This part of the research programme is carried out by Prof. Dr. René Cappers. It focusses on the continuities and changes in the use of plants at Late Neolithic Tell Sabi Abyad, as well as on their implications as proxy evidence for the climate change c. 6200 BC. Parallel to the design of the other…

How did Angkor interact with regional urban centers? How did the settlement system impact the society's agricultural system and regional resilience?

A comprehensive analysis of the state of play, the design of monitoring mechanisms, and creation of a toolbox of support measures.

Food waste is a defining inefficiency of the modern food system, with profound implications for resource use, climate change, and circular economy transitions. This dissertation examines food waste through two complementary lenses: the prevention of avoidable food waste and the valorization of unavoidable…

Isotopic insights on human diet from the later stone age to Neolithic in Northwest Africa, Morocco

Global Challenges is the research programme of the Leiden Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology.

Plastics have become an integral part of modern society due to their versatility and durability.

The research at the Living lab attracts a great deal of press attention. Please find below a small selection of the many news reports that have been published. Also take a look at the Zembla programme about the Living Lab.

This thesis investigates the application of deep learning techniques in image analysis across various domains, focusing on four main themes: feature extraction, classification, segmentation, and integration, demonstrating the transformative potential of these technologies.

Human impact and plant subsistence in Dutch wetlands during the Late Mesolithic and Early and Middle Neolithic (5500-3400 cal BC)

Promotors: Prof.dr. G.R. de Snoo, Prof.dr. H. Leirs (Univ. Antwerpen), Co-promotor: H.H. de Iongh

One of the key objectives of The Europe Hub is to bring together scholars and students with a joint interest in the European Union. To this end, The Europe Hub regularly organises events such as conferences, roundtables, lectures and book launches.

This omnibus brings together some old and some recent works by Jos Gommans on the warhorse and its impact on medieval and early modern state-formation in South Asia.

This volume sees the publication of fifty-six early Old Babylonian letters from ca. 1880 BCE. They were found by legendary Iraqi archaeologist Taha Baqir in 1941 at the site of Tell ed-Dēr, ancient Sippar-Amnānum, in central Iraq.

Promotores: Prof. dr. G.R. (Geert) de Snoo, Dr. E. (Ester) van der Voet

Living labs make it possible for citizens to participate in research for sustainable development of their environment. This way citizens, together with scientists and stakeholders, create local conditions for food production, healthy environment, and biodiversity.

From Complex Hunter-Gatherers to Early Urban Societies

On this page you can read about our keynote speakers.

In this opinion article published in World Development, the authors present five research and policy priorities. While it is clear that ‘pluriversal’ designs need to guide the way forward (Kothari et al 2019), defining a set of key pillars can provide direction and purpose across this pluriversality.…

Promotores: G. Persoon, R. Schefold

How do technological systems impact the environment? And can they be designed in a more sustainable way? The Resources and Energy research program studies the importance of resources and energy for our society and aims to guide the shift towards a sustainable circular economy.

The department of World Archaeology combines research and education about regions all over the world, from Human Origins to the Middle Ages, and from Europe, to Asia, Africa and the America’s. That broad range in time and space makes the department a dynamic pluriform community with many different approaches,…

Promotor: G.R. de Snoo, Co-promotor: C.J.M. Musters

In contemporary India, the regional state of West Bengal has often been perceived as somewhat of an aberration in the wider context of a rather chaotic democracy, as the Left Front (spearheaded by the Communist Party of India-Marxist, CPIM) demonstrated a rare instance of political stability, decisively…

It is well-known that humans have significantly transformed ecosystems since their adoption of agriculture. However, in a deeper past, prehistoric hunter-gatherers may already have altered and modified their niche in ways that had major impacts on ecosystems.

Promotores: E. van Dijk, G.R. de Snoo. Co-promotor: H. Staats

Microwear and starch grain analysis on experimental and archaeological grinding tools from Central

Karmaşık Avcı-Toplayıcılardan Erken Kentsel Toplumlara

“JARAK: the commoditization of an alternative biofuel crop in Indonesia” was a research program from 2010-2014 in which researchers from Indonesia and the Netherlands collaborated.

Conservation of biodiversity is one of the main challenges today. A higher degree of biodiversity results in ecosystems that can withstand adverse conditions and better provide essential ecosystem services. This is the case for both agricultural and natural systems.

'Re-territorialising skills? Insights from ethnography on solidarity-economy food activism' is written by Cristina Grasenni and published in the Special Feature: Original Article Agriculture (re‐)territorialisation: Balancing the promotion of local products and international trade in Europe.

Today, 189 out of 193 officially recognised nation-states have a written constitution, and 75% of these have been ratified since 1975. How did this worldwide diffusion of constitutions come about?

As a non-invasive genetic method, eDNA based approaches have become an important component of ecologists' and environmental managers' toolkits for biomonitoring in conservation and an increasingly important source of ecological knowledge.

Tero Alstola defended his thesis on 21 December 2017

NIMAR facilitates and stimulates research and cooperation between the Netherlands, Morocco and third countries on the basis of equal partnership.

The recently introduced nature-originated deep eutectic solvents, so-called natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) are considered as truly green solvents, which composed of natural ingredients found abundantly in organisms.

The Human Origins group at Leiden University studies the archaeology of hunter-gatherers, from the earliest stone tools in East Africa, more than three million years old, to the origin of sedentary societies towards the end of the last ice age.

With a Master of Statistics & Data Science you have good job perspectives: statisticians and data scientists are highly sought after in various industries such as food and pharmaceutic industry, in governmental organizations, and in healthcare. Qualification to become a PhD candidate is a definite…

Competing Claims to an Idealized Past in Humanist Latin Poetry

On this page, you can find video's explaining the research of LUCAS members.

LUCIR presentation and discussion

Comparative and Dutch Politics is one of the three organisational clusters of the Institute of Political Science.

Nietzsche has often been considered a thinker independent of the philosophy of his time and radically opposed to the concerns and concepts of modern and contemporary philosophy. But there is an increasing awareness of his sophisticated engagements with his contemporaries and of his philosophy's rich…

Across Europe, the need for a more dynamic governance and a better societal integration of research and innovation is increasingly appreciated. Internal drivers of change (such as the digitalization of science) and political will to better align with societal needs and concerns are bringing about aspirational…