On an excavation site in Oegstgeest Leiden University archaeologists discovered a very rare silver bowl from the first half of the seventh century. The bowl is decorated with gold-plated representations of animals and plants and inlaid with semi-precious stones. The discovery suggests the existence…

Martijn Verkuilen is the winner of the Unilever Research Prize 2022. By transferring DNA from a plant into yeast, he made the first move to produce a new drug for type 2 diabetes. He collected his prize in Wageningen on 24 November.

How can a single origami crease pattern be folded into two precisely defined target shapes? Researchers at AMOLF and Leiden University have created an ‘alphabet’ of 140 origami ‘puzzle pieces’ that allows them to do just that, as described today in Nature Physics. This discovery could help in the construction…

Bachelor's students Larissa van Beckhoven, Eeke Brussee and Mirjam de Haan were granted the Speckmann award for their Fieldwork NL report ‘Een Tastbaar Mysterie’ (supervisor: Bregje ter Meer). Alumnus Markus Enk received the Master's Speckmann award for his innovative thesis called ‘Do spirits resist…

This summer, Leiden University will be setting up camp at Lowlands with two research projects. Participants are invited to explore their fears and feelings, and in doing so, contribute to scientific research.

On November 25, Dr Araceli Rojas presented her book El tiempo y la sabiduría: un calendario sagrado entre los ayöök de Oaxaca. The event took place in the Central Public Library of the State of Oaxaca, in the heart of Oaxaca City, at 7 pm.

Graduation Ceremony of the LL.M. Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights 2024–2025

How important is a child’s right to meaningful peer relationships? Vaishnavi Ramalingam wrote her master’s thesis on this topic, and was recently awarded the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities (KHMW) Jan Brouwer Thesis Prize 2026.

New research has revealed that one of Europe’s largest prehistoric mass graves records the deliberate killing of women and children, showing how gender- and age-selective violence was used to disrupt communities and assert power in the Early Iron Age. Leiden archaeologist Jason Laffoon was involved…

Four prints, ten years of research. Not that she got bored of them, on the contrary. Corrie van Maris, who receives her PhD this week, has always remained fascinated by her 17th-century series, for which she feels so much love. ‘I kept seeing different, new things.’

An extra-long cortège, three honorary doctorates, a quiz about 450 years of university history, a Dies Natalis rap and a call to defend academic freedom: these all featured in Leiden University’s 450th Dies Natalis celebration and the official start of its jubilee year.

A delegation from Leiden University visited Japan from 18 to 26 November to facilitate cooperation in research and teaching. The delegation also attended the signing of a twinning agreement between the cities of Leiden and Nagasaki and the opening of a bridge to Dejima, once literally the bridge between…

From academic freedom to security and medical breakthroughs: during Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis, the speakers reflected on the role of universities in a world of social and geopolitical tensions.

The Centre for Public Values & Ethics (CPVE) is an interdisciplinary, academic centre of expertise aiming to conduct and disseminate scientific research on normative issues in the public sector, in particular the fulfillment of public office and the planning, making and executing of public policy, both…

Pastoralist Societies, Rock Art and Literacy in Jordan’s Black Desert (200 BC to 800 AD)

Predictors of work functioning in persons with multiple sclerosis

The Faculties of Leiden University have developed several themes for research cooperation between Leiden University and its Indonesian partners.

This one-year master's programme explores the political and cultural evolution of the world from a long-term, and broad comparative perspective. This creates a better understanding of the entangled nature of today's society.

History of Inequality and Power provides you with an in-depth understanding of the past and present that will contribute to solving current societal problems.

The one-year Master's specialisation in Ancient History: Empires, Societies and Cultures offers an attractive mix of theoretical knowledge and practical experience.

It is a familiar phenomenon: you ask the assistant on your phone to call your mother, but it calls a friend instead. Tom Kouwenhoven, PhD student in the SAILS programme, investigates how humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can better communicate with each other, so that these kinds of situations…

Leiden University was present for the second time at the second Leiden Pride on Saturday.

Migraine can’t be diagnosed with a blood test, scan or physical examination. Language therefore plays a crucial role in its diagnosis. Neurologist Joost Haan has researched the relationship between language and migraine, and looked at how migraine is described in fiction. His PhD defence is on 22 Oc…

Benieuwd naar het Groot Auditorium of het Zweetkamertje? Tussen 25 juli en 10 augustus kan je gratis het Academiegebouw bekijken bij een rondleiding.

The seminar is organised by the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society (VVI), The Royal Netherlands Institute for the Study of Southeast Asia and the Caribbean (KITLV) and Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society (LUCIS).

It is a familiar phenomenon: you ask the assistant on your phone to call your mother, but it calls a friend instead. Tom Kouwenhoven, PhD student in the SAILS programme, investigates how humans and Artificial Intelligence (AI) can better communicate with each other, so that these kinds of situations…

Part Two: Land Ahoy! Casa Blanca

A generation is growing up in The Hague Southwest with little outdoor play space. Researchers from Health Campus The Hague are following what the BRUIS neighbourhood approach does and means for children and young people in the neighbourhood.

Society has an impact on what is viewed as heritage. Susanna de Beer investigated how heritage can be made enduring by making use of it in the present. Lars de Kruijf, student of Dutch and Journalism New Media, spoke with Susanna de Beer.

On 6 April the Netherlands will vote on far-reaching cooperation with Ukraine. Referenda are exceptional in Dutch political history, according to Professor of Electoral Research Joop van Holsteijn.

What if a major world event alters the trajectory of your research project? Tsolin Nalbantian was studying citizenship along the Turkish-Syrian border when the Syrian Civil War erupted and led to a global refugee crisis. While her research participants were forced to flee the region, she was forced…

Part Three: A Change of Course

May the Netherlands deny access to products manufactured under poor working conditions? And can a manufacturer bring a case against a country that increases its minimum wage? PhD candidate Ruben Zandvliet examined the legal and ethical issues involved in international commercial law, investment law…

According to a number of British historians, the elderly had a particularly high status in the early Middle Ages. A new book by Leiden cultural historian Thijs Porck sheds a different light on the matter: elderly people had to earn that respect first, and old age was often described in negative terms…

Zār jewellery from Egypt can be found in many museums and private collections in the West, but for a long time very little was known about it, except that it was used in rituals to protect against spirit possession. PhD candidate Sigrid van Roode has explored its history and discovered that the jewellery…

Stopping people at the border does not result in less refugee migration, but providing relief in the region where migrants come from does. What else would be wise for the next government to do in terms of immigration?

True to tradition, during the opening of the academic year the LUS Teaching Prize will be awarded to the University's best lecturer. Get to know the nominees. This week: Marion Boers.

Poland votes for a new president in a first round of elections on Sunday. Lecturer Jan Meijer points out: ‘The result will have a lot of impact on Donald Tusk's liberal government and its plans for reforms.’

Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmacy at University College London (UCL). As a female scientist of colour, she was initially reluctant to play an active role in the university’s diversity policy. Until, that is, she had a radical change of heart: ‘I knew it; I had to become an evangelist.'

One of our most engaged and expert scholars is bidding farewell. After forty years at Leiden Law School, first as a student and later as a professor, Niels Blokker reflects on his university career.

Arjan Louwen (MA) will start a PhD research project on the social and ideological aspects of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age cremation graves in continental Northwest Europe (1100-500 BC): Breaking and making the ancestors. Making sense of the inconspicuous 99% of urnfield graves.

An anatomical model of a heart, a mechanical digger or photos of mother and grandmother. Research interests and personal motivations have been given a place in the thirteen new portraits of women now on display in the Senate Chamber. ‘That cat isn't just a cute lap cat.'

Professor Jojanneke van der Toorn has held the chair in LGBT workplace inclusion for five years. To celebrate, organised an international online conference on workplace inclusion, in cooperation with Workplace Pride that was hosted by the university on 20 and 21 May.

On the eve of Leiden University’s 450th anniversary, the 1574th and 1575th Honours College students received their honours certificates. In a crowded Scheltema, people celebrated ‘that so many students have had the opportunity to broaden their horizons.’

In some university restaurants and cafés, you can already order them and, come January, you can enjoy them everywhere: the Pure products. Sustainable, healthy and/or vegetarian. The beautiful lime green, also the colour of the plates and bowls, is the vibrant symbol of these products. And Pure is even…

Researchers from the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Libraries and from universities in the Netherlands have used high-tech imaging to uncover the details of a rare Mexican codex dating from before the colonisation of America.

Students and staff from Leiden University are protesting in The Hague on 25 November against the billions in cuts to higher education. ‘The cuts are a terrible idea and we want to show why’, says Claire Weeda from WOinActie. ‘Research and teaching are essential to society.’

A design created by student Jill Stoelinga has won our 450 mural competition! From May 12, you can help us paint the artwork. Read on to learn all about what the painting represents and how you can help.

Most Leiden master’s students who graduated between October 2016 and September 2018 soon found a job that was related to their degree programme. These are the results of the 2019 Dutch National Alumni Survey (NAE: Nationale Alumni Enquête). The effects of the coronavirus crisis on the labour market…