The Construction of an Imaginary Acoustic Space, a new work by ACPA PhD Candidate Gabriel Paiuk was premiered last Saturday at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg. The piece was commissioned by the österreichisches ensemble für neue musik for their second yearly concert series.

On Thursday 24 May 2018, Tanja Masson-Zwaan of Leiden University’s International Institute of Air and Space Law and Prof Mahulena Hofmann of the University of Luxembourg had the honour of addressing the King and Queen of the Netherlands and the Grand-Duc and Grand-Duchess of Luxembourg during the State…

One of the ECSL’s most successful activities is the ESA/ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, which is open to students in any stage of their study and a number of young professionals already working in the space industry and space-related sectors. The course is now in its 32nd year and boasts…

Students greatly benefit from an interdisciplinary learning environment that makes connections with various stakeholders and tackles real-world challenges. This environment allows them to produce innovative and impactful results. As part of their studies, students from the International Institute of…

Schatten uit het oude Armenië

NNMT wordt beschouwd als een nieuw potentieel farmacologisch doelwit in de behandeling van een verscheidenheid van kankers, stofwisselingsziekten en andere pathologieën. Het toenemend aantal publicaties waarin de rol van NNMT bij ziekten wordt opgehelderd, heeft op zijn beurt de ontwikkeling van krachtige…

Een nieuw boek in de reeks Elementaire deeltjes

On 7 February 2025 Leiden University celebrated its 450th anniversary.

On the 19th of April, Iris van de Voorde successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Iris on this achievement!

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

By carrying out fundamental research and providing excellent education, universities become a breeding ground for innovation and entrepreneurship.

By adding their signature to the collaboration agreement on 31 May, Leiden University, TU Delft, space research institute SRON and NWO confirmed the move of SRON from Utrecht to South Holland. From 2021, the headquarters of the space research institute will be located on the Campus of Leiden Univ…

Together with College of Europe Professors Sieglinde Gstöhl and Simon Schunz, Joris Larik edited an interdisciplinary special issue for the Journal of European Integration on the theme 'The European Union and the Governance of Contested Global Spaces in an Era of Geopolitics'.

The first photo of a black hole and measuring anxiety in the brain... From 13 until 22 May we're serving a free slice of science with your pizza.

The master's specialisation Astronomy and Instrumentation at Leiden University focuses on fully understanding the physical principles and performance of astronomical instruments and to contribute to the development of new instrumentation technologies.

Anmol Dhawan (24) graduated cum laude from the Advanced LLM in Air and Space Law in Leiden on 28 August 2023. He comes from Mumbai in India and did his bachelor law studies at National Law University Delhi. He has been in the Netherlands since September 2022, so over one year now.

The formation and evolution of galaxies is fundamentally driven by the formation of new stars out of cold gas.

I have studied the hot, diffuse gas around and between galaxies. Specifically, I have used the EAGLE numerical simulations of galaxy formation to predict the properties of this gas, and I have used those properties to predict specific observables: soft X-ray absorption and emission lines.

Four different astronomical societies are active in the Old Observatory. We are very proud of the commitment these associations show to organize activities.

The International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) at Leiden University has released a report highlighting that the European Air Traffic Management (ATM) transformation is hindered more by regulatory complexity and political fragmentation than by technological limitations.

The International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) at Leiden University has joined the Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO) as its newest Research and Academia member.

The year 2023 saw the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the Wagner Group rebellion and wildfires and floods as all the weather records were smashed. Our most-read stories were about the climate crisis and the elections: here’s the list.

‘We intend to use the arrival of SRON in South Holland to give a serious impetus to research and activities related to space travel and astronomy in the broadest sense of the word.' These were the words of Rector Carel Stolker of Leiden University at the ceremony where the first pile of the new SRON…

The Diplo21 network organizes scientific meetings to provide young researchers working on diplomacy and written practices in medieval Europe with a forum for scientific dialogue and debate, independent of national historiographic traditions. The first theme chosen is 'the charter's spaces'. The particular…

On Monday 3 September, the ARC forum (art_research_convergence) will come together in The Grey Space in the Middle in The Hague. The forum, initiated by the Leiden University Academy for Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) is focused on the presentation and discussion of artistic research.

An international team led by Leiden astronomers has, after years of searching and defying the boundaries of a telescope, for the first time directly captured polarised light from an exoplanet. From this light they can deduct that a disk of dust and gas orbits the exoplanet. In this disk moons are possibly…

In his guest lecture on 22 January André Kuipers took school pupils and students on trip through space. His mission was to interest his young listeners in science and technology.

Commentators and scholars view both social media and cities as sites of fragmentation. Since both urban dwellers and social media users tend to form assortative social ties, so the reasoning goes, identity-based divisions are fortified and polarization is exacerbated in digital and urban spaces.

The latest forum in the Hague Journal of Diplomacy highlights the rich potential for interdisciplinary research at the intersection of architecture, diplomacy, and international relations. These contributions, spanning from the early American republic to the contemporary era, reveal how diplomatic spaces…

The Old Observatory is located on the grounds of the Hortus. This is the oldest surviving university observatory in the world. Since 1633, the University of Leiden has used the various rooms for the education of students. The Visitor Center on the ground floor of the Old Observatory is part of the Hortus…

This thesis investigates how galaxies form and what diversifies the evolutionary histories of galaxies.

In this thesis we push the boundaries of high-resolution imaging at radio frequencies between 100 and 200 MHz. Using the International LOFAR Telescope that spans across Europe we achieve sub-arcsecond angular resolution.

The cosmology research line focuses on the theory of inflation in order to embed it in the microscopic theories of supergravity and string theory.

Promotor: W. T. F. den Hollander, F. H. J. Redig

The National-Socialist Movement in the Netherlands - the NSB - remained the only legal party in the Netherlands during most of the Second World War.

Duizenden metaalvondsten die door detectorzoeker wijlen Herman Zomerdijk zijn gedaan in de regio Kennemerland schetsen een uniek beeld van Noord-Holland door de eeuwen heen. Hij zocht en verzamelde decennialang historische metalen objecten in Noord-Holland en bouwde zo een unieke metaalcollectie op.

The essay For progress has been published to mark the 450th Dies Natalis of Leiden University. In 2025, we are celebrating our 450th anniversary, and the theme of this special year is Ahead of the Times.

Wat zijn de huidige energiekosten en hoe is de comfortbeleving het wooncomfort in een bepaalde groep huurders van woningcorporatie Portaal?

Professor of Law and Society Maartje van der Woude is searching for innovative ways to facilitate dialogue about topics that are usually experienced as ‘difficult to talk about’ – such as racism, ethnic profiling, exclusion, crimmigration – with a wide audience.

Smart algorithms and powerful processors are just as essential for astronomy as big telescopes. Astronomers at Leiden University therefore constantly operate at the interface between astronomy and data science.

Students of the Research Master Classical, Medieval and Early Modern Studies (CMEMS) of the University of Groningen kindly invite you to the annual CMEMS conference. This year we will explore the processes that structure physical and symbolic borders and boundaries in different contexts and histories.…

What did we do over the past year? Well, we played quantum games, helped develop an instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope and started a new bachelor's programme. Oh, yeah, and we officially opened our brand new Gorlaeus Building! Warm up the fingers and get ready to click and scroll through…

n this thesis we study curves. In the first half, we study moduli spaces of curves and Gromov-Witten invariants, certain kinds of curves counts. We employ logarithmic geometry for this.

In addition to the walk-in tours at the visitor center, we also offer private tours for groups. These tours delve deeper into the history of the building, but also offer the opportunity to learn more about astronomy in general.

The Old Observatory has a rich history. On this page you will find a short version of the history that took place in the observatory.