On 21 February 2025, Sarah Coombs successfully defended her PhD thesis at Leiden University in which she analysed the impact of research conducted by Universities of Applied Sciences (UAS).

With the holiday season approaching, the perfect moment for a short reflection and a lot of appreciation has come. Let me first start by trying to answer a crucial question for our faculty: what role do the social sciences play in our current time?

Since 1 October 2022, Sarah Nelson is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute for History. Below she introduces herself.

Stress and overwork are massive problems today, but relatively little is known about stress factors in the past. With a look at the deep history of stress, Sarah Schrader hopes to get a better understanding of the human stress experience. Her project application received an NWO XS grant.

Professor Sarah de Rijcke will become the new Rector Magnificus on the Executive Board of Leiden University on 15 January 2026. She will succeed Professor Hester Bijl, who will become Rector Magnificus at Delft University of Technology.

Dr. Sarah Cramsey, University Lecturer Judaism & Diaspora Studies, has been awarded an Early Career Partnership by the KNAW.

As every academic year, the leadership team of the Young Academy Leiden (YAL) is changing. Sarah Giest, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, will be the new Vice-Chair. Annemarie Samuels, Asssociate Professor at Social Sciences, will be the new Chair. The Young Academy Leiden…

When we think about ancient Egypt, the first things that come to mind are usually mummies and sarcophagi. According to researcher and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden curator Lara Weiss, that impression is unjustified. She made an audio tour for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden that focuses on living Egyptians…

The Faculty of Archaeology is pleased to announce that Dr Sarah Schrader has been appointed as the new Head of the Department of Archaeological Sciences (DV). In April 2026 she succeeds Dr Jason Laffoon, who has led the department for the past six years.

Sarah Wolff has been professor of International Studies and Global Politics since 8 January. Time for a brief introduction about her field and academic interests.

Sarah Cramsey, Special Chair for Central European Studies and Assistant Professor of Judaism and Diaspora studies, recently received an ERC grant for historical research into early child care in Central and Eastern Europe. In this short interview, she will give some more information on her grant, her…

During the New Year’s reception of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) on 12 January 2026, Sarah de Rijcke said farewell as our dean. She will become the new Rector Magnificus of Leiden University. It was not the only change of leadership announced that afternoon.

Chen Wang has recently finished her doctoral research and will be defending her dissertation on May 13th. For her PhD she researched the lead in artefacts from ancient China, using isotope analysis to match them to their origins. She applied analytical methods to new contexts and used the data from…

A KIEM grant was recently awarded to a diverse group of Leiden researchers, aiming to organise an interdisciplinary conference with the title ‘Ancient Religions and the Materiality of Danger’ in 2026. The topic of the conference marks a shift towards the study of the role of objects.

Prof. Sarah de Rijcke will succeed Paul Wouters as dean of Leiden University's Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) from 1 January 2024. Paul Wouters will retire at the beginning of January.

Leiden scholars study clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. But what exactly does the cuneiform script say?

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the Leiden Law School thesis prizes were awarded at the New Year’s event.

Denmark’s left-leaning government is taking a hardline stance on migration. Professor Sarah Wolff comments on BBC how politicisation is pushing liberal democracies to challenge international conventions.

Roderick Geerts, a PhD candidate of the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden, takes us on a short journey through the rich history of the Red Sea port of Berenike in Egypt.

Professor Sarah de Rijcke became the new Rector Magnificus of Leiden University on 15 January 2026. She introduces herself and shares what motivates her to take on this role.