Monday 14 November marks the start of the Week on the International Student. The perfect moment to reveal our new Acts of Kindness Pillar. At 12.00 hours on the dot, the festive reveal will take place in the restaurant at KOG. Everyone is cordially invited to take part in the ceremony and have some…

In a confidential meeting, the University Council (UR) and the Executive Board (CvB) have discussed security within our buildings, partly as a result of media reports on this topic that appeared during the summer. The University Council has shared concerns expressed by staff and students concerning…

The ‘Amorphophallus titanum’ at the Hortus botanicus Leiden is blooming. This Titan Arum, also known as the ‘giant penis plant’, last flowered in 2009.

Earlier this week, a working group of the United Nations, comprising all 193 of its member states, adopted a consensus report on norms for responsible state behaviour in cyberspace. Dennis Broeders, full professor of Global Security and Technology at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden…

Our Keyholders are a close network of over 500 committed donors who actively support Leiden University. Pauline Höhner-Regout, who started working at the LUF since April, talks about her role as a Keyholder fundraiser.

Social

Research

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has granted four grants to Leiden humanities scholars. They get to spend this money on research on a topic of their choice, without thematic preconditions.

As chief economist, Bolhuis will conduct research on topical economic issues. Besides this position, he will remain active as a lecturer at the Department of Economics at Leiden Law School.

Opportunities and challenges of digitalisation, the platform economy, and flexibilisation of European labour markets.

As of 1 November, Jan Vonk has been appointed full professor of Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute (MI). The institute is delighted with Jan’s appointment, as is he. ‘At the MI we combine the abstract with the concrete like no other.’

The Leiden University team representing the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) won the World Finals of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition that took place in Paris on 20 September 2022.

The second quantum revolution is in full swing, bringing all kinds of new technologies to within reach, and offering many opportunities as well as challenges. Leiden and Delft decided to join forces.

Two teams of astronomers, including one from Leiden University, have discovered oxygen in the most distant known galaxy, JADES-GS-z14-0. This groundbreaking discovery shows that galaxies could form much faster in the early universe than was previously thought.

Heritage Quest is a large-scale citizen science project in the field of archaeology that allows anyone to contribute to scientific research. It is the first large-scale archaeological citizen science project in The Netherlands and one of the few of its kind in the world. As part of the Cultural Heritage…

Mingmin Gong

Ten participants and two observers from the Faculty Council and the University Council attended the third and final meeting of the Humanities Campus Think Tank.

Dutch retailer Blokker has gone bust. But a restart could be possible depending on the trustee. Research conducted by Jessie Pool and her colleagues has shown that one third of all bankruptcy trustees would prioritise saving the high street.

The Executive Board of Leiden University has asked the University Council to advise on its proposed decision to reactivate the person counters/sensors in due course. The Council will now look at this carefully before the Board makes a final decision. The advice of the University’s participation body…

On Thursday 30 May, Leiden University hosts a workshop to foster collaborations to improve the governance of European textile waste export. Different stakeholders, including municipalities, associations of textile collectors and sorters, industry and consumers associations, are warmly invited to join…

Before coming to Leiden, Dr. Grossmann worked at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She first did her PhD and then she joined the Franz Rosenzweig Minerva Research Center for German-Jewish Literature and Cultural History and the Jacob Robinson Institute for the History of Individual and Collective…

The Babylab, part of the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) and SSH Labs infrastructure, has recently introduced a new eye tracking device for conducting research into first language acquisition.

Education, Organisation

Leiden University opened the doors of its new Living Room on Thursday 16 February. The Living Room is a home from home where Dutch and international students can relax and meet others and is a strictly no-study zone.

Tahir Abbas, Associate Professor in Terrorism and Political Violence at ISGA, explained how polarisation and social exclusion were at the root of radicalisation around the world. Papers ‘The News’ and ‘Dawn’ wrote articles about it.

A leaving do, birthday or other celebration? Many people like to ask for a donation to a good cause for their birthday or anniversary present. Leiden research can be one such cause.

Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have signed an agreement on ICT for research. This is the further concretisation of previous cooperation between the two.

Medievalism is the area of academic study that investigates the reception and reconstruction of the medieval past since the Middle Ages came to an end.

Space travel has long since progressed from being just about rockets, travelling to the moon, and Russia and America. The Netherlands has its own Space Agency and one of its important tasks is collecting and making available increasingly advanced satellite data.

How do you make effective use of AI and medical technology? And what role do you play in this as a doctor? This is what the LUMC/Leiden University is preparing medical students for, right from the first year of their studies.

The proportion of professors at Leiden University who are female has risen slightly to 32.0%. These are the results of the Women Professors Monitor 2024 released by the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH). This puts Leiden University above the national average of 28.7%.

The new minor ‘The (un)just society’ will start in September 2024. We asked Judi Mesman some questions about this new minor.

On Tuesday 8 April, the CV of Failures exhibition was officially opened by Hester Bijl. Members of the university community share their personal stories during the exhibition. They offer an honest insight into the rejections, setbacks, and unexpected turns that have shaped their journeys.

The Dutch Tax Authorities leaked information about an international tax audit to Uber. In addition, they ‘obstructed and delayed’ an investigation by other EU Member States, says the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) based on internal documents from the tech company.

What is the impact of humans on nature? In Science an article appeared in which researchers try to give an answer to that question. Biogeographer and postdoc at LUCL Sietze Norder is one of its authors.

During a recent event, the Leiden Institute of Environmental Sciences presented the breadth of its research on biodiversity.

In November 2020 former dean Rick Lawson, professor of European Human Rights Law, was elected member of the Management Board of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency in Vienna. He was nominated by the Dutch Government following an open selection procedure.

This year, LUCIS adapted the programme of its popular annual Middle Eastern Culture Market into an evening version, featuring a lecture, book discussion, and music.

Professor of Cognitive Psychology Mariska Kret has been awarded the Dr Hendrik Muller Prize by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) for her pioneering research into emotions. Kret: ‘This prize offers a wonderful opportunity to give a boost to emotion research.’

Alumnus Théo Pavlović received the Master's Speckmann award for his thesis: PAN RECORDS - A digital journey through the ethnic music niche that was supervised by Bart Barendregt. This price is awarded to the best fieldwork reports for ethnographic fieldwork. It includes a certificate and a prize of…

Op woensdagmiddag 17 mei vindt een groot evenement plaats, waar alle Leidse onderzoekers kunnen kennismaken met de interdisciplinaire stimuleringsprogramma’s om samenwerkingsmogelijkheden te verkennen. Waarom is dat ook voor jou interessant? We geven vier redenen.

The Dutch universities as a whole are lobbying for a 'normal' academic year from the end of August, where on-campus teaching will be possible. It's a view that Leiden University shares. Rector Hester Bijl talks about what teaching will be like then. She also looks back on a year of lockdown.

Jildau Bouwman has been named as professor by special appointment of the chair ‘Remote Health Monitoring’ at Leiden University. The systems biologist and TNO Digital Health Innovation figurehead will investigate how digital solutions can contribute to better healthcare at home. ‘Home care is often more…

Scientists have discovered that starlings and parrots can imitate the complex sounds of Star Wars droid R2-D2 remarkably well. Their study reveals how the structure of a bird’s vocal organ determines its vocal abilities – and how citizen science helps uncover it.

The Netherlands returned 478 artefacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka this week, on the advice of a Dutch committee. Rightly so, says Leiden professor Pieter ter Keurs from the Museums, Collections and Society interdisciplinary research programme. ‘But do make it clear why you are returning something.’

Professor Nira Wickramasinghe will research forgotten lineages with an NWO Open Competition grant, in particular the afterlife of Dutch slavery in the Indian Ocean World.

Today, Leiden University announces who the new Cluster Zuid on the Witte Singel will be named after. Summer 2023, a ballot determined the name of the complex on the former Van Wijkplaats/Van Eyckhof, which is expected to be completed in March. It was already established that the complex would be named…

According to Nivja de Jong, second language acquisition is 'the most fascinating subject in linguistics'. As a recently appointed professor of Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy, she studies the question of how best to teach people a new language.

PhD candidate Karen van den Akker has written a children’s book to get young girls excited about technology. The picture book ‘Met mama naar Mars’ tells the story of Luna, who wants to travel to Mars.

What opportunities does uncertainty offer with regard to innovative behaviour of professionals and what role does leadership play in this?