selected to take part in its first cohort of eight international students.

Everything is peaceful again in and around the Wijnhaven building at Campus The Hague. Earlier today, the location was the scene of a large pro-Palestinian protest. Lectures were cancelled. In the end, everyone left the building voluntarily.

Studium Digitale: An Introduction to Network Data, Analysis, and Visualization

We use zebrafish as a model organism to study human development and disease as well as animal welfare and environmental impact.

Through the clever use of two types of telescopes, a team of researchers has produced stunning images of clusters of galaxies. This not only produces beautiful images, but also provides more information about the enormous amounts of energy released around supermassive black holes in clusters. The astronomers,…

We congratulate Joost Grootens with joining the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen as a professor of artistic research in visual design.

The Kikkoman chair is a new chair in Leiden sponsored by the Kikkoman Foundation and the Association of Friends of Asiatic Art. The chair will address the intercultural dynamics of Asia and Europe.

Public authorities fail to inform citizens, or inform them too little or too late, about the use of algorithmic profiling in administrative decisions. This is clear from research conducted by Anne Meuwese and Fatma Çapkurt on the legally and practically responsible use of profiling algorithms.

EUniWell –the European University for Well-Being in which Leiden University and six other universities collaborate – is among the consortia selected for funding in the ‘European Universities Initiative’. The alliance will receive funding of 5 million euros from the European Commission.

On Friday February 25, student Mitchell Bosch will present his Media Technology MSc graduation thesis work. In 20-25 minutes Mitchell will present his project, followed by 10-15 minutes public discussion. Everyone is invited to attend. The presentation is in English.

On Tuesday 2 April Vice President of the European Commission, Frans Timmermans, came to Leiden to receive the Plastic Avengers Manifest from Plastic Soup Surfer Merijn Tinga. The Manifest contains five key areas for a new approach to deal with how we use plastic.

Professor P.F. (Paul) Wouters has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences with effect from 1 January 2019. Wouters has been appointed for a period of three years and succeeds Professor Hanna Swaab, whose second term of office as dean expires this year. Swaab will remain…

Physicist Christopher Berg Smiet, who recently obtained his PhD in Leiden, has been awarded an NWO Rubicon. The grant allows him to conduct postdoctoral research for two years at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) in the United States.

The coronavirus pandemic has had us working and studying at home, and this has had a positive effect on Leiden University’s sustainability results. This is apparent from the university’s new Sustainability Report 2020. The report also shows that nearly all the targets from the Environmental Policy Plan…

Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Leiden University (Faculty of Science) will be offering a master's programme in Pharmacy from September 2016. The programme has been accredited by the NVAO.

The Europa Institute is proud to announce that Leiden University has won the prize for Best Written Memorials at the 2014/15 European Law Moot Court Competition (ELMC) Final in Luxembourg!

Three Leiden researchers have been awarded a prestigious Vici grant, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) announced on Tuesday. Two of the researchers work at Leiden University and the third at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).

On February 10 2025, the Leiden Jewish Studies Network convened a lively roundtable and catered reception at the Faculty Club to celebrate the launch of Dr. Kate Brackney’s new book, Surreal Geographies: A New History of Holocaust Consciousness (University of Wisconsin Press, 2024), winner of the George…

Eastern and Southern European countries struggle with ‘brain drain’ as skilled workers move to other EU Member States. Could restricting free movement be a legitimate and lawful way to address this trend? Researcher Martijn van den Brink will investigate the issue.

The government could do more to improve its diversity, says Saniye Çelik. By hiring people from a variety of backgrounds, the government will be better able to handle issues together with its citizens. Employees will also feel more connected to the organisation. PhD defence 10 November.

In Nature researchers at Leiden University and Utrecht University show how 47 teeth from Southern China indicate that anatomically modern humans where present at least 80,000 years ago in the region. This is 40,000 years earlier than in Europe.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia. This makes fundamental research on the precise cause of the illness of vital importance. One of the possible suspects is a certain protein filled with iron. Leiden physicist Lucia Bossoni (LION/LUMC) has now developed a new way of investigating…

Although Islamic State has largely been beaten, for now the Jihad scene in the Netherlands is more than alive. That is what professor Edwin Bakker (terrorism and counterterrorism) recently said in an interview in the Algemeen Dagblad.

Annually, approximately 60.000 people in the Netherlands undergo radiation therapy for cancer. Coen Rasch is dedicated to enhancing the precision of proton therapy.

In this new four CD box set release sonatas of the relatively unknown French composer Jean Daniel Braun have been recorded by ACPA's Jed Wentz and Dutch ensemble Musica ad Rhenum.

A joint global research project, “New Bank Insolvency Law for China and Europe”, which started in 2014, is nearing its completion. China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL, Beijing, China) and Leiden Law School’s Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law are finalizing an innovative joint research…

Discipline and Place in the Social Sciences and the Humanities, with these fields taken to include archaeology and law, is an annual lecture series for PhD and Research Master’s students at LeidenGlobal partner institutions. Previous editions have received highly favorable evaluations.

On 30th September 2024, the newly established LL.M. track of the multidisciplinary Governance of Migration and Diversity Master Program welcomed its pioneer students during the GMD academic year opening event at the Wijkpaleis in Rotterdam. During the informative and day, students met the academic coordinators…

A new study in Nature Plants has explored the most important organising principles that control vegetation behaviour. The insights from this study can be used to improve predictions on climate change. Leiden scientists Peter van Bodegom and Nadia Soudzilovskaia participated in the study.

Professor Versteeg is currently Professor of Law at Virginia School of Law in the United States, where she has been working since 2011 as Miller Center Director and Human Rights Program Director at the Center for Comparative and International Law University of the Virginia School of Law.

Research at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) Department of Pathology shows the power of artificial intelligence (AI) applied to endometrial carcinoma microscopy images. The group of Dr. Tjalling Bosse offers novel insights that could improve diagnosis and treatment of uterine cancer. Their…

At an international high-level conference, Valentina Carraro, Deputy Coordinator of the interdisciplinary programme Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) presented her research on human rights in the UN Human Rights Council and Treaty body systems. One of the most practical recommendations…

Leiden University strengthens the collaboration with the Chinese Xi’an Jiaotong University. The Chinese delegation visited the Faculty of Science to talk about collaborations in the field of life science and data science.

To mark the official launch of the network, Maartje Janse and Peter Stamatov have organized a roundtable on Global Abolitionisms at the Annual Meeting of the Social Science Historical Association, November 2015 in Baltimore.

Michiel van der Vaart with a team from Leiden University and the LUMC, led by IBL-researcher Annemarie Meijer, discovered that DRAM1 is a protein that regulates anti-bacterial autophagy, a defense mechanism against infections such as tuberculosis.

Four promising young researchers will be able to conduct two years of research at a university abroad thanks to a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The Leiden laureates are Renske Janssen, Girija Josh, Anne van der Meij and Yana van der Weegen.

Nieuwscheckers, a team of journalist fact-checkers from Leiden University, received the Mr. K.J. Cath Prize at the opening of the academic year on 5 September. This biennial prize is awarded to students or staff who have enhanced the University’s good name.

The standard approach to build a quantum computer with Majoranas as building blocks is to convert them into qubits. However, a promising application of quantum computing—quantum chemistry—would require these qubits to be converted again into so-called fermions. Physicists from Leiden and Delft suggest…

Eliminate violence against women. That is the message of the Orange the World campaign. Leiden University is joining in this year, hence the ‘oranged’ Academy Building and Oude UB.

Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam, together with Heritage Leiden and Region, are developing a map application of historical Leiden.

In September Lütticken released two new publications: 'Objections- Forms of Abstraction, Volume 1' and 'Art and Autonomy: A Critical Reader'.

To check whether the classroom scanners are secure, a ‘pen test’ was performed in the Lipsius building on Monday 28 March. This involved switching on the person counters for a day so that ethical hackers could try to gain access to the system.

Anyone in Leiden wanting to join a student association has plenty to choose from. But the risk of alcohol abuse is a very real one. Leiden University, Leiden University of Applied Sciences and dozens of student associations have signed a new alcohol covenant that promises they will do their best to…

The formal handing over of the keys for the first stage of the Science Campus will take place on 23 February.

The bachelor education programmes of Physics and Astronomy in Leiden combined have the highest percentage female first year students in The Netherlands, according to numbers published by the Dutch Journal of Physics.

Youth unemployment in the Netherlands has risen sharply in recent years, though many vacancies cannot be filled. Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics, spoke to NU.nl about the issue: ‘Youth unemployment has consistently been higher than the overall unemployment rate.’

Prof. dr. Arnold Tukker will be appointed on 1 October 2013 as Chair of Industrial Ecology at the Faculty of Science of Leiden University. He will work at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), and also become the new director of this institute.

While outer space has been explored peacefully for decades, clear rules on lunar mining are lacking. Space law expert Tanja Masson-Zwaan told the BBC that international cooperation is urgently needed to prevent conflict and legal uncertainty.

Iran is experiencing severe unrest with millions of people protesting against the strict regime. Opponents of the regime are now working on a blueprint for a new Iran, including Afshin Ellian, Professor of Jurisprudence, who appeared on ‘Sven op 1’.