It’s impossible to avoid, even in the Netherlands: the US will soon be going to the polls. Where does it come from, this fascination with US elections? PhD candidate Bram Eenink explains.

In 2018, the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), born out of activism, exists for forty years. The institute celebrated this on 28 June in the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden. In the morning, proud directors and researchers looked back and forth. After this several experts discussed the current environmental…

Alumnus Stan van Haasteren went to Northern Ireland in 1995 as a freelance journalist with a guitar strapped to his back and recently wrote a book about his experiences in Belfast. ‘The big difference with then is that today there is no more violence. But it's still a divided city.’

On 25 November, the global 16-day campaign 'Orange the World' against violence against women and girls started. Leiden University will also be paying attention to this campaign. On Friday 9 December, Renate van der Zee and Marieke Liem will give a lecture at the Campus The Hague (Spanish Steps, Wijnhaven)…

Xander Tielens, Professor of Physics and Chemistry of the Interstellar Space, has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant to study polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in space. The combination of astronomical observations, computer models and lab research makes the research highly interdisciplinary.

Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2022. In recent years, the alliance has expanded to include centres and new programmes as well as a curriculum of its own. What do the next ten years have in store?

Conference

A group of early career scientists have written a code of ethics through an initiative of the World Economic Forum. Chemist and co-author Sander van Kasteren explains its importance: ‘We want to show that we scientists have our own inherent morals too, and that we too are part of society.’

Maurits Berger worked as a lawyer in Amsterdam and as a journalist and researcher in Egypt and Syria. Since 2008, he has been a Professor of Islam in Leiden. Now he finally gets to do what he really wants: bringing his social knowledge and experience with Islam to the academic world. His call to the…

This was the fourth panel of the Just Peace Dialogues.

Dutch newspaper Trouw investigated the tax position of multinational Cargill. Their conclusion? Cargill appears not to pay taxes over their profits. Trouw asked Jan van de Streek, Professor of Tax Law, and PhD candidate Josephine van der Have for an explanation. Prior to this, Van der Have had also…

PhD defence

eLaw colleagues Bart Custers and Helena Ursic have a new publication in the peer-reviewed journal The European Data Protection Law Review.

Indonesian newspaper Pikiran Rakyat has published a series of seven articles about Leiden entitled ‘Two impressive weeks in Leiden.’ The articles were inspired by the symposium ‘The Role of Women in Sustainable Development in Indonesia,’ which took place in Leiden from 23 May to 3 June 2017.

Maria Vasile and Cristina Grasseni have presented the results of Maria’s ethnography in Turin.

The government’s intention to be more transparent following the childcare benefits scandal is long overdue according to Annemarie Drahmann, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law. One of the problems behind the benefits scandal was the lack of openness of the authorities. The government…

On 17 May 2018, a delegation of LUC students from all different majors, coordinated by Dr. Joris Larik, participated in the Roosevelt Awards Laureates Dialogue Event at Nieuwspoort in The Hague (‘Roosevelt in The Hague 2018’).

The European Commission has started an investigation into possible illegal state aid from the Netherlands to Nike. It is high time that agreements between Tax Authorities and multinationals are made public, says Associate Professor in Tax Law Jan Vleggeert.

The paper

‘Dutch municipalities’ backroom meetings a massive breach of the law’ was the main headline of Dutch newspaper De Stentor on 24 June 2022. According to investigative journalist Gep Leeflang, Dutch municipalities continuously break the law by holding their municipal council meetings behind closed doors.…

The Hay Festival brings readers and writers together to share stories and ideas in sustainable events around the world. The festivals inspire, examine and entertain, inviting participants to imagine the world as it is and as it might be.

Anthropologist Sander Hölsgens explores how skateboarding philosophy can revolutionise education by embracing failure, fostering creativity, and building supportive learning communities. Read his research on The Conversation.

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) in Leiden is a unique interdisciplinary master’s programme, considering topics of freedom, justice and citizenship in the 21st century. Watch this video to learn more about the programme!

Aleydis Nissen, one of our colleagues from Belgium, created a feature article with photos for Knack magazine (Roularta Media Group). The Pascal Decroos Fund sponsored this article.

On 21 March, the Rode Hoed in Amsterdam hosted a debate evening on the data ‘hunger’ of the distrustful government, partly in response to publications by Dutch newspaper NRC on the undercover investigation into mosque attendance at the behest of the NCTV (National Coordinator for Counterterrorism and…

Yvonne Erkens, Associate Professor at the Department of Labour Law and Social Security co-organised a symposium entitled ‘Misdirected allegations of breaches of research integrity’ with Frits Rosendaal (LUMC) and Ivan Oransky (Retraction Watch) at the World Conference on Research Integrity. The conference,…

Why do innocent people sometimes spend years in prison? EUREX is a registry of miscarriages of justice in Europe that ultimately led to exonerations. The aim is to prevent such mistakes being made in future. One of the initiators is Leiden legal psychologist Linda Geven.

On Wednesday 9 November, Armin Cuyvers was interviewed on the already infamous UK ‘Internal Market Bill', which was published that day.

Researchers from the Plant Ecology and Phytochemistry group at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) received an STW (Stichting Technologische Wetenschappen) grant for applied studies in plant herbivore resistance with potential for a novel resistance test.

Harm Derks started as Head of the Institute Office on 21 May. After a lengthy test drive in the world of classic cars, he is once again in his element back in the academic world. ‘I really want to get to know people, and also for colleagues to get to know me.’

With the rise of AI, interest in computational linguistics and language models has taken flight. But machines are far from being able to go it alone. In her inaugural lecture, Professor Carole Tiberius will stress the importance of research on word combinations. ‘We know a great deal but there is a…

In honour of Prof. Dr. Gerard Persoon’s and Prof. dr. Ton Dietz’ work and on the occasion of their retirement from Leiden University, Ton Dietz’ and Gerard Persoon’s portraits have been added to the ‘Hall of Fame’ of the Insitute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology.

On Thursday 12 December, the day of the UK general election, Armin Cuyvers was interviewed by BNR Nieuwsradio.

Nikki Ikani, Assistant Professor Intelligence and Security at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA), has recently published her latest monograph 'Crisis and change in European Union foreign policy' with Manchester University Press.

There are certainly ten airlines who do not carry out an identity check in the Schengen area upon check-in.

The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum, the platform within the Grotius Centre at Leiden University for the research, teaching and dissemination of international humanitarian law (IHL), is proud to present its first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

Eric De Brabandere, Anna Marhold and Nico Schrijver of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies have been included as arbitrators and Trade and Sustainable Development experts in the newly established European Commission pool in the framework of EU free trade agreements enforcement.

In Leiden University's video series on Leiden and The Hague as student cities, students interview each other at their favorite spots. In the fifth video of this series, archaeology student Julia spoke with Anthropology student Daria in Trianon, on Leiden's cinemas.

Since June this year, the ACPA PhD-council has been organising a monthly forum for doctoral students across ACPA's PhD-programmes.

In this commentary, Sabine Witting, Assistant Professor at eLaw, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Second Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

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.

This international conference, held in Leiden form 22 to 24 May 2017, focused on adat law in Indonesia a century after the Adat Law Foundation (Adatrechtstichting) was set up in Leiden by the famous professors Van Vollenhoven and Snouck Hurgronje. In the decades that followed the Adat Law Foundation…

During ExpeditionNEXT in Middelburg, NeurolabNL youth, together with researchers from Leiden University and Erasmus University, handed over a unique research agenda to NWO Chairman Marcel Levi. In it, young people share what they would most like to learn about themselves and the brain.

What would the Dutch cabinet look like if it consisted of academic experts? De Volkskrant explored this by assembling a hypothetical cabinet. Miranda Boone, Professor of Criminology and Comparative Penology, was appointed as the Minister of Justice and Security.

Recently, a paper by Peter Grünwald was published in the prestigious scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Grünwald is full professor of Statistical Learning at the Mathematical Institute and senior researcher at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica.

The Summer School ‘The European Union, the United Nations and Global Governance’ is open to Master-level and PhD students. It is supported by the European Union’s Jean Monnet program.

The appointment of Alex Geurds as Professor in Central American Archaeology reinvigorates an existing focus within the faculty. 'The research chair offers opportunities to make cross-connections, across departments and disciplines.'

Little of Pierre Danican Philidor's (1681-1731) music survived beyond these 12 suites, recorded and released in June 2021 by Musica ad Rhenum, Jed Wentz (traverso), Marion Moonen (traverso), Cassandra Luckhardt (viola da gamba) and Michael Borgstede (harpsichord).

In the tropical rainforests of Southeast Asia the soursop family (Annonaceae) can be found. The genus Uvaria is a part of this family, but it has not yet been described entirely correctly. That is what Annas Rabbani will be studying during the next four years as a PhD student at the Hortus botanicus…