Many of the challenges of our time are too complex to be resolved within the confines of a single discipline. Leiden University is a broad-based university where an incredible number of research fields converge. That makes us the ideal breeding ground for, and practitioners of, interdisciplinary research…

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) recently participated in the Pagode-Europeana-China project as an associated partner. As a result, almost two hundred items related to China from the UBL Special Collections are now available via the Europeana website. The UBL was the only library to participate in…

Natalia Grincheva (2020). Museum Diplomacy in the Digital Age. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-8153-6999-8, 164 pp., £27.99 (paperback).

Over 30 ambassadors strengthened their ties with researchers and university leaders in a recent visit to Leiden University. Cross-border collaboration (both literal and figurative) was the theme of presentations and a tour of the Hortus botanicus.

On Friday 16 February 2024, Rudolf E. de Jong passed away unexpectedly in Cairo. Since 2012, he was the director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC), which he skillfully managed for 12 years. He was laid to rest in Amsterdam on 27 February. Rudolf was 65.

Transparency is seen as an important value for democratic government policy. Does that mean that we should do away with state secrets, such as confidential information involving intelligence agencies and political deals made behind closed doors? Political philosopher and ERC grant recipient Dorota Mokrosinska…

Hugo de Groot, one of history’s most famous legal scholars, was already studying arts and law in Leiden at the age of 11. How did his career take off from that point and who inspired him?

How can we make our cities greener and more people-friendly? Two Campus The Hague projects have secured a grant from the Municipality of The Hague. The researchers and students from both projects are working with city residents to find sustainable solutions to local issues.

A standing ovation. A wave and a smile from the president. A final selfie. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed students in the Netherlands for the first time on Tuesday morning via a livestream in The Hague. He did so in front of two packed lecture halls at both Leiden University and The…

Dear friends of the NVIC

The ongoing conflicts between the United States and its allies and Russia and between the United States and its allies and China reflect both the anarchical nature of the international system and the uncertainty with which decision-makers and diplomats have to deal with in attempting to solve the conflicts…

Raffaele Marchetti (2021). Hybrid Diplomacy with NGOs: The Italian Formula. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-3-030-86869-7, 135 pp., €46.00 (eBook).

Coming four years after part II, and totalling more than one thousand pages, the long awaited first part of the Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), daughter of James I, King of England and Scotland has been published.

Western civil servants openly struggle with their government’s policies on the war in Gaza. During a meeting at Campus The Hague, three former civil servants told their stories.

Rather than finger-wagging, the Netherlands has opted for pragmatism when it comes to human rights. That is what Minister of Foreign Affairs Stef Blok said in a lecture in the Academy Building on Human Rights Day on 10 December 2019.

Expats in the Netherlands receive a much warmer reception than other migrants, Leiden University's Aniek Smit has discovered. ‘But municipalities need to pay more attention to the differences between expats and the effects of their presence on other residents.' PhD defence 25 January.

On 12 September 2024, the official ceremony opening the academic year 24-25 for students of the European Law master’s programme took place at Leiden Law School, organised by the Europa Institute.

Princess Beatrix was a guest at the opening of the conference on ‘Chinese Buddhism and the Scholarship of Erik Zürcher’ in Leiden on 12 February. Buddhism researchers from all parts of the world came together to reflect on the work of Leiden sinologist Erik Zürcher.

The United States and the European Union need to work together more closely in the field of the law to fight terrorists and criminals who are operating increasingly internationally. This was the advice given by American Minister of Justice Loretta Lynch during her visit to Leiden University on 1 Jun…

In the event of disagreements between states, a tribunal or arbitration may offer a solution. International dispute settlement is a relatively new but fast-growing field within law, Professor Eric de Brabandere explains. Inaugural lecture 23 February.

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has been able to acquire an extraordinary Chinese manuscript at auction in Hong Kong. It concerns an Imperial Edict (dated 1582) from the Ming dynasty period, at one time part of the former collection of well-known sinologist and author of detective-novels Robert van…

It was busy at the Bachelor's Open Day of Leiden University. Over 7,000 prospective students had come to take a look at Leiden. What did they expect of their chosen programme? Would they join a student association? Would they move out of home? Feedback from five prospective students.

North Korean workers designed and built numerous monuments, museums and other buildings in southern Africa. This is clear from research by history student Tycho van der Hoog for his master's thesis. These monuments can be an important source of income for a country that has become quite isolated on…

In the period between the First and the Second World War, many Muslim intellectuals came to Europe. What impact did they have on each other’s, as well as on European thinking, and how were they in turn influenced? Leiden Islam expert Dr Umar Ryad has been awarded an ERC Starting Grant to investigate…

The EU has been negotiating a trade deal with Mercosur, a South American trade bloc, for over 25 years. In recent weeks, significant progress has been made. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Mercosur leaders in Asunción, Paraguay, on 17 January to sign the deal.

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Lecture

After a year of war against Ukraine, professors André Gerrits, Antoaneta Dimitrova and Frans Osinga look back at Russian aggression and Western unity and ahead to the new offensive.

When former Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström announced in 2014 that Sweden would become the first state to implement a feminist approach to its foreign policy, her idea was met with giggles. [1] But the concept quickly spread around the world. In May 2022, the Netherlands became the 10th state…

Europe’s security suddenly looks uncertain now President Trump has started negotiations with Putin. What does this mean for the Netherlands? What do we need to do?

Markus Kornprobst writes about managing international crises.

‘Islam in de klas’ is a new course targeting primary school teachers to go online on 18 March by the Leiden Islam Academy (LIA). The online course aims to help teachers get better equipped when dealing with Islam-related dilemmas in primary classrooms.

Beatrice Penati is Assistant Professor of History at Nazarbayev University (Astana, Kazakhstan). Dr Penati will deliver a guest lecture on Monday, 10 October and a masterclass on Thursday, 13 October within the Central Asia Initiative at Leiden University.

President John Quincy Adams studied in Leiden. His father, John, who was also president, also stayed here and received a lot of support from professor and publisher Johan Luzac. And how are presidents Bush and Obama linked to Leiden?

The Faculty of Humanities offers an inspiring international working environment with room for diversity and innovation to staff and students from home and abroad.

How did the medieval manuscript develop as a physical object during the Twelfth Century Renaissance and what do these changes tell us about the intellectual culture of the period?

Lecture, Studium Generale

On Thursday 28 September 2017 the Institute of Public Administration of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) organizes the event ‘Good Governance in Asia and the West: What is the Difference?’ as part of the Leiden Asia Year. Below you can read the interview with professor Zeger van der…

The Executive Board proposes to take the decision to suspend the existing institutional student exchange programmes with two Israeli universities, and until further notice not to engage in any new exchange programmes with Israeli universities that have comparable links with the Israeli military (the…

The world around us is changing. What does that mean for the future of Europe, on this turbulent world stage? And what does it mean for our teaching, and for the expectations that Leiden University has of its students? These were the key questions during the opening of the 2018-2019 academic year on…

The postwar Liberal International Order faces grave challenges today mostly in the form of geopolitical competitions among great powers and exclusionary identity politics unfolding across different countries.

Ten students at Leiden University were awarded a scholarship by the VSB Foundation, during a festive event in the Hortus Botanicus on 8 June. This scholarship will allow them to take a master's, or a second master's, or carry out a research project abroad. Who are they and what will they be doing?

During the farewell reception on 29 August, the Faculty of Science will say goodbye to Dean Geert de Snoo. On 1 November 2019, he will continue his career as Director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). Colleagues talk about his significance for ecology, about his contribution as a…

Global Interactions sponsors a number of research projects of Leiden University researchers.

From 1 August 2018, Alanna O'Malley was appointed as Chair of United Nations Studies in Peace and Justice, focusing on the ‘lesser-known actors’ of the UN: women, the youth, the agents of informal diplomatic networks within the UN and actors from the Global South. This Special Chair has been created…

AMT’s mission includes encouraging innovative high-quality research in Leiden on Asia. On this page you will find an overview of AMT related research projects, grant possibilities, publications and vacancies.

Many of our staff and students have won an award, received a grant, obtained an academic fellowship for their quality or have been socially engaged due to their specific expertise. See below for an overview per year.