It is difficult to hold international organisations (IOs) accountable for human rights violations. Gisela Hirschmann (Institute of Political Science, Leiden University) introduces the concept of pluralist accountability, whereby third parties set the standards for IOs’ actions in relation to human rights,…

The parliamentary elections in the Netherlands, scheduled for March 2017, are likely to result in a fragmented parliament and a complicated coalition formation process, according to Dutch political scientist Hans Vollaard (Leiden University).

Political scientists Tom van der Meer, Lisa Janssen (University of Amsterdam) and Tom Louwerse (Leiden University) analyse polls presented by the main polling agencies in the Netherlands, as well as micro-level panel data. They reach three main conclusions. First, vote intention polls in the Netherlands…

The first direct detection of gravitational waves opened the possibility of mapping the Universe via this new and independent messenger.

How to come to valid risk stratification of alcohol use disorder?

Towards a framework that integrates content-based and process-based accounts of mathematical thinking

On 12 December, Anke van der Hoeven defended the thesis 'Crossing through Europe at full speed - The work situation of international truck drivers: constructions and perceptions'. The doctoral research was supervised by Joanne van der Leun, Yvonne Erkens and Masja van Meeteren.

Promotor: Prof. dr. I. Snellen, Co-Promotor: Dr. M. Kenworthy

A Diachronic Perspective on the Aegean

In most applications, electrocatalysts exhibit a large surface area to volume ratio, for example using nanoparticles.

Roeland Spruyt is affiliated to the departement of Jurisprudence since October 2022.

Gert Jan Geertjes is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University.

Mark Dechesne's research is primarily focused on developing basic knowledge regarding human judgment, decision making, and beliefs, and the study of various societal questions in which these processes play an important role. The combination of basic principles of decision making and engaged social research,…

David Zetland researches the political-economy of water, the environment and the commons. As a university lecturer at Leiden University College, he teaches courses on economics, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and the commons.

Irene Moretti is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden University..

In his Inaugural lecture of February 10th Prof. dr. Henk Borgdorff advocated positive understanding of artistic research, of reasoning in and through art, within academia.

Sacrificing yourself for the greater good: in China, martyrdom and hero worship have been strongly encouraged by the Communist Party for the past decade or so. University lecturer Vincent Chang tells us more about this far-reaching development.

Let’s get this out of the way: Hillary Clinton won the 26 September 2016 presidential candidates television debate. Handily.

How can the support for a collaborative approach to global challenges be increased, in times when international organisations’ capacity to act is under threat? Gisela Hirschmann (Leiden University) and Cornelia Ulbert (University of Duisburg-Essen) suggest a number of options.

The smallness of Suriname, according to political scientist Wouter Veenendaal (Leiden University), strongly affects and shapes the nature of democracy in the country. On the one hand, clientelism ensures that members of each ethnic group included in power-sharing arrangements have access to state resources…

How to explain variation in the extent to which parliamentary voting behaviour follows the government–opposition divide? Party Politics article by Tom Louwerse et al.

Leiden University offers many possibilities to Chinese students that want to study abroad.

Cynthia van Vonno, political scientist at Leiden University, explains why individual MPs vote according to the party group line.

What would a university be without its students? In 2025, we will celebrate 450 years of studying with an exhibition showcasing our students from the past centuries. How did they study in the past? And how do they study now? This outdoor exhibition will be on display from 23 April at the Hortus bota…

This open access book brings together an eclectic cast of scholars in related disciplines to examine ageing in the Soviet Union, covering the practice of geriatrics, the science of gerontology, and the experience of growing old. Chapters in the book focus on concepts and themes that analyse Soviet ageing…

This comparative study investigates court politics in four kingdoms that succeeded the south Indian Vijayanagara empire during the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries: Ikkeri, Tanjavur, Madurai, and Ramnad. Building on a unique combination of unexplored Indian texts and Dutch archival records, this research…

How we think about and act on the usefulness of scientific research has epistemological and political implications: what knowledge consists of, how it comes about and to what ends. In this dissertation, I situate the usefulness of scientific research in concrete places for knowledge exchange. The exchange…

From corpus pragmatics and metapragmatics to accountability and intentions, and from conversational structure and im/politeness to the role of emotions in utterance interpretation, the short articles collected here represent not just the wide scope of Michael's own work but also a snapshot of the field,…

In an age before GoogleDocs and LinkedIn, 19th-century scholars relied on letter-writing for collaboration, peer-feedback and the building and sustaining of academic networks. Letters were a quick, efficient way to share insights, data and discoveries. Scholarly correspondence thus allows a vital behind-the-scenes…

Dutch right-wing political party Forum for Democracy has repeatedly demonstrated that it has no lower limit when it comes to morals. Should the courts in the Netherlands protect democracy by banning parties like Forum? Several legal experts from Leiden University commented on this question in newspaper…

This thesis describes a study from both a theoreticaL and an experimental point of view.

Provides a cutting-edge comparative political economy analysis of welfare and inequality across ten East Asian countries.

Associates of Leiden University Center for Intercultural Philosophy

Lecture, China Seminar

Cooperation on education with China stimulates innovation and brings a different perspective and new content to classrooms.

On November 1st, Min Liu succesfully defended her doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Min on this great result.

Christopher Green is a lecturer at the Institute for Area Studies.

Area studies is an approach to knowledge that starts from the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present, through the relevant source languages, with central regard for issues of positionality.

Mari Miyamoto is a Professor at Keio University, and currently a guest researcher at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University. Her research is based on extensive fieldwork in Bhutan and the Buddhist societies of the eastern Himalayas, exploring themes that…

Sem Grootscholten researched the impact of civil servants on political decision-making and the change in relations between public and private parties in the educational material industry as a result of changing laws.

Emil Arvid Wolff’s research focuses on the comparative political economy of inequality. Their current research explores the symbolic and legal boundaries of social citizenship in post-war Europe. The research forms part of the project Borders of Equality, which analyzes the relationship between the…

Kristin Makszin is an Assistant Professor of Political Economy. Her research relates to the field of political economy and public policy in Europe, with a focus on social and monetary policy. The core of her research delves into the complex interaction of policy relevant actors to understand how they…

Stefan Thewissen is a labour market economist at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Previously, he was a PhD candidate at the Department of Economics at Leiden University.