Envoys jumping out of windows, fights, and illegal diplomacy: history student Tessa de Boer encountered them all while writing her master's thesis on Amsterdam as a diplomatic city during the 17th and 18th centuries. For her thesis, she was awarded the Uitgeverij Verloren/Johan de Witt thesis prize…

Organisation

Education, Library, Research

December 2020 saw the crowning publication of the Landscapes of Survival project by Professor Peter Akkermans. Its main topic is human habitation in marginal environments like the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. ‘The people living here built their own society, and they would not have viewed it as…

In the early modern period, it was perfectly normal to find recipes, legal documents or medical writings in a book of poems. Holly Riach studied the underlying principles of these ‘miscellanies’ during her PhD.

As of 1 October, David Holmes has been appointed full professor of Pure Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute (MI). His work lies at the intersection of algebra, geometry and number theory.

In the Honours College course 'From Research to Children's Books', students learned how to translate scientific insights into accessible language. This also included writing their own stories for children. After the solitary process of writing and editing, it was time to put their skills into practi…

Professor Maartje van der Woude, Professor of Law & Society at the Van Vollenhoven Institute, has been appointed as one of the three new series editors for the Routledge Studies in Criminal Justice, Borders and Citizenship.

In April 2025, Ms. Esther Rachow from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem presenting her ongoing doctoral research at an Austria Centre Leiden lunch-time talk. She answered a few questions about her visit below.

Physicists in Leiden have built a microscope that can measure no fewer than four key properties of a material in a single scan, all with nanoscale precision. The instrument can even examine complete quantum chips, accelerating research and innovation in the field of quantum materials.

Researchers from the LUMC and the Universities of Granada and Almería have found a gut bacterium that is associated with stronger muscles in people and mice. Their findings, published in the journal Gut, hint at the potential for new probiotics to support muscle strength and healthy ageing.

The Wall Street Journal reviews historian Eric Storm's new book 'Nationalism: A World History', which examines the complex history and development of nationalism and nation-states.

On 22 November, Tom Buitelaar, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, presents his new book ‘Assisting International Justice’. Five questions to Buitelaar about the book and the book presentation.

In the research for her upcoming book, Elizabeth Stuart: Queen of Hearts, author and academic Nadine Akkerman stumbled upon a little-known portrait of Elizabeth Stuart, Queen of Bohemia and grandmother of King George I, which she believes would have been considered treasonous at the time it was pain…

In this commentary, Sabine Witting, Assistant Professor at eLaw, provides a comprehensive analysis of the Second Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

Adults who lost a parent during childhood tend to experience greater attachment anxiety in romantic relationships, according to Carline van Heijningen’s doctoral research. However, this anxiety was less pronounced among those who recall having a strong bond with their deceased parent during childhoo…

With a self-converted red camper van, biologists and twin brothers Kevin and Marvin Groen go on a nature adventure in Eastern Europe. Together, they search for wild animals, beautiful nature and places to sport. From a long search for a bear in the Slovakian wilderness to the discovery that pelicans…

Symposium

Lecture

How should tests and assessments be organised now that students can use generative AI? This was the subject of one of the first meetings of the newly established AI Student Network. From their unique perspective, the students came up with some very interesting ideas.

It’s about much more than learning how to write a readable piece or give a presentation that doesn’t send the audience to sleep. The intensive Science Communication Summer School gives young scientists the chance to really make contact with the public.

The paleo diet: eating like people in the Stone Age did, because it is supposed to be healthier. But how accurate are the recipes in this diet?

Nowadays they can cause the fall of ministers, but once upon a time receipts were a new phenomenon. Associate Professor Robert Stein is to receive a grant from NIAS to map their origins.

Lecture, CHEI Seminar

Network meeting

Lecture, Book presentation

Jus post bellum, the body of laws and norms governing the transition from armed conflict to peace, has emerged as a crucial issue for international law scholars, governments, and all concerned with building a just and sustainable peace. The Jus Post Bellum Project, funded by the NWO and hosted by the…

Russian writer and cardiologist Maxim Osipov will come to the Netherlands for a year to teach in Leiden about Russian literature, his own work and the political situation in Russian.