Six new grants bring Leiden University researchers and Una Europa partners together
Leiden University researchers will be working more closely with colleagues at Una Europa partner universities this year. Three research projects have been awarded up to €40,000 in Una Europa seed funding to explore questions related to democracy and AI, web tracking technologies and clean energy.
On top of that, three grants of €5,000 from the University of Zurich will connect humanities scholars with Swiss colleagues to explore how language is used in both modern and historical contexts.
Una Europa Seed Funding
Una Europa is an alliance of 11 leading research universities, including Leiden University. Seed funding grants are awarded yearly by the alliance to kick-start collaboration between partner universities and 'plant a seed' that can eventually attract external funding.
The following projects have been financed from the 2025 call. More information about each project is available on the Una Europa website.
Democracy & AI
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly reshaping political communication and governance. There is an urgent need to understand its implications for democratic systems. This project will develop a framework for assessing both the democratic risks and opportunities associated with AI. Core activities include an interdisciplinary research workshop, a grant development workshop, and a virtual training programme on AI for research. It aims to advance the state of the art while contributing to the protection and resilience of democratic systems in the age of AI.
Coordinator: Tom Louwerse, Associate Professor, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
Web tracking and Algorithmic profiling: Trends, Challenges, Horizons (WATCH)
Web tracking technologies are key to today's digital infrastructure but there are major concerns about surveillance, privacy, and regulatory accountability. This project will examine the evolving landscape of web tracking and algorithmic user profiling by combining expertise from computer science, data science, AI, network science, communication, media studies, usability, law, governance and policy design. Outcomes include a monthly webinar series, a university-level teaching module and a consortium grant proposal. The overarching aim is to build an interdisciplinary research network focused on privacy-preserving, AI-driven profiling systems and policies.
Coordinator: Akrati Saxena, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Science
An Interdisciplinary Alliance on Materials for Clean Energy (ALMATCLEAN)
ALMATCLEAN aims to establish an interdisciplinary network of researchers working on innovative materials for the clean energy transition. Vital research areas include fuel cells, electrolysers, batteries, membranes and polymers for CO₂ capture and hydrogen technologies, as well as materials recycling. ALMATCLEAN’s goals include the development of competitive funding proposals aligned with European funding schemes, training opportunities for early-career researchers and activities aimed at sharing knowledge, public and industry engagement.
Participant: Marc Koper, Professor, Faculty of Science
University of Zurich collaborations
These projects were funded by the University of Zurich’s Global Funding Scheme. New calls are expected to open in 2026.
Linguistic history in the cradle of humanity
This project will explore the deep linguistic history of East Africa and aims to, eventually, reconstruct languages and cultures that existed before known language families emerged. To do this, the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics and UZH’s Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution will work together to restructure and analyse Leiden’s large collection of lexical data. These first steps will lay the groundwork for a larger project and future funding applications.
Participant: Maarten Mous, Professor, Faculty of Humanities
Exploring Dutch-Swiss Encounters in Transnational Language Histories (c. 1600–1900)
Recent research has shed light on the important role of Swiss mercenaries in the Dutch Colonial Army. Many Swiss also worked for the Dutch East India Company (VOC). As millions of VOC documents become digitally available, this project will analyze letters, diaries and other records to determine which languages people used, in what contexts, and how these choices reflected power relations. It will focus on underrepresented communities such as soldiers, mercenaries and labourers, and will lay the groundwork for a potentially larger research grant proposal.
Participant: Gijsbert Rutten, Professor, Faculty of Humanities
Social Grammar: Dialects, Identity, and Social Stratification
This project investigates how people choose linguistic forms like questions or statements in everyday speech. Conventionally indirect forms such as ‘could you pass the salt?’ are often preferred because they are considered more polite and socially appropriate than commands such as ‘pass the salt!’ However, 'pass the salt' can also be appropriate (not impolite) in certain circumstances.
By combining syntax and sociolinguistics, the project explores how social factors like class and identity shape language choices. Working with speakers of six language varieties, the team will run online tasks to analyze links between sentence types, social context and speaker backgrounds.
Participant: Marina Terkourafi, Professor, Faculty of Humanities
Browse all seed-funded projects
In the last two years, over 20 Leiden University projects have received funding to work with Una Europa alliance partners. Learn more on our Una Europa page.