Contrary to what one might expect, societal actors influence China’s foreign policy. PhD candidate Sabine Mokry investigated how Chinese academics and think tanks impact the authoritarian leadership’s views on what constitutes the country’s national interest in the international arena. On 14 November…

In the coming years, Hilde De Weerdt gets to spend over three million euros. She received grants from both the European Research Council (ERC) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) for research on Chinese infrastructure. ‘It is great that it is also possible to develop large projects in the social sciences…

Jiyan Ilbrink is an assistant professor at the Institute for Area Studies.

Assistant professor Vincent Chang spoke in various media outlets about the Chinese commemoration of World War II.

To celebrate the formal launch of the Leiden Chinese Queer Collection (LCQC, 莱顿华语酷儿文献收藏), promote Chinese queer studies scholarship, and raise the visibility of Chinese queer history and culture, the LCQC steering committee will hold a workshop on 24-25 July 2025, under the aegis of the Leiden University…

Assistant professor Rogier Creemers discusses in Times Higher Education how China’s universities and companies collaborate to advance AI.

Chinese athletes must perform this Olympics. Anything less than a gold is being seen as athletes being unpatriotic by furious nationalists online. Florian Schneider, director of the Leiden Asia Centre, explains the situation on BBC News.

After a gap of five years, Leiden has a new Professor of Modern China. Florian Schneider started his position on 1 September.

When Floris Harm took up his role as director of the Leiden Asia Centre, he made a remarkable discovery on the university website. It turned out that a past family member was one of Leiden University’s first sinologists.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese workers have moved from the countryside to the city. This social transformation has birthed a tradition of migrant worker poetry, professor Maghiel van Crevel states in Jacobin.

Middle East Studies Lecture

Renfei Bai is a PhD candidate at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics.

Weishuo Li (Arthur) is a PhD candidate at Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University.

You’ve graduated. What’s your next step? Leiden University offers many options for students who have just finished their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

You’ve graduated. What’s your next step? Leiden University offers many options for students who have just finished their Bachelor’s or Master’s degree.

Arts and leisure, Arts and leisure

Festival, New year reception

Within just a few years, the Chinese government's policy towards the Uyghurs deteriorated sharply. From control and marginalisation, it shifted to violation of human rights. PhD candidate Elke Spiessens was right in the middle of it with her research. 'The fabric of the community is being completely…

This year, the Netherlands and China reflect on fifty years of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level. How has the relationship between the countries developed over the past half century? An interview with university lecturer Vincent Chang.

When deciding what to study you undoubtedly read a lot of information about your study programme. Leiden University employs various systems to provide information about programmes and courses and to facilitate communication between lecturers and students.

Lecture, China Seminar

Yi-Hsien Hsieh is teacher at the Institute for Area Studies.

Lecture, China Seminar

When we hear the word ‘bird house’, do we process it as a whole or does our brain see it as ‘bird’ and ‘house’? PhD student Jiaqi Wang explored this for speakers of Mandarin Chinese.

When deciding what to study you undoubtedly read a lot of information about your study programme. Leiden University employs various systems to provide information about programmes and courses and to facilitate communication between lecturers and students.

Aholi So is a lecturer at International Studies.

Lecture, CHiLL series

Professor of Modern China Florian Schneider researches what people do with technology and what technology does with people. Social media, for example. And then mainly in China.

After completing one bachelor’s and two master’s programmes at Leiden University, alumnus in Philosophical Perspectives on Politics and the Economy Matthieu Agustoni finished his student life with a bang: he got his master's thesis published in a prestigious journal.

I am a PhD candidate at Leiden University supported by a CSC scholarship, working on an individual research project in Buddhist art history. My work explores the sensory history of Buddhist art with particular attention to affect theory, visual and narrative rhetorics, and the localisation of iconography.…

Lecture, China Seminar

Hongwei Bao is a guest researcher at the Institute for Area Studies.

Koen van der Lijn is an intern an education and research staff member at the Institute for Area Studies.

Joren Pronk is PhD candidate at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.

Since 2009-2010, the West viewed China as more assertive. Especially after Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the country abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s ‘low profile’ foreign policy. Friso Stevens explains in his dissertation where this change has come from. The dissertation defence is on 28 March.

Lecture, China Seminar

As well as study associations, Leiden University also has a number of other associations through which you can develop your skills and gain experience that will come in useful in your later professional life.

When deciding what to study you undoubtedly read a lot of information about your study programme. Leiden University employs various systems to provide information about programmes and courses and to facilitate communication between lecturers and students.