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.

How can we organise society so as to keep our planet habitable for us and for all other life forms around us? To answer this question, Leiden researchers collaborate across disciplines, from biology to data science, and from environmental economy to archaeology.

Industrial Ecology is the science of sustainability, a discipline which is vital to solving today’s environmental problems. In this two-year MSc programme, we are committed to training students who will go on to play instrumental roles in addressing and positively impacting the world’s sustainability…

The Dutch National Research Agenda announced today that it will provide 17 research projects with a total of 61 million euros in funding. Researchers from Leiden University or the Leiden University Medical Center are involved in five of the projects. All of the projects are interdisciplinary partnerships…

Rich countries are getting richer because of environmentally polluting (construction) investments from the past, largely at the expense of poor countries. This was shown by long-term economic and environmental data. 'The gap between poor and rich countries is widening.' Scientists from the Leiden Institute…

A part of the steel construction of the former Gorlaeus high-rise forms the basis of a new green bike park which is part of the redevelopment of the Faculty of Science.

To meet the rising demand for minerals driven by the global shift to clean energy technologies, ensuring responsible and resilient supply chains is critical. Minerals like cobalt, lithium, and nickel for batteries, neodymium and zinc for wind turbines, and indium for solar panels are essential.

The demand for neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets is rapidly growing, while the neodymium supply chain is under pressure. Recycling can alleviate these issues. This thesis investigates the potential for deploying novel magnet recycling technologies and their environmental consequences.

Mycoheterotrophy is a particular mode of life in which plants obtain carbohydrates from their associated fungal partners, instead of by using photosynthesis.

The Netherlands cannot stop European labour migrants coming here. Nor does The Hague have much influence on the influx of asylum seekers. But experts believe that we should be able to reduce the need for labour migrants by using intelligent economic policies.

Our institute aspires to be the center of excellence for strategic and quantitative research and education on sustainable use and governance of natural resources and biodiversity. We have two distinct research programmes: Environmental Biology and Industrial Ecology. The department of Industrial…

The Advisory Board of the IBL consists of eminent scientists with specialist expertise in complementary disciplines. They all have prominent positions for the field of Biology in the Netherlands outside our own institute.

To maximise your personal development, we ensure tutorials are small-scale and staff members extremely accessible. In year one, you’ll have an average of 12 contact hours, half of which comprise lectures (in English) and the remainder tutorials (optionally Dutch or English).

Gert Renkema, Head of Financial Economic Affairs/Business Controller of FGGA, tells us how the faculty is doing

Receiving welfare benefits has a major impact on criminal behaviour. This has been demonstrated by Marco Stam, who defended his thesis on 20 January 2022.

We are pleased to invite abstracts for a conference on ‘Advancing Social, Economic, and Cultural Rights in a Polarised, Digitalised, and Unequal World’ to be held at Leiden University on 4 and 5 September 2025, in collaboration with Netherlands Network for Human Rights Researh (NNHRR).

What are the environmental impacts of widespread integration of bio-based products into the construction industry?

How can the integration of innovative technologies, circular material flows, and resource efficiency strategies accelerate the transition to a CO₂-neutral, circular, and high-tech steel sector by 2050, and how can Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Material Flow Analysis (MFA), and Techno-Economic Analysis…

Despite their ecological, cultural, and economic importance, lion (Panthera leo) populations in Kenya are declining rapidly due to retaliatory killings following livestock depredation, depletion of wild prey, habitat loss driven by human activities, climate change, and disease.

This research project addresses the ethical challenges and legal gaps regarding the operations of MNCs in conflict zones.

Low-carbon (LE) technologies have a significant potential to reduce the total carbon emissions in China.

Who is Economic Man? Every economic paradigm presupposes an anthropology, a theory of human nature. This project explores the anthropologies presupposed and produced by ancient Greek economic texts, and the specific knowledge forms that shape these anthropologies.

CML’s education programme aims at training (under)graduate and graduate students for integrated and multidisciplinary sustainability research and for better decision making in managing the world’s natural resources, environmental quality and biodiversity.

Employer organizations have been presented as strong promoters of the liberalization of industrial relations in Europe. This article, in contrast, argues that the preferences of employers vis-à-vis liberalization are heterogeneous and documents how employer organizations in Spain, Italy, and Portugal…

Who had a say in making decisions about the natural world, when, how and to what end? How were rights to natural resources established? How did communities handle environmental crises? And how did dealing with the environment have an impact on the power relations in communities?

Each scientific institute has its own dynamics. The Executive Board is visiting the different institutes to find out what is going on there. On 11 March, staff at the Institute of Tax Law and Economics talked to the Board about their teaching and research. What is going well and what are the challen…

How can we ensure a more resilient and sustainable supply of Rare Earths in the EU in the future?

Circularity is an essential aspect of the industry transformation towards resource-efficiency, climate neutrality and long-term competitiveness. It can produce substantial material savings along value chains and production processes, generate added value and unlock economic opportunities.

Dr. at Max Planck Institute for chemical Ecology, Jena - Germany

This thesis investigates how the assessment of circular economy (CE) at the macro-economic level can be facilitated and promoted⁠.

How can sustainable and circular decision-making be integrated into manufacturing operations? How can data from physical simulation models, digital twins and operations be used for sustainability assessment? How can manufacturing decisions affecting sustainability and circularity be integrated into…

Questions of justice are not only the concern of legal professionals, politicians and activists, they also permeate culture at large. Literature, Cinema, Music and Artworks often revolve around questions about rights, justice and fairness, raising a wide range of issues, such as: how do we understand…

Sheltering is an immediate human need and determines well-being andhealth.

A MSCA Global Fellowship that aims to explore the socioeconomic and environmental implications of a Latin America circularity transition, and its impact on the EU and global economy.

This thesis examines the impacts and challenges of water use of electric power system. This thesis found that there are large differences in water use of electricity technologies, with hydropower and thermal power being two large water users.

Supply risks are not new. But the aggravation of power conflicts on the international stage coupled with global shifts towards energy transition and digitalization has triggered the next supply risk research era.

The Science Council is an advisory committee to the Board of the Institute and consists of the full professors of the Institute.