In their article; The Effects of Legal Measures to Empower Supervisory Directors: Evidence from a Financial Distress Perspective, Santen and De Bos discuss the relationship between the corporate governance structure of a company and its financial performance. Until now studies predominantly hypothesize…

Prof. dr. Aad van der Vaart has been appointed as Scientific Director of the Mathematical Institute of Leiden University on Tuesday 15 September 2015. He succeeds prof. dr. Peter Stevenhagen who has been a dedicated Scientific Director of the Mathematical Institute as from 2007.

Professor Willemien den Ouden has been appointed as the new Academic Director of the Institute of Public Law starting 1 September 2017. She will take over from Professor Wim Voermans who has held this position for the past seven years.

After seven years, Eric Eliel resigns as scientific director of the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION). On April 18th, LION hosts a farewell party and a week later Eliel will officially hand over his tasks to Jan Aarts. We spoke with him about his term as director, in which among others a new science…

Promotor: Prof.dr. T. Schmidt, Co-Promotor: Dr. ir. S.J.T. van Noort

The FOM Executive Board has appointed Professor Wim van Saarloos (1955) Director of FOM Foundation, effective 1 November 2009.

In surface science there is great effort to move from studying simple, flat model surfaces in vacuum to investigating more complex model catalysts in gas environments (in situ). This thesis gives three examples of such studies using microscopy and spectroscopy.

We are happy to introduce our new Assistant Director for Egyptology & Archaeology: Dr Ariel Singer

We review the state-of-the-art in the theory of dissociative chemisorption (DC) of small gas phase molecules on metal surfaces, which is important to modeling heterogeneous catalysis for practical reasons, and for achieving an understanding of the wealth of experimental information that exists for this…

Africa needs a narrative that is consistent with the developments that are taking place all around the continent. In these developments, talented youth, creative tech hubs, and leapfrogging play a big role. We need to invest accordingly.

What is the difference between highly visible and poorly visible monuments on the alignment? And is this difference reflected in the social position of the dead buried underneath these mounds.

Research groups in the Quantum Matter & Optics programme investigate electronic properties of matter and light-matter interactions with emphasis on quantum information.

The Leiden astronomer Huib van Langevelde) has been selected as the new director of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT). The EHT is a collaboration involving about 350 scientists from 18 countries. It combines the ALMA array in Chile with sub-millimeter telescopes around the world and published the first…

Professor Geert de Snoo, Dean of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University, has been appointed Director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) with effect from 1 November 2019. He will stand down from his role as Dean of the Faculty of Science with effect from 1 September. De Snoo will…

Michel Orrit has received an NWO-TTW Open Technology Programme grant. He will use it to image single molecules without the need for fluorescence.

This dissertation combines the use of defined microenvironments, high-resolution fluorescence microscopy, and time-resolved analysis, to study intracellular and cellular motility.

Nucleoid associated proteins maintain the architecture of the bacterial chromosome and regulate gene expression, hinting that their role as transcription factors may involve local three-dimensional chromosome re-modelling.

Dear friends of the NVIC,

After more than five years, Professor Armin Cuyvers has handed over the position of Programme Director for the master’s programmes in Law to Marije Schneider, who started on 1 January 2024. Her vision, drive and experience mean she is well placed to fulfil the role.

Promotor: Prof.dr. J. Brouwer, Co-promotor: Dr. Remus Th. Dame

The human body consists of hundreds, perhaps thousands of different types of cells, each with different morphologies and functions, despite having the same genome.

Egyptologist Marleen De Meyer has been appointed the new Director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC). Dr De Meyer has worked for the institute, which promotes Egyptian, Dutch and Flemish collaboration in the field of education and research, since 2016.

'Meet and greet' with the directors of Leiden University’s Institutes Abroad (18 September)

Ralph Keuning, the former director of Museum de Fundatie, a museum for the visual arts in Zwolle, stepped down in 2022 following complaints about authoritarian leadership. On top of that, an independent investigation has shown that he received almost €200,000 from the struggling museum after his departure.…

The Joan van der Waals colloquium is an ongoing bi-weekly lecture series.

Research groups in the Biological & Soft Matter Programme unravel mechanisms in biological processes and develop novel bio-inspired soft materials.

Lecture from the ESA Director-General Johann-Dietrich Woerner in Lorentzzaal (A144)

A logical next step and a new challenge: Harold Linnartz is ready for his new position as Programme Director (PD) of the Leiden Observatory. He will follow up current PD Paul van der Werf on 1 October. 'The programme has grown tremendously. That will be a logistics tour de force.'

Leiden University is developing new short stay living space for foreign guests and employees. De Kloksteeg is currently the last of four projects that has been renovated by the Leiden University Real Estate directorate since 2017. The Service Centre International Staff (SCIS) is responsible for rental…

On June 30, eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies of Leiden University organised the annual Hans Franken Lecture. This year the lecture was delivered by Jan Kleijssen, former Human Rights Director at the Council of Europe.

The Museum enjoys the highest reputation internationally

Advancing the understanding of the interaction of light and matter on the single-quantum level is important for near-future quantum technologies but also to answer fundamental questions.

An overview of our infrastructure at the SPP division:

Dear friends of the NVIC,

In March 2020, the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo suddenly had to repatriate 57 students to the Netherlands and Flanders. Director and Arabic specialist Rudolf de Jong decided to stay in Egypt. ‘A lot of the work carries on.’

Michel Orrit was awarded the Physica prize 2016 for his groundbreaking work on single molecule spectroscopy.

Prof. dr. Arnold Tukker will be appointed on 1 October 2013 as Chair of Industrial Ecology at the Faculty of Science of Leiden University. He will work at the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), and also become the new director of this institute.

Professor Chinese Frank Pieke becomes research and general director of the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS) in Berlijn.

Visualising cell proteins without invasive techniques is possible with the help of fluorescence. During a lecture of the Natuurwetenschappelijk Gezelschap Leiden on 18 January, winner of the Spinoza Prize 2017 and founder of the field of single molecule optics Michel Orrit explained how this works.

Archaeologist Professor Jan Kolen has been appointed Director of the LDE Center for Global Heritage and Development (CGHD) with effect from 1 July 2013. This new inter-university heritage center is due to start in the autumn of 2013 within the framework of the strategic alliance between Leiden University,…

Kim Duistermaat will become the Campus The Hague Director on 1 April. In this new role, she will monitor Campus The Hague projects and drive them forward. ‘I think it will be great to contribute to the successful realisation of the concept of “one university in two cities”.’

On September 12, Michel Orrit received his Spinoza prize in the Royal Theatre in The Hague from OCW Secretary of State Sander Dekker. With the award comes a budget of 2.5 million euro, to be spent freely on scientific research, and the coveted Spinoza statue. Orrit shared the honor with Eveline Crone…

The District Court of The Hague announced its judgment on 5 February in the case of SyRI (Systeem Risico Indicatie). Two writers, Privacy rights groups, civil rights lawyers and the largest national labour union had rallied to fight this controversial surveillance system, created and used by the Dutch…

Professor Eric De Brabandere has been appointed as the new Director/Head of Department of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, succeeding to Professor Nico Schrijver who has led the Centre for more than 12 years. Eric De Brabandere holds the chair of international dispute settlement law…

The research groups within the biological, soft and complex systems research area study the physics of a broad range of biological and soft materials. This spans both experimental and theoretical research.

Physics and Engineering Approaches to Biomedicine and Pharmacology

On 6 November 2025, the Europe Hub welcomed Mr. Pierre Bachelier, Director of Student Affairs at the College of Europe, for a visit at Leiden University. Mr. Bachelier presented the College of Europe's postgraduates programs, which Leiden students can join after graduating from their masters.

Professor Jan-Bart Gewald has been appointed as the new director of the African Studies Centre in Leiden with effect from 1 September 2017, for a period of five years. Professor Gewald will succeed Ton Dietz, who will be retiring in September.