Dutch companies are increasingly rescreening staff to monitor security risks. Assistant Professor Ard Barends commented in the ‘Financieele Dagblad’ about the situation: 'By repeating background checks, companies can keep tabs on risks.'

Leiden University opened its doors on Leiden Museum Night, with a whole host of things to see and do at the Academy Building, Hortus botanicus and Old Observatory. Take a look at the photos and see.

It has been found that the better a prisoner is treated, the more effective the sentence. Leiden criminologists therefore research how detention can be improved in such areas as prison life and contact between prisoners and their children.

C-SIDe project involves a broad selection of associates in solving cybersecurity problems. Security of software systems has emerged as a critical need in our interconnected society. Companies developing software products look for Security-by-Design approaches accommodating security into their software…

Electronic versions of our publications can be obtained by sending an e-mail to Esther van den Bos: bosejvanden@fsw.leidenuniv.nl

Morgen debatteert de Tweede Kamer over het nieuwe stelsel arbeidsongeschiktheid. Het stelsel is vastgelopen en dringend aan hervorming toe. Barend Barentsen, hoogleraar Sociaalrecht, bespreekt het onderwerp in het Leidsch Dagblad.

Lecture, Studium Generale

La naissance d’une thalassocratie considers the contribution of the Burgundian and Habsburg Netherlands to the rise of the Dutch Republic as a maritime power. In Braudelian fashion, its chapters follow three lines of research.

Research on the morality of life insurance. What issues are raised when insurance companies define responsibility and solidarity? Has insurance changed since the crisis of 2007?

Start-up ambassador Neelie Kroes launched the new investment fund on 20 June. Erasmus Medical Centre, TU Delft, Leiden University and the regional development agency InnovationQuarter are working together on this initiative.

Four young Leiden researchers have been awarded a Rubicon grant to conduct research abroad. They will be working in Germany, the UK and the US studying such topics as the origin of galaxies and risk behaviour in young people.

‘Don’t forget us. Don’t stop talking about Iran.’ In a packed lecture hall at the new Spui Campus in The Hague, a panel discussion was held this Tuesday on recent developments, tensions and the wave of state violence in Iran.

You are legally required to have health insurance to cover any medical costs you may incur during your stay. You must take out a health insurance policy before you arrive. There are various types of health insurance:

Local authorities face numerous major issues in different neighbourhoods, all requiring different approaches and solutions. With this study, Leiden University aims to gain a better understanding of how residents from every neighbourhood in The Hague think and act on such issues. This insight will help…

The European Parliament is set to vote on the approval of the new Commission, and some Parliament members have already expressed concern over the controversial appointment of Olivér Várhelyi to the role of commissioner. Armin Cuyvers, Professor of European Law, discusses this issue in Dutch financial…

Now that the new Dutch government's plans are set out on paper, the chess game begins for cabinet formation leader Richard van Zwol. He has to make the next move and put together the ministerial team. But how do you know if you’ve made the right move with the right chess piece? And who is a suitable…

On 26 juni 2018, Claire Achmad defended her doctoral thesis 'Children’s Rights in International Commercial Surrogacy: Exploring the Challenges from a Child Rights, Public International Law Perspective'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. Dr. Mariëlle Bruning.

There is a link in adolescents between brain connections and impulsiveness. Leiden researchers have discovered that these connections also predict which adolescents will make more impulsive choices two years further on.

Important note: upon careful consideration, we have decided to resume our Dutch language courses.

Her plan was to obtain a PhD, but, during her master’s, alumnus Sangbreeta Moitra discovered that her true interest lay in applying neuroscience in everyday life.

On 17 October Melanie Fink and Jorrit Rijpma spoke at the 17th meeting of the Consultative Forum of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) in Warsaw.

What does it mean to eat healthily and responsibly? This question is gaining a new urgency now that in many countries undernourishment is being overtaken by diseases of affluence, such as obesity, and we are also becoming more aware of the environmental impact of our eating habits. It’s time to take…

The work of judges can also be done by AI systems. These systems can formulate an objective proposal for a ruling. But such proposal should always be checked by a judge, says Bart Custers.

Leiden University has published its Annual Report for 2018. Although it too has faced complex themes in the last year such as staff workload, internationalisation, social security and funding, it has made significant progress in achieving its ambitions.

Leiden chemists, together with colleagues at the University of York (UK) and Technion (Israel) have discovered a small, sugar-like molecule that maintains the integrity of tissue around a tumour during cancer. This molecule prevents tumour cells from spreading from the primary cancer site to colonise…

When mosquito eggs hatch in nutrient-rich water, the mosquitoes are larger and they can also fly further. That is the first conclusion of a study from by the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH) by PhD-student Sam Boerlijst.

What should you do in an emergency?

Psychologists Fenna Poletiek and Erik de Kwaadsteniet have received a grant from the FNV trade union to research people’s attitude to work if they receive a basic income. How do they plan to find answers?

In Poland the commemoration of acts of resistance is being misused to distort the history of the Holocaust. That is what Cleveringa Professor Jan Grabowski said in his inaugural lecture on 26 November. In her lecture, the second Cleveringa Professor, Barbara Engelking, pointed to the often indifferent…

This research project from Leiden University looks at the opportunities and threats that flow from the existence of institutional and normative diversity in the area of fundamental rights for the effective protection of those rights in a pluralist world.

In this article Jeroen Wolbers and Sanneke Kuipers take a closer look at disaster preparedness to reinvigorate the academic debate.

On 3 September 2019, Ilektra Antonaki defended her thesis 'Privatisations and golden shares: Bridging the gap between the State and the market in the area of free movement of capital in the EU'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. S.C.G. Van den Bogaert.

What makes peace missions succeed or fail? Which new technologies will determine the outcome of wars? In recent decades, insufficient use has been made of knowledge of modern warfare, when this is crucial to European security. This is what Frans Osinga, Professor by Special Appointment of War Studies,…

The kidneys play a major role in the elimination of drugs. In children, the exact age-related physiological changes underlying kidney function remain largely unknown.

Cleveringa Professor Roméo Dallaire led the UN peacekeeping mission in Rwanda in 1994, but was unable to prevent a genocide from unfolding before his very eyes. Eight hundred thousand people lost their lives. In his Cleveringa Lecture on 26 November, this retired Lieutenant-General from Canada speaks…

Beloftes van lokale partijen om asielzoekerscentra te sluiten, gemeenten die dwangsommen aan het COA willen opleggen en de vraag hoe onze rechtsstaat te beschermen tegen autoritaire invloeden met de opkomst van extreem radicaal rechtse partijen: Geerten Boogaard aan het woord in verschillende media.

“The first thing to know is…we don’t post anything without approvals,” the lead social media manager at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) explained after I asked about the MFA’s social media processes. [1]

Elisabeth Heijmans originally comes from French-speaking Belgium – ‘close and far at the same time’. She came to Leiden University for her Ph.D. in 2013, and consequently managed to get a postdoc position. In this role, she is part of a team of Ph.D. students, postdocs and supervisors, looking at historical…

Having flirted with Egyptology and Italian, Dieuwertje Kuijpers found her true calling in the Master’s in European Union Studies. She is now a freelance journalist specialising in politics, security and defence. But she is also at home writing columns for ThePostOnline and hard-hitting articles for…

Leiden Public Administration alumnus Jeffrey Jonkers negotiates in Syria with the Assad government, civilians and even with IS. The UN peace talks are due to start shortly in Geneva. Jonkers negotiates behind the scenes.

The financial sector is an appealing target for hackers. For that reason, lawmakers and regulators are going to great lengths to make the sector more resilient to cyber attacks. One recent measure was the introduction of the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). This new EU regulation is extremely…

Eighteen researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Veni grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This grant gives promising young researchers the opportunity to develop their ideas for a period of three years.

Some people are more sensitive to depression than others. But why is that the case? Clinical psychologist Niki Antypa studied how vulnerability to depression is influenced by cognition. She also found a first careful indication that a treatment with omega-3 fatty acids might provide a solution.

The promising early results of an international study have shown that insulin-producing cells grown from stem cells can cure the disease. The new Cure One LUMC research centre aims to accelerate this breakthrough.

Nico Schrijver, voorzitter van het College voor de Rechten van de Mens en emeritus-hoogleraar internationaal recht, was te gast in Nieuwsuur over het dringend CRM advies met betrekking tot het Gaza-conflict. ‘Nederland is volgens het internationale recht verplicht om actief op te treden bij dreigende…

The Dutch Advisory Committee on Public International Law has, on its own initiative, provided advice to the Dutch government regarding the duty of third states to prevent genocide under the Genocide Convention. The Committe's advice addresses the legal uncertainty in political and societal debates about…

Leiden University social scientists have shown that customised intervention pays off. A new fundamental research-based approach in children who are in danger of going off the rails has delivered spectacular results.

Leiden University neuropsychologists have shown that customised intervention pays off. A new fundamental research-based approach in children who are in danger of going off the rails has delivered spectacular results.