The Knowledge Orchard is a jubilee event at Leiden University to highlight, stimulate and strengthen inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation inside and outside the university. The event is aimed at Leiden University researchers and social partners. Put it in your diary!

Leiden University is under fire: it is allegedly doing too little to tackle antisemitism. Rector Hester Bijl responds to this accusation and to a video from 2014 on social media in which extreme remarks are made. ‘We can be short about such comments: they are unacceptable. The university is and always…

The annual commemoration of the nation’s war dead on Dam Square and at Waalsdorpervlakte, the Dutch apologies for historical slavery and the Cleveringa Lecture itself: our relationship with history is often ritualistic, Cleveringa Professor Frank van Vree will say in his inaugural lecture on 27 Nove…

The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities strategic alliance celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2022. At the ‘The Next Ten Years’ anniversary celebration in the Faculty Club on 12 April, the partners looked back on their achievements and ahead to the major social challenges of the next ten years.

Dutch citizens are not opposed to additional earnings and financial gifts for people on welfare, but believe it is important that there should also be an obligation to look for a job. This was the outcome of a research project on the opinions of Dutch people regarding the implementation of welfare p…

Amid rising polarisation and discrimination, lawyer and human rights activist Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You wants to show in her Cleveringa Lecture on 26 November how dangerous exclusion is.

Una Europa, an alliance of 11 top European universities, provides annual seed funding for new research and teaching projects. Assistant Professor Carmen van den Bergh applied for funding with her Flemish and Italian counterparts. Thanks to this funding and the support of Erasmus+, students can now take…

Young Leiden researchers Alisa van de Haar and Marleen Kunneman have received a KNAW Early Career Award. The prize, awarded annually for outstanding achievements, consists of 15,000 euros and a unique work of art.

AI-related activities and programmes are springing up throughout the university. In research, for example, at SAILS, and for staff in workshops and co-creation labs. As an AI champion at the ISSC, Julian van der Kraats is involved in various AI developments.

Leiden researchers share their work with a global audience through the international journalistic platform The Conversation. What are the benefits? And how does it work? Two researchers talk about their experiences and why colleagues should consider taking the same step.

Conference

Leiden University and African Child Policy Forum hold ‘ground-breaking’ workshop on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and human rights in Africa

For the first time, research has been conducted on how the health of detained persons prior to their detention differs from that of non-detainees and to what extent health problems change over the period: from before and after their detention.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has recently awarded a significant grant of 863,000 euros to the project proposal 'RESOCIAL' led by Dr Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor at eLaw - Center for Law and Digital Technologies. This grant is part of the 'NWA Synergy Theme: Vulnerability and Resilience…

The university's CO2 footprint - a visual representation of Leiden University's environmental impact - is calculated every year. The CO2 footprint for 2020 shows a striking break in the trend in terms of energy use, mobility and waste.

Leiden University and the Municipality of Leiden will develop new plans for an alternative Humanities Campus in the city centre. This means they will not proceed with the compulsory purchase of the De Doelen housing complex to facilitate the construction of the new Humanities Campus. The plans to demolish…

Be it in climate change, public health or artificial intelligence, when different disciplines join forces, science often flourishes. The new small-scale Kiem grants will enable Leiden researchers to explore or start collaborative projects with colleagues from other faculties. ‘So seek each other out…

Leiden University and Stadslab Leiden invite you to improve the Leiden and The Hague environment with 450 extra trees – a living reminder of 450 years since the Relief of Leiden and the foundation of Leiden University.

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.

On 10 June 2022, a conference on topical issues in Dutch subsidy law was held at the Old Observatory building of Leiden University. With almost 90 enthusiastic participants, it was a huge success!

The design for the METIS instrument for the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) is final. The European Southern Observatory (ESO) has given the green light for production of all parts of the instrument. It is the first ELT instrument, designed and to be built under Dutch leadership, to formally pass the…

Each year on or around International Women’s Day, the university hosts the Annie Romein-Verschoor Lecture. You are welcome to attend − even if you wouldn't call yourself a feminist, says professor and organiser Nadine Akkerman. ‘You get the best discussions with a diverse audience.’

Getting young people excited about history is quite possible without books. Researchers from Leiden travelled to Morocco to work with schoolchildren on reconstructing cultural heritage in the popular video game Minecraft. The result: one virtual 14th-century city gate – and 20 teens with a greater appreciation…

Last November, it was announced that the European Commission has awarded a Jean Monnet Chair to Professor of Tax Law Irma Mosquera Valderrama. She will use the grant to shape the EUTAXGOV project over the next three years.

Workshop

Health conditions and social problems often go hand in hand. To address this complex issue in families in The Hague, researchers, managers, support services, policymakers and residents are joining forces. What are the results of this transdisciplinary approach?

Fossil Free against KLM on greenwashing, municipalities against Chemours on PFAS discharge, climate cases against Shell and ING Bank… There are many examples of recent civil lawsuits on sustainability. But does climate litigation in the civil courts actually have an effect?

Facility, Organisation

People from the Dutch islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius say that violence (mainly verbal) is fairly common in families. This is according to research by Leiden University, the University of Curaçao and UNICEF Netherlands. The researchers make recommendations for preventing such violence over…

Conference

The Dutch asylum application centre in Ter Apel is overburdened, an issue that is currently a prominent feature in the Dutch media. In podcast De Verbranders, PhD students Neske Baerwaldt and Wiebe Ruijtenberg engage in dialogue, and use different angles to examine themes related to migration, borders…

The film Blade Runner as part of the law curriculum? It’s not that weird to Maartje van der Woude, Professor of Law and Society, and Frans-Willem Korsten, Professor of Literature, Culture and Law. ‘The film raises a fundamental question: what’s a human and what’s not?’ From the next academic year onwards,…

Collaborations with funds and foundations enable a lot of research. As Fundraiser for Foundations and Major Donors, Madelon Rolleman seeks out these opportunities for Leiden University. ‘I’m always looking for ways to start my conversations with funds and foundations.’

In his leaving interview, Martijn Ridderbos doesn’t have to think long when asked what he is most proud of. ‘Bringing people together; creating things together. Reducing the gap between researchers and the staff who support them because the latter are essential. We’ve achieved that and the seeds have…

Organisation

Are you looking for a free and transparent way to submit your scientific articles for peer review? Then look no further than Peer Community In (PCI). This platform, which is supported by Leiden University, is a good alternative to publication in traditional peer-reviewed journals.

Collaboration is worthwhile. A joint LUMC and Leiden Law School project has received €142,500 from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This grant will advance research into the law and ethics of regenerative medicine.

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

Last year, Maaike Swart moved from coordinating the Strategic Plan implementation agenda to joining the Organisational Development team. As Programme Manager, she has been asked by the Executive Board to help shape Leiden University’s strategic development.

450 years

Leiden University is going to offer two new Economics degree programmes at its campus in The Hague: the bachelor’s in Economics and Society and the master’s in Public Sector Economics. The NVAO has decided to award accreditation to both programmes, which will be taught in Dutch. The bachelor’s programme…

The University urgently needs IT talent. The ISSC has therefore started a pilot refer-a-friend scheme: if you recommend someone you know for a hard-to-fill IT job and they are hired, you will receive a 1,500-euro (gross) bonus. ‘So hit us with your golden tips,’ says ISSC director Joop van der Born.

Staff Association

In the middle of doing research for her master’s thesis, Sara Kalf (24) was hit by a car and got seriously injured. After a long period of rehabilitation and hard work, this week she can finally add her signature to the wall of the Academy Building’s ‘Sweat Room’.