Recently Professor Joanita Vroom’s book Feeding the Byzantine City was published by the prominent academic publishing house Brepols. This volume is the fifth in a series called Medieval and Post-Medieval Mediterranean Archaeology, of which she is the editor. ‘This series aims to offer new perspectives…

PhD candidate Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart has received the Stichting Elise Mathilde Fonds grant from the Leids Universiteits Fonds (LUF) to work on a research project focusing on the landscapes of the Second World War. ‘We will combine citizen science with deep learning to uncover traces of the c…

For four years, Vicky Beckers examined thin slices of wood under a microscope, mapping the anatomy of two plant families. Her research helps identify different wood species, benefiting both the timber trade and archaeology.

Researchers have used AI to reconstruct the rules of a board game carved into a stone found in the Dutch city of Heerlen. The team concludes that this type of game was played several centuries earlier than previously assumed.

If it is up to university lecturer Evelien Walhout, in a year's time we will know exactly what people from Haarlem and Zwolle died of a century ago. Together with colleagues from other universities, she started the doodsoorzaken.nl platform, where causes of death are recorded. ‘Somewhere around the…

Assistant Professor Briitta van Staalduinen has received the Best Dissertation Award from the American Political Science Association, Section on Class and Inequality. Her dissertation, Ethnic Inequality in the Welfare State, aims to reconcile the persistence of ethnic inequalities in expansive welfare…

Organisation, Social

Uncovering ageing processes in the brain and research on the use of the word ‘that’. Thanks to a Rubicon Grant, two Leiden researchers who were recently awarded their PhDs will be able to conduct research at a research institute abroad.

The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management is refusing to release documents on the safety of Schiphol Airport, despite a court ruling that they must be made public. The case has been running for four years and was brought by current affairs programme EenVandaag.

Recently, the Van Vollenhoven Institute and the Centre for Law and Society Studies at Benghazi University hosted the final conference of the Access to Justice in Libya (A2JiL) project in Leiden.

Criminology students Simone Kruijt and Noor Hekker conducted research into cybercrime in Leiden and presented their findings to the regional police and an enthusiastic Mayor Lenferink. The conclusions call for a new approach, said Lenferink.

Researchers from Leiden University have developed a method to predict which sellers will be successful in illegal online marketplaces. This could help the police track down big players on the dark web, the hidden part of the internet.

Training

Masses of hamburgers, steaks, cheese and a lot of eggs: Americans love their animal products. But researcher Oliver Taherzadeh discovered that only a relatively small group of high-volume consumers need to modify their diet to achieve an enormous environmental gain.

Cultural Anthropologists of Leiden University and Development studies researchers of ISS-EUR have been awarded funding to explore how diaspora communities in the Netherlands respond to crises in their ancestral homelands, examining alternative forms of international aid beyond traditional remittance…

The Moria deal has been marked as a controversial issue in the formation process for a new Dutch government – a development that fits with the government’s hesitancy in implementing what is already a meagre asylum policy, writes master’s student Nina Fokkink in an article in Dutch newspaper NRC.

Cora van Nieuwenhuizen (VVD) has resigned as Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management with immediate effect. She has decided to take up a position outside politics and will become chair of the lobby organisation for the energy sector, Energie Nederland.

On February 28 at ROC Amsterdam, in the presence of more than 300 students and teachers, 'De Bovenkamer' was launched; an online teaching package that makes mental health open to discussion in an accessible way at secondary schools and MBOs.

Organisation

Hoogleraar Jeugdrecht Mariëlle Bruning vertelde in Met het Oog op Morgen over schadelijke patronen in de pleegzorg.

Special achievements, grants and a top 10 ranking, a great calendar year for the Faculty of Archaeology! See the overview of 2023 in the hall of fame below.

Organisation

Dr Jake Benson, who completed his PhD in Persian Studies at Leiden University in 2024, has been awarded a prestigious international prize for the best dissertation in manuscript studies.

The SENSYN project has found a solution to few public datasets for criminological research: synthetic datasets. Marieke Liem talks about this unique innovation

Archaeology is also digging with computers. This digital quest to find out how we humans lived in the past is what Karsten Lambers likes doing most. He is the first Professor of Digital and Computational Archaeology in the country. ‘A dream come true.’

The Dutch police face complex challenges, from organised crime and polarisation to digitalisation and new forms of crime. To deal with this effectively, they need innovation and intensive collaboration, says Professor by Special Appointment of Police Studies, Monica den Boer, in her inaugural lectur…

Lecture

Researchers at the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) are collaborating on the development of a conversation tool for patients with breast, prostate and skin cancer. The aim is to create a conversation tool that can support cancer patients in their care and help them make decisions.…

From predicting Alzheimer’s to the growth of organisms: psychologist Marjolein Fokkema’s algorithms can be used in many disciplines. They also provide inspiration for her songs, theatre shows and life lessons. What drives this rocking researcher?

Knowing whether or not a treatment is working just by wearing your watch? Data scientist Ahnjili ZhuParris has identified a lot of opportunities for the use of machine learning in clinical research to monitor test subjects at home.

The PDI-SSH grant will be used by Meuwese to create a web portal and collection of tools and resources, named ‘WetSuite’, that will help researchers apply Natural Language Processing (NLP) methods to legal textual data from public bodies.

People don’t have enough faith in the trustworthiness of others, says psychologist Manon Schutter in her dissertation. In it, she also highlights the negative effects of being actively distrusted. How does distrust affect a relationship in the future?

While tens of thousands of visitors dance to deafening music, a team of Leiden psychologists are trying to collect data for their research at Lowlands. How do festivalgoers experience a virtual trip? And what role do factors such as too little sleep and whether they have experience with psychedelics…

Humanity is a widely used concept in organisations, yet it is rarely given concrete meaning. As a result, it often remains vague and non-committal, with dehumanisation as an unintended consequence. According to Marjon Bohré, practising humanity requires making deliberate choices, in language, decision-making…

Leiden Teachers’ Academy is proud to welcome six new fellows. They will share their expertise with the rest of the university and launch innovative education projects.

What happens to children of extremist parents? Commissioned by the Scientific Research and Documentation Center (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice and Security, four ISGA researchers, Layla van Wieringen, Daan Weggemans, Katharina Krüsselmann and Marieke Liem, wrote a report on the nature and extent…

The biographer of Leiden University, Willem Otterspeer, has a new book out. In ‘De stad, de dood en de dichters’ (The City, Death and the Poets) he combines his love for the University and poetry with autobiographical reflections. ‘With my magnifying glass I discovered yet more new details in the pr…

Following in the footsteps of Professor Jan Zaanen, visiting fellow Louk Rademaker is exploring quantum effects in so-called strange materials. His research is paving the way for new materials that could be used in emerging technologies.

Suddenly getting lost, failing to recognise family members, or forgetting words and names are well-known symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Psychologists have now discovered that the disease also manifests in more subtle ways: through the rhythm of finger tapping.

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.

Associate Professor Lettie Dorst has received a Vidi grant to research how machine translation programmes such as Google Translate and ChatGPT translate words and expressions used metaphorically. This still regularly goes wrong, resulting in far too literal, incorrect and sometimes incomprehensible…

According to a new study, for half of the world population the answer would be yes. For the other half: maybe? Leiden environmental researcher and head author Nicolas Navarre explains: ‘With improvements to crop yields, reductions in food waste, and changes in consumption patterns, 90% of people could…

Studying surfaces of solid materials: it may not seem relevant to energy consumption, but it is. Marcel Rost studies how platinum electrodes wear out. Those electrodes are a crucial component in the fuel cells of hydrogen-powered cars. ‘We need to make the switch from fossil fuel energy to hydrogen.…

The fight against insurgents, guerrillas and resistance movements is an ‘incredibly unpopular’ topic with experts and military personnel, says Professor by Special Appointment of Military History Thijs Brocades Zaalberg in his inaugural lecture. He warns that ignoring these forms of irregular warfare…

The past two years, Laura van der Knaap and Professor Karsten Lambers worked on creating open teaching materials on agent-based modeling, funded by Erasmus+ and in collaboration with Danish, Irish and Dutch partners. Programming is an important skill involved in this, which is often seen as intimidating…

In the 16th and 17th centuries, many Northern-Netherlandish artists drew outdoors to train their hands and eyes, and to record landscapes and nature. In her inaugural lecture on 21 March 2022, Yvonne Bleyerveld, Professor by Special Appointment of Art on Paper and Parchment, draws our attention to a…

Recognising our colleagues’ teaching efforts – and as a manager, taking steps to do so. Broadening our understanding of quality. Marieke Adriaanse, Professor of Behavioural Interventions in Population Health Management and Recognition & Rewards ambassador, can see that Academia is in Motion, but she…

Depression in young people is often treated as an individual problem. But looking only at the child means that an important part of the story is missed, says PhD candidate Myrthe Veenman: ‘Parents can make a difference.'