On 15 June 2023, the book presentation for the ‘Panta Rhei: recht en duurzaamheid’ (Panta Rhei: law and sustainability) was held at the Oude Sterrenwacht in Leiden. The book provides an overview of research in the field of sustainability conducted at Leiden Law School and was compiled by Yvonne Erkens,…

As Board Secretary, Corry Donner aims to be a ‘spider in the web’; someone who keeps a watchful eye on and brings together all the different perspectives of the institute’s board. Now she's left her carefully woven web at the university and transfer her tasks to her successor. Last September, we talked…

PhD defence

PhD-student Maia has received multiple awards regarding her research on the impact of tobacco on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations.

Leiden Law School and the Center for Constitutional Studies of the Mexican Supreme Court (CEC-SCJN) have signed a memorandum of understanding, to carry out joint activities in the field of constitutional law and children's rights.

Conference, RITMO Annual Meeting

PhD defence

PhD defence

PhD defence

Lecture, INVISIHIST event

‘In the field of AI, Leiden is still a relatively unseen university,’ says Thomas Dohmen. The brand-new Director AI Collaboration Center, would like to forge a Leiden AI collaboration network, with sustainable and impactful relationships between the university and civil society organisations. The question…

In June 2024 the Faculty of Archaeology welcomed a new Assistant Professor. Dr Alejandra Roche Recinos, originally from Guatemala, will strengthen the Faculty’s expertise on the archaeology of Central America. ‘I want to explore the lesser known archaeology of Southern Guatemala.’

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a prestigious Starting Grant to Leiden archaeologist Dr Nathalie Brusgaard. With this €1.5 million grant, Brusgaard will investigate how the transition to farming in Western Europe affected the relationship between humans and wild animals. A theme that,…

Festival

Associate Professor Lettie Dorst has received a Vidi grant to research how machine translation programmes such as Google Translate and ChatGPT translate words and expressions used metaphorically. This still regularly goes wrong, resulting in far too literal, incorrect and sometimes incomprehensible…

Generative AI presents journalists with new options for image use but also raises ethical questions.

Is our musicality unique? That’s what the Bird Singalong project aims to find out. And for that, they need the help of feathered friends from all around the world. ‘By researching how parrots learn songs, we also learn more about the origin of our own musicality.’ Do you have a parrot that can sing…

Lecture

University lecturer Laurie Cosmo, having grown up in New York, came to the Hague from Rome, Italy, where she fell under the spell of the Kunstmuseum. ‘I loved the building even before I worked at Leiden University.’

Ever since Nadine Akkerman, Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture, came across a woman spy in her research, secret agents have kept cropping up in her work. Now there’s Spycraft, a popular history book exploring the espionage techniques used by early modern spies, which she has co-written with…

Mojan Samadi obtained her PhD in 2020 in Leiden and has since remained at the university as an assistant professor. Her research currently focuses on gender and criminal law, with a key question being how criminal law should address femicide.

Lecture, Asia Research Cluster

At one time, the railway from Kimberley to Kambove in Southern Africa symbolised prosperity and progress. Today, the exhausted mining towns along its route are marked by decay and pollution. Professor Jan-Bart Gewald has been awarded an NWO L grant to investigate the long-term global consequences.

Lecture

Researchers from Leiden University, McMaster University and Public Health Ontario are calling on colleagues to track down archival specimens of mosquitoes from museums and other collections and to examine them with modern methods. This will tell them more about malaria transmission.

Can Russia be prosecuted for war crimes against Ukraine? The International Criminal Court does not have this jurisdiction. To fill this void in jurisdiction, a new commission has been created: an International Centre for the Prosecution of Crimes of Aggression, the ICPA.

Too expensive groceries, diseases suddenly breaking out: from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, hundreds of people documented the world around them in chronicles. A significant number of these texts have been digitised in recent years. Professor of Early Modern Dutch History and project leader…

When we think about ancient Egypt, the first things that come to mind are usually mummies and sarcophagi. According to researcher and Rijksmuseum van Oudheden curator Lara Weiss, that impression is unjustified. She made an audio tour for the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden that focuses on living Egyptians…

Conference

PhD defence

PhD candidate Maia Casna received an Incentive Prize from the Dutch Association for Physical Anthropology (NVFA). She was rewarded this honor for her innovative research into respiratory diseases and her talent for presenting her results to both academic and general audiences. ‘It feels really nice…

Life returned to something resembling normal after Covid but other crises soon took its place. These great challenges are also being felt at the University and our researchers are working on solutions. The nitrogen crisis, problems with young people’s services and an increasingly urgent climate crisis:…

Ad IJzerman, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacochemistry, was made a Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands on 26 April. He was presented with the royal honour by Mayor Elbert Roest in the town hall in Bloemendaal.

Covid-19 has had a huge impact on teaching at universities over the past two years. Through force of circumstances, lecturers have adapted much faster to a digital future. On 7 June Leiden Teachers Academy’s annual Education Festival (working language is English) will present insights on this ‘new n…

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.

As a twelve-year-old girl, Nicky van de Beek became intrigued by the tomb chapels in Saqqara, Egypt. Now she is doing her PhD on them, just like another Leiden Egyptologist decades earlier. Herta Mohr persevered with her research during World War II. Now she is the namesake of the first Leiden building…

ASTRON en de Universiteit Leiden beginnen samen een nieuwe leerstoel over sterrenkunde en AI. Bijzonder hoogleraar Joeri van Leeuwen gaat deze positie vullen.

PhD defence

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded Vidi grants to 14 Leiden researchers. This grant of a maximum of 850,000 euros will enable them to start a new research group and develop their own line of research over the next five years.

Lecture, China Seminar

Conference

PhD candidate Julia Wąsala searches for greenhouse gas emissions in satellite data. As a computer scientist, she bridges the gap between computer science and space research. ‘We really can't do this research without collaboration.’

Social media gives people a voice but also fuels online hate, especially against marginalised groups. PhD candidate Eva Nave: ‘While end-to-end encryption protects activists, it also enables criminal activity, creating a more accessible version of the Darkweb.’

PhD defence

Why did fewer women suffer from osteoporosis in the past than today? And which aspects of a city make public spaces safe, accessible and comfortable for all residents? These two research questions will be explored in more detail thanks to an Impulse Grant from the Leiden University Fund.

The war in Ukraine has lasted almost two weeks now. What does Putin expect to achieve with his invasion and how big is the chance that the West will get involved? We phoned André Gerrits, professor and expert on Russia.

Panel Discussion