The Department of History of Art in Oxford has appointed Leiden University professor Caroline van Eck as Slade Professor of Fine Art for the second semester of academic year 2016-2017. As Slade Professor Van Eck will spend a semester in office at Oxford University and deliver eight public lectures and…

The Leiden astronomer Huib van Langevelde) has been selected as the new director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The EHT is a collaboration involving about 350 scientists from 18 countries. It combines the ALMA array in Chile with sub-millimeter telescopes around the world and published the first…

On 12 September 2025, Dr. Ben Van Rompuy participated in the conference “Playing by the Rules: the Intersection of Competition Law and Sports”, organised by the University of Lausanne.

The recently opened ICPA (International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression Against Ukraine) in The Hague will be responsible for coordinating the prosecution of Russia for the crime of aggression and possibly also the prosecution of Vladimir Putin. The ICPA aims to close the gaps…

What would happen if there were fewer migrant workers in the Netherlands? Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics, discussed this question on Dutch news site NU.nl.

Media in the Netherlands and abroad reported extensively about the drug research led by Leiden chemist Mario van der Stelt. In this research, Van der Stelt shows which unwanted side-effects a French drug candidate has.

After four years of hard work, the time has finally come: your thesis is finished. But who of your family and friends will ever read it? Biologist Lizah van der Aart decided to make a magazine for layman. 'It was precisely the explanation of the difficult, fundamental parts that gave me good tools for…

A moon rock from the Apollo 17 mission, antique globes and the cosmos according to Wassily Kandinsky. Ewine van Dishoeck, Professor of Molecular Astrophysics, has put together an impressive exhibition at Rijksmuseum Boerhaave.

Fashion is a common thread running through alumna Anouk van Oss’s life. From a young age, fashion was a way for her to express herself. That was until she discovered how problematic the fashion industry is. She decided to focus on sustainability in her studies and hopes at some point to become a sustainability…

The Dick Stufkens Prize 2021 for the best PhD thesis of the Holland Research School of Molecular Chemistry (HRSMC) has been awarded to Klaas van Leest for his thesis 'Open- Shell Cobalt Complexes with Redox-Active Ligands; Electronic Structure and Nitrene Transfer Reactivity'. Van Leest, who is now…

Congratulations to Sara de Wit and Miriam Waltz, who have just won a Leiden University Global Seed Fund. Their proposed project entails 'Climate Talks' to foster equitable exchange between indigenous knowledge systems and climate science.

Starting 1 February 2023, Daniëlla Dam-de Jong has been appointed as professor to the new Chair International Sustainable Development Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies at Leiden University. Her expertise lies in the field of sustainable development, with an emphasis on natural…

Frank van Vree, Emeritus Professor of War, Conflict and Memory Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UVA), is the new Cleveringa Professor at Leiden University this year.

Ineke van der Ham is one of the invited speakers at the European Workshop of Imagery and Cognition (EWIC). She discussed practical applications of her work on spatial imagery in neuropsychological patients.

Ineke van der Ham is a guest in the national tv show Tijd voor Max, where she discusses the nationwide experiment on navigation.

Gerrit van Dijk was born on 14th August 1939 in Kampen. He studied Mathematics in Utrecht where he also received his PhD in 1969 on the thesis ‘Spherical functions on the p-adic group PGL(2)’. His supervisor was prof. dr. T.A. Springer. The academic year 1969-1970 he spent in Princeton, at the Institute…

This is a recording of the book launch of Susanna Lindberg's

Prof. em. Wim Blockmans (Leiden University) has given an interview to ‘De Nieuwe Wereld’ (in Dutch). He talks about his latest book 'Medezeggenschap. Politieke participatie in Europa vóór 1800'. Take also a look at the YouTube channel of this Dutch philosophy collective as other videos feature medievalists…

The discovery of a new Mersenne prime was discussed on national TV by Hendrik Lenstra and Bas Jansen, who defended his thesis on Mersenne Primes in december, and by Ionica Smeets.

Leidsch Dagblad reports February 2022 in two articles about the cooperation between Leiden University and China.

Excessive remuneration of top executives often sparks heated debate in the Netherlands. Ministers are summoned to Parliament, where they then tend to wholeheartedly condemn the 'grabbing' going on at the top of the corporate sector. But that’s where it stops. Tackling excessive remuneration seems to…

Bernard van Heck has won the Christiaan Huygens Prize 2016 for his Leiden PhD research on electrical circuits for quantum computers. On behalf of the KNAW, the Dutch minister of Education, Culture and Science awards this prize annually to a researcher who has made an innovative contribution to scien…

Together with three other scholars Adriaan van der Weel successfully applied for a COST research network subsidy.

On Tuesday 23 May, Jelle van Buuren, assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, was a guest at the Dutch news programme Pauw. As expert on terrorism he discussed the attack in Manchester at the concert of pop star Ariane Grande.

October 4-7 2018, the Nationale Spoorwegen organized its annual stationslab, with interactive science at Utrecht Central Station. This year's theme is navigation at the trainstation. Ineke van der Ham opened this event and joined a podcast on wayfinding behavior at trainstations.

We received the sad news that Janet van der Meulen passed away on November 29. She was an expert on French and Dutch literature in the medieval Low Countries. An in memoriam (in Dutch) has been published on the website of Neerlandistiek.

Professor Jojanneke van der Toorn has held the chair in LGBT workplace inclusion for five years. To celebrate, organised an international online conference on workplace inclusion, in cooperation with Workplace Pride that was hosted by the university on 20 and 21 May.

The Young Academy has gained a new Leiden humanities scholar as a member. University lecturer Greek language and literature Tazuko van Berkel will be appointed as a member as of March.

Political scientists Tom van der Meer, Lisa Janssen (University of Amsterdam) and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) analyse polls presented by the main polling agencies in the Netherlands, as well as micro-level panel data. They reach three main conclusions. First, vote intention polls in the Netherlands…

PhD defence

Rogier Kegge, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Law of Leiden University, was interviewed by Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant in response to the recent recommendations by Johan Remkes on how to approach the nitrogen crisis.

At the conference ‘Law-Making in Multilevel Settings: Federalism, Europe and Beyond’, Ruben de Graaff and Dorine Verheij provided a lecture on the topic of ‘EU Regulations and the Spirit of Codification’.

Before founding their American colony, the Pilgrim Fathers first lived in Leiden in the early 17th century. This group has no fewer than nine American presidents among its descendants. The University played an important role in the Pilgrims’ life in Leiden.

Yra van Dijk obtained a NWO 'Internationalisation in the Humanities' grant. Together with Ernst van Alphen she will collaborate with 8 European and Israelian partners in researching 'Digital Memory of the Holocaust'.

Criminals? They are always men. At least, that’s what we tend to think. Historian Manon van der Heijden wants to show, however, that between 1600 and 1900 in Europe, women were responsible for a substantial share of the criminal activity. She has been granted a VICI award for her research.

Sylvia van Beugen has won the Herman Musaph Literature award 2016 for the best publication about psychodermatology. Her publication describes the importance of body awareness in chronic skin conditions, such as psoriasis.

Twee mannen zijn veroordeeld tot zes maanden cel voor het projecteren van racistische leuzen op de Erasmusbrug tijdens de jaarwisseling van 2022 naar 2023. Universitair hoofddocent Marloes van Noorloos sprak met de Volkskrant over de strafbaarheid van dergelijke leuzen.

Annelot van Esbroeck-Weevers, PhD student at the Molecular Physiology research group at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry, headed by Dr. Mario van der Stelt, has been awarded the Best Oral Communication Prize at the 8th European Workshop on Cannabinoid Research, held from 31 August to 2 September 2017…

On 5 December, the second edition of the Prague Cleveringa Lecture took place. Hosted by Charles University Rector Milena Králíčková in the Karolinum's Hall of Patriots, in one of the oldest academic buildings of Central Europe, the lecture was organised by the Embassy of the Netherlands in cooperation…

From 25 to 31 October, Professor Simone van der Hof was on a working visit to China with a delegation from Leiden Law School, including our dean Professor Joanne van der Leun.

On 19 May we received the sad news of the sudden and unexpected death of Willem van Beelen, at the age of 64. He had been the University's beadle for 27 years before retiring on 29 February this year.

The paper Genetic Algoriths for Evolving Computer Chess Programs by Omid E. David, Jaap van den Herik, Moshe Koppel, Nathan S. Netanyahu has won the Humies Award 2014 (human-competitive results produced by genetic and evolutionary computation).

Hoogleraar Internationaal recht bij het Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, Larissa van den Herik is in augustus 2024 beëdigd als rechter-plaatsvervanger bij de Rechtbank Den Haag.

Prof. dr. Aad van der Vaart has been appointed as Scientific Director of the Mathematical Institute of Leiden University on Tuesday 15 September 2015. He succeeds prof. dr. Peter Stevenhagen who has been a dedicated Scientific Director of the Mathematical Institute as from 2007.

Environmental scientist Alexander van Oudenhoven has been chosen as Discoverer of the year of the Faculty of Science. Vice Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl announced this during the faculty’s New Year’s Reception on 10 January. Biologist Changsheng Wu won the prize for best dissertation of 2016. Computer…

From painful joints to intense fatigue: a third of rheumatism patients suffer serious effects from this chronic condition and rely long-term on medication. Leiden psychologists are to receive a subsidy from the Netherlands Arthritis Foundation to investigate whether placebo techniques can help patients…

The 260 year old prize of the Legatum Stolpianum has been awarded in 2014 to two well written historical studies of high quality and with current significance. Leiden classicist Tazuko van Berkel is one of the two prizewinners.

Dr. Rosalien van der Poel succeeds Lonneke Regter as Institute Manager of the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA). Together with prof.dr. Henk Borgdorff, scientific director ACPA, she constitutes the board of ACPA since 15 November 2017.

Following developments in the US, the EU has now also opened the door for large-scale State aid to its own sustainable industries. A means to curb China’s power. However, this plan is driving the EU and the US apart.

Under extreme pressure and in agreement with the Faculty Board, the programme chairs, represented by a core group, have worked over recent weeks on additional recommendations based on the Perspective 2028 plan. On 1 December they presented their Alternative Perspective 2028 to the Faculty Board. The…