From toy cats that purr to robot dogs that bark: what do such technologies mean for older people, healthcare providers and family members? A Dutch Research Council (NWO) Veni grant is enabling anthropologist Tanja Ahlin to investigate how animal-shaped robots can contribute to care for older people…

Our annual "Science to Experience" exhibition of student works is hosted by the V2_ Lab for the Unstable Media. This year's theme is "GAP".

The Digital Archaeology research group manages two computer laboratories with different purposes: the teaching lab (F1.01) and the research lab (A1.13a).

Since September 2001 Leiden University's Media Technology MSc program has educated modern academics, creative nerds, playful programmers, tinkering thinkers, and conceptual cross-disciplinarians. On May 13th, we celebrate!

The Hague Journal of Diplomacy regularly updates its digital bookshelf with recommendations of recent books on diplomacy, global affairs, and international studies.

How are digital risk-profiles developed and used in practice?

How do you ensure that research is performed, evaluated and managed in a responsible way? This question is also of the utmost important to the University itself. The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) studies scientific research and its relationship with technology, innovation and soci…

This interdisciplinary project explores the promise and perils of human rights as a suitable framework for addressing the challenges posed by the governance of digital platforms.

Technological advances have an impact on our daily lives. They have also been employed by governments to manage border security, especially at controversial border crossings. Fences, heat sensors, heat cameras, drones and other hi-tech equipment that are currently being tested collectively produce a…

A Diachronic Perspective on the Aegean

With the rise of information and communication technologies, large amounts of data are being generated and stored in databases. In order to get a better grip on these large amounts of data, serious efforts are being made to discover patterns and relations in the data with the help of new techniques.…

This problem analysis raises the importance of a two interlinked questions: (1) what are important digital skills in the public sector? and (2) how well do different organizational and individual factors explain differences in skills levels?

African oral literatures, new media and technologies: challenges for research and documentation

This paper will address how digital affordances (Grasseni and Walter 2014) of the interactive documentary are an epistemological tool that shapes and fosters comparative reflections in collaborative ethnographic projects. To do so, I will analyse the process of planning and coding an i-doc (interactive…

This dissertation focuses on investigating the public communication around quantum science and technology that may affect public engagement.

This volume is the outcome of collaborative European research among archaeologists, archaeobotanists, ethnographers, historians and agronomists, and frequently used experiments in archaeology.

This volume provides an authoritative, cutting-edge resource on the characteristics of both technological and social change in warfare in the twenty-first century, and the challenges such change presents to international law.

Hifadhi ya Dijiti ya Ustadh Mau

This report concerns itself with terrorist technical innovation, particularly with regards to terrorists’ incorporation of emerging technologies into their practices. More specifically, it investigates, through the elaboration of a theoretical learning framework, how terrorist groups can adopt the practices…

Mechanobiology is a major area in biology, however, mechanics is currently a missing element in drug development pipelines. This has led to a high cost for the society. Mechanotoxicity of drugs often appears as a long-term side effect of drugs, and has led to removal of drugs from the market. Furthermore,…

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) is a research institute at Leiden University working on improving how science is practiced and governed and how it serves society.

Video conferencing from your sitting room and algorithms on social media that know your interests: new technology is an increasingly integral part of our lives. At the same time there is a growing call to protect our privacy, and this is causing friction, at the University too. In part because of the…

Online platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, and X (formerly Twitter) have become part and parcel of everyday media use. Journalists incorporate posts from politicians into newspaper reports, scientists share their insights in short posts or videos, and the judiciary uses social media to explain their…

Ever dream of becoming a subtitler for Netflix or HBO? Or do you see yourself as someone who could help companies and governments make their texts more inclusive and accessible? Do your friends admire your talent for languages, creative writing skills and keen eye for detail? And can you tell when ChatGPT…

The development of new environmentally sound technologies is seen as a key route towards achieving sustainability.

An examination of academic organization at the forefront of the biotechnology revolution

In this paper, Sarah Giest and Bram Klievink highlight the effects of AI implementation on public sector innovation. This is explored by asking how AI-driven technologies in public decision-making in different organizational contexts impacts innovation in the role definition of bureaucrats.

Dynamical systems describe the evolution of objects in a space over time and may be used to model physical phenomena. Due to this, much research is dedicated to understanding the mathematics of dynamical systems.

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

The development of smart cars, video games that adapt to your gaming behaviour, law enforcement assigning your neighbourhood a risk score, insurance rates determined by your behaviour, finding your perfect match via an app: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly and radically transforming our interactions…

Language learners in higher education increasingly conduct out-of-class self-directed learning facilitated by mobile technology. This project aims to explore how university students use mobile technology for their self-directed language learning and investigate factors that influence their self-directed…

On 11 June 2020, Sabine Witting defended her thesis 'Child Sexual Abuse in the Digital Era: Rethinking Legal Frameworks and Transnational Law Enforcement Collaboration'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen and Prof. S. van der Hof.

When we think of ageism, we often think of discrimination against older adults. However, ageism occurs across the entire lifespan; in the tech world, for example, being

Despite the value of technology integration for educational equity and quality being emphasized by numerous studies, many gaps exist about how technology integration can be approached in policy plans, implemented in pedagogical practices, and embraced by teachers, students, and parents.

A hot topic in educational sciences is whether and how reading medium (paper vs. screen) affects reading comprehension. Especially in the media – but also in schools – their appears to be a preference for texts presented on paper: Paper texts are thought to induce a more intensive reading strategy,…

In this article, Jasmijn Boeken, explores in which ways the defining characteristics of the different zones can be found in the digital sphere.

In December 2024, Cambridge University Press published the book Regulating Competition in the Digital Network Industry by Jasper van den Boom, Assistant Professor of EU competition law at the Europa Institute of Leiden University. The book introduces a new analytical framework for understanding competition…

Research on this theme concerns Europe’s position in global markets, its response to the emergence of new international trade and financial actors that challenge institutions where Europe has long had considerable influence.

In this article, Barrie Sander together with his colleagues explore whether fairness in digital governance inadvertently entrenches structural inequalities

The Case of the Painted Plaster