Lecture

What rules should regulate AI, who should make them, and how will they be enforced in the digital arena?

During adolescence, some young people have stable best-friend relationships, while others change best friends frequently. Developmental psychologist Lisa Schreuders has studied the brains of young adolescents: ‘It seems that friendships in your early years can have consequences for your friendships…

A cap on the number of international students at the five broad-based Randstad universities will have a drastic effect on the Dutch economy. The gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to decline by approximately 4 to 5 billion euros. Regions, businesses and society as a whole will feel the consequ…

Harm Derks started as Head of the Institute Office on 21 May. After a lengthy test drive in the world of classic cars, he is once again in his element back in the academic world. ‘I really want to get to know people, and also for colleagues to get to know me.’

Interdisciplinarity is more than a buzzword in academia. It’s essential for tackling today’s biggest challenges. But what does it look like in practice? How can PhDs learn the skills needed to work across disciplines, and how can supervisors master the art of guiding them?

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…

A lot of municipalities work with a points system to encourage construction projects to take biodiversity and creating green areas into account. But this way of working also benefits local neighbourhoods and residents, master's student Marije Sesink discovered. She based her study on The Hague.

Lecture

The rules of play for researchers are becoming increasingly complex. This makes it essential that they receive the best possible support with challenges such as complicated grant procedures or strict privacy and ethics requirements. Leiden’s research support professionals have a network in which they…

De Europe Hub verbindt onderzoekers van verschillende faculteiten. Het netwerk biedt hun de kans snel vakkennis uit te wisselen en projecten gezamenlijk te beginnen. Door de hub is een nieuwe minor in ontwikkeling en hij biedt kansen voor onderzoeksfinanciering.

On 22 January, a panel of international experts on nuclear deterrence gathered at the Campus The Hague to discuss the future of nuclear deterrence in Europe. The panel addressed key aspects of nuclear strategy and the impact of Russia's nuclear rhetoric in the context of the war in Ukraine.

From 13 to 16 July, Leiden will host the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), the largest multidisciplinary scientific conference in Europe. Lars van Doorn from Leiden Law School will give a presentation.

Political games have existed throughout history, but what is the role of 'play' in the way the American political world has developed? University lecturer Sara Polak has received an ERC Starting Grant to investigate this.

A celebration was held in the Tabú restaurant: Mark Rutgers, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, was presented with the first copy of LEAP, a journal where Humanities master’s students can prepare for an academic career by publishing articles themselves.

PhD defence

Since the beginning of September, urban criminologist Marianne Franken has been the linchpin of a special partnership between Leiden University, the municipality of Leiden and the police. As a PhD candidate she will spend four years conducting research into how safe the people of Leiden feel.

Lecture, Seminar

On 20 November 2025, eLaw hosted the second capacity-building session of the BIAS project, coinciding with the city’s first snowfall of the year. The training brought together HR practitioners, scholars, consultants, and policymakers to discuss the opportunities and challenges of using AI systems in…

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,…

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…

High-quality education, research involving multiple faculties, collaboration between universities and central government funding to make all this possible: these were the topics covered in a working visit of the Standing Committee for Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to the Association of Universities…

Prof. Hanneke Hulst has been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of Psychology by the Board of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. She will start on 1 February 2024 for a period of 3 years, succeeding Andrea Evers and interim director Serge Rombouts.

Sustainable biotechnology, new insights into genome evolution and combining forces in mathematics. The NWO has awarded grants to these three innovative Leiden research projects in the ENW-M Open Competition.

Professor Eefje Cuppen is per 1 oktober de nieuwe directeur van het Rathenau Instituut.

As of 1 September, Michel Mandjes has been appointed full professor of Probability and Operations Research at the Mathematical Institute. He succeeds Frank den Hollander, who will retire on 1 October. ‘The combination of deep thinking on your own combined with working towards solutions together with…

In this episode, we talk with Leonie Vreeke and Nina Komrij about the Cool Little Kids research project. CLK explores the effectiveness of training parents of anxiety prone toddlers to prevent their children from developing anxiety on a later age. Want to learn more about their research and discover…

Wouter Weeda has been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of Psychology by the Board of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. He will start on 1 December 2025 for a period of three years, succeeding Hanneke Hulst.

This year too, the faculty year was opened in the Hortus Botanicus. In the centuries-old garden, staff and students met with drinks and snacks.

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.

In 2021, Assistant Professor Tax Law Rens Pieterse published a biography about former professor in tax law H.J. Hofstra. Dutch magazine ‘Het Register’ did an extensive spread on Pieterse, his writing and other activities.

The Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award is an annual award for the best thesis in the field of Children’s Rights granted by Defence for Children and the Department of Child Law of Leiden Law School.

Since 1 October 2022, Suzan Abozyid is a PhD-candidate at the Institute for History. Below she introduces herself.

De gerenommeerde Moddermanprijs over de jaren 2022-2023 is toegekend aan Elco Nab.

Organisation

Lecture

Lecture, Leiden University Nationalism Network

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the Leiden Law School thesis prizes were awarded at the New Year’s event.

On Tuesday 6 September, the faculty year 2022-2023 got off to a great start with Leiden Law Op 1, our yearly talkshow live from the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw. Together with the Faculty Board, academic staff and students, we looked ahead to the upcoming academic year.

Opportunities and challenges of digitalisation, the platform economy, and flexibilisation of European labour markets.

Rick Lawson, Professor of European Law and former Dean of Leiden Law School, was appointed as the new president of the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights on 30 June.

Lionel Laborie recently joined the Institute for History as a lecturer in Early Modern History (18th Century). He introduces himself.

Having served on the Executive Board for over nine years, the last five of which as Rector Magnificus, Hester Bijl will leave Leiden University at the start of next year. In a new step in her career, she will become Rector Magnificus on the Executive Board of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)…

Europe's open borders are under pressure: Europe has an increasing number of Member States with governments calling for tighter border controls. Several political parties in the Netherlands are also calling for stricter border controls, among other things, to reduce the number of asylum seekers. Yet,…