On 20 November 2015, on the occasion of Universal Children’s Day, the Council of Europe and the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights launched the Handbook on European law relating to the rights of the child.

Cells in our bodies are often threatened by errors in our own proteins. The FLOW consortium, comprising scientists from various institutions including Leiden, is poised to meticulously map out for the first time how cells control proteins, correcting or removing faulty ones. This endeavour holds promise…

University lecturer Andrew Gawthorpe argues in The Guardian that the Republican's new agenda for a second Trump term is more radical than the first. He says that they seek to take control of federal agencies by replacing civil servants with ‘American First footsoldiers’.

The Meijers prizes are awarded each year for the best published article from each faculty research programme. Veldt received the prize for her contribution to the research programme ‘Coherent Privaatrecht’ with her article ‘De betekenis van Europese productnormen voor privaatrechtelijke normstelling’…

Alumni event

University lecturer Astrid Van Weyenberg has won the Faculty of Humanities Teaching Prize. ‘Astrid is a lovely person who can teach well.'

On Wednesday 18 May, the students of the LL.M. Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights presented their work to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child with the aim to provide recommendations on how to make its decision more accessible to children.

In the context of the 2021 Day of General Discussion of the UN Committee on Rights of the Child, this time dedicated to alternative care, Defence for Children in collaboration with Leiden University has contributed with a paper on the 2019 Dutch Inquiry Committee on Historical Child Abuse in Alternative…

Wars, climate change and the effects of covid have caused a global decline in children’s well-being. In her inaugural lecture Ann Skelton, Professor of Children’s Rights in a Sustainable World, points to the disastrous effects of multiple interacting crises.

It is becoming increasingly common to collect data from children and young people through digital means. The impact of this so-called ‘dataveillance’ on children, who are monitored from birth via smartphones and Fitbits, is great.

People from the Dutch islands of Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius say that violence (mainly verbal) is fairly common in families. This is according to research by Leiden University, the University of Curaçao and UNICEF Netherlands. The researchers make recommendations for preventing such violence over…

How many children are waiting for help from youth services in the Netherlands at any given time? And exactly how long do they have to wait?

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.

Each year on the university’s birthday, children at primary schools in Leiden and The Hague have a lesson from a professor – about children’s rights and robots in surgery, for example. The children get to do activities. And ask questions: ‘How do you become a professor?’

De Leiden Lawcast: de facultaire podcast door en voor studenten. Iedere aflevering bespreken de hosts een actueel onderwerp met een interessante gast die het onderwerp belicht vanuit hun wetenschappelijke of juridische expertise. Na een mooi startseizoen in 2022 hebben Irem Çakir en Hamza Duprée het…

On the occasion of the conferral of an honorary doctorate to children’s rights activist Graça Machel, a fund has been established that will enable two female students from South Africa to come and study in Leiden.

Personal development, Working effectively

A cover over your drink in the pub, deodorant as pepper spray or headphones to avoid hearing catcalling: many women use everyday objects to feel safer in public spaces. Student Anne van der Linden made an online exhibition about this.

Memorandum of Understanding Signed Between the Child Friendly Justice European Network and Leiden Law School - Child Law Department

On 30 April, Prime Minister Mark Rutte was presented with the manifesto of the NWO Youth Challenge, which contains advice for policymakers, scientists and administrators on the empowerment of youth in the time of coronavirus. The manifesto is based on research questions submitted to the science community…

The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has accused Finland of violating the rights of Finnish children by leaving them in life-threatening conditions in Syrian camps. Ann Skelton, member of the committee, calls the situation 'inhuman'.

Universiteit Leiden en Unicef werken al 10 jaar samen om kennis over kinderrechten uit te breiden en te verspreiden. Ze verlengen deze samenwerking.

On 24 November 2022, Simone van der Hof delivered the annual Mulock Houwer Lecture. The title of the lecture was ‘Niet om de knikkers maar om het spel – Over de digitale versie van een vergeten kinderrecht’.

A grant from the JEDI Fund allowed university lecturer Jessie Morgan-Owens to design a lecture series on indigenous studies. ‘We filled a gap in the knowledge.’

On 24 April 2024, Carlotta Rigotti and Gianclaudio presented their new report on sexual violence and harassment in the metaverse during a webinar co-organised by AUDRi, Equality Now, and VULNERA.

With the introduction of three new master’s programmes in 2025/2026, the range of programmes offered by Leiden Law School will be even broader and more varied. The new degree programmes focus on economics, law and business administration, and law and migration.

De Raad van Advies bestaat uit leden die een binding hebben met de faculteit. Daarnaast zijn zij goed thuis in de wereld van de advocatuur, de rechterlijke macht, de overheid en het bedrijfsleven. Het faculteitsbestuur gebruikt de adviezen van de Raad van Advies bij de beleidsontwikkeling van de faculteit…

The Leiden University Fund (LUF) has been active since 1890 as an independent support foundation for Leiden University. It supports education and research through grants, endowed chairs, scholarships, and awards. In addition, LUF organises alumni events to strengthen the connection with former stude…

Professor by Special Appointment Anouk Goemans has received the National Youth Care Award 2025 from the ‘Stichting Steunfonds Pro Juventute’. The cash prize of €30,000 will go towards her research on youth care and youth protection.

Management

Research

‘The system is failing’, ‘the goals are only being achieved to a limited extent’, ‘we’re letting children down’. These are some of the newspaper headlines that followed the publication of a report by researchers from Leiden University in September. Commissioned by the Dutch Research and Documentation…

Op maandag 1 april 2024 stierf onze leermeester, vriend en gewaardeerd collega Dr. Alexander Hendrik de Groot (Sander).

Mozambican politician and child rights activist Graça Machel will receive an honorary doctorate from Leiden University for her commitment to the rights of women and children in Africa and elsewhere. She will be awarded the honorary doctorate on the Dies Natalis, the University’s foundation day, on 8…

The faculties Humanities and Science have made a page with extra information on OER.

‘Very interesting’ is what two bachelor students have to say about the stories by Liesbeth van Vliet and Niki Antypa during the Psychology Science Day. The icing on the cake were the poster presentations about the bachelor's theses, admired and commented on by scientists and fellow students. Teachers…

Moot Court

Do you need help creating or using online teaching methods, or are you running into difficulties? We are here to help you with your ICT- and didactic-related queries.

Master's students of Vitality & Ageing work together with older individuals in the so-called ‘Living Lab’ to combat loneliness. You can watch four brief video’s that show their creative solutions for the course ‘the older individual’ that is coordinated by health psychologist Sandra van Dijk and former…

Amorphophallus decus-silvae, or the ‘penis plant’ as it is known, has just flowered at the Hortus botanicus. It flowered for two days, and then the pollen, which the male flowers produced was collected. As far as the plant experts at the Hortus can tell, this was just the third time that this species…

When a child is placed in care, the assumption is always that the child can return home again. But there are still many questions about how this process – the 'permanency plan' – is arranged. New research aims to provide insights.

Legal protection. What do those involved in youth care and child protection understand by this concept? And what needs to change to improve legal protection? This question was explored by researchers from Leiden University’s Department of Child Law. Their research fits with the government’s ambition…

Preventing viral infections from being transmitted through blood transfusion and organ transplantation lies at the heart of the work of medical microbiologist and virologist Mariet Feltkamp and her team.

The winner of this year’s Jaap Doek Children’s Rights Thesis Award wants to raise more awareness for children who have a parent in detention: ‘It’s time we stop looking the other way and actually think about the impact.’

Each year, the Faculty awards two Meijers PhD positions to talented researchers. One position is open to participants from the Pre-PhD Programme (PPP) and one position is open to other candidates from inside and outside Leiden University.

The University has national holidays and compulsory closures. National holidays are not deducted from your vacation hours, whereas compulsory closures are.

From 16 to 23 October 2025, the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) will host the second edition of Cyber Week. Following last year’s success, we will once again shine a daily spotlight on our teaching and research in the field of cybersecurity through LinkedIn and Instagram. Today’s societal…