On 19 June, the grounds of the Kamerlingh Onnes Building were transformed into LAWLANDS! It had everything: sun, music, science, beach, games, quizzes and, above all, an enthusiastic audience of staff and students.

We are looking for students who are 16 years or older and are studying at a Dutch mbo, hbo or university. Our aim is to gain insight into the needs and perceptions of students regarding stress and burnout. In short, we aim to carefully listen to the students’ needs: how can we help you?

Freya Baetens, Professor of European Law, has been awarded a Chair by the Francqui Foundation in Belgium for the impact of her work on lawmaking and policymaking in Europe and beyond.

Mingmin Gong

Editors: Irene Hadiprayitno and Rizal Shidiq (Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University, the Netherlands)

Jaap van den Herik was appointed Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau on 8 October on his retirement as professor of Law and Information Technology.

Professor Mirjam de Bruijn will research digital warfare in the North African Sahel with an NWO Open Competition grant. The focus of the research will be on Fulani social networks in war and cultural violence.

Mike Schmidli has been awarded a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS). From September 2021, he will spend 5 months at NIAS working on his research project titled 'Human Rights, Democracy Promotion, and U.S. Interventionism in the late Cold War'. Read the abstract of his…

In het onderzoek van docent Martijn Nouwen wordt voor het eerst aan het grote publiek blootgelegd hoe de ‘geheime’ Europese Gedragscodegroep er niet in is geslaagd om verschillende vormen van schadelijke belastingconcurrentie uit te bannen.

Dr. Joris Larik, Assistant Professor at LUC The Hague, has been selected for a fellowship at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (NIAS) in Amsterdam. During his fellowship, Larik will conduct research on a fundamental question: Was Brexit worth it when it comes to striking trade deals around…

Philosophy alumna Naomi Rebekka Boekwijt returns to Leiden University on 20 June to present her latest novel Stemmen (Voices) in Plexus. ‘I wanted to show that things could be done differently in psychiatric care.’

Aleydis Nissen was awarded the René Cassin Thesis Prize 2021. The René Cassin Foundation - International Institute of Human Rights organises the competition. This Prize is awarded to the best PhD theses on human rights.

Good news for Linguistics alumna Anne-Mieke Thieme, who has won the thesis prize awarded by the European Federation of National Institutions for Language (EFNIL). ‘I emailed my thesis supervisor right away.’

Leiden University supports the new Zuid-Holland Acceleration Programme, which builds on the Growth Agenda for Zuid-Holland and focuses on accelerating innovation, sustainability and economic growth in the region.

Did he dare take a gamble with his PhD research? Jeroen Methorst didn’t have to think long about it. It could fail or turn out very well. The latter is the case. Methorst developed a computer system that helps researchers find the protein they need. ‘Our whole group is now using this program.’ Methorst…

When you think of migration, you probably won’t immediately think of dating apps. Yet such apps are important to many migrants, such as those who identify as lesbian, gay, bi, trans, queer or questioning (LGBT+). Researcher Andrew DJ Shield studied the role that dating apps play in the migration process,…

During the summer break, three lecture halls at Wijnhaven were equipped with advanced equipment and an education system in order to provide the best hybrid teaching possible during the upcoming academic year. The Learn Anywhere pilot will take place within the FGGA, which Koen Caminada is very happy…

Nathaniel Martin, Professor of Biological chemistry, wondered what would happen if you take an antibiotic that has been known for 70 years and try to improve it with the latest tools of modern chemistry. Turns out it can become up to a hundred times more potent and prevent the growth of some drug-resistant…

Can we reshape school playgrounds through data and design? By using AI and wearable sensors, data scientist Maedeh Nasri discovered ways to create environments where children, including those with ADHD and autism, can connect, play, and grow.

Friday 4 November marked the 65th anniversary of the founding of Leiden’s P.C. Hooft Historical Debating Society. Although new members have not been accepted for several decades, the society is still alive and kicking. A retrospective with former presidents Jos Hooghuis and Saskia Leupen.

The bodies representing student and staff interests met at the start of the academic year for a day of training. New and familiar faces had come together to learn more about their role as council members and meet the Executive Board − and each other.

The description of a painting directly affects how children look at that artwork. This was discovered by psychologist Francesco Walker in the Rijksmuseum. Another finding presented in his article in Nature - Scientific Reports is that giving children information intended for adults has the same effect…

People don’t have enough faith in the trustworthiness of others, says psychologist Manon Schutter in her dissertation. In it, she also highlights the negative effects of being actively distrusted. How does distrust affect a relationship in the future?

The Executive Board proposes to take the decision to suspend the existing institutional student exchange programmes with two Israeli universities, and until further notice not to engage in any new exchange programmes with Israeli universities that have comparable links with the Israeli military (the…

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

At the Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS), scholars have been studying the Indian subcontinent with attention and expertise for more than 100 years. This part of South Asia is an economic giant with a population of over two billion. Nira Wickramasinghe, Professor of Modern South Asian Studies,…

The Faculty of Humanities (FGW) considers it important that both its teachers and teaching methods continue to evolve. Especially in times of budget cuts and decreasing student numbers, it is crucial to keep investing in contemporary and appealing education. The workshops created by ECOLe (in collaboration…

Geriatrics needs to radically change. This is what Simon Mooijaart will say in his inaugural lecture.

Can a robot help prepare cancer medication in a hospital pharmacy? That’s what hospital pharmacist Tjerk Geersing investigated in his PhD research. He compared manual and automated preparations in terms of quality, efficiency, and safety. He graduated on 19 March.

Pesticides can form a toxic cocktail when they occur in combination in surface water. This is the finding of research that Leiden University and the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) presented on Monday 14 October. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management…

Every year the National Centre for Study Choice asks students to evaluate their degree programme via the NSE. Data from the survey helps improve programmes and prospective students can make a well-considered choice of which programme to follow. 2,892 students (38.4%) from the Faculty of Humanities took…

During her work for the European Union, Sophie Vériter witnessed how young people in countries like Ukraine and Moldova were exposed to Russian propaganda. After mapping out the EU’s disinformation policy, the PhD candidate now advocates for a revised approach.

Organisation, Social

Education

On Wednesday 19 January 2022, the online mid-term review of the legal programmes took place on the platform Let’s Get Digital. It was an interactive afternoon in which 130 participants openly and critically discussed the educational strategy for the legal programmes and the faculty.

In traditional style, 2025 was ushered in at our faculty with the Meijers Lecture followed by the New Year's Reception. On Thursday 16 January 2025, the Meijers Lecture took place in the Lorentz Lecture Hall where the Meijers Prizes and the Van Wersch Springplank Prize were also awarded. At the New…

Hak, lawyer, international imagery law lecturer, and adjunct associate professor, talks about his PhD research on the use of images in international criminal prosecutions. He was a public prosecutor in Canada for over 30 years and dealt primarily with the prosecution of homicides and other major cri…

Holocaust scholars Barbara Engelking and Jan Grabowski will jointly hold the Cleveringa lecture on November 26. They were accused of defamation in Poland for a book they co-edited. How has this affected them? ‘This is an attempt to wear us down.’

Palestinian national Abu Zubaydah was captured by the CIA in March 2002 and has remained in detention ever since, without any form of trial. Leiden professor Helen Duffy is doing all she can to secure his release or a fair trial. Her hopes now lie on international pressure and the UN Working Group on…

Elise Dusseldorp has been appointed Professor in the Methodology and Statistics of Psychological Research. In the same way that she spends her spare time rambling through the forest, as a professor she sifts through colleagues’ research data. ‘I often come across information that doesn’t appear in the…

Insurers determine for themselves whether someone has committed fraud, impose sanctions immediately and hardly ever report it. As a result, police, prosecutors, and criminal courts are side-lined. And policyholders are sometimes left out in the cold. Bart Custers, professor of Law & Data Science at…

Mirjam Sombroek van Doorm, Professor of Law and Health, became a member of the Netherlands Sports Council in September 2024. This council is an independent advisory body that focuses on bolstering high level sport, grassroots sport and exercise for Dutch society.

On November 30, 2023, the research group Institutions for Conflict Resolution (COI) organized a stakeholder meeting on governmental problem-solving and its implications for legitimacy. COI is a joint collaboration between the Universities of Leiden, Utrecht, and Nijmegen as part of the Dutch Sector…

The introduction of market forces in the field of youth protection has failed. This is clearly demonstrated by the unrest and problems surrounding the dismantling and splitting up of youth care organisation Intervence in Zeeland, says Professor of Child Law Mariëlle Bruning.

Many parents whose children have been placed in care do not understand the basis on which the decision was taken. Dutch youth protection organisations and the Child Protection Council must better document why they request such a measure from the Juvenile Court.

We are excited to share that the article, Does pre‐packed bankruptcy create value? An empirical study of post-bankruptcy employment retention in The Netherlands, by our colleagues, Jan Adriaanse, Jean-Pierre van der Rest, Gert-Jan Boon, and Reinout Vriesendorp, published in the International Insolvency…

Kinderen hebben wereldwijd een betere toegang gekregen tot de rechter. Hoogleraar Kinderrechten Ton Liefaard schrijft dit in het tijdschrift Sociale Vraagstukken. Hij is voorzichtig positief over de resultaten van een VN-protocol voor rechtsbescherming van kinderen, dat tien jaar bestaat.

The Children’s Rights Observatory is pleased to launch the Spanish version of the website. This new feature of the website is a result of the partnership between Leiden Law School and the Center for Constitutional Studies of the Mexican Supreme Court (CEC-SCJN).

The Dutch Senate recently voted on a ban on imposing community service after physical violence towards public service providers. Courts are no longer allowed to issue these sentences in case of extreme violence and vice crimes. The punishment for these crimes will be an enforced prison sentence. But…

Practice and science show that secure residential youth care in the Netherlands should no longer be used as a catch-all solution. This is the conclusion of several professionals including Professor of Child Law Mariëlle Bruning in Dutch newspaper NRC.