Gerard van Westen has received the KNCV Gold Medal, the most important Dutch award for chemists under 40. 'It's a huge honour,' says the professor of AI and medicinal chemistry. 'I am now part of the group of people I was always impressed by.'

Not one, but two initiatives won this year's Van Bergen prize. The prize was awarded during the university's Diversity symposium on 22 January. One of the winners is OpenUp, an interactive symposium on coping with stress and fear. Students are invited to tell their stories. The Hague Campus' study advisers…

A farewell seminar was held on 22 November 2018 in honour of the departure of Prof. dr. Jan van den Berg, Professor in Cyber Security and Scientific Director of the Cyber Security Academy foundation (CSA).

The Koninklijke Hollandsche Maatschappij der Wetenschappen invited Wim van Anrooij to join as a member. That does not happen to everyone!

As of 1 September, Masja van Meteren will stop as PhD Dean at Leiden Law School. She looks back on a great learning experience with many rewards.

Leiden University has appointed John van Noort as Professor in Biophysics. He studies the way in which our DNA is folded and read out.

Sam de Schutter won the Brill/Diplomatica Mattingly Prize 2019 for his article “A Global Approach to Local Problems? How to Write a Longer, Deeper, and Wider History of the International Year of Disabled Persons in Kenya”. We asked him some questions about the research he is doing that has led to this…

Nicole van Os won the Academy Kiss 2022. Van Os, study coordinator and advisor who also chairs the Delegation of Workers' Organizations in The Local Consultations of the AOb teaching union, won the award because of her commitment to the cause of giving language teachers permanent contracts, over hiring…

The German Astronomical Society has awarded the 2019 Karl Schwarzschild Medal to professor of Molecular astrophysics Ewine van Dishoeck. She will receive the medal during the annual meeting of the society from 16 to 20 September 2019 in Stuttgart.

Inaugural lecture

Valedictory lecture

In high school, Tim van Erven read about an artificially intelligent algorithm that could solve mazes. From that moment on, he was sold: ‘There’s something magical about algorithms. With a list of fixed rules you can make them learn the most diverse things.’ This year, he won a Vidi grant, which he…

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our esteemed colleague Laura van Hoof on Wednesday 1 October, after an illness of more than a year. An alumnus of Leiden University, she worked in the Student Affairs department of the Faculty of Humanities, as the education coordinator for the…

Han de Winde will step down as a member of the faculty board of the Faculty of Science from 1 September 2018. De Winde had been vice–dean at the faculty since 2013. As director of education he was responsible for the bachelor's and master's programmes at the faculty.

Few people would associate the name Anton de Kom with Leiden. Yet the Surinamese freedom fighter is the subject of an exhibition at Museum De Lakenhal.

He’s sometimes called Your Safeness. Leiden law alumnus Pieter van Vollenhoven, husband of Princess Margriet and the driving force behind the Dutch Safety Board, returned to the University yesterday for the symposium ‘A critical safety watchdog?’ to mark his 80th birthday. With a host of dignitaries…

On Monday 23 January 2023 J.T.P. (Hans) de Bruijn passed away at the age of 91. Until 1995 he held the Chair of New Persian Language and Culture at Leiden University.

For his ground-breaking chemical biological research, a VICI-grant has been awarded to Mario van der Stelt, professor of Molecular physiology at Leiden University. In a new research line, he aims to discover binding sites for new medicines against inflammations in the brain.

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Sciences (KNAW) has awarded an Academy Professorship to Ewine van Dishoeck, Professor of Molecular Astrophysics at Leiden University.

University lecturer Tazuko van Berkel is one of this year's laureates of the Ammodo Science Award. The award includes a sum of 350,000 euros that she can use as she wishes to explore new avenues in basic scientific research.

On Friday, November 1, at 16:15, Wim van Anrooij (University of Leiden) will hold his valedictory oration at the Groot Auditorium (Rapenburg 73) in Leiden. More information will follow

Stay tuned for updates on relevant media appearances of Henk van Steenbergen.

Meike de Goede has received a research grant of €14,600 from the Gerda Henkel Foundation for her research on the post-colonial silencing of anti-colonial resistance in Congo-Brazzaville.

Dusted off and fresh from the field, some insight perspectives on the 2012 field season of the Proyecto Arqueologico Centro de Nicaragua. It's safe to summarize the field campaign as having generated some insights, and possible answers, many more contacts, and the occasional frustration for added bo…

Through its launch of Instagram Teens, Instagram promises to create a safe environment for teenagers by introducing age restrictions. But is it actually going to improve the mental health of young people? And is the feature that allows parents to monitor their teenagers’ use of Instagram even legal?

Wilco van Dijk has been awarded a NIAS Individual Fellowship, which allow researchers to work on a project of their own choosing for a 5- or 10-month period. As a NIBUD professor of psychological determinants of economic decision-making, Van Dijk will work on the impact of financial scarcity on dec…

Lecture

Bringing Dutch and international students together. One way to do that is by playing Archery Attack, archaeology student Timothy Stikkelorum suggested. On 13 November, he and his team, a committee from the Terra study association, won the Van Bergen Prize with their idea.

Yusra Abdullahi, Maha Ali and Felipe Colla de Amorim recently joined the Institute for History as PhD candidates. Together they work an an integrated, collective project. Learn more about them below!

Giliam de Valk, assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, was one of the speakers at the third congress of the National Thinking Tank Integral Security on 6 February.

As of February 1st, 2018, Sarah de Rijcke has been appointed as Professor of Science, Technology and Innovation Studies, especially Science and Evaluation Studies, at Leiden University. The chair is located at the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS).

Dutch greenhouse horticulture is a world leader when it comes to innovative capacity and sustainability, but ‘the challenges are great in terms of energy, water, environment and biodiversity,’ says Peter van Bodegom, coordinator of AgriFood at the Centre for Sustainability of the Leiden, Delft, Erasmus…

Psychologist Ellen de Bruijn is investigating what hormonal fluctuations do to women's behaviour and well-being. The National science funding body NWO honoured her research with a Vici grant; earlier this year she received an ERC Consolidator Grant. Read the interview with De Bruijn about her resear…

Professor of Predictive Pharmacology Elizabeth de Lange has received an Honorary Doctorate from the Faculty of Pharmacy of Uppsala University. She will be honoured during the Uppsala Winter Conferment Ceremony on 31 January 2020.

Maria de Jong-de Kruijf was awarded a doctorate degree on 7 March for her research on children in secure residential youth care. The Dutch website for legal professionals, Mr. Online, interviewed her for their ‘lawyer of the week’ column.

Geert de Snoo is making the transition from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology to the management of KNAW. Starting 1 October, the professor of Environmental Biology will begin his role as Director of Research Policy in a new, consensus-based management team.

Recently, Willem van Boom attended the Annual Conference of the World Tort Law Society (WTLS), which was held at Wake Forest Law School (NC, USA; Nov. 15-18, 2017).

Prof.Dr. Herman van Vlijmen was appointed as Professor of Computational Drug Discovery at the Division of Medicinal Chemistry in Leiden on April 15th, 2008. He will give his Inaugural Lecture on May 18th, 2009.

Roos van Oosten's research on medieval cesspits stood on the basis of an article on this subject in Quest Historie, a Dutch magazine about history.

Society has an impact on what is viewed as heritage. Susanna de Beer investigated how heritage can be made enduring by making use of it in the present. Lars de Kruijf, student of Dutch and Journalism New Media, spoke with Susanna de Beer.

Mirjam de Baar has been Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and portfolio holder for education of master’s and research master’s programmes since 2016. As a result of her reappointment, she will continue to fulfil this role for an additional four years. ‘Being asked by the Vice-Rector and the Dean…

During the event 'Fout?' by De Jonge Akademie, Ellen de Bruijn held a lecture about the social context of making mistakes and the psychological elements of learning from it.

Leiden's cultural anthropologist Anouk de Koning is receiving a Vici research grant for her project ‘Prototyping Welfare in Europe: Experiments in State and Society’ to study welfare experiments in four countries and to examine what they tell us about the futures of European welfare states.

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has acquired a rare manuscript map of Suriname. The map from 1830 is almost 2.5 meters long and is highly detailed. It was hand-drawn by Helmuth Hendrik Hiemcke (1808-1858), one of the official surveyors employed by the colonial administration, and shows Suriname in…

Nivja de Jong, languages professor at Leiden University, warns about the impact of proposed education budget cuts by the new Dutch government.

The Advisory Committee on Public International Law (Dutch abbreviation CAVV) is an independent body which provides the government and parliament of the Netherlands with advice, both solicited and unsolicited, on issues related to public international law.

Despite repeated warnings, John Chau visited the remote Indian island of North Sentinel. His goal: to convert the North Sentinelese to Christianity. These islanders, however, aren't in for outsiders and killed the missionary upon his arrival. Anthropologists Erik de Maaker, Tessa Minter and professor…

The government, the people and the country were in desperate straits. This about sums up the state of affairs in the Disaster Year of 1672. It was 350 years ago, and to mark the occasion PhD candidate Roosje Peeters collaborated on a series of letters to and from a key political figure Johan de Witt,…

On 21 June, our beloved colleague Joan van der Waals passed away after a long and rewarding life.

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Professor International Relations and Diplomatic Practice at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University spoke to Belgian (Flemish) news magazine Knack about the position of Europe in relation to the United States and China. ‘Europe has to be careful to avoid…