Our research at CWTS is organized in three focal areas. These focal areas represent our core areas of interest, as defined in our knowledge agenda for the period 2023-2028.

We present our plans on five work areas: Students, Inclusive Education, Staff, Research, and Accessible and Inclusive Learning and Working Environment. For each work area, we explain which topics are relevant and what policy measures we (plan to) take.

The GTGC programme advances interdisciplinary research on how we govern – and could govern – major world-scale changes in contemporary society. These global transformations and governance challenges cover the themes listed here. The distinctions are not rigid, of course, and affiliated researchers often…

Within the Graduate School you can conduct your PhD research in a wide range of subjects across the Social and Behavioural Sciences, with five distinct research areas offered by its Institutes.

The Centre is the proud home of several research programmes.

PLATO is active in various fields of work.

The Tappino Area Archaeological Project aims to map and analyze ancient settlement patterns and dynamics in a small valley in Central-Southern Italy, in modern Molise (province of Campobasso). The first sites in the area date to the Bronze Age. In the Iron Age to Classical period, it was reportedly…

To truly understand complex regions such as the Middle East and Asia, you have to know their culture, history and local societies inside out. Driven by curiosity for other cultures, the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) provides an understanding and analysis of current and historical…

The Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP) is the largest innovation district in the Netherlands in the field of Life Sciences & Health. The clustering of high-quality education, research, healthcare, and industry attracts students, scientists, and entrepreneurs from all over the world to the knowledge city…

The Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) is devoted to the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present time in a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective.

Geology and Paleobotany of the Area surrounding the Archaeological Excavation at the Hazendonk River Dune (Western Netherlands).

How can the legal and socio-legal research skills of Indonesian jurists be increased in order to promote legal certainty and to strengthen the capacity of the judicial training in the country?

On 20 March 2019, Tim Dekkers defended his thesis 'Mobility, Control and Technology in Border Areas: Discretion and Decision-making in the Information Age'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. J.P. van der Leun en Prof. dr. M.A.H. van der Woude.

To what extent are, can, and should, human trafficking and human smuggling be(ing) seen as interlinked phenomena? What are the consequences of seeing the phenomena as either distinct or interlinked for the way in which migrants crossing intra-Schengen borders are treated.

An environmental and palaeo-economic reconstruction.

On Wednesday 14 February 2024 Yorum Beekman successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 30 January 2024 Jurre van der Meer successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 17 January 2024 Ying Wang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 25 January 2024 H.J. Pak successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The Schengen countries officially abolished border controls, but checks actually still exist. Maartje van der Woude has written a book about these veiled border controls: ‘The danger is that Schengen will have lots of borders, just not visible ones.’

It is multi-media month for master’s students in Journalism and New Media. This means they are on the streets, armed with pen and paper or tablet, smart phone and camera. In the ‘Leiden Neighbourhoods’ project, master’s students are giving their perspective on local area news for the Leidsch Dagblad,…

Human trafficking is much more than kidnapping and selling people. Those who commit labour exploitation can, for example, also be sentenced for human trafficking. Criminologist Masja van Meeteren hopes to simplify the complexity of the phenomenon by charting the different forms of labour exploitati…

Every January, students of the Minor Sustainable Development have the opportunity to put what they’ve learned over the last few months into practice in a choice of exciting and practical courses called Area Studies. This year, for the first time, there was a choice of four locations: The Netherlands,…

On 3 September 2019, Ilektra Antonaki defended her thesis 'Privatisations and golden shares: Bridging the gap between the State and the market in the area of free movement of capital in the EU'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. S.C.G. Van den Bogaert.

On Thursday 30 May 2024 Corrie van Maris successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Middle Eastern Studies, African Studies or International Relations: all examples of studies that are part of Area Studies at the Faculty of Humanities in Leiden. Within Area Studies you study a region and immerse yourself in (complex) subjects of that region, such as cultural uniqueness, conflicts,…

On Tuesday 11 June 2024 Olivia Ramble successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Tuesday 3 September 2024 Straton Papagianneas successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Wednesday 14 May 2025 Remzi Çakırlar successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Friday 22 November 2024 Ye Jiang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Friday 15 November 2024 Chunli Song successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Friday 7 March 2025 Adam Knight successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 6 September 2018 Jacqueline Vel of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society organised a master class on ‘Access to Justice’ at the invitation of the Wira Wacana Christian University in Waingapu, Sumba, Indonesia.

How can you do your bit for sustainability? Students from Leiden University have launched an interactive website with 150 sustainable initiatives in and around The Hague. The website Sustainable The Hague makes it easy to find a sustainable shop, restaurant or community initiative in your local area…

Jorrit Rijpma responds in Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant to attention surrounding the reintroduction of border controls in the Schengen area.

Friday 30 January 2015 were the final presentations of the last course of the Minor Sustainable Development.

During a recent event, the Leiden Institute of Environmental Sciences presented the breadth of its research on biodiversity.

On Thursday 7 November 2024 Vaudine England successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Wednesday 20 November 2024 Sara Mirahmadi successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.