'The way we consume information has changed dramatically over the past fifteen years. You're no longer just a receiver; you participate, create, and spread information. So why not use that to improve society?'

Organisation

On 6 January 2025, Leiden Law School celebrated a special milestone: our 450th birthday! Our special anniversary year got underway with a panel discussion with Bonnie Honig, as well as a celebratory toast.

Emeritus professor Joke Bouwstra (LACDR) will receive this year's Dr Saal van Zwanenberg Ereprijs: a tribute to her years of fundamental research on the skin and the transport of drugs through the skin. This is the first time the prize has gone to a woman.

Doctoral Grant for lecturer to research witness protection at the international courts.

Artificial intelligence can help doctors analyse images such as MRI scans. In future it may even be able to predict how a tumour will grow. And that is badly needed to relieve the pressure on healthcare workers.

Ambroise Paré, Thomas Sydenham and Herman Boerhaave: all were great medical innovators in their time. We know far less about the 19th-century Russian physician and scientist Nikolay Ivanovich Pirogov. PhD candidate Inge Hendriks researched him in Dutch and Russian archives and collections. She discovered…

Almost three years after receiving her honorary doctorate, Dr Graça Machel returned to Leiden University. Over the course of two days she spoke with students, researchers, and other interested persons, about human rights – particularly those of women and children – in a world in which these are continually…

Mozambican politician and child rights activist Graça Machel speaks October 27 at Leiden University about her work.

With the passing of Henk Jan de Jonge on 16 April 2022, Leiden University has lost one of its most characteristic, learned and devoted professors.

Patients with incurable cancer want their oncologist to be clear but to show empathy too. They find hard and vague communication harmful. These are the results of a study by psychologists from Leiden that has been published in the American journal Cancer.

When can a patient be discharged from intensive care? Artificial intelligence can help answer this and other questions. But using such revolutionary technology in healthcare is not easy, as Anne de Hond has discovered.

Almost everywhere in the world where the post exists, the beadle is a ‘master of ceremonies’ who only makes his appearance on special occasions. In Leiden the beadle does much more. He is indispensable at dissertation defences and orations. He directs ceremonies and is a master at calming nerves.

Lots of employees celebrated special successes in 2023. Here’s a list of all those scholarships, awards and honours.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Education, Research

The rise of AI will transform the role of doctors, claims Professor of Intensive Care Medicine Sesmu Arbous. Her academic chair focuses on integrating technology into patient care.

On Thursday 22 September 2022, the posthumous PhD ceremony will be held of Thijmen Nuninga who passed away February this year. His doctoral thesis had already been approved at that time.

As a doctor, coming to a decision together with a patient: how do you do that in the best possible way? Researchers Geert Warnar and Roosmaryn Pilgram, who jointly teach a course within the MA in Dutch Studies, are entering into a virtual collaboration with the Universidade NOVA de Lisboa to find the…

Try to resolve the nitrogen problem, go on a regeneration journey or take part in psychological research: discover this and more at the new and improved 3 October University, ‘WetenschapsWarenMarkt’.

A fresh semester means a fresh faculty calendar. There is plenty to do at the faculty again in the coming months. Five interesting activities are listed below.

Since November 2022, Veronica Tamorri has been a new face at the Faculty of Archaeology. Originally from Rome, she joined the Faculty with a two-year Marie Skłodowska-Curie post-doctoral fellowship. Here she is studying human remains from early Egypt and Nubia (Sudan) using bioarchaeological methodologies.…

‘I was very happy and honoured that my thesis was recognised as a valuable contribution to the topic of landscape archaeology.’

Since 2020, the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Award has been annually presented by dsm-firmenich for the best master's or doctoral research at the Faculty of Science in the field of life sciences combined with data science. As of 2024, this award will be split into three prizes with a broader scope of research…

How has evolution shaped our curiosity? And how does that curiosity ensure that we now have the technological ability to discover whether we are alone in the universe? This was all covered during the celebration of Leiden University’s 449th Dies Natalis.

Simulations of galaxy formation provide much more information about galaxies than a telescope. Simulations have been improving significantly in recent years. Astronomer Evgenii Chaikin made such a significant contribution to this field that he graduated with honours on February 27th.

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a conference focused on ethical practices in medical research and treatment in the colonial and postcolonial context.

Should we ban snack bars from neighbourhoods where residents are overweight or have diabetes? At the Common Sense about Health knowledge festival, scientists, civil servants and other professionals discussed how South Holland can become healthier. The Healthy Society Map makes it clear where there are…

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.

The French political theorist Hélène Landemore has been appointed as the new Cleveringa Professor. She will deliver her inaugural lecture on 26 November.

You might not have gone to medical school but you can still help someone with suicidal thoughts. This is what three staff members who took training from 113 Suicide Prevention Foundation are keen to emphasise. ‘I’ve got a better idea of what warning signs to look for and how to refer students to the…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

In traditional style, 2025 was ushered in at our faculty with the Meijers Lecture followed by the New Year's Reception. On Thursday 16 January 2025, the Meijers Lecture took place in the Lorentz Lecture Hall where the Meijers Prizes and the Van Wersch Springplank Prize were also awarded. At the New…

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.

PhD defence, Doctoral Exhibition

If you are unable to come to work due to sickness, find out below how to report sick and how the University guides its employees on sick leave.

The rule of law is crumbling in the Netherlands, lawyer Lilian Gonçalves-Ho Kang You warned in her Cleveringa Lecture.

The year 2025 is a special milestone: we’ll celebrate our anniversary as a university community together with all the faculties. On 7 February, the Dies Natalis will mark Leiden University’s 450th birthday. Leiden Law School is one of the faculties also celebrating 450 years. So, at our faculty extra…

'Consider languages in their shared context.' That is the message of Professor and Arabist Beatrice Gründler, who will receive an honorary doctorate from Leiden University on 8 February. ‘I would like people to learn that Arabic history has a close connection with Europe.’

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. Normally Jasper looks back on a day in his life, but in the last newsletter of the year he does it a little differently....

Leiden University is celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2025 with a feast for the eyes, ears and spirit. The anniversary year opens with an extra special Dies Natalis on 7 February. Highlights includes an alumni festival, three exhibitions and a canal concert.

If you are unable to come to work due to sickness, find out below how to report sick and how the University guides its employees on sick leave.

Fitness is more than physical health alone. An equally important aspect is mental fitness. Mental fitness refers to fitness of the mind. Situations may arise at work that may lead to you feeling less strong. What you can do about them?

University ceremony

The layout of a dissertation must meet certain requirements. Special rules also apply if the dissertation was written with others or if a commercial edition will be published.

Internal networking event

All doctoral dissertations are checked for plagiarism before they are submitted to the doctorate committee.

Have you been ill for a long time? The procedure for illness and reintegration describes what to expect in case of long-term illness and work disability. The procedure also lists potential financial consequences.

Guidelines, rules and other important information for PhD candidates are described in detail in various documents.