The archaeologists have been working from home three weeks now. Remotely, through Teams, we meet up with Miguel John Versluys’ research team, to see how they continue working in times of corona.

From cities that sometimes deviate from national foreign policy to the direct influence of geopolitics on local developments, PhD candidate Pieter Jeroense, director of VNG International, examined seventy years of the internationalisation of Dutch municipalities and observed notable trends.

For too long the Dutch collective memory has judged the Jewish Council too harshly. This perspective needs to be adjusted, Bart van der Boom argues in his new book ‘De politiek van het kleinste kwaad’ (lit. ‘The Politics of the Lesser Evil’).

Sometimes fascination can lead to in-depth research. Such is the case with Wahyu Widodo, who came across the Islamic Walikutuban ritual in Java in 2019, on which he subsequently wrote his PhD dissertation. Widodo: ‘Besides community, it also breeds political loyalty’

Generative AI presents journalists with new options for image use but also raises ethical questions.

Professor Sjef Barbiers is leaving his job as scientific director of LUCL for the position of scientific director of the Institute for the Dutch Language (INT) from 1 September.

Professor Ian Lilley, the Faculty of Archaeology’s Willem Willems Chair in Archaeological Heritage, was invited by Her Excellency Mrs. Marion Derckx, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Australia, to present the 2022 commemoration speech for Netherlands Memorial Day on May 4th at the Netherlands-Australia…

Lecture, China Seminar

In the Digital Humanities Lab, students and staff can make use of various technical facilities. PhD student Caeso tells us more about his experiences with the printer in the Maker Space.

Associate professor Salvador Santino Regilme spoke in various media outlets about the tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

On May 28th, Leiden physicist Wim van Saarloos takes office as President of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW). He has been vice-president since 2016. ‘The base of our universities is eroding.’

Freek Vonk and Mike Richardson, with many collaborators, have published two snake genomes in two parallel articles in the prestigious journal PNAS. Their new findings provide insight into the co-evolutionary arms race between predator and prey.

Venomous animals serve as models for a variety of mimicry types. Michael Richardson (IBL) and his international colleagues find that a group of fishes (called fangblennies) evolved venom after the origin of their venom-delivering fangs.

The importance of digitalization has become even more evident during the Corona crisis. Society and the Dutch economy are therefore rapidly digitizing. This calls for a good balance between seizing opportunities and reducing risks.

On Monday 14 December the yearly research colloquium of the research programme ‘Effective Protection of Fundamental Rights in a Pluralist World’ (EPFR) took place.

A report by interest group Tax Justice Network shows that the Netherlands is still one of the most attractive countries for companies when it comes to tax: we hold a dubious fourth position on a list of seventy coutries. In Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland Jan Vleggeert, Professor of Tax Law, explains…

AI programmes such as Suno and Udio allow the user to compose songs that bear an uncanny resemblance to the style and vocals of famous artists. Can artists do anything about this?

It is with great sadness that Leiden University has learned of the death of Professor Cees Fasseur (11 December 1938–13 March 2016)

In 2009, the European Union adopted the Renewable Energy Directive (RED), mandating Member States to obtain 10% of all transport fuels from renewable sources by 2020.

Learn all about the rich history of navigation, from ancient Greece to Europe’s Gallileo Programme, in the course ‘Navigation through the Ages’. This course is the second MOOC of Space Awareness and is aimed at teachers; registration is now open.

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) calls for greater appreciation of fundamental research that does not have an immediate application. A working group headed by Geert de Snoo, dean of the Leiden Faculty of Science, issued a memorandum on the subject on 29 August.

The Meijers prizes are awarded each year for the best published article from each faculty research programme. Reijer received the prize for his contribution to the programme ‘The Legitimacy and Effectiveness of Law & Governance’ with his article ‘Digitalisering en de (dis)balans binnen de trias politica’…

On 20 May 2022, eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies of Leiden University organised the Hans Franken lecture for the third time. This year the lecture was delivered by Aleid Wolfsen, chairman of the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Data Protection Authority (DPA)), the privacy watchdog of the…

On 7 and 8 March 2024, SciencesPo Law School hosted the ‘Legal Technologies and the Bodies’ conference, where Carlotta Rigotti, postdoctoral researcher focusing on law, gender, and technology at eLaw, presented her working paper about legal perspectives on sex robots and consent.

A study by an international group of scientists headed by Prof. Michael Richardson showed that asymmetry in the snake lungs manifests itself early in development.

The issue of how to deal with a development such as digitalisation in the public domain raises difficult questions for the municipality: who is responsible and when do you intervene?

Have you had a busy week at work? If so, it’s better to take a walk in a natural environment than to go shopping in the city.

Last week, the results of the 2016 call for proposals of the European Institute of Technology Raw Materials (EIT RM) became available. Both Leiden University and Delft Unversity of Technology are partners in this Knowledge and Innovation Community, in which some 100 research institutes, industries and…

To say that IT projects in the public sector do not always run very smoothly is an understatement. There are more than enough examples, from the IT project for student loans in the '80s, to problems with IT at the tax authorities, the judicial offices and the police in more recent times.

Impossible Situations: Concerts in the Making recounts the journey of a group of artists including performers, composers, an architect, a photographer and a sound engineer, as they explore different ways of making music together.

Managers in the public and semi-public sector work in an increasingly complex and unpredictable environment, which demands new knowledge and competences but also offers tremendous opportunities. This was the view presented by Zeger van der Wal, professor by special appointment in Public Administration…

On 26 October 2023, Vincent Delhomme spoke at the inaugural conference of the newly founded ICON-S Benelux Chapter, hosted by Maastricht University. The overarching theme of the conference was 'Crises, Challenges, and the Future of Public Law'. Vincent participated in the panel on ‘The challenges of…

Last Monday August 14th, Leiden University College The Hague welcomed 206 students to its new Class of 2020! Coming from all the different corners of the world, the students will live and study at the LUC campus. After being welcomed by the LUC staff on Tuesday morning, the new LUC students spent the…

On 20 June, Armin Cuyvers was invited to speak at the Riga Graduate School of law during the concluding conference of their Jean Monnet project on fundamental rights at the frontiers of the European Union – looking for a new balance.

Shuai Guo, PhD candidate at Company Law and the Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law, has been awarded the Silver Medal in the competition of the International Insolvency Institute (III) 2018 Prize in International Insolvency Studies. III is a non-profit, limited membership organization dedicated to advancing…

Momenteel vindt onder Trump in de VS, een snelle ontmanteling van verschillende instituties, die de democratische rechtstaat stutten, plaats. Wim Voermans, hoogleraar staatsrecht, acht de kans aanzienlijk kleiner dat dit in Nederland zal gebeuren door ons meerpartijenstelsel, het poldermodel en het…

The ‘spreidingswet’ (dispersal law) has been passed by Dutch Senate and will take effect on 1 February. In the municipality of Westland, however, a majority in the council is unwilling to create 700 extra reception places.

PhD Candidate Sabine K. Witting has published an article ‘Regulating bodies: child sexuality in the digital era’ in the Critical Quarterly for Legislation and Law, Vol. 1 2019.

Sebastian Diessner, associate professor at the FGGA, recently appeared in an article called 'Inflation: a spring remontée des taux se dessine' (Inflation: a slow rise in rates is emerging) in the newspaper Le Figaro.

The Jouke de Vries Research Grant is an initiative to mark the important role that its namesake Professor Jouke de Vries has held for many years at Campus The Hague, initially as Scientific Director and later as Dean of the Faculty.

The Lorentz Center has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to renovate the common room, the place where researchers can exchange new ideas. The common room will be renovated in the autumn of 2016, at a cost of € 15,000.

This publication examines the issues regarding the cross-border resolution of financial institutions, focusing on the power allocation between the home and host resolution authorities, i.e. the jurisdiction rule.

Steven Truxal, Professor of Air and Space Law, gave a keynote speech last week at a debate held in Nieuwspoort in which he examined the legal and policy implications of the aviation provisions of the new Dutch coalition government agreement.

Lecture

Her book ‘Veel valse hoop’ (Much False Hope) about the persecution of the Jews in the Netherlands was immediately hailed as a seminal work. German historian Katja Happe gave the Cleveringa Lecture on 26 November. She is fascinated by what makes people take a stand.

PhD defence

Stephan Raaijmakers has been Professor of Communicative AI since 1 May. Prior to this, he had held this position for five years as professor by special appointment. How has his approach to AI changed in that time?