Nitrogen professor Jan Willem Erisman and Ton Brouwer have released a new report presenting scenarios to actually meet the agricultural nitrogen targets for 2030. Their message to politicians in The Hague: ‘Look at this approach — it is possible.’

A deliberate attack on a tangible element of a culture, such as a temple, is often also an attack on intangible elements: the religion or religious customs. Equally, the intangible can be attacked without the involvement of the tangible, for example the brutal curtailment of rights. How are these reflected…

Do you know a children's book fanatic? According to the Griffel-jury, 'Rekenen voor je Leven' (Calculating for your life) by Science Communication Professor Ionica Smeets is highly recommended. The book was awarded a silver ‘Griffel’, one of the highest awards for Dutch children’s literature. And that…

De Universiteit Leiden vindt de aanpassing van het bindend studieadvies geen verstandig plan.

Emeritus Professor of Applied Statistics Jacqueline Meulman received an honorary membership during the annual meeting of the Netherlands Society for Statistics and Operations Research (VVSOR). This makes her the eleventh honorary member of the society.

Education

Education

Are you already using the Luris Contract Tool? It is a handy program that allows you to easily draft your own research-related contracts, like Confidentiality Agreements (CDA), certain Material Transfer Agreements (MTA) and newly added per November 17th: Consultancy Agreements. In addition to these…

Anne-Grete Märtson

Koen de Ceuster, university lecturer for Korea Studies at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, was interviewed on the NKNews Podcast about art in North Korea. He speaks about the role of art in North Korean society, art ‘business’, and argues why it is not possible to separate propaganda…

Social

Facility

How can you ensure that your research hits the headlines? How can you bring your research output, such as PhD research or a publication, to the attention of the public?

As you are a new Leiden University staff member, a number of things must happen before we can draw up your contract and activate your ULCN account. This is also the case if you are affiliated with the university as external staff, for example if you were hired as a freelancer.

Are you planning to go abroad for work for more than one month? Do you have some ancillary activities abroad? Or are you planning to move abroad? If you are going abroad on behalf of Leiden University, it is important to make the necessary arrangements for working there.

When the PhD research has been completed and the dissertation is (nearly) finished, there are several more steps to take before you can defend it. For example, you must submit your manuscript and make preparations for the PhD defence ceremony.

Assessment design is essential for measuring student progress and providing feedback that reinforces their learning.

Describing almost 1400 maps of Africa in three months. It’s no small task that student assistants Artemis Mantheakis and Beatriz Veiga have been working on within the joint ASCL-UBL Africa Maps Project. The project’s aim is to describe and catalogue a 20th-century map collection of the library of the…

At Leiden University College, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Europe to show unity and strength in a world defined by fear, power politics, and uncertainty.

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

American foreign policy in the period after the Second World War is often characterised as liberal. This is, however, not the full picture, argues university lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe. He has been awarded a Vidi grant to research and rewrite this popular narrative.

Museums have long focused on power, wealth and a few famous figures. But that is changing, says Valika Smeulders, head of the history department at the Rijksmuseum. What this change comprises and how it has come about is the subject of her keynote speech at the D&I Symposium on 11 January.

Roman philosopher and orator Marcus Tullius Cicero is still used as an intellectual example by politicians and speech writers today. But, he did not go unchallenged in his own day, as a statesman in particular. Classicist Leanne Jansen conducted research into how classical historians judged Cicero’s…

Over two days in the middle of April the Leiden University Centre for the Arts in Society hosted the virtual Bodies Matter conference. Almost two years in the making, the conference was an exciting and timely opportunity to discuss and debate histories, theories and practices of bodies.

Leiden Law School is celebrating its 450th anniversary and we have lots of special events planned to showcase what our faculty has to offer. For example, a series of ‘450-talks’ to be held at a unique location in the KOG.

Climate and human rights will again become major issues on the world stage by the end of 2023. The new series of lunch seminars by the interdisciplinary research programme Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) seamlessly tie into these events. All Leiden researchers and students are…

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

On Monday 2 March at 16:00, the Faculty of Archaeology opened the travelling exhibition Archaeo‑Sexism. The exhibition will be on display throughout the month in the F0 corridor of the Van Steenis Building, as part of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day on 8 March.

Markus Davidsen, assistant professor of Religious Studies, is the winner of the 2021 Impact Prize. He is receiving the prize of 1,000 euros for the material he has developed for religious education in secondary schools.

Organisation, Security

Leiden University has taken seventh place in the UI Green Metric, a global sustainability ranking for universities. Almost 1,000 universities from all over the world participate in the ranking.

ICT

In Europe, the Netherlands is in middle position when it comes to the placement of children in care. The consequences of such a placement in care are often disastrous, says Mariëlle Bruning.

In this ‘Educatips’ column, Psychology lecturers share their most important lessons about teaching. This month: Sepideh Saadat guides a support group for students who struggle with the Israel-Hamas war. ‘Some of them feel guilty about enjoying life while their family is suffering.’

Marlien van Mever delved into the analysis of tiny samples, cerebrospinal fluid from transgenic mouse models for example. She validated methods that can now be used to study brain diseases such as migraine and epilepsy. Van Mever will receive her PhD on 14 June.

Doing a PhD can be challenging. Moving to a foreign country can be challenging too. PhD candidate Ilya Kokorin, who was born in a small town in Siberia, faced both, while at the same time having to overcome a number of additional challenges and build a future post-PhD.

It’s Circular Economy Week, from 1 to 6 February. But what is it that makes an economy circular? And just how circular is our university? René Kleijn, lecturer on the honours class Circular Economy: from challenge to opportunity, explains.

Leiden researchers from different disciplines look together at complex social problems. What happens when they join forces with artists? The results could be seen on Tuesday 11 June during a unique exhibition. Take a look for yourself:

Using biomethane to produce ammonia, a crucial chemical in agriculture, could drastically reduce the climate impact of the process. In a study published in One Earth, researcher Robert Istrate shows it’s even possible to make ammonia production net-zero or carbon negative.

In families where more than two people assume the role of parent, not all of these parents have legal status. This causes problems, particularly with inheritance law, says PhD candidate Michelle Michels.

With a single sample of water or soil, researches can analyse the DNA of everything that is living in that environment. During her research, PhD candidate Beilun Zhao discovered a way to analyse not only the kind of species, but also the age of the species in a water sample. The method showed its first…

Always taking the same route to work, going for that one dish in restaurants and going on the same holiday each summer: this may ring a bell for those who don’t like uncertainty. Researchers are now discovering that this aversion affects how we understand the world.

When an international cartel is exposed, the parties involved often face punishment by more than one authority for the same behaviour. There is very little international coordination in the actions of these authorities. Pieter Huizing claims that this can, and must, change. PhD defence on 10 March 2…

To support policies and decision-making on sustainability, it is important to involve citizens and stakeholders in the process. The term used for this in Public Administration is 'participation'. Professor Eefje Cuppen observes that things still often go wrong with participation. Inaugural lecture on…

Since the end of May, the faculty AI working group has set to work under Marije Schneider’s guidance. Drawing on recommendations from the university’s working group AI in Education (AIED), the team is eager to make headway on actual applications in our teaching, research and organisational practices…

To better prepare students for lab sessions, a team from the BSc-programme Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences (BFW) creates interactive videos. These videos use humour and examples to show students basic skills and commonly used procedures. 'We want to make education more efficient and fun.'

On 15 February 2024, Leiden Law School's Faculty Board will enter a new phase.