On Wednesday the 4th of September, Queen Máxima opened the renovated tropical greenhouse complex of the Leiden Hortus Botanicus. At the occasion Máxima met with IBL-PhD student Mahin Ghorbani from Iran and talked with her about her work on drug discovery from Iranian medicinal plants using zebrafish…

In an article by the New York Times, cultural heritage law specialist Evelien Campfens discusses the difficulties surrounding the ownership of looted art.

The Health Council of the Netherlands has published an advisory report entitled ‘Ethische en juridische overwegingen Covid-19’ (Covid-19: ethical and legal considerations). According to the Council, businesses and organisations may request a vaccination certificate, but can only do so under strict c…

On 21 June, Jorrit Rijpma spoke at the first meeting of the Task Force on a European Border and Coast Guard, established by the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels.

This initiative is supported by the Leiden University Global Seed Fund (LUGF) 2025, awarded to Santy Kouwagam (VVI) and Irene Hadiprayitno (LIAS) together with Universitas Indonesia.

'Engaging With Everyday Sounds' is a rich and inspiring exploration of the role of sounds in everyday life, including their impact on human actions, emotions, and imagination. Marcel Cobussen intertwines sonic studies with philosophy, sound art, sociology and more to create an impressively lucid and…

On 28 September 2022, ZonMW commissioned a consortium made up of the Erasmus University/Erasmus MC, Leiden University/LUMC, and research agency Pro Facto from Groningen to carry out the fourth evaluation of the Dutch Medical Research (Human Subjects) Act (WMO) and the Central Committee on Research Involving…

As of November 1st 2019, Sybille Lammes, Professor of New Media and Digital Culture, will be the new academic director of the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society (LUCAS). She succeeds Anthonya Visser, who has been the institute's academic director since 2014. It is a three year-long appointment.…

It was more than two years in the making, but despite the delays, giving up was not an option. In May, eighteen staff members of LUCAS and the Faculty of Archaeology visited NIMAR.

What did medieval scholars think of the books they read? In her inaugural lecture, Professor Mariken Teeuwen will talk about the texts they wrote in the margin.

Minister Alexandra van Huffelen will attend the 'Leadership in the digital transition' event at Campus Wijnhaven organised by Alex Ingrams on 16 February. Five questions to Ingrams about the event.

As every academic year, the leadership team of the Young Academy Leiden is changing. As of September 2022, dr. Sarah Giest (Associate Professor, Institute of Public Administration), former Vice-Chair, will be the Chair of YAL. And dr. ir. Julia Cramer (Assistant Professor, Science Communication and…

At the end of 2018, the LUF announced a new annual grant: the Snouck Hurgronje Grant. This annual grant is awarded to innovative interfaculty research and teaching projects. Three project teams secured a place on the shortlist with their research proposals. They were invited to present their plan to…

An image has great powers of persuasion. It is said that ‘a picture is worth more than a thousand words’. But these days, images can easily be manipulated with severe consequences. ‘Perhaps it’s time to reconsider the value we attach to images’, says Elize de Mul, whose PhD thesis deals with ‘digital…

In October, LUCIS and NIMAR will host a two-day workshop in honor of the 50th anniversary of Islam Observed, Clifford Geertz' comparative study of Islam in Morocco and Indonesia. Send in your proposal and get a chance to share your work in Rabat this fall.

During the New Year’s reception of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) on 12 January 2026, Sarah de Rijcke said farewell as our dean. She will become the new Rector Magnificus of Leiden University. It was not the only change of leadership announced that afternoon.

To understand how multistakeholder global governance institutions operate well, the Multistakeholder Global Governance (MGG) Project is currently developing three case studies to compare differences and similarities between capacity, effectiveness, and legitimacy. The case studies explore these themes…

As a PhD candidate, you are expected to follow certain courses and training programmes in the context of your training as a researcher. The courses and training programmes will help you conduct your research, write your dissertation, develop your career, and gain self-insight. The LACDR PhD training…

How do insurance products transform intimate and personal relations? What are the consequences of the classifications that insurance companies use and how do these affect solidarity, morality and inequality?

The Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law research programme for 2020-2023 centres around the integrity of financial markets during times of crisis and possible regulation to secure it.

Lifelong learning | “Even though we were spread across five continents, there was a strong sense of connection.”

Meet our team

Leiden Asia Departments

In 2023, many of our students and staff won great prizes and secured important research grants.

As a student of the Master's in Comparative Criminal Justice you develop academic, theoretical and research insight in all aspects of crime control. Student actively work on current, concrete problems and are challenged to independently find solutions. Students not only learn about the organization…

Leiden University College offers Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees within a Liberal Arts & Sciences programme that focuses on Global Challenges; big challenges facing humanity and society, such as sustainability, peace, justice, prosperity and diversity. The programme’s environment is…

How do we address the society’s most pressing issues through governance? The Master of Public Administration gives you a unique research-led multi-level perspective on the practice of management, steering, and coordination of political, economic and societal actors, with three specialisations to suit…

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.

In the interdisciplinary introductory courses taught by experts from both universities you will gain a sound basic knowledge in the field of Industrial Ecology. Further on in the programme, you can follow specialisation courses that fit in with your personal interests. You will delve into important…

The ARTIVES project studies imaginaries of diversity portrayed by artists in Lisbon and Rotterdam in their films, performances and (oral) literature with the aim to explore their transgressive potential of opening up possibilities of thinking differently about migration-related diversity. Their stories…

Asian Studies at Leiden University is unparalleled in the Netherlands and combines the very best of Asia-related research in North-West Europe.

Political games have existed throughout history, but what is the role of 'play' in the way the American political world has developed? University lecturer Sara Polak has received an ERC Starting Grant to investigate this.

PhD defence

PhD defence

The corona crisis relates to not only the medical field but also the field of the social sciences and humanities. SSH Beraad, a consultation body that aims to improve the position of the social sciences and humanities in the Netherlands, has launched a website bringing together experts in the social…

In the ‘Educatips’ column, Psychology lecturers share their most important insights about teaching. This month, Joanne Mouthaan and Anna Hudson talk about an AI chatbot they are developing with which students can practise their suicide prevention skills. ‘It’s not really feasible to use actual people,…

The nineteenth-century writer Nicolaas Beets and his son Dirk were thoroughly colonial, Nicholas without ever having been to the Dutch Indies, or any other colony for that matter. But they didn’t realise it. The new Scaliger Professor, Rick Honings, shows that writers’ archives are a treasure trove…

Leiden University’s Committee on External Collaborations – Human Rights and Conflict Zones advises the Executive Board to suspend student exchange programmes with Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University until further notice.

The coronavirus outbreak raises fundamental questions about the politics and narratives of crisis, as well as about our “ordinary” everyday lives and sociality. Irene Moretti and Annemarie Samuels introduce a collection of blogposts of Leiden Anthropologists reflecting on the pandemic and offer a set…

Pita Limjaroenrat (45) was set to become Thailand’s next prime minister, but in 2024 the Thai Constitutional Court dissolved his progressive Move Forward Party and banned him from politics. He now reflects publicly on the policy values that brought the party to prominence.

Three new minors at the intersection of security and resilience will launch in September 2026 at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. A distinctive feature is that all three combine academic coursework with a practical placement in the field, within defence, the police, or emergency service…

Freek Vonk and Mike Richardson, with many collaborators, have published two snake genomes in two parallel articles in the prestigious journal PNAS. Their new findings provide insight into the co-evolutionary arms race between predator and prey.

Leiden University’s Van Vollenhoven Institute has cooperated for nearly three years in the SLEEI project with Indonesian partners. Next week SLEEI will present its main results on 28 March, including a course development handbook, and several teaching guides written by local law lecturers trained in…

Venomous animals serve as models for a variety of mimicry types. Michael Richardson (IBL) and his international colleagues find that a group of fishes (called fangblennies) evolved venom after the origin of their venom-delivering fangs.

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has granted health psychologist Andrea Evers a visiting professorship funding for Luana Colloca. This funding is linked to the KNAW’s Visiting Professors Programme which enables outstanding foreign researchers to spend time working in the Netherlands.…

Carlotta Rigotti, Postdoc researcher at eLaw, participated in the ‘Intersectional Fairness in AI: Legal Frameworks, Tools, and Learning Opportunities’ webinar on 10 December 2024.

On 1 September 2017, Prof. dr. Paul H.A.M. Abels (60) will start as professor by special appointment of Governance of Intelligence and Security Services at Leiden University. This chair is placed at the Institute for Security and Global Affairs (ISGA).

The editors of the Journal of Sonic Studies are proud to announce that its 26th issue is online.