From the beginning of Galileo’s career, well before the publication of the Sidereus Nuncius, his contemporaries took pains to shape his reputation and fame. They were fully aware that their efforts would shape the course of his career; they also knew that they would profit from helping him.

People are keen to make a contribution that will be valuable for scientific research. Many thousands are taking part in the Major Flu Survey. Leiden researcher Anne Land is publishing on this subject in the Journal of Science Communication.

How do classroom demonstration experiments help students learn chemical reasoning? Marie-Jetta den Otter, PhD student at ICLON, researched this. She defends her thesis on 6 December.

Do you like running or helping charity? Then join the Leiden Science Run on 29 September! Form a team together with friends, colleagues, roommates for this relay race of 5 km at the Bio Science Park in Leiden and Oegstgeest. Leiden University is organising this sponsor contest for the UAF, in collaboration…

Do you like running or helping charity? Then join the Leiden Science Run on 29 September! Form a team together with, for example, your old study mates or old roommates for this relay race of 5 km at the Bio Science Park in Leiden and Oegstgeest.

Two months ago, history student Willemijn contracted coronavirus. At the time she was taking a course given by lecturer Rens Tacoma. What can you do if you’re even too ill to follow online lectures? And how are lecturers dealing with the growing number of sick students? ‘We have to work it out toget…

Only one in five young people with emotional health problems such as an anxiety disorder receives appropriate professional help. GPs often fail to properly recognise the signals in children and young people, according to psychologist Semiha Aydin. How can we improve this? PhD defence 23 February.

When children wean off from heavy medication, they often experience withdrawal symptoms. The severity of these symptoms is often difficult to predict. Pharmacologist Bas Goulooze developed a computer model to determine the best weaning strategy for each child. His research has now been published in…

The high number of students that we are used to in the West would never have been possible if Latin were still the language of instruction in our universities. In his PhD defence on 16 September, Bert van Pinxteren will argue that Africa could gain a lot from a similar language switch in secondary e…

In the world of Ancient Greece the interpretation of supernatural signs was a versatile tool to facilitate decision-making. This is the central hypothesis of the PhD dissertation of historian Kim Beerden. Defence on 14 February.

Children are often able to decide for themselves whether they want to take part in medical research. In order to be able to make an informed decision, they need clear information. PhD candidate Ronella Grootens set a good example and created a cartoon story. PhD defence 6 December.

Where exactly on the surface of a catalyst do the chemical reactions occur? Until now, it has always been a challenge to identify the exact locations of these ‘active sites’. In a new article in Nature, Leiden chemists helped their international colleagues reveal new insights into this issue. Their…

In his PhD research in the field of public administration, Mark Reijnders looked at why people do not receive the help they need. They lose their way in the labyrinthine support system or become bogged down in bureaucracy. In public administration this is known as non-take-up of social care. PhD defence…

best phd theses of the faculty of science Leiden - physics, chemistry, computer science, biopharmaceutical sciences, biology, industrial ecology, environmental sciences, astronomy, mathematics

Bordering Up: Regulating Mobility Through Passes, Walls and Guards

Is there extra-terrestrial life out there? It now looks as though we can sketch out an answer to this enduring question. Leiden Observatory is helping to build new instruments to find the most promising exoplanets.

Managing Diversity: Supervising Functions in Managing Colonial Workplaces

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University’s Faculty of Science with two Nigerian universities, the Center for Basic Space Science and University of Nigeria.

An overview of frequently asked questions

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, a world-wide effort by the botanist and plant protection community, is making considerable progress in protecting plant diversity around the world, a new report says. The Hortus botanicus Leiden is one of the partners of the project.

The Urban Studies bachelor’s programme is taught at Leiden University's location in The Hague, a vibrant city offering many cultural activities and sporting opportunities, and close to the beach at Scheveningen. The Hague was also awarded the title ‘greenest city in The Netherlands’ in 2017.

The Hague is a lively student city and offers everything you’ll need to turn your time as a student into the time of your life.

eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies offers educational programs at Pre-University, Bachelor, Master’s, Advanced Master’s, and postgraduate level in the field of law, technology, and society.

Legal proceedings are often time-consuming, costly and stressful. Accessible out-of-court dispute resolution can sometimes offer a good alternative, but having access to reliable and efficient judicial proceedings remains equally important.

We have examined sequences from the ligand-binding domain of the nicotinic acetyl choline receptor (nAChR) in 148 vertebrate species. We are in interested in this receptor because the α-neurotoxins of many venomous snakes binds to this receptor in its location at the neuromuscular junction in all ve…

Marten Soolmans (1613-1641) studied law in Leiden at the same time that Rembrandt lived in the city. Rembrandt painted Soolmans and his wife Oopjen in 1634, after all three had moved to Amsterdam. This remarkable portrait of the sumptuously dressed Soolmans can be seen at the Kamerlingh Onnes Building,…

A mere day after setting foot ashore in the Bahamas on October 13th 1492, Christopher Columbus notes the broad foreheads of the inhabitants of the Americas. These permanently altered cranial shapes are deliberately created through the application of pressure to the head of the infant in the first years…

In the spirit of 'unity in diversity', our objective is to promote insight into and appreciation for the wonder that the same physical laws and mathematical concepts apply to the whole of nature, from the largest to the smallest energy and length scales. We strive for the application of abstract theoretical…

Hieratic Papyrology

How did free agents in the Dutch Republic react to the creation of colonial monopolies (VOC and WIC) by the States-General? This project answers this question by looking at the role individuals played in the construction of an informal global empire parallel to the institutional empire devised by the…

How did slaves in the eighteenth century manage to empower themselves and their kin, and why did this become all the more difficult in the nineteenth century?

Resilient Diversity: the Governance of Racial and Religious Plurality in the Dutch Empire, 1600-1800

The project GRADIENTS investigates what it meant to be European in colonial Africa where identification as European often did not depend on skin colour and was understood on a spectrum with many gradients.

Team History of Africa and the Americas

What is leadership? Can it be taught, and if so, how? The International Leiden Leadership Programme (ILLP) helps students find their own style, say ILLP graduate Marko Simovski and his former coach Annah Neve in an interview: 'It’s about you, discovering you.'

Ramesh Ganohariti, PhD student and Ernst Dijxhoorn, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, researched the relation between international relations and sports, with sport and sports events increasingly being used for various diplomatic and political goals.

PhD candidates carry out a programme of independent research and additional limited) course work, culminating in production of a PhD thesis in typically 4 years.

Leiden Science’s monthly dose of research inspiration from our staff, for our staff and all other curious minds.

The HJD Article Award is a biannual award given to the published research article which best advances the theoretical and/or empirical study of diplomacy.

Shiʿi Islam

PhD candidates carry out a programme of independent research and additional (limited) course work, culminating in production of a PhD thesis in typically 4 years.

LUCIS publishes two peer-reviewed book series, “Leiden Studies in Islam and Society” (Brill) and “Debates on Islam and Society” (Leiden University Press).

Excavations at Geleen-Janskamerveld 1990/1991

This anthology contributes to a historically grounded understanding of the complex relationship between Christian missions and the roots of humanitarianism and its contemporary uses in a Middle Eastern context.

On 26 November 1940 Rudolph Pabus Cleveringa (1894-1980) gave his now famous protest speech.

In the summer of 2023, interested parties set out to map air quality in Leiden. Using a technique by British artist Robin Price, they made the invisible visible to start the conversation about the importance of good air quality.

Pre-University Classes are intended for high school students who want to do more than is offered in the regular school curriculum. In the classes, students follow special lecture series and through that are introduced to the world of science.