PhD defence

On Friday 16 February 2024, Rudolf E. de Jong passed away unexpectedly in Cairo. Since 2012, he was the director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC), which he skillfully managed for 12 years. He was laid to rest in Amsterdam on 27 February. Rudolf was 65.

Ancois de Villiers, PhD candidate at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, received the PeerJ Award for Best Student Presentation at the International Mediterranean Ecosystems Conference.

Assistant professor Vincent Chang spoke in various media outlets about the Chinese commemoration of World War II.

Lecture and discussion

Inaugural lecture

Galaxies in the early universe contain more dust and hidden star formation than previously thought. That's what Ivana van Leeuwen concludes in her PhD research, where she combines data from various telescopes to create a more complete picture.

From the birth of the universe to the molecules in a planet's atmosphere. The first five pictures from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) show the enormous range in which the space telescope can operate. Ewine van Dishoeck, professor of molecular astrophysics, took a look at the first images Tuesday…

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

On Monday 28 June 2021, a text based on an interview with Christa Tobler appeared in the Hofvijver (Montesquieu Instituut) on the relationship between the European Union and Switzerland, in particular after the decision of the Swiss Federal Government to refrain from signing an agreement on institutional…

Facility

Lecture, Com(parative) Syn(tax) Series

Interest organisations are increasingly taking legal action and that’s a good thing for democracy, says PhD candidate Rowie Stolk. ‘It means that the most vulnerable social groups – including children and refugees, who tend to have a weaker political position – are protected.’

The celebration of our up-and-coming science talent, that is the Psychology Science Day. Students stand proudly by their research posters and enrich the insights of fellow students, PhD candidates, postdocs and faculty with their explanations.

On 2 April, the final of the Legal Tech Challenge 2026 took place in the Academy Building of Leiden University. During the final, teams of students pitched their technological solutions to societal challenges.

Are quantum computers the scientific breakthrough of our time? In this podcast, Carlo Beenakker, Professor of Physics at Leiden University, explains quantum technology.

A new collaborative monograph of democratic theory, The Sciences of the Democracies, was released by UCL Press on August 7. The book, in the style of a democratic manifesto, is written by a large number of co-authors in a bold attempt to expand and deepen how democracy is studied and understood. Among…

Lecture, Economic and Social History Brown Bag Seminar

Jessie van Straaten recently joined the Institute for History as a PhD candidate as part of Evelien Walhout's starting grant project 'Human Development and Its Outliers: A Global Microhistory'. Below she introduces herself.

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our esteemed colleague Laura van Hoof on Wednesday 1 October, after an illness of more than a year. An alumnus of Leiden University, she worked in the Student Affairs department of the Faculty of Humanities, as the education coordinator for the…

It's 6:30 PM, and the Faculty of Social Sciences is quiet. Classes are over, students and staff have gone home. But at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, music is playing. Live music. A small group of students has gathered in Wim van Zanten's office, sitting on thin cushions…

When and how to use the concept of “culture” . To medical anthropologists this is a core question, but also a challenging one.

Op maandag 1 april 2024 stierf onze leermeester, vriend en gewaardeerd collega Dr. Alexander Hendrik de Groot (Sander).

Metamaterials researcher Martin van Hecke has been elected American Physical Society (APS) fellow, an honour exclusive to only half a percent of the society's members.

Op 1 december hield Ineke van der Ham haar oratie, waarin ze vertelde hoe ruimtelijke technologie de beleving van de patiënt dichterbij kwam brengen. In het Academiegebouw ervaarden bezoekers zelf de kracht van de illusie. Hoe zag dat eruit?

The new student members of the Programme Committee (OLC) are Pablo Pandocchi, Benjamin Maldonado, Emily Berube-Palsboll and Nico Lesenfants Ramos.

Emeritus Professor Rudi van Maanen has received the Cornelis Joppenszoon statuette. He was presented with the distinction by Deputy Mayor of Leiden, Julius Terpstra.

Gilles van Wezel has been reappointed as Scientific Director at the Leiden Institute of Biology (IBL). Van Wezel has been director of this institute since September 2018 and will remain so until 1 September 2026.

Inaugural lecture