The secular West is struggling with the rise of AI, but so too is Muslim Southeast Asia. What can we learn from each other?

Annetje Ottow, president of the Executive Board of Leiden University, has been the new chair of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) strategic alliance for just two months. What does she want to achieve during her two-year chairmanship?

Accreditations. All study programmes have to deal with them and once every six years they cause a good amount of tension. How do you survive the assessment panel? And how does an accreditation proceed in times of corona? Chair of education Kim Beerden recently coordinated the accreditation for the research…

Appointment of three professors represents jewel in the crown of 15-year partnership between Leiden University and the University of the Arts The Hague.

On 30 August 2024, 330 students received their Bachelor Diploma of International Studies. The students were awarded their diplomas in the historic Pieterskerk in Leiden. A large audience of about 1000 people consisting of friends, family, and staff members gathered to celebrate the graduates’ achievements…

We always need to find a new way to tell the story of 3 October, believes Ariadne Schmidt. The professor by special appointment of History of Urban Culture will be working with students to involve more people in the history of that day. ‘I’m too much of a historian to say: we can just let it be a “fun…

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.

The scaling up of municipalities means that local authorities are too often losing sight of citizens. This warning was given by Job Cohen on 30 November on his departure from Leiden University as Thorbecke professor. ‘The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has got some work to do.'

During the guest lecture on 9 February, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Rob de Wijk and Frans Osinga discussed the situation in Ukraine and Taiwan. The crises in eastern Ukraine and the increasing tensions around Taiwan highlight the challenges the West faces in deterring aggression in the new era of key dynamics…

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.

Saskia Bruines, alderman for Education, Knowledge Economy and International Affairs in The Hague, and Erwin Muller, Chair of Campus The Hague, opened an exhibition about 20 years of Campus The Hague on 4 September. The exhibition in the Atrium of City Hall in The Hague focuses on the links between the…

For many Indonesian alumni, studying in Leiden or The Hague was a life-changing experience. This is what they told a delegation from Leiden during its recent visit to Indonesia. On their return to Indonesia, some of these alumni set up the Ikali alumni network. But why did they go to Leiden in the first…

A group of united astronomers have successfully convinced Europe’s leading astronomy journal Astronomy & Astrophysics to institute a name change policy for transgender people and others. ‘It’s really frustrating that such a large organisation needed an initiative from outside to adopt a more inclusive…

In a collaborative effort between the Leiden Children’s Rights Observatory, the Leiden Law Academy, UNICEF and the Petitions Section of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, a symposium held last week commemorated the tenth anniversary of the Optional Protocol to the Convention…

They first entered the Academy Building fifty to sixty years ago. On 28 March, they were back for an afternoon: the members of the Dr Pfiffikus debating society of the German Studies programme. Former chair Hans van der Veen looks back on his student days.

On 26 January 2023, a conference was held at Leiden Law School on children’s rights and migration. The conference, organised by Stichting Migratierecht Nederland (SMN) and the Europa Institute of Leiden University, was attended by academics, lawyers, judges, policymakers, and other legal professionals…

A better balance between teaching and research duties, greater recognition of team performances and the elimination of simplistic assessment criteria. The ‘Academia in Motion’ paper published by the Leiden University Recognition and Rewards describes the main problems with recognition and rewards in…

How does the government know whether science policy has the desired effect? According to Professor Barend van der Meulen, a variety of evidence about the effectiveness of science policy and proper gathering of this evidence are more important than a strict scientific method. Inaugural lecture 27 Ma…

With the passing of Henk Jan de Jonge on 16 April 2022, Leiden University has lost one of its most characteristic, learned and devoted professors.

In Spring 2023, Leiden University’s Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) launched a new Honours Class ‘Model European Union Simulation: Policies, Negotiations and Transatlantic Experiential Learning’.

Giles Scott-Smith is the new dean of LUC (Leiden University College) in The Hague. He succeeds Judi Mesman and starts on 1 July. Scott-Smith: ‘Joining LUC as Dean is a serious honour, and I follow in the footsteps of three Deans who I respect and admire.’

A fragmented political landscape, permanent pressure from current affairs and an increasingly political civil service: our government faces many challenges. This makes it all the more difficult to make important decisions about pensions or the climate. Research and good education can help meet the challenges…

Learn more about the former members of the Young Academy Leiden who contributed to a better position for young academics.

The development of space resource activities is happening now. In the absence of a clear framework to govern these activities, there is a need to examine the concepts that are being discussed in order to ensure that they meet existing treaty obligations regarding on-orbit operations and space resource…

Carola Hein, Professor of History of Architecture and Urban Planning TU Delft, has been affiliated with the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University since January 2022 as Professor Water, Ports, and Historic Cities. On the surface this may seem a strange combination,…

Prof. Arnold Tukker, Scientific Director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences Leiden (CML), visited the Center for Sustainable Development Goal Studies (SDGs Center) as part of a trip to Asia. The SDGs Center is a Center of Excellence at Padjadjaran University in Bandung, Indonesia, with which…

Amidst today’s armed conflicts, authoritarian governments, cyber-attacks, organized crime, economic insecurity, and ecological destruction, it can be hard to imagine peace. What do we mean by ‘peace’, beyond the absence of war? What kind of peace are we seeking? What makes people and society at peace?…

24 October was UN Day. To mark the 75th anniversary of the organization the Chair of UN Studies in Peace and Justice and partners hosted a UN75 Dialogue in the Hague at the International Court of Justice with the President of the International Court of Justice, Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf and Minister…

Leiden University and African Child Policy Forum hold ‘ground-breaking’ workshop on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and human rights in Africa

From 23 to 27 January 2017, the Child Law Department and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden Law School organized the first regional edition of the Leiden University Frontiers of Children’s Rights Summer School. The Frontiers of Children’s Rights in the ASEAN Region was set…

The Leiden University Academy of Creative and Performing Arts will be proudly awarding an Honorary Doctorate within the upcoming 440th Dies Natalis.

A month’s break from your studies, ten days of intensive rehearsals and then a concert tour: the Netherlands Student Orchestra is based on a simple formula. Leiden student Daphne Biron tells us about the orchestra and the concert in Leiden on 20 February.

The treasure houses of Leiden's University Library and Naturalis house wonderful historical collections with dried plants and botanical drawings. Professor by Special Appointment Tinde van Andel will be studying these collections. Inaugural lecture 6 January.

The Executive Board has appointed Pieter ter Keurs as professor of Museums, Collections, and Society as of 1 September 2019. The chair will be part of LUCAS (Faculty of Humanities) and is a collaborative effort of the Faculty of Archaeology and the Faculty of Humanities. Ter Keurs has his roots in…

Where does Dutch come from? Newly appointed Professor Alwin Kloekhorst looks for an answer to that question in millennia-old languages from Anatolia, the Asian part of present-day Turkey. 'A new interpretation in one of the Anatolian languages can have consequences for dozens of other languages.'

Students from Leiden University will be able to study in the Stadsgehoorzaal on Breestraat in Leiden from Saturday 5 to Tuesday 15 December. The main auditorium of this city centre concert hall has been transformed into a unique pop-up study area that will provide temporary study spaces for over 200…

Starting September 1st, philosopher Douglas Berger will be professor of Comparative Philosophy at the Leiden Institute for Philosophy. His appointment marks a new direction for research and education in philosophy at Leiden University.

Leiden University has appointed a commission to investigate whether there are any grounds for allegations of antisemitism within the Faculty of Law. The commission, which has already begun its investigation, comprises three members and is chaired by Professor G.J.M. Corstens, former President of the…

In 2015 the Pascalchair of the Faculty of Science, Universiteit Leiden and in particular of Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science, is held by Prof. Dr. Natasa Jonoska, University of South Florida, Tampa, USA.

At this year's conclusion of the PRE-Class Psychology, the central hall of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences became a hub of knowledge exchange revolving around a central theme: emotions.

On 26th and 27th February, the South African Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor will visit Leiden University as honorary Oort Visiting Professor of Astronomy for Development. She will give a ceremonial lecture on Astronomy for Development in the Academiegebouw on 26th February and lead…

International Women's Day (8 March) saw the announcement of the first Leiden Top 50: fifty Leiden women who have made a difference over the past year through their activities. Many of the women in the list are affiliated with our University.

Kim Duistermaat will become the Campus The Hague Director on 1 April. In this new role, she will monitor Campus The Hague projects and drive them forward. ‘I think it will be great to contribute to the successful realisation of the concept of “one university in two cities”.’

Two of our colleagues received a royal decoration. Professor Jo Hermans became “Ridder in de Orde van Oranje Nassau”, and Professor Jan Schmidt became “Officier in de Orde van Oranje Nassau”. They receive the decoration as an acknowledgement for their extraordinary and selfless contribution to others…

The price of products and services plays an enormous role in society, and therefore also in the legal domain, according to Professor of Business Studies. Inaugural lecture 2 June.

Leiden University will award two honorary doctorates at its Dies Natalis on 9 February 2026. They will go to internet studies scholar Safiya Umoja Noble and philosopher Catherine Malabou.

Dr Claire Achmad has taken up the role of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Chief Children’s Commissioner from 1 November 2023, for a term of five years.

On 19 and 20 March, the reporters of the ELI Project on Rescue of Business in Insolvency Law, Prof. Bob Wessels, Prof. Stephan Madaus and As. Prof. Kristin van Zwieten, will chair a conference to present the preliminary results of the project. The event will take place on the top floor (Dachgeschoss)…

The Executive Boards of Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam have appointed Professor Wim van den Doel as leader of the LDE alliance as of 1 February 2020. He was previously on the Executive Board of the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and Dean of the Faculty…

On the brand-new Leiden Teachers Blog, Leiden teachers share their experiences with educational innovation. They show colleagues, students, and everyone else who is interested the different facets of creating university education.