My work lies at the intersection of political economy, political geography, development studies, and critical geopolitics. I am particularly interested in South-South relations, China’s global footprint (with a specific focus on China’s engagement in Latin America and the Caribbean), conflict around…

Frank Pieke is a Professor Emeritus of Modern China Studies at the Institute for Area Studies.

I am a University Lecturer in Global Political Economy of China at the Institute for Area Studies. I also work in the Global Transformations and Governance Challenges Stimulus Program at Leiden. I study environmental politics and international political economy with an emphasis on developing countri…

Rint Sybesma is a professor of Chinese Linguistics at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) and the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL).

Judith Naeff is Assistant Professor Cultures of the Middle East at Leiden University with a main interest in contemporary Arabic visual culture and literature. She has worked mainly on cities & urban imaginaries and memory & temporality.

Judith Frishman is professor emeritus of Judaism at the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion.

Maghiel van Crevel is a professor of Chinese language and literature at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.

Ab de Jong is Professor of Comparative Religion at the Leiden University Centre for the Study of Religion (LUCSoR), Leiden Institute for Area Studies (LIAS).

Keiko Yoshioka is a Lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies and Head of the Japanese language programme. She specialises in Japanese language and second language acquisition, with a focus on Japanese language pedagogy, multimodal interaction—especially gestures—Japanese ideophones,…

My research revolves around philosophy, intellectual history and Islamic studies, and broad subjects surrounding the humanities i.e., philosophy of religions and worldviews, religious studies, hermeneutics, and ethics.

Ivo Dos Santos Martins is an external PhD candidate at the Institute for Area Studies.

My current research is centered around reconstructing the spread and development of the alphabet, with special focus on the archaic Greek alphabets and their relationship with the neighboring Anatolian and Italic alphabets. I have a background in Indo-European linguistics, with a particular interest…

Margaretha Folmer is a University Lecturer at the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies.

Dozens of Dutch nationals are being held in detention facilities in Northeast Syria or have been transferred to Iraq, risking torture or the death penalty. PhD candidate Ida Asscher says the Netherlands should repatriate them. 'States must comply with international law, even in difficult situations.…

In one in four criminal cases in the Netherlands, the court receives a report on the state of the defendant’s mental health. How is that information used exactly and what are the consequences? Scientific research has been lacking in this area. The PhD research of Roosmarijn van Es is a first step in…

NATO not only safeguards our security and stability, but also defends Enlightenment principles, promoting prosperity, health and freedom. This is what eminent psychologist and thinker Steven Pinker argued to a packed Great Auditorium.

Under #TheCode European media report about Martijn Nouwens’s research on the secretive EU Code of Conduct Group which is tasked with tackling harmful tax competition in Europe. The stories expose to the wider public for the first time how this diplomatic high-level working group of EU Member States…

Israel was ordered to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. Giulia Pinzauti, an expert on state conflicts and humanitarian law, explains the significance of the case, the specific details of the ruling and what we can expect to happen next.

Of je nu appt, online nieuws leest, of door Instagram scrolt, jouw gedrag wordt gemonitord. Sterker nog: wát jij ziet, wordt door anderen bepaald. Promovendus Aleksandre Zardiashvili onderzocht de impact van online advertenties en de macht van de bedrijven erachter.

Youth crime has plummeted in the Netherlands. Good news, you might think. Yet we need to look critically at existing sanctions, says Professor by Special Appointment André van der Laan in his inaugural lecture. ‘We should evaluate whether our response is just.’

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.

On Wednesday, 30 August 2023, the graduation ceremony took place in Leiden University’s Academy Building. The ceremony was a momentous occasion, attended by distinguished guests, faculty members, and the proud families and friends of the graduates. The event celebrated the hard work, dedication, and…

The end of the year often means looking back with lists, overviews and stories. This combines nicely in a list of all the books published this year by various political scientists at Leiden University. Indeed, in terms of books, these scholars have certainly not been idle. A unique collection of stories,…

How can we help our students build resilience and prevent unnecessary stress? And how do we break the taboo on failure? These and other questions are what study advisers, lecturers, deans and student support staff discussed at the staff symposium on student well-being at PLNT.

Frans de Haas started his work at the MI with a clear mandate. Listening and talking are what he will mainly be doing ‘My role is to make sure that everyone feels comfortable in the new situation.’

Alumna Janine Ubink is a Professor of Law, Governance and Development at Leiden University. She researches legal pluralism in various areas of Africa and calls herself a ‘tropical lawyer’. She says, ‘It doesn't really exist, but I am one.’

On April 14, 2025, Dr. Hans Petschar, the recently-retired Director of the Bildarchiv und Grafiksammlung at the Austrian National Library in Vienna, delivered the Sixth Annual Austrian Studies Lecture 'Austria’s Present Past: A visual journey through Austrian history 1925 – 2025'.

'You’ll know right away when you meet your true love’ or ‘Opposites attract’: Some persistent beliefs exist about love and attraction, but are they true? Researcher Iliana Samara investigates the dynamics of attraction and explains which love myths we can let go of.

Flitsinterview met alumnus Kees van der Staaij: ik ben en blijf een jurist in hart en nieren

Associate Professor Robert Heinsch went on a staff exchange to the United States from January to April 2025. He enjoyed the challenge of teaching in a creative and more personal way. ‘I fully immersed myself in American teaching culture.’

International courts and tribunals depend on state funding, creating a potential risk of undue state interference in judicial processes. In her doctoral thesis, Maria Manolecsu explores mechanisms that safeguard judicial independence, ensuring that courts can adjudicate without external pressure or…

PhD defence