On Tuesday 30 September 2025, PhD candidate Kathleen Brown will defend her dissertation 'Deception, Risk, and Evasion: The Politics of Sovereign Debt in Emerging Markets' in Leiden’s Academy Building. Her research sheds light on the hidden world of sovereign debt politics, revealing how governments…

Tradition has it that at the end of each academic year, the best master’s thesis in Political Science is awarded a prize. For 2021-2022, the jury is considering six nominations. All of great quality, but on different topics. These range from political party bans to questions regarding commitment within…

Aritri Dutta is an external PhD candidate of literature specializing in postcolonial fiction, with a focused interest in decolonizing epistemologies within literary criticism. Her research explores alternative frameworks for literary knowledge production, aiming to develop a

The thesis is a major milestone for master students graduating in Political Science. It demonstrates their ability to conduct research independently and to provide a thorough, objective and sound analysis. That requires instruction, discussion, thinking and hard work. Lots of it. In some cases this…

Towards the graduation ceremonies, you sense an increasing nervousness. Not only because all the tradition and glamour surrounding the event, also because that will be the day that the winner of the Political Science master’s thesis award will be announced. For 2022-2023, the jury is considering seven…

As a Leiden University’s master’s student in Political Science you conduct independent research and report your findings to fellow academics and, who knows, to a larger audience. Your thesis is a showcase of your academic skills and personal interest, and perhaps even passion. Easier said than done,…

The nominees for the IRO Thesis Prize 2025 and the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg-prijs 2025. Who authored the best thesis in Leiden University’s bachelor’s programme in Political Science?

This research project investigates diversifying and democratizing heritage through practices of “home-making”. Research may include studies of allotment gardens, displays of immigration histories, and forms of collaborative heritage, mostly in the Netherlands, with possible comparisons elsewhere in…

It is a full classroom: more than 30 pupils from 5 and 6 vwo are present to listen to political scientist Leila Demarest's lecture. She gives a brief introduction on the topic she is about to discuss: democracy in the global North and South. At first, the group seems a bit quiet, but when she asks questions…

Adina Akbik has been appointed as a new member of the Young Academy Leiden (YAL) as of 1 September 2024. Akbik is Senior Assistant Professor of European Politics at Leiden University. YAL serves as a platform for early career academics, and Akbik is keen to promote the needs and interests of young researchers…

Dimiter Toshkov, Associate Professor at Leiden University, told CGTN Europe that the Dutch election outcome reflects growing support for pragmatic and pro-European politics. He highlights D66’s focus on education, climate policy and European cooperation as key to its strong performance.

Tim Meijers Education Director and a University Lecturer at the Institute for Philosophy.

Diah Angendari is a PhD Candidate at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology. Her research focuses on the intersection of digital policies and communication.

Edmund Frettingham is Assistant Professor in International Relations at Leiden University College. His primary research interests lie in security studies and religion in international politics, with particular focus on theories of security, approaches to the study of religion in international politics,…

Rob van Wijk is Principal Investigator “Translational Immuno-Pharmacology” at the Division of Systems Pharmacology & Pharmacy.

Bastiaan Rijpkema is a legal philosopher and lawyer. He is professor of Jurisprudence at the Institute for the Interdisciplinary study of the law (Faculty of Law), where he holds the chair in Jurisprudence, with a specialisation in Theory and Methods of Law in an Interdisciplinary Context.

Arts and leisure, Arts and leisure

Daan van den Wollenberg is an external PhD candidate at the Institute of Political Science.

The latest book by political scientist Matthew Longo came out this spring: 'The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain'. In addition to its many favourable reviews, the book received the prestigious Orwell Prize this summer, which highlights exceptional books on politics.

André Gerrits is Professor Emeritus of International Studies and Global Politics.

Adina Akbik is Associate Professor of European Politics and Director of Educational Transition (Graduate Studies Portfolio) at the Institute of Political Science.

If you look at the postwar cartoonists of Dutch origin, Bernhard Willem Holtrop is certainly the most interesting, according to Frenk Driessen. He wrote his PhD thesis on Holtrop - who drew for HP/De Tijd and Charlie Hebdo, among others - and then also published it as a book.

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

Education administration offices

Festival, New year reception

Isabelle Duyvesteyn is Professor of International Studies / Global History at the Leiden University Institute for History.

When we talk about the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it is not just about the Netherlands. On the contrary: our Kingdom consists of no less than four countries, three of which are Caribbean islands. This structure is complex, to say the least. Although all countries are officially equivalent, in practice…

Dr. Jelena Belic and Dr. Tom Theuns have each been awarded XS grants from the NWO to develop innovative lines of research. Dr. Belic’s project examines distinctive ways in which the deployment of digital technologies interferes with freedom, while Dr. Theuns explores the ideological tensions between…

Roeland Spruyt is affiliated to the departement of Jurisprudence since October 2022.

Gert Jan Geertjes is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law of Leiden University.

Mark Dechesne's research is primarily focused on developing basic knowledge regarding human judgment, decision making, and beliefs, and the study of various societal questions in which these processes play an important role. The combination of basic principles of decision making and engaged social research,…