September 26 is the European Day of Languages. There are 24 official languages in Europe but some 200 languages in total are spoken on our continent. What good are all these different languages? And should we all learn Azerbaijani or Swedish? We asked Lisa Cheng, Professor of General Linguistics.

From forwarding promising calls and arranging budgets to assisting in legal issues and keeping track of important deadlines: to associate professor Roxanne Kieltyka, the research support offered by project managers Inge Rietveld en Christina Schlüpen is fundamental. ‘The combination of our expertise…

Anthropologist Sander Hölsgens explores how skateboarding philosophy can revolutionise education by embracing failure, fostering creativity, and building supportive learning communities. Read his research on The Conversation.

Leiden's cultural anthropologist Anouk de Koning is receiving a Vici research grant for her project ‘Prototyping Welfare in Europe: Experiments in State and Society’ to study welfare experiments in four countries and to examine what they tell us about the futures of European welfare states.

More European countries are introducing border controls, clashing with the ideal of free movement within Europe. Daniel Schade, Assistant Professor of EU Studies at Leiden University, analyses this development in The Washington Post.

When a challenge or question presents itself, our first reaction is often: ‘Let’s organise training’. But is that always the best solution? The working day often offers plenty of informal learning and development opportunities

Students face increasing pressure during their studies. How can we embed student well-being in our teaching? What role do prevention, knowledge and expertise play? And should we see student well-being as an aspect of innovation in teaching and learning? This is what policymakers and teaching staff from…

Why do some people with adverse childhood experiences develop mental health conditions whereas others do not? A Leiden research project is looking for volunteers aged between 18 and 24 to help us understand more about human resilience.

On 27 May 2025, the Executive Board decided to establish a Committee on Human Rights / Conflict Zones.

Students of the Biology minor course Molecular Design have successfully boosted their skills in collaboration, research and writing with the recently developed E-learning Skills Platform. The biology students and their teachers greatly value the initiative. ‘Sometimes I couldn’t believe what progress…

If you have a class where you want students to collaborate, you can consider booking an Active Learning Classroom. These flexible educational spaces in Leiden and The Hague are designed to make lectures more interactive.

How can humans and computers learn from data? To research this, scientists often use so-called Bayesian methods. Although these methods are widely used, they also have limitations and are not always easy to interpret. In her dissertation Rianne de Heide describes some of these problems and introduces…

The goal of alumnus International Studies Dennis Jansen (24) is to make the voice of young people heard in the climate debate. In November he is going to el-Sheikh in Egypt, where the Climate Change Conference is being held.

What do bats do at night when they’re not hunting? Using tiny GPS trackers, Leiden researchers discovered that pond bats spend a substantial portion of the night resting – often outdoors. This surprising insight could change the way we protect them.

Ylva Klaassen has been reappointed for three years as Director of Teaching and Learning of LUCAS. Her second term begins on 1 October, which she will combine with her duties as institute manager.

The Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) is a short and intensive mobility programme funded by the European Union, that combines online learning with a short trip for in-person teaching.

Professor Joanita Vroom, together with the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR) offered the course Byzantine Rome in September 2023. The course, co-taught by Vroom, Letty ten Harkel and various guest lecturers, investigated the transition of the city of Rome from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages,…

Education

The sixth edition of the lecture series Duurzaamheid & Recht was held during the last semester. Once again, it attracted many students.

Wondering what anthropology students can contribute in daily practice? Both during their bachelor's and master's studies, anthropology students conduct research at the request of social organisations in Leiden via Leren met de Stad. Last week, they presented their experiences and results on the various…

Matheus Mendes was awarded the 12th Jaap Doek Thesis Prize at a ceremony on 13 December 2024 for his thesis on the right to read. The prize honours outstanding master’s theses in children’s rights.

Many humanities graduates find work in digital heritage, but a good pedagogical model to match education is lacking. University lecturers Karin de Wild and Peter Verhaar want to change this with a Comenius grant.