How should the Quran be read? The manuscript of this holy book makes different interpretations possible. Researcher Marijn van Putten has been awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant of two million euros to explore centuries-old recitations.

SAILS and CAIRELab, the LUMC’s AI expertise centre, recently held an event that gave healthcare professionals and computer scientists the chance to meet. The meeting proved fertile ground for new collaborations.

The sixth specialisation of the Master Crisis and Security Management (CSM) will start in September 2023: Governance of Violence. Coordinator of this track is Professor Marieke Liem. She talks about the how and why of this new track and the importance of research in and knowledge of the nature and scope…

The Digital Lab is open! This new lab is meant for staff and students who are looking for a place to work, experiment, and find support for their digital research. There’ll be a kickoff event, with live digital demos and a roundtable on “the Humanities in a Digital World” on Friday October 29 in the…

In a world where bacteria are increasingly resistant to antibiotics, Emma van Groesen set out to find a solution. This month she obtained her PhD, after four years of research into new variants of the antibiotic vancomycin. With success.

Last year, investments were made in new research facilities within the Faculty of Humanities. It is now time for the next step: improving research infrastructure, funded by a COIn grant.

On March 1 2022, Professor Ann Brysbaert will succeed Dr Winfred van de Put as director of the Netherlands Institute at Athens (NIA). Having been a regular at the institute for several decades, she will combine her new appointment with teaching at the Faculty of Archaeology. ‘Visits at the NIA were…

Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded NWO Open Competition grants in the Science domain. This is for research into subjects such as immune cells in tumours, antibiotic resistance and magnetic semiconductors.

How unique is the human capacity for learning and adapting to an environment? In field research – in the rainforest and Artis Zoo – primatologist Karline Janmaat is studying how humans and other primates adapt to their environment in their search for food. She will give her inaugural lecture as Professor…

Despite increasing attention to inclusion, loneliness statistics are not improving for people with intellectual disabilities. University lecturer Paul van Trigt will use an ERC Consolidator Grant to conduct research into friendships between people with and without intellectual disabilities. What does…

Scientific Director of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) Hubertus Irth: ‘We test substances and look for new concepts for treating disease.’

In a new Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities white paper, researchers and practitioners start the conversation that society desperately needs to have. ‘We’ve outsourced the visionary thinking to tech companies.’

Every year, the first Monday in November is Emergency Response Day: the opportunity to recognise the importance of emergency response officers. At Leiden University over 400 enthusiastic and dedicated emergency response officers make sure our students and staff are safe, says emergency response training…

In the coming years, Asghar Seyed Gohrab receives an advanced European Research Council grant of two and a half million euros to spend on his research into non-conformism in Islam. ‘Hopefully I can use this to contribute something to society, to pass something on to future generations.’

A delegation from the University of Edinburgh recently visited Leiden University to deepen their collaboration. What makes Edinburgh such an attractive partner?

Maud Rijks recently joined the Institute for History as a PhD candidate within the starting grant project "You say security, I say crisis – Challenging Disciplinary Boundaries in Security Cooperation and Crisis Governance" under the supervision of Dario Fazzi. Below she introduces herself.

Last week, Ajay Gandhi, Assistant Professor at the Leiden University College, wrote an article about how spider's webs can explain the dynamics of social beings.

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

At the first Climate Café of 2025, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of The Hague Climate Agreement and reflected together on the successes and opportunities for the future.

On 1 May, Casper de Jonge will be appointed Professor of Greek Language and Literature. ‘Greek literature did not come from Athens alone: authors from Egypt, Syria and Asia Minor also wrote in Greek.’

The program FeedbackFruits allows you to add online questions and discussion topics to a text. This helps them better understand the course material and allows the lecturer to know, prior to class, what students had difficulty with. Eric Storm explains his approach.

Ten projects have been selected during the fourth call in the Seed Funding Programme launched by EUniWell. Marieke Liem, Professor Social Resilience and Security, has received a grant for the MASTERY project.

The FGGA starter grants provide researchers with the opportunity to launch innovative projects that contribute to both scientific knowledge and societal impact. In this article, Allard de Graaf and Joy Lee share their experiences and ambitions for their research, made possible by this funding.

On 25 September, lights throughout Leiden will be turned off for the Seeing Stars event. What makes the urban night so special? We asked university lecturer Sara Brandellero, who researches cities, night and migration.

Twice a year, Gert Renkema, Head of Financial and Economic Affairs at FGGA, provides us with an update on the faculty’s finances. This time, he sits down with Niels Laurens, Director of Operations, over a cup of coffee and tea to share the results of the past year and the financial outlook.

This week is the annual Healthy University Week at Leiden University and the LUMC , and the theme this year is: “Time to Recharge”! It’s going to be a week filled with lively activities ranging from brief energizers and interesting lunch lectures to interactive workshops about things that can help us…

For new managers, the dynamic university environment can be a lot to contend with. A special induction programme comprising an online module, an introduction meeting and peer consultation will help you find your way.

For too long the Dutch collective memory has judged the Jewish Council too harshly. This perspective needs to be adjusted, Bart van der Boom argues in his new book ‘De politiek van het kleinste kwaad’ (lit. ‘The Politics of the Lesser Evil’).

People in the Early Bonze Age used bronze artefacts as a means of payment. This is the conclusion reached by archaeologists Maikel Kuijpers and Catalin Popa in a PLOS ONE article published on 20 January.

On September 5, at the festive opening of the Faculty Year, a range of new murals will be officially presented in the Van Steenis’ Reuvens Hall. The wall paintings reflect a variety of Dutch soil stratigraphies, from Oss to burial mounds. Aside from being a striking new addition to our Faculty building,…

ChatGPT, translation machines and bots: for Carole Tiberius, they are a piece of cake. On 1 January, she was appointed professor of Computational Linguistics. 'There ae two elements to the field: computer science and linguistics.'

How do galaxies form? That is what astronomer Mariska Kriek will be researching in the coming years. She received an NWO Vici grant of 1.5 million euros to study galaxies in the early universe. ‘This research uses new and unprecedented observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). These allow…

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.’

During the final event of the PRE-Class Rechtsgeleerdheid, secondary school pupils organised a mock trial on the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on society. Together with the audience, they explored the possibilities and pitfalls of AI. ‘They all did a wonderful job.’

Postdoc and linguist Evelyn Bosma receives the Keetje Hodshon Prize for her dissertation. For her research on the multilingualism of Frisian children, Bosma previously won the Klokhuis Science Prize and the Campus Fryslân Science Prize.

Researchers at LIACS have found a vulnerability in open-source code that’s been used around the world for over 15 years. They’ve also developed an AI-based tool to fix the problem automatically. ‘You really can’t afford to lean back.’

Thirteen Leiden University exchange projects have been awarded an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility grant. The total award of around 450,000 euros will enable 103 students and staff to go on an exchange.

Rachel Beckles Willson started her career as a concert pianist but was later captivated by the Middle Eastern stringed instrument called the oud. On 1 December, she was appointed professor by special appointment of 'Intercultural Performing Arts'.

On Monday, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf attended the start of Orientation Week Leiden (OWL), the introduction week for international students at Leiden University. He welcomed the students and spoke with them about their ambitions and the problems they face.

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.

Innovations only achieve true success when people actually use them. PhD researcher Max van Haastrecht developed a cybersecurity app for small businesses and learned how essential it is to align technology with real-world practice.

Fungi germinating in the lungs of patients. Doesn’t sound too nice, does it? Luckily, humans can deal with this normally, and we are able to clear the infection before anything comes to harm. However, in people with health issues, Aspergillosis can cause a lot of damage, especially if the fungus becomes…

Cancelled trains, massive queues at Schiphol Airport, nursery closures and long waiting times for health care. These are all the results of labour shortages. Economist Lars van Doorn can see some possible solutions but has some less optimistic news too.

From lectures by Robbert Dijkgraaf to a telescope on the ocean floor: during his double bachelor’s in Physics and Astronomy, Jelle Oonk discovered that the path to big cosmic answers sometimes runs through the smallest, hardest-to-catch particles—neutrinos.

The university is exploring how to improve our educational logistics. Deputy Director of Operations and project leader Joop van Pijkeren answers five questions about the project.

University lecturer Dario Fazzi and postdoctoral researcher Gaetano Di Tommaso set up a virtual collaboration with the United States last year thanks to a VIS grant. And it was a such a success the project will be repeated next year. Fazzi is looking forward to once again offering his students a multicultural…

They have known each other since they were small but Rianne and Tom first fell in love when working together at the university. That love culminated in a fairytale wedding amid all the revelry last 3 October.

First-year Public Administration students write consultancy report for municipality The Hague

He officially began as Strategic Adviser for Real Estate on 1 July. But in practice, Ferdy Poppelier, the former Director of Real Estate, will still mainly be the principal of construction projects. ‘It’s great to see that we as the Real Estate expertise centre have achieved so much.’

The new Dutch government must act quickly to take rapid, far-reaching measures in three specific regions to tackle nitrogen emissions. This will create the space for a long-term strategy to deal with other urgent problems and the knot of obligations that the state will need to untangle. These are the…