Children and adolescents really do use their ‘smart’ brain areas. This has been confirmed by an extensive and long-running study of the brain carried out by developmental psychologist Sabine Peters . Her findings can have important consequences for education. PhD defence 27 January.

When do we say violence was used in an incident? The answer may seem obvious at first. But interim results from a study by Jolien van Breen show that Dutch people are labelling events in increasingly broad contexts as violent.

Professor of Clinical Pharmacology Adam Cohen from Leiden University received the prestigious Dr. Saal van Zwanenberg Honorary Prize on 12 November. The prize honours a scientist who has distinguished themselves in the field of research that has directly or indirectly led to the development of new medicines…

Liwen Meng has been granted a CSC fellowship to initiate her PhD project, which will delve into the role of nature in buffering stress response. Her research will be carried out under the supervision of Dr. Henk van Steenbergen.

Recently more than five hundred workers at metal companies in Dutch cities Zwolle and Kampen went on strike. Their aim is better pay and the workers have now been on strike for twelve weeks. Just how effective is striking in collective bargaining?

The world is autocratising. In 2022, a record number of states across all continents, including Europe, was shifting towards autocracy. But against theoretical expectations and common sense, autocratising leaders – known for their nationalist agendas and human rights violations – do not always restrict…

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…

Why do some people with adverse childhood experiences develop mental health conditions whereas others do not? A Leiden research project is looking for volunteers aged between 18 and 24 to help us understand more about human resilience.

It is often thought that immigration threatens the solidarity on which redistribution relies. But looking at the post-war period, PhD candidate Emily Anne Wolff finds that this is not the case.

Intimate Legal Interactions (ILI) is an interdisciplinary and international group of scholars who share an interest in laws governing intimate relationships – such as marriage and civil partnership, divorce, birth, death, parenthood, childcare, sexual/romantic relationships, and caring relationships…

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy is hosted by the Institute of Security and Global Affairs at Leiden University. Besides the journal, there are many other activities related to diplomacy.

Carlotta Rigotti and Eduard Fosch-Villaronga have published a new article that offers an insightful and critical literature review on fairness and AI in the labour market as part of the BIAS project.

Which genes are involved in woodiness and associated traits such as drought tolerance, flowering time, stem elongation, life span, and plant herbivory, and how do these gene regulatory pathways overlap?

Kees Waaldijk has worked for many years to map the rights, or lack thereof, of the gay and lesbian community across the world. As he bids farewell to the faculty, those rights are under renewed pressure. How does he reflect on his career?

For one week, regional public transport drivers will go on strike. At least, that is what Dutch trade unions FNV and CNV are calling for. According to the employers’ association WVOV, half the busses will still be running.

Seksueel grensoverschrijdend gedrag en structurele sociale onveiligheid horen niet thuis in vrouwengevangenissen, blijkt uit onderzoek van Leidse onderzoekers Esther van Ginneken en Yara Abbing. Zij vinden dat er een ingrijpende cultuurverandering nodig is en doen aanbevelingen.

Gaan vaders minder werken als andere vaders dat ook doen? Helpt betaald ouderschapsverlof hen om meer op te pakken in het huishouden? Hoe bepalend zijn sociale normen voor verschillen op de arbeidsmarkt? Onderzoeker Max van Lent gaat het uitzoeken.

The International Course on Water Use and Management in Cagayan Valley The Philippines (2011-2015)

At Leiden University we offer our students countless options to develop socially and personally outside the classroom.

Een internationaal consortium onder leiding van Olaf van Vliet heeft een Horizon Europe subsidie van 3,4 miljoen euro gewonnen. In het onderzoek staat centraal hoe wereldwijde sociale veranderingen zoals migratie, digitalisering en de klimaattransitie de arbeidsmarkt beïnvloeden en wat daar de gevolgen…

Actinobacteria are Gram-positive bacteria that have a complex multicellular life cycle and are well known for their ability to produce a wide range of bioactive natural products (NPs).

In-use stocks of products can be considered as intermediaries between human needs and the physical world.

The Advisory Committee on Public International Law (Dutch abbreviation CAVV) is an independent body which provides the government and parliament of the Netherlands with advice, both solicited and unsolicited, on issues related to public international law.

PhD student Wen Yang discovered how certain cell receptors in E. coli bacteria signal 'smells'. With the use of ice-cold electron microscopy microbiologists from Leiden gain more insight into how bacteria respond to their environment. Publication in mBio.

Didactics, Career development

How can theories about modern disinformation help to understand how Roman documentary fictions functioned?

Late June EP Nuffic awarded a capacity building project in the field of Transnational Law, Asset Recovery and International Investment Arbitration at the Faculty of Law at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta. The successful consortium brings together experts from VU University Amsterdam, Leiden University…

With inflation skyrocketing, more and more workers are willing to take action for better working conditions. From regional transport to municipal officials, and from healthcare staff to pharmacy workers, it’s one strike after another in the Netherlands.

Africa is fascinating! In today’s globalised world, the continent plays an increasingly important role in international, social and cultural developments. Would you like to explore the many sides of Africa and its impact on the rest of the world, while also learning one of its languages? Our African…

Instant messaging app Telegram is not faring well in the news – the reason being the illicit activities occurring on the platform. Professor Bart Custers helped Dutch current affairs programme ‘EenVandaag’ respond to questions about the platform.

The interdisciplinary, English-taught minor ‘Violence Studies’ looks at violence from very diverse scientific perspectives. What are the benefits from this approach? Students and lecturers evaluate: ‘This minor’s a goldmine’.

Misleading social media posts are falsely claiming that the Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo uses facial recognition at self-service checkouts. Jumbo denies this, although it has launched trials with AI cameras to combat shoplifting without using facial recognition.

How can the emergence of primary justice systems be facilitated and furthered?

Cancer is one of the main causes of death in the Netherlands. Leiden researchers are working to improve the treatment of different types of cancer in order to increase the patient’s quality of life. A better understanding of how cancer develops will make it possible to deliver personalised and precise…

RARE-NL, a new collaboration between university hospitals, hopes to find treatments for rare diseases. Professor Teun van Gelder is representing the LUMC in the initiative.

On Saturday 9 March 2019, Dr. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga got his first publication for his Marie Skłodowska Curie project on the Legal and Ethical Aspects of Healthcare Robot Technology.

Since the demonstration over a year ago on the Wijnhaven campus, Leiden University has developed plans and initiatives to create the safest possible work and study environment for our university community. The Executive Board would like to explain what has happened since and what else we can expect…

The secretary of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology is located in room 3.A63.

Professor Thomas Hankemeier and his international research team HYPERMARKER have received a 10m-euro grant from Horizon Europe and UK Research and Innovation.

In April, the X-omics initiative was granted 17 million euros from the Dutch Organization for Scientific Research. The subsidy is part of the National Roadmap for large-scale scientific infrastructure, intended to build or renew large-scale research facilities. What new insights will this investment…

In 2025, Leiden University College became the first university programme in the Netherlands to receive the special “Sustainable Higher Education” label from the NVAO, the Dutch-Flemish Accreditation Organisation.

Leiden biologists have shown that a gene present in plants, animals and yeasts does play an important role in plants, although for years the gene was considered unimportant. It turns out the gene plays a crucial role in the development of vascular tissue in plants. Publication in Nature Plants on 11…

Producing offspring of a crop without sowing and that is even bigger than the parent plant. According to Leiden researchers this can be achieved by overstimulating a single gene that rejuvenates cells, including bringing them back to the embryonic phase.

In 2021, the KABK, KC and ACPA established a joint research platform, called the Platform for Arts Research in Collaboration (PARC). How did PARC move forward the last year?

In recent days and weeks, experts have been falling over themselves to point the finger at the main culprit in the Dutch child benefits scandal. Although this debate is fascinating, equally important are the broader lessons to be drawn from the scandal in relation to constitutional and administrative…

The 20th anniversary of the Lorentz Center will be celebrated on 28 June 2017 with the opening of an exhibition in the Oude UB. For two decades already, the Center has been a place of retreat for groups of international academics who want to explore a single issue.

Economies worldwide are increasingly interconnected; trade in raw materials and semi-finished products is increasing. Many products we use in the Netherlands originate abroad, and many products we make in the Netherlands are destined for other countries. Almost all countries around us participate in…