Since September, Victor van der Horst is a member of the Faculty Council. Well, not just a member; he is the Chairman! In addition, this master's student in Mathematics also devotes himself to our Faculty in many other ways. 'I'm convinced we need input from all layers to keep improving our Faculty.'…

Covid-19 has had a huge impact on teaching at universities over the past two years. Through force of circumstances, lecturers have adapted much faster to a digital future. On 7 June Leiden Teachers Academy’s annual Education Festival (working language is English) will present insights on this ‘new n…

The Countering Syndemic Vulnerability project supports communities by identifying and tackling clusters of social factors and health problems. The project works with residents and professionals in the Moerwijk district in The Hague and the Stevenshof district in Leiden.

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.

In the past months of the coronavirus crisis, work continued steadily on constructing the Humanities Campus. The Arsenaal has been completed. Colleagues have moved to the Reuvens and Huizinga buildings, and the South Cluster is ready for the renovation to start. And now we have suddenly had to stop.

The annual Korean Screen Culture Conference (KSCC) is dedicated to exploring all aspects of Korean screen culture, including television, K-pop, internet, computer gaming, webtoons, and film from both North and South Korea.

Since a few months, Executive Director Niels Laurens no longer has to divide his attention between two faculties but has been able to fully focus on FGGA. A conversation about the dynamics within our Faculty, his management style, and the steps we will all have to take together to improve issues such…

Although the official start of the academic year has to wait for another fortnight, Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) welcomed the Class of 2024 to the Anna van Bueren campus this week. The new cohort of 204 incoming students will spend the next three years studying different majors and minors…

Due to gaps in working conditions regulations, airline pilots and crew are suffering from fatigue and inadequate protection in general. Leiden PhD student Yuran Shi investigated how international law can help improve working conditions and safety in the aviation sector.

On Thursday 15 April, Sabine Mengelberg, associate professor at the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), will defend her thesis on changes in European security architecture. Permanent Change? The Paths of Change of the European Security Organizations is the title of…

What’s really happening in the space between the cells in your body? With the Collagen Canvas project, students from Leiden University invite you to explore this question by blending science with art. This interactive artwork immerses you in the dynamics of the extracellular matrix—the invisible structure…

The University of St Andrews and Leiden University, with the support of a network grant from the Royal Society of Edinburgh, will be hosting a workshop series in 2022 about Ocean Governance. Academics, policy makers, and practitioners are invited to contribute via working papers. Deadline abstract:…

The first eLaw Conference held at Leiden University was a success and fostered timely discussions on the legal challenges and opportunities presented by digital technologies.

Terrorism, crisis, violence, intelligence, diplomacy, war and peace are topics that are broadly covered in ISGA's research activities. Regularly, ISGA researchers appear in international media to discuss their research expertise. This item offers an overview of non-Dutch and non-English articles and…

Luckily we’ve been able to meet up on campus again for a few months now after two years of mainly online teaching. Alongside the inconvenience, enforced digitalisation has brought us valuable innovations and smart tools. The question is: what’s going well and what could we do differently? I’d love to…

The latest innovation in the field of urban mobility could soon be buzzing over our heads. For some, it’s a science fiction dream come true. For others, however, it’s an unwelcome intrusion. ‘It has the potential to be a major development.’

‘Intelligence and security services need to adapt urgently to their constantly changing environment,’ says Professor by Special Appointment Bas Rietjens.

We take it for granted that water comes out of the tap and electricity out of the socket. But that isn’t always the case. Last Tuesday began like any other day, with our board meeting in the morning. But things were soon to change.

During the guest lecture on 9 February, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Rob de Wijk and Frans Osinga discussed the situation in Ukraine and Taiwan. The crises in eastern Ukraine and the increasing tensions around Taiwan highlight the challenges the West faces in deterring aggression in the new era of key dynamics…

The digital society is vulnerable, as we have seen over the past weeks. Our Dean Paul Wouters shares his thoughts and encourages to recover during the time around the holidays.

What’s at stake at the NATO summit in The Hague? Three academics from Leiden share their insights.

You may know it by the umbrella term 'citizen science'. You may also use terms such as volunteer mapping, patient co-researcher, or even community engaged learning to describe participatory practices in your research or teaching. No matter what you call it, there’s plenty going on when it comes to this…

Two directors. Both professors of mathematics, but one of them is a biologist. One comes, and the other goes. Roeland Merks will succeed Arjen Doelman as director of the Lorentz Center in September. What has been accomplished and what are the plans? And above all, what makes the Lorentz Center so un…

An impressive 12 researchers from Leiden University have been awarded an 800,000-euro grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This will enable them to develop their own line of research over the next five years.

Mechanics play a larger role in blood vessel formation, and other developmental biology, than previously thought. Cells appear to respond to mechanical signals, such as pressure. Through the extracellular matrix, a network of fibrous proteins, cells can supposedly exchange those mechanical signals over…

Willem van der Muur worked at the Van Vollenhoven Institute as a PhD candidate from 2013 to 2019. After completing his doctorate he left for Indonesia to work for the World Bank. There, he is leading a project to register land rights.

The number of Waldorf schools in the Netherlands is growing rapidly. Over the past ten years, student enrolment has increased by more than 40 percent. Thijs Jan van Schie not only teaches at such a school, he has also conducted research on this type of education — not in the Netherlands, but in the…

Third-year Security Studies students tackle real-world security challenges for organisations such as Microsoft, the NCTV and Schiphol. From AI and human smuggling to international cooperation, they present their recommendations to professionals in the field.

2025 was a year full of impact and milestones for FGGA: From a record number of graduates and new programmes to international collaborations, prestigious awards and research that pushes boundaries and provides insight into current challenges.

During the New Year's Reception at FSW, new Dean Sarah de Rijcke gave her maiden speech. The first official moment at which she's able to share what she stands for and what to expect of her. In case you weren't there, or you want to read the speech at your own pace, below you can find the integral copy…

Education

Lecture, Sociolinguistics & Discourse Studies Series

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Lecture, Digital Archaeology Group

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Leiden University researchers will be working more closely with colleagues at Una Europa partner universities this year. Three research projects have been awarded up to €40,000 in Una Europa seed funding to explore questions related to democracy and AI, web tracking technologies and clean energy.

Four projects led by the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded KIEM grants. The researchers will receive €10,000 to carry out their plans.

In March 2021, Prof. dr. Jan Aart Scholte, Professor Global Transformations and Governance Challenges at Leiden University, co-edited with Dr. Blayne Haggart and Dr. Natasha Tusikov the volume Power and Authority in Internet Governance.

What is the best way to restore dune ecosystems? The project TERRA-Dunes researches the role of soil microbes in the development of natural dune areas. Recently, the project went into a new phase: planting 412 oak seedlings grown in different type of soils.

Paco Barona Gomez is the newest associate professor at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL). The Mexican researcher is fascinated by the evolution of natural products: compounds made by microbes, but also plants and animals. ‘It’s like we investigate chemical dark matter.’

What reduces the likelihood of children being taken into care? Anouk Goemans calls for data-driven systems, alongside attention to the stories behind the numbers.

This February, Leiden University honors two scholars who have responded to the challenges of modern society in important, innovative and exemplary ways. Catherine Malabou and Safiya Umoja Noble will receive honorary doctorates for their ground breaking research in philosophy and internet/media studies…

With lab tours, presentations and an information fair, Leiden University’s Master’s Open Day gave students a good impression of our master’s programmes and the career prospects that come with them.

Quantum software is essential to make quantum technology work. Research centers QuSoft and aQa work together at the forefront of the Netherlands’ quantum software efforts. With the launch of the Quantum Software Alliance (QSA), this collaboration now scales globally.

Timothy Metz studied Law and Tax Law in Leiden. Now he’s part of Andri AI, working on the application of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal sector.

Sexuality is a fundamental part of being human. Yet, for many people with disabilities, it remains overlooked, unsupported, and surrounded by stigma. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga confronts that long-standing neglect with a project that envisions an urgent yet straightforward future: one in which sexual rights…

Making justice accessible to all residents in Libya. This week, a new website is launched which should contribute to this. Leiden University and the University of Benghazi have been working together on several projects since 2012. Project leader Suliman Ibrahim explains why this project is unique.

From closed government systems in the Middle East to an exceptionally open Dutch government. Public administration lecturer Alex Ingrams is an expert on transparency: ‘Why are some countries secretive? And what role does technology play?’