The Human Origins group at Leiden University studies the archaeology of hunter-gatherers, from the earliest stone tools in East Africa, more than three million years old, to the origin of sedentary societies towards the end of the last ice age.

The Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance, and Development and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies organised the Van Vollenhoven Lecture 2013.

Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography is a state-of-the-art introduction to this dynamic and growing subject. The authors explain its fundamental aspects in a clear and systematic way.

This work represents the final results of several years of research within the Maya region. It deals with the relations between architecture and urbanism with landscape and astronomy.

Százhalombatta-Földvar is a Bronze Age fortified tell settlement on the right bank of the river Danube, 30 km south of Budapest in Hungary. It is one of the best preserved temperate climate tells in Europe and well-known for the extraordinarily rich data it produces. Since 2014 Leiden students are welcomed…

The research programme Statistical Science is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of masses of data, the quantification of uncertainty using probability models, and the development and benchmarking of algorithms and methods with these aims.

Researchers at Leiden Observatory study the fundamental physics that creates structure in the Universe. These processes collect matter into galaxies and gas into stars. With the use of powerful telescopes and advanced calculations and computer simulations, Leiden astronomers seek to understand the origin,…

Computers are becoming ever more powerful and are taking on more complex tasks. The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) contributes to revolutionary scientific research and applies the latest inventions in the field, offering answers to today’s questions of society.

The project aims to conserve and consolidate the entrance gate to the Roman Desert Frontier Fort Qasr Bshir.

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…

From self-driving cars to innovative drug development: artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change our lives in many different ways. We study this technology at a deep and fundamental level. And we seek answers to questions about liability and privacy, for example. Our researchers from…

Authentication Processes in Ethnographic Museums

Research at the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION) is foundational and curiosity driven. All our scientists share a desire to increase the knowledge of the world around us, in an open atmosphere of inquiry from which innovative ideas emerge that provide applications and value for society.

North, Middle and South America together constitute the single largest area in World Archaeology that is taught as a single focus. It is also the only major world area that saw societies develop from hunter-gatherers to early empires entirely independent from developments in Eurasia & Africa. It is,…

Our Mission: To optimize human well-being within the constraints of planetary boundaries through innovative research, education, and partnerships that advance sustainable production and consumption. We strive to remain global leaders in developing and applying systems-based approaches, methodological…

Area studies is an approach to knowledge that starts from the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present, through the relevant source languages, with central regard for issues of positionality.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University with the American University in Cairo.

This specialisation focuses on two important trends in health care: early diagnosis and developing the most targeted patient-specific treatment possible with the shortest possible recovery time and minimal side effects.

Discover the impact of Instagram on our daily lives in the book On Display. Boy and Uitermark delve into the platform's influence on our social interactions.

How the systematic destruction of valuables created value in Bronze Age Europe, c. 2300-500 BC

Discover the MSc Democracy and Representation at Leiden University: a structured and intensive programme focusing on democratic challenges like populism and polarization, with electives, research thesis, and small-group teaching.

Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) offers a 3-year Bachelor's programme with a focus on Global Challenges: Peace & Justice, Sustainability, Diversity and Prosperity. The programme offers room for flexibility; you get to specialize in a major of your choice and combine this with a minor or electives.…

German Language and Linguistics at Leiden University offers in-depth knowledge of German linguistic theory and practice.

Leiden University aims to equip its students for the world of tomorrow. All our teaching programmes promote international knowledge, global awareness and intercultural skills.

Do you want to understand the complexities of today’s gender issues, social media use, food habits, social justice movements, labour relations or religious expressions? Join our international bachelor's programme in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology and get insight into people's social…

In the programme International Criminal Law, you will gain understanding of the systemic environment surrounding international criminal law. Read more

Forgotten Lineages explores the paths through which generations of formally enslaved and their descendants gradually forgot their past of enslavement under Dutch and British imperial rule and became local subjects in Sri Lanka and South Africa. It explores why and how forgetting rather than memory became…

Would you like to create an extra challenge for yourself? Leiden University gives you plenty of room to do so.

The LIACS Media Lab has received a research grant from the worldwide leading graphics hardware company NVIDIA. The grant exists of newly developed hardware utilizing thousands of processors. LIACS researchers will use it to investigate deep learning in understanding imagery from sources such as MRI…

The d12n Research Cluster provides a space for inquiry and intervention into the ongoing digit(al)isation of culture, society, and scholarship. The research cluster aims to link CADS Institute researchers to each other as well as to experts and praticioners from around the world as we combine thinking…

Some examples of AI-research done at Leiden.

The researchers in the World Archaeology department of the Faculty of Archaeology concentrate on a range of different periods and regions: from humanity’s origins to the Middle Ages and the modern age, and from Asia to South America.

The Digital Humanities and Artificial Intelligence minor in the 2024-2025 academic year with options of 15 EC or 30 EC packages.

Training a robot in a real-life environment is more or less impossible. Computer scientist and psychologist Roy de Kleijn switched to training in a simulated, virtual one instead. ‘You do have a reality gap, but the more precisely you train the robot, the better it is in practice.’ His inspiration:…

In this unique master’s programme you will first deepen your knowledge on specific areas of the world and then learn to reflect upon this in a global context.

In the master’s programme in Archaeology, you can follow courses on the archaeology of Europe, deepening your understanding of the continent’s long history.

The two-year master’s programme in Philosophy at Leiden University investigates the philosophical foundations of particular disciplines. It provides you with the tools to think systematically and creatively about the foundations of your chosen discipline, using the conceptual and argumentative resources…

Learn about current approaches and ethical issues in heritage management and experience some of these in daily practice.

The overarching aim of the research program at Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching (ICLON) is to improve the quality of teaching-learning situations through a deep theoretical understanding of teaching and teacher learning.

The Faculty of Science

ICLON conducts research into primary and secondary education.

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) ensures that its research practices align with its commitment to inclusion, responsible evaluation, and open science. Our policies and guidelines provide clear principles for ethical research conduct, data management, sustainable travel, PhD supervision,…

Common challenge: unique circumstances

Larissa Mendoza Straffon and colleagues investigated visual attentional biases toward self-made artworks, which tend to be favoured, remembered, valued, and ranked above and beyond objects that are not related to the self. Their findings confirm that attention and preference are higher for self-made…

Are you prepared to propel your team forward or confront an educational challenge head-on? Our tailor-made workshops are designed to assist professionals in topics such as blended learning, collaborative problem solving, media in education, inclusive classrooms, playful learning, and more.

Researchers at Leiden Observatory study the fundamental physics that creates structure in the Universe. These processes collect matter into galaxies and gas into stars. With the use of powerful telescopes and advanced calculations and computer simulations, Leiden astronomers seek to understand the origin,…

Being a better neighbour to the nature around you

The main interest of this project concerns learners’ perceived learning outcomes in massive open online courses and the factors related to their perceived learning outcomes.