On Monday 10 October a debate was held at the KOG, ‘Tax in the Boardroom’. During this inspiring event, students and tax experts from the business sector and public bodies considered the tax issues that are dominating the public debate. The tax experts were Joost Kutsch Lojenga (Shell), Sebastiaan de…

Dr Quentin Bourgeois and a group of students are currently exploring the Veluwe. In 2019 and 2020 volunteers looked at altitude maps of the Veluwe and indicated potential burial mound locations. Now the team from Leiden is 'ground-truthing', checking on the spot whether we are dealing with an actual…

In 1974 Professor Modderman (founder of the Institute for Prehistory Leiden; predecessor of the present Faculty of Archaeology) executed a small excavation in the city of Oss. The Middle Iron Age cemetery, built over by Roman Period farmhouses, proved to be the start of a unique archaeological regional…

Lecture

Lecture, Austria Centre Leiden Lunch Talk

The first full-colour images of the cosmos from ESA's space telescope Euclid were presented today. Never before has a telescope been able to take such crystal-clear astronomical images of such a large part of the sky and so far into the deep universe. The five images illustrate Euclid's full potential;…

On Friday 26 August 2022, the Dutch cabinet presented its new asylum agreement. According to Assistant Professor Mark Klaassen, the new agreement is barely legal.

Het asielbeleid blijft een hoofdpijndossier voor het kabinet. Een akkoord zou bereikt zijn waarin iedere partij een kleine concessie zou doen. De VVD gaat uiteindelijk toch niet akkoord met deze nieuwe asielwet die gemeentes kan dwingen om asielzoekers op te vangen. De VVD fractie heeft moeite met ‘dwang’…

Pandemics, terrorist attacks, environmental disasters... These are real threats, which we cannot ignore. In fact: we need to prepare better for the large-scale crises of the future. Preferably in a way that suits our lifestyle and respects our social values. Over the next ten years, an interdisciplinary…

On Thursday 11 December 2025, Daan Roovers, the philosopher and former Denker des Vaderlands (Philosopher Laureate), will give the 54th Huizinga Lecture at the Stadsgehoorzaal in Leiden. Under the title What’s at stake: The boundaries of politics and fair play, she will reinterpret Johan Huizinga’s…

Every Political Science master’s student at Leiden University completes their degree with thesis. The thesis provides students with the opportunity to pursue a topic of their choosing in depth and conduct independent research. It is a demanding task that requires dedication, attention to detail, and…

For too long the Dutch collective memory has judged the Jewish Council too harshly. This perspective needs to be adjusted, Bart van der Boom argues in his new book ‘De politiek van het kleinste kwaad’ (lit. ‘The Politics of the Lesser Evil’).

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

PhD defence

PhD defence

In a New York Times report on a bitter archaeological feud over the Nebra sky disk, Maikel Kuijpers reflects on its importance. 'It’s really unfortunate if we put all our focus on one exceptional status object. I think that’s not helping our discipline.'

The two instruments of ESA's space telescope Euclid have taken their first test images. The first images indicate that the space telescope will achieve the scientific goals for which it was designed - and possibly much more. Euclid will create a 3D map of a third of the sky, allowing scientists to study…

Imagine: you’re seeking asylum in the Netherlands due to your sexual orientation or gender identity. The immigration authorities might question you about your sexuality. PhD candidate Elias Tissandier-Nasom, who is researching asylum applications submitted by LGBTQI+ children, explains that the process…

On 10 March 2023, the Amsterdam Centre for Tax Law (ACTL) of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) organised the Conference ‘Towards eXplainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) in Taxation: The Future of Good Tax Governanceon’.

Museum Jan Cunen in Oss presents the very first retrospective exhibition of the richest graves from the early Iron Age (800-500 BC), including the one of the iconic Lord of Oss. Leiden archaeologist Richard Jansen was guest curator and the exhibition tells the story of the funeral rituals of the local…

Space telescope Euclid is capable of unravelling the secrets of the universe. That is what the images published by ESA today show, according to astronomers working with the telescope's data. The images exceed all expectations. Scientists within the Euclid consortium, including astronomers Henk Hoekstra…

Lecture

In het asielplan van vorige week kondigde het kabinet aan meer in te zetten op vertrek van ’Dublin-claimanten’. Daarbij stelt het kabinet z’n hoop op een hernieuwd EU-plan.

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) was launched in Leiden 20 years ago. This anniversary will be celebrated with a major conference (19 – 21 May) on an urgent theme: How does science contribute to sustainable and resilient societies? We put this question to Kurt Deketelaere, Secretary-General…

The norms, institutions and power relations that have defined the last decades of international political and economic relations in the European Union are undergoing major transformations. With the return of competition between great and ambitious powers, like the US, China, EU and Russia, the need…

Book Launch

Over the past few years, citizen scientists from the Heritage Quest project have scoured the entire Veluwe and Utrechtse Heuvelrug areas for unknown archaeological heritage. One of the results of this research is that the number of known burial mounds in this area has doubled.

The war in Ukraine is leading not only to human suffering. Ukraine's cultural heritage is also experiencing the consequences of the war: museums are being bombed and 'Russification' in the occupied territories means children no longer learn Ukrainian. Researcher Evelien Campfens was commissioned by…

On 28 October 2022, Yao Yuan spoke at the conference in Rome on 'Understanding national security concerns in light of FDI screening', jointly organised by Università Telematica internazionale UNINETTUNO and Uppsala University.

At the transition of the Neolithic to Bronze Age, a societal clash took place between a male dominated oligarchy (also known as the patriarchy) and the matriarchy. The latter managed to exploit vulnerabilities in the 'bro-code' to reboot society's operating system.

During the ceremony of the Opening of the Academic Year, University Lecturer Arjan Louwen has won Leiden University's prestigious LUS Teaching Award. The prize, awarded annually by the Leiden University Student Platform (LUS), honours lecturers who excel in their teaching. For Louwen, the nomination…

Back in June, the annual Leiden Archaeology Field School took place in Oss. For a month, every week, a group of 25 first year students gets to learn the ins and outs of a professional excavation. This is what they have been prepared for in the past year. ‘It is very exciting to put all the theory into…

Leiden researchers Max van Duijn (Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science) and Vasilika Kosta (Leiden Law School, Europa Institute) will join The Young Academy (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) KNAW)).

The objective of many European countries is to provide reception facilities for refugees in their own region. Here in the Netherlands a new coalition agreement is in the making and Professor Jorrit Rijpma reflects on his own research to give advice and tips.

At least 27 migrants died on 24 November after their boat capsized in the Channel between France and England.

PhD defence

Leiden archaeologists have been digging into the municipality of Oss’s past for 50 years now and students have gained their first experience of fieldwork there. What is the result of half a century of research and teaching? Archaeologist Richard Jansen and his students take us to the largest excavation…

Dr Nathalie Brusgaard both studied and finished her PhD at the Faculty of Archaeology in Leiden. After a few years spreading her wings, she is now back. As the new Assistant Professor in the World Archaeology department, she will continue her research on the relationship between prehistoric humans and…

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a prestigious Starting Grant to Leiden archaeologist Dr Nathalie Brusgaard. With this €1.5 million grant, Brusgaard will investigate how the transition to farming in Western Europe affected the relationship between humans and wild animals. A theme that,…

Lecture, CHEI Seminar

Lecture, CHEI Seminar

The end of the year often means looking back with lists, overviews and stories. This combines nicely in a list of all the books published this year by various political scientists at Leiden University. Indeed, in terms of books, these scholars have certainly not been idle. A unique collection of stories,…

Luc Amkreutz, curator of prehistory at the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden and professor of Public Archaeology at Leiden University, has a mission: to make the past accessible and relevant to a broad audience. He is the new Eugène Dubois Visiting Professor at the Faculty of Science and Engineering…

Lecture, European Union Seminar

The Municipality of Oss is a household name in the world of Dutch archaeology. For fifty years, Leiden archaeologists, in collaboration with residents of Oss, have been uncovering the history of the municipality. 2024 is the archaeological year of Oss! In a series of interviews we look back on fifty…