Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. Smets, Co-promotor: Dr. V.S.F.T. Merckx

The brand-new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Risk in Modern Society’ starts on Monday 29 January. This course was developed by the Centre for Safety and Security of the Leiden•Delft•Erasmus alliance.

Study information

On May 18 Janneke Wesseling gave a lecture at the conference

Political science is a broad study with a lot of depth. You study political issues at local, national and international level, from different perspectives. At the start of your studies, you can choose from two directions: Nationale en Internationale Politiek or International Relations and Organisations.…

The symposium will be held on 11 June 2025 from 10.00-17.00 and is organized as a starting point for the publication of an edited volume – a selection of symposium attendants will be invited to submit book chapters.

ACPA PhD Marina Liontou Mochament will host an online workshop in April.

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy is delighted to announce it will be starting its own podcast series! The series will be aimed at bringing the themes of the journal’s research off the page, and onto the discussion table. Each episode will feature a guest who will share their insights and personal experience…

Members of LUCIR contribute to various education programmes in the sphere of international relations, exchanging expertise with both bachelor’s and master’s students.

It might seem far away, but the end of your studies is often sooner than you think. Luckily, the specialisation Nationale en Internationale Politiek provides an ideal basis for continued academic education and a professional career.

China wordt steeds assertiever in zijn relaties met andere landen, maar achter dit beeld gaat een opmerkelijk diverse maatschappij en politieke realiteit schuil die tal van aanknopingspunten biedt voor samenwerking en verdere integratie van China in de wereld. In China een gids voor de 21e eeuw past…

Anchrit Wille, Associate Professor at Leiden University's Institute of Public Administration, wrote together with Mark Bovens, Professor of Public Administration at the Utrecht University School of Governance the book“Diploma Democracy”. The Economist wrote a review “This fascinating book shows that…

This research hopes to contribute to social awareness of the consequences of colonialism for Indigenous Peoples, to the deconstruction of still existing colonial and discriminatory notions and to a better appreciation of Indigenous art and thought.

Heloisa’s doctoral research examines classical music performance from a curatorial perspective, reflecting upon and challenging the traditional configuration of performance environments.

BSc degrees: ‘Political Science’, ‘International Relations and Organisations’. MSc degree: Political Science, with specialisations ‘International Organisation’; ‘Dutch Politics; ‘Nationalism, Ethnic Conflict, and Development’; ‘International Politics’; ‘Political Legitimacy and Justice’; ‘Democracy…

Corona travel restrictions and increased political pressure: research into China has become considerably more difficult in recent years. University lecturer and China researcher Rogier Creemers does not let this put him off. He receives an NWO grant to screen policy documents using digital technique…

A big performance by André Rieu, food trucks in The Hague and more contact with the Royal Family: grand plans were announced in April to make the State Opening of Parliament (Prinsjesdag) a real ‘crowd puller’. For this year, however, we will just have to make do with slight differences in emphasis.…

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies & The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law cordially invite you to a Panel Discussion on “The Dynamics of the Syria Conflict: Challenges for Contemporary International Law” .

The center studies the many ways in which issues of law and justice are dealt with in art and literature with a focus on liminal issues and cases. These are issues and cases where law comes to the limits of what it is capable of dealing with and art and literature explore the implications of what is…

At Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences we keep in touch with our alumni in various ways.

Terrorism expert Bart Schuurman has been appointed professor. As a researcher and lecturer at ISGA, he has witnessed the terrorist threat evolve and broaden. 'How can we explain these shifts and protect our society against them? That is what I want to focus on more,' he says.

Attention to the colonial past may be increasing, but many aspects of it are still underexposed. Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant, in collaboration with, among others, Leiden researchers Anne-Marieke van der Wal-Rémy and Alicia Schrikker, therefore created a 'Canon of the Dutch Underexposed Past', which…

The Univerisity of Sharjah organises a conference on February 22-23, 2017 ; Call for papers has started.

In her dissertation, Xiao Ma takes education as a lens to reveal the dynamic relations of three groups of South Koreans – parents, students, and educational agencies – to nation-states of both the origin and arrival. Her study shows the temporality and ambivalence of population movements between two…

The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) aims to demonstrate its relevance to society by means of high-quality research, excellent education and various outreach activities. A few highlights:

In Democratie en totalitarisme zijn de invloedrijkste opstellen van de Franse denker Claude Lefort samengebracht. Lefort laat overtuigend zien dat de kwetsbaarheid van de democratie juist ook haar kracht is. Voor democratie is essentieel dat de macht als ‘lege plaats’ verschijnt. Zij mag slechts tijdelijk…

Gold Matters: Sustainability Transformations in Artisanal and Small-scale Gold Mining: A Multi-Actor and Trans-Regional Perspective.This project explores whether a transformative approach towards sustainability can arise in Artisanal and Smallscale Gold Mining (ASGM).

Consumer societies are a global presence, and marketing practices have spread to all corners of the world. However, the loud and glaring performances of the big advertising companies and the hegemony of shopping malls makes us forget that there are many different markets, and many merchants who have…

Sub-Saharan Africa has seen a significant rise in terrorist acts and radicalized youth since the appearance of Boko Haram in 2009 and the fall of Libya in 2012. This book investigates the deeper layers of radicalization in Sub-Saharan Africa, which is situated in a larger global tendency.

Arts and leisure, Arts and leisure

As a student in the programme Politicologie: Nationale en Internationale Politiek, you will examine societies and power relations with the analytical eye of a scientist. You will deal with interesting, important topics such as elections, civil wars and international cooperation. In doing so, you will…

The Leiden University Political Science bachelor’s specialisation International Relations and Organisations enjoys a high popularity. To assure the quality of education, the number of students it admits is limited. This is known as a 'numerus fixus'. If there are more applications than this ‘numerus…

Political Science: National and International Politics is a broad study with a lot of depth. You will study political issues at the local, national and international levels, from a variety of perspectives. You will be taught by renowned, committed professors. In Leiden you will find a real student city…

Do objectively correct solutions to ethical dilemmas exist? Or is ethics always a matter of your opinion against my opinion? How do you know what to do? What kind of thing is ethics anyway? Can you be an expert in ethics?

Marietje Beemsterboer defended her thesis on 12 June 2018 (in Dutch)

The research project ‘The History of National Security, 1945-present', is funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the Campus The Hague/Leiden University and the Netherlands Institute for Military History (NIMH). The project will run until the summer of 2013, when we hope…

Following China and Italy, it appears that the United States is becoming the next epicentre of the coronacrisis. Can the US handle this crisis? Is president Trump dealing with the situation correctly? We asked Leiden America expert Sara Polak.

In the media, we hear a lot of worrying news from Africa: refugees, attacks, Ebola, starvation, corruption... But Africa is much more than that: it is a continent in transition, with developments occurring at breakneck speed. African Studies scholars from different academic disciplines in Leiden conduct…

At one time, the railway from Kimberley to Kambove in Southern Africa symbolised prosperity and progress. Today, the exhausted mining towns along its route are marked by decay and pollution. Professor Jan-Bart Gewald has been awarded an NWO L grant to investigate the long-term global consequences.

Study information

Study information

Shifting the Compass: Pluricontinental Connections in Dutch Colonial and Postcolonial Literature

On 27 September 2017 a new book by Prof. Luuk van Middelaar appeared, entitled The new politics of Europe. The book is at the same time a front line account of Europe’s recent crisis years – from monetary turmoil to tensions around Ukraine, from refugee crisis to Brexit – and an analysis of the Union’s…