Fieldwork is an essential part of this research and of course this part of the project is also a joint effort by citizen scientists and professional archaeologists. Discover when fieldwork will take place and how you can participate.

How humans and rats cohabit the cityscape and what consequences this has for both sides of the conflict?

Principles of Environmental Sciences provides a comprehensive picture of the principles, concepts and methods that are applicable to problems originating from the interaction between the living and non-living environment and mankind. Both the analysis of such problems and the way solutions to environmental…

Scientists are asking your help to find the origin of hundreds of thousands of galaxies that have been discovered by the largest radio telescope ever built: LOFAR. Where do these mysterious objects, which extend for thousands of light-years, come from? A new citizen science project called LOFAR Radio…

The team consists of

To get an idea of the science communication products and research that is possible, a few examples of student projects of recent years are shown below.

Horizon Magazine published about urban food systems.

‘Ordinary citizens’ are featuring more prominently in foreign policies which has already resulted in some unexpected outcomes such as Brexit. Jan Melissen, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) conducts research into the societisation of diplomacy. He is interested in…

In January 2020, the team took a break from their respective field sites and travelled back to Leiden to take stock of their research progress and to host its third Advisory Board meeting at their home institution, the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology of Leiden Universit…

In late May 2019, the Food citizens? team traveled to Poland for a project meeting and team outing. This was made possible by the European Research Council’s support and facilitated networks and knowledge-generation.

Is it possible to formulate a new conceptual foundation for attributing an evaluative role to historiography of science, without relinquishing the historiographic sensitivity of recent work in the discipline?

Heritage Quest citizen scientists conduct research in two ways: online and in the field. Online, from their own home, they inspect elevation maps for traces of archaeological heritage.

Cultural Anthropologist dr. Anouk de Koning has been awarded the Urban Citizen Fellowship to carry out research about democratisation of local democracy in Amsterdam.

How can we bridge the gap between experts and the general public?

The Heritage Quest project is a citizen science project in which volunteers participate in archaeological research. Discover the aims and methodology of the project, the sub-projects and how to participate yourself.

‘It is recommended that the State assumes sovereign responsibilities to protect life, liberty and property of its citizens in the domain of cyberspace, despite the international character of cyberspace,’ says Roy van Keulen. He will defend his dissertation on digital force on Wednesday 9 May 2018.

It’s often said that citizens have lost trust in their governments. But who exactly are these ‘citizens’? And which aspects of people’s contact with government agencies work better than others? These questions will be discussed at the Crafting Resilience conference (working language is English) on…

The mission of the Plant Science research programme is to contribute to the sustainable production of high quality crops, flowers and high-value bio-based products. This is realised by generating fundamental knowledge of basic biological processes related to development of plants and their interaction…

A political science perspective on our project’s comparative ethnography. I truly enjoyed the one-day conference on February 4th where the research results have been shared with the members of the Advisory Board. The work conducted so far is impressive, and the case studies are very useful in understanding…

The field of science communication is very broad. Below is a list of organisations where SCS students can fulfill internships or where alumni have found jobs.

For years, the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV) has collected and shared privacy-sensitive information about citizens. Experts say this is in breach of the law.

We asked our Winter School students to evaluate the effect and significance of this learning experience on their current research trajectories and future plans. Here are some reflections.

Martina Vijver has been reappointed as Scientific Director of the Centre for Environmental Sciences Leiden. Vijver has been Director of CML since 2022 and her term has now been extended until 1 September 2030.

On 13 December 2022, Jan Aart Scholte and Soetkin Verhaegen presented to the German Institute of Global and Area Studies on 'Citizens, Elites, and the Legitimacy of Global Governance'. Click here to find out more about the event.

The Winter School of the Food Citizens? project has been a success! Running from Monday 24th January to Friday 4th February 2022, with this milestone we handed down the project’s methodological toolkit as a team. Nine participants attended in Leiden, coming from Belgium, Ghana, Italy, Lithuania, the…

Image from ESOF Forum programme page.

Mr. Ade Jaya Suryani defended his thesis on 28 January 2021

Maria Vasile's ethnographic fieldwork in Turin reveals that volunteering and citizen engagement may not empower residents or allow them to shape their cities. Her analysis of urban gardens, food markets, and food aid initiatives calls for a broader perspective on urban peripheral areas and a shift away…

Children are little scientists by nature. The best way to introduce them to science is to put them to work and let them do actual scientific research.

Dutch knowledge institutions are taking steps to recognise and reward open science. On 13 December, the Open Science NL Steering Board approved a total of 1.2 million euros in grants to 23 institutions. The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) leads the national coordination of the local…

We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

Jan Melissen discusses the political side of the repatriation operation for Dutch citizens stranded abroad in Dutch newspaper 'de Volkskrant'.

In the research programme Microbial Sciences we perform state-of-the-art research in the field of biotechnology and microbial sciences.

Advisory Board member Francesca Forno shares insights about the Food Citizens? project.

The Leiden Human Evolution Collective (LHEC) is a network of researchers from Leiden University, LUMC, and Naturalis with an interest in human evolution. The collective brings together existing expertise in Leiden to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in research, teaching, and public outreach.

The VICI research project Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages, led by Els Rose (Universiteit Utrecht), published a new book: Els Rose, Robert Flierman en Merel de Bruin-van de Beek, red., City, Citizen, Citizenship, 400–1500. A Comparative Approach (Londen: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2024). It…

INFLUEX examines the influence of experts on public policy, aiming to define, measure, and explain their role in democratic policymaking

The Dutch Royal Couple received 70 scientists at the yearly gala for the Diplomatic Corps at the Royal Palace in Amsterdam on 14 June 2023.

This NWO-funded research programme focuses on the assumptions and methodology of the writing of history of science. History of science is in many respects a flourishing discipline: it currently yields an impressive volume of studies. Systematic reflection about the ways in which history of science may…

The master's specialisation Data Science: Computer Science at Leiden University provides students thorough knowledge and understanding of statistical and computational aspects of data analysis, including their application in databases, advances in data mining, networks, pattern recognition, and deep…

The mission of our group is understanding how science communication works to improve the interaction between science and society. We believe better science communication can improve our society and engage many different groups with science, also improving science.

The research programme Statistical Science is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of masses of data, the quantification of uncertainty using probability models, and the development and benchmarking of algorithms and methods with these aims.

Media outlets Investico, de Groene Amsterdammer and Trouw reported on the wide-scale collection by the Dutch police of personal data of demonstrators and their family members. Bart Schermer, Professor of Privacy and Cybercrime, commented on the issue.

The aim of this study is to further develop the Open Science Monitor, which started as a pilot study.

There are eight institutes at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences:

The Faculty of Science

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will retire on 8 February. If there’s one theme running through his career, it’s the links between the University and society. In this series of pre-retirement discussions, Stolker will talk one last time with people from within and outside the University. On this occasion,…

After your graduation, Leiden University would love to stay in touch with you. Alumni are an important part of the university; with your experience we can improve the education, and you can be part of a valuable network full of knowledge and experience. Find out what options you have to stay in touch…

On January 29th, the first annual event of the SUPER MoRRI project will be held in the Lipsius building in Leiden and will be thematically organized around engaging the public with research and innovation. Registration is free; hope to see you there!

Citizens and government collaborate increasingly, for exampe in neighborhood prevention teams. Assistant professor Carola van Eijk looks into these kinds of cooperation. Today she will hear if she will be awarded the important prize in the public administration field.