Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

When do fire making tools appear in prehistory, and how might the use of these tools manifest in the archaeological record?

Stephanie Rap and Yannick van den Brink, both assistant professor at the Department of Child Law, presented their research at the 11th EU Forum on the rights of the child: Children deprived of their liberty and alternatives to detention, which took place in Brussels from 6 to 8 November 2017.

In this thesis, the role of mast cells in atherosclerosis and novel therapeutic strategies to inhibit atherosclerosis progression are discussed. The first part of the thesis specifically focuses on the relation between mast cells and advanced human atherosclerotic plaque characteristics.

Clinical development of drugs for central nervous system (CNS) disorders has been particularly challenging and still suffers from high attrition rates.

This is a joint PhD of the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Leiden University and the Evolutionary Ecology Group at Antwerp University.

Almost three years after receiving her honorary doctorate, Dr Graça Machel returned to Leiden University. Over the course of two days she spoke with students, researchers, and other interested persons, about human rights – particularly those of women and children – in a world in which these are continually…

Friday October 24th Honours students had to present their case studies on a topical issue related to Humanities. All Honours students made posters in pairs of two and had to defend their case in front of an audience at the Old Observatory. It was a tense experience, since they were being graded by…

Investigating epistemic and ethical practices in medical experimentation on humans in the colonial period in Southeast Asia.

Human failures or faults in systems are certainly just as harmful as a targeted attack by hackers. That is what Leiden professor in cybersecurity Bibi van den Berg says in the Haarlems Dagblad. She states the recent huge disruptions at Schiphol are interesting examples.

How have human-environmental entanglements changed in the Gulf of San Miguel, Darien, Panama, from the first traces human practices through to the present?

Monica den Boer, who has decades of experience within police and defence and was also active as a Member of Parliament (D66), has been appointed extraordinary professor of Police Studies.

The thesis describes the development, synthesis and biological evaluation of several proteasome inhibitor designs. Mainly, this work focusses on designing proteasome inhibitors that selectively inhibit the immunoproteasome, while leaving the constitutive proteasome mostly, if not completely, untouch…

The individual in the EU: The application of insights from social psychology to improve the legitimacy and conflict-solving capability of the EU

Large parts of the research described in this Thesis aims at the development of oligopeptide-masked toxins and their in situ immunoproteasome-mediated activation.

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Jessica den Oudsten won this year’s Uitgeverij Verloren/Johan de Witt thesis award for history with her master’s thesis, entitled

If you missed the annual LUCDH Winter School Week of Digital Humanities workshops and Pilot Project Symposium (27 – 31 January 2025) this time around, you’ll have a chance to take part next year. Save the dates for the last week of January 2026!

In Humanity’s End As A New Beginning, Emeritus Professor Mineke Schipper reflects on myths about ‘the end’.

Does foreign aid promote human rights?

When you think of humanities, you may not immediately think of a new super server. Yet one has just been commissioned. University lecturer Jelena Prokic from Leiden University Centre for Digital Humanities explains more about this development.

This summer school focuses on the emergence of sexual orientation, gender identity (SOGI) and intersex issues in different areas of international law, such as human rights law, refugee law, international economic law, and international criminal law. Details on the application for this edition are available…

Last Saturday, Wijnhaven Campus and the Anna van Buerenplein were the setting for the first 'on campus' Experience Days in The Hague since the restrictive measures in higher education were introduced in March 2020. Spread over the day, some 200 students visited the campus to delve deeper into the 3…

Each year it is estimated that thousands of people fall victim to human trafficking in the Netherlands. Many of these victims are minors. Assistant Professor of Criminal Law Luuk Esser conducted research on the current legislation to combat human trafficking. His PhD defence is on 25 September.

Collecting as much information as possible about administering a new medicine to people can save a lot of money.

Analysis of drug adversity

NTER-SECTION is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on contributions from junior archaeological researchers at Leiden University. The journal offers an accessible platform for the publication of individual research by undergraduate and graduate students. The Editorial Board consists of PhD…

How do commissions of inquiry operating in conflict situations utilize international law, and how can inquiry findings be utilized by other bodies belonging to the international legal community?

Imagining Urban Complexity introduces passionate and critical perspectives on the link between the humanities and urban studies.

The factors that dynamically sculpt the inter-regional correlation of brain patterns are poorly understood. Here, we test the hypothesis that they are shaped by the catecholaminergic neuromodulators norepinephrine and dopamine.

You can ask virtual assistant Siri about the weather, but you can’t have a real conversation with it yet. You can’t refer to anything that’s been said before, or ask the system why it says what it says. Stephan Raaijmakers, Professor by Special Appointment from TNO, hopes to change this.

Vocal learning is a trait shared by songbirds and humans. It is also a trait that is restricted by the brain rather than by a species' vocal apparatus. In this dissertation, functional MRI is employed in both species in order to explore potential common neural mechanisms underlying the ability to develop…

This research explores how international organisations responded to the humanitarian and human rights challenges brought about by COVID-19.

The studies described in this thesis deal with glycosidases, in particular alpha-galactosidases.

Heritage expert Monique van den Dries has a long history with our Faculty. She did her studies and PhD in Leiden, and before returning to academia in 2008, she worked in heritage management for nearly 15 years. This has, given her a unique insight in the world outside of academia. ‘I want to literally…

What is the current situation of human rights in relation to detention under criminal law and immigration law, now that more and more parties are becoming involved in the administration of detention and crimmigration is on the rise? PhD defence on 21 January 2020.

Geheime diensten en criminelen kunnen inbreken in slimme apparaten, door slechte beveiliging. De markt lost het niet op: bedrijven willen gadgets verkopen, burgers doen ook weinig. NRC sprak hierover met Bibi van den Berg.

If an algorithm has to learn to understand language, simply having a lot of data doesn’t help much. Like us, a computer has to learn the language in interaction with others. Tessa Verhoef is fascinated by how this interaction works.

Joris van den Tol spent three months doing archival research in Albany in the USA. Read on how he experienced his stay.

This thesis describes the design and development of subunit‐selective inhibitors of particular catalytically active subunits of human constitutive proteasomes and immunoproteasomes.

In this project, researchers from computer science, law, psychology, and public administration research in practice how artificial intelligence (AI) can be leveraged to make decision-making in the security domain more effective, while also keeping it safe and accountable.

The third and final participation session was held on 20 September; the evening was attended by local residents, business owners, students and other stakeholders.

On Wednesday 13 December, Melanie Fink will defend her doctoral thesis ‘Frontex and Human Rights: Responsibility in “Multi-Actor Situations” under the ECHR and EU Public Liability Law’. The defence will take place at 10.00 hrs at the Academy Building of Leiden University, Rapenburg 73. The supervisors…

To celebrate the end of the semester the Science and Humanities Buddy Programme organised a barbecue together, which has become a small tradition. The barbecue marks the third co-organised activity between the two Programmes and helps to bring international and Dutch students together. The Buddy Programme…

The development of the Humanities Campus is entering a new phase. On 13 June, the Municipal Council approved both the zoning plan and the visual quality plan. This means that the university can now go forward with developing the new construction and the central green square on the Doelen side of the…

The Sackler Distinguished Lecture Series on Human Rights was established at Leiden University through an endowment given by Dr. Raymond R. Sackler and his wife, Beverly, international philanthropists with a commitment to supporting scientific research. The lectures mark the annual celebration of International…

Promotores: G.R. de Snoo, B. Sinsin, Co-Promotor: H.H. de Iongh