The master’s specialisation Computer Science and Science Communication and Society at Leiden University bridges the gap between experts and the public by combining high quality research in computer science with extensive training in science communication.

The extensive use of electronic communication channels and other devices has opened new possibilities for collecting data on human behavior. This information is sometimes openly accessible, but largely part of administrative registration systems that are not open to the broader public. The data provides…

Today, everybody and everything produces data. People produce large amounts of data in social networks and in commercial transactions. Medical, corporate, and government databases continue to grow. Sensors continue to get cheaper and are increasingly connected, creating an Internet of Things, and generating…

Tackling human trafficking has been a priority on international, national and local policy agendas for some decades now. Yet a number of knowledge gaps stand in the way of how the issue is approached. Interdisciplinary research is essential if we want to expand our knowledge to benefit policy and pr…

How do museum visitors interpret the authenticity of museum objects? How can we support visitors' meaningful interactions with real objects?

To what extent are, can, and should, human trafficking and human smuggling be(ing) seen as interlinked phenomena? What are the consequences of seeing the phenomena as either distinct or interlinked for the way in which migrants crossing intra-Schengen borders are treated.

Research and design are becoming more and more important in international science education. In The Netherlands, two recently introduced subjects focus on research and design activities in the classroom: O&O (research and design) and NLT (nature, life and technology). This research aims to look at what…

The concept behind GraspOS is to build the European Federated Open Metrics Infrastructure in a decentralised way, where: different types of data come together to create metrics; tools and services are developed to improve EU or global infrastructures but are also shared with national or institutional…

The ability to collect and interpret huge quantities of data has become indispensable to society and academia. Leiden University is a knowledge and expertise centre for data science that places the emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation.

From where litter ends up to which languages are spoken in Leiden and The Hague: over 50 interesting, surprising, complex and entertaining questions were sent in for the Citizen Science project to mark our 444th anniversary. Not one but two Citizen Science projects will be starting this year in Leiden…

On this page you find all the ways through which the Institute of Psychology aims to foster Open Science.

Citizen science has recently become a widely used term, but what does it mean exactly? How does citizen science compare to crowdsourcing? And where does community archaeology stand in this discussion?

The majority of scientists, from archaeologists through to zoologists, collect enormous volumes of data. Their massive databases contain large amounts of information which is difficult for humans to filter. With a solid grounding in statistics and computer science, we can develop algorithms for analyzing…

The Institute of Political Science is a vibrant department with nearly 70 academic staff in Leiden and nearby The Hague.

The LUF International Study Fund (LISF) will make changes to its allocation process following an investigation into diversity in its grants policy. This investigation, which was carried out for the LISF by, among others, former committee member Mariska Kret and master’s student Marjolijn Wijnen, has…

Are you thinking about studying Biomedical Sciences? Learn more and watch a short promo video.

We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

The Department of Archaeological Sciences seeks to achieve the highest standards of excellence in science-driven education and archaeological research across the globe and across all periods.

In recent years, the use of primary data in terrorism research has increased. In order to maximise the benefits of this trend, we want to encourage terrorism scholars to implement open science practices more systematically. This article therefore presents different avenues towards open and reproducible…

Computational thinking, programming, and algorithms form the basic of many of the things that are shaping our world, the way we work, interact, organize ourselves, and even spend our free time with social networks, streaming media, and games. And this transformation is far from being complete, it is…

Are you thinking about studying Political Science? Watch the introduction video’s and learn more!

BE-OPEN is a structural project funded under the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education action. The project is coordinated by the University of Novi Sad, Serbia. The main objective of the project is to develop conditions for the implementation of the core principles of Open Science at universities…

The majority of scientists, from archaeologists through to zoologists, collect huge volumes of data. Their massive databases contain large amounts of information which is difficult for humans to filter. With a solid grounding in statistics, we can develop algorithms for analysing and identifying patterns…

Are you thinking about studying Computer Science? Learn more and watch the videos. Note: As of September 2025 you can also combine this master programme with the Business Studies specialisation.

(1) What are the institutional factors that influence AI adoption and implementation? and (2) How does AI reshape the exercise of administrative discretion within public organisations, and how do adoption and implementation choices moderate these effects?

The Iberian Peninsula has been central to the discussion as it was considered to be a 'last refuge' for the species at a time when H. sapiens occupation spread throughout Europe. Much speculation has centred around the idea that extreme climate fluctuations during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 like Heinrich…

The lipids in the uppermost layer of the skin, the stratum corneum (SC), play an important role in the skin barrier function. The three main SC lipid classes are ceramides (CER), cholesterol and free fatty acids.

This dissertation focuses on the systematic vowel alternations displayed by the Proto-Germanic n-stems. The fact is, that many of these nouns now appear to have preserved the ablaut system of the Indo-European proto-language spoken some five millennia ago. In this respect, the n-stems are truly comparable…

Light-Harvesting Complex II (LHCII) is responsible for light absorption and excitation energy transfer in plants and photosynthetic algae, while in high light it undergoes conformational changes by which it quenches excitations to prevent photodamage.

Balikh Valley Archaeological Project Monograph 1 - BAR International Series 468

Promotor: Prof.dr. J.A. Bouwstra, Co-promotor: Dr. A. El Ghalbzouri

Anthropogenic noise has been shown to affect marine animals in various ways, this may have fitness consequences at individual and population level. This thesis aims to increase insight into the quantification of sound-induced behavioural responses that are relevant to fitness, and into factors that…

In order to be able to develop effective medicine and treatments to prevent or cure autoimmune diseases or cancer we need to understand the mechanisms how they arise and what drives their course.Unravelling the fundamental molecular mechanisms influencing the onset and course of diseases such as allergies,…

Promotor: H.S. Overkleeft, Co-promotor: M. van der Stelt

This article presents a new dyadic approach to studying voting behaviour in the Council of the European Union.

The overall theme of this thesis is to complement the electrochemical data acquired in fuel cell research with in situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS).

PhD defence

The research described in this thesis combines the latest insights in lysosomal function with lysosome centred cell signalling.

In Microbial Sciences, we perform multidisciplinary research to understand the structure and function of microbes at all levels of biological organization, from small molecules and cellular structures at atomic resolution to multicellular communities.

The mission of the Plant Sciences cluster is to contribute to the sustainable production of high-quality crops, flowers and high-value bio-based products, and to contribute to the maintenance and restoration of biodiversity in natural ecosystems. This is realised by generating fundamental knowledge…

PhD candidates carry out a programme of independent research and additional (limited) course work, culminating in production of a PhD thesis in typically 4 years.

The master’s specialisation Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences and Science Communication & Society at Leiden University is a two-year programme which combines research training in chemistry with one in techniques of communication.

To assess the impact of illicit firearms trafficking on gun violence, this research looks at the scope, characteristics and contexts of firearm violence, and also the scope and nature of firearms trafficking in Europe since the new millennium. Nils Duquet, Dennis Vanden Auweele and Marieke Liem created…

With the emergence of new methods and technologies such as improved DNA analysis and big data, archaeological research has changed radically in recent decades. The researchers from the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the Faculty of Archaeology use new scientific knowledge to answer fundamental…

At the Institute of Political Science we value our alumni. We can learn from you, and would like to contribute to your further development. And, of course, we want to lend a hand in connecting ‘our’ political scientists all over the world.

PhD candidates carry out a programme of independent research and additional (limited) course work, culminating in production of a PhD thesis in typically 4 years.

PhD candidates carry out a programme of independent research, leading to a PhD thesis in typically 4 years.

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