Japanologist and linguist Martine Robbeets is going to use her newly acquired ERC Consolidator Grant to study the origins and spread of Trans-Eurasian languages, which include Japanese and Turkish. With it, she’s tackling one of the most controversial subjects in language history.

Japanese was not always the language spoken in Japan. Researchers link the arrival of the language in Japan with the migration of farmers around 400 BC. Linguist Elisabeth de Boer has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to carry out research on the further spread of the language in Japan.

With this thesis the PhD-candidate aims to enrich the body of evidence concerning the relation between stress and health, and the mediating role of (un)conscious perseverative cognitions, which is captured in the extended perseverative cognition hypothesis.

This research team is concerned with the measurement and modelling of behaviour, cognition, and unobserved traits (e.g., latent variables, missing data). Central aims include the distillation of a complex set of features into lower-dimensional representations (e.g., factor analysis, IRT), determining…

Dementia is widely considered a progressive condition associated with changes in cognitive capacities, which promotes the idea that people with dementia need to anticipate end-of-life care preferences. There is a growing body of interventions meant to support advance care planning (ACP) for people with…

The mobile lab, the Psychology Lab on Wheels, brings science to the general public!

The LIBC is a network focusing on science valorisation and outreach, stimulating interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and expertise on topics related to brain and cognition. Get to know the support team.

Drawing is one of the most unique human behaviours. Like language, drawing is a mode of communication and a cognitive tool that from an early age allows us to interact with others. Is the early development of drawing skill influenced by the social environment? If so, how?

The Leiden Centre for Theoretical Philosophy (LCTP) is a platform for analytic philosophy in a broad sense at Leiden University. Its members do research in philosophy of science, philosophy of logic and metaphysics, with a keen interest in the history of topics such as mind, knowledge, truth, and ti…

Every day, we make numerous decisions, from choosing what to eat to how we interpret the world around us. Traditionally, researchers have assumed that a key part of our decision-making process, namely the decision criterion, stays stable over time. However, increasing evidence suggests that instead…

Researchers have been working for centuries in mapping the human brain. But in the year 2017 some brain structures remain still not well mapped, especially those located at the brainstem. In this paper, we quantified the test–retest reliability of imaging the brainstem nucleus locus coeruleus in vivo…

The aim of this research is the systematic analysis of the wisdom coined by Nahua people of Mexico, based on the historical sources and archaeological evidence, but also in the knowledge developed by contemporary indigenous communities and the contributions of indigenous scholars.

In his groundbreaking Imagined Communities, first published in 1983, Benedict Anderson argued that members of a community experience a

The section Developmental and Educational Psychology consists of more than 45 people, who are mainly involved in education and research.

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Psycho-physiological studies for health and disease.

This focus area centres on promoting health and stimulating the physical, mental and social resilience of citizens.

The programme group Parenting, Child Care and Development studies how parents and other educators affect children's development, well-being and health. The emphasis is on the child's social, emotional and cognitive development and prevention of problems in these areas.

Perfect for use at advanced undergraduate and graduate level, this is the first text to offer students a unified narrative regarding the place of the body in Western thinking. The book investigates the ways in which the fact of human embodiment makes the notion of ambiguity central to all major areas…

Deepfakes are videos that have been manipulated to replace one person’s likeness with that of another. They can be difficult to distinguish from authentic videos. In our study, we found that people who score high on conspiracy thinking and people who use social media more are better at distinguishing…

Lecture

Nancy Kula has been Professor of African Linguistics since 1 February. Now is a good time to hear more about her field of expertise and academic interests.

From medicines from snake venom to supercrops and the origin of words. Thirteen researchers from Leiden University will receive Open Competition XS grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

On the 10th of November, Sara Petrollino succesfully defended her PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Sara on this great result.

On the 21st of September, Benjamin Suchard succesfully defended his PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Benjamin on this great result.

On the 8th of May, Laura Migliori succesfully defended her PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Laura on this great result.

On the 10th of February, Qian Li succesfully defended her PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Qian on this great result.

On the 23rd of November, Angoua Tano succesfully defended his PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Tano on this great result.

On the 21st of June, Marieke Meelen succesfully defended her PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Marieke on this great result.

On the 11th of October, Micheal Swanton succesfully defended his PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Micheal on this great result.

On the 11th of May, Jean Chavula succesfully defended her PhD-thesis and graduated. LUCL congratulates Jean on this great result.

How do you make niche subjects interesting and accessible? Benjamin Suchard, historical linguist and researcher, seems to have created the perfect recipe, which consists of his various projects alongside his regular research, including a Twitter account and a major international film.

Across cultures, parents help their children master the social and linguistic codes needed in adult life. Recent research on language socialization found important cross-cultural differences, pointing out the need for more diversity for a full understanding of this process. Deaf communities form…

There is a growing demand throughout the world for ways to understand and preserve cultural heritage. Heritage has a crucial role to play because it strengthens societies and promotes understanding among cultures. Leiden expertise in the area of heritage spans the whole world.

On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2025.

Disclaimer: Manuscripts related to the Resilience Center are for academic purposes only and are not intended for mass distribution or copying. Please refer to applicable laws for fair use, including copyright holders' restrictions on publications.

Lecture, Applied African Linguistics

Based on the results of a language-switching experiment, PhD candidate Fatemeh (Simeen) Tabassi Mofrad MA and Professor Niels Schiller have discovered that the traditional categorisation of brain areas is not sufficient. They published their research findings in the scientific journal NeuroImage.

The way in which written language is processed in the brain is a hot topic in cognitive research. Cognitive psychologist Rinus Verdonschot studied a Japanese script in which a single character can have up to three possible pronunciations. He discovered that all three are simultaneously activated in…

On the 12th of December, Ria Huijgen-Koolen successfully defended a doctoral thesis. Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Ria on this achievement!

PhD defence

In 2025 hebben medewerkers en studenten van de Universiteit Leiden veel mooie prijzen ontvangen en belangrijke onderzoekssubsidies binnengehaald.

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