Of the 150 elected representatives, 24 studied or conducted their PhD research in Leiden. Who are they and which degrees are most popular among these MPs?

Lecture, Research Seminar

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.’

Seven researchers from Leiden University have made a successful application to the Open Competition SSH (Social Sciences and Humanities) XS, a Dutch Research Council pilot programme.

An international team of astronomers led by Dutch scientist Martijn Oei has discovered the largest pair of jets from a black hole ever seen. The 'jumbojets' extend a combined length of 140 Milky Ways. The Leiden Observatory played a prominent role in this research. The publication will feature on the…

Dutch citizens are not opposed to additional earnings and financial gifts for people on welfare, but believe it is important that there should also be an obligation to look for a job. This was the outcome of a research project on the opinions of Dutch people regarding the implementation of welfare p…

Researchers Dr. Natascha van der Zwan and Dr. Philipp Golka from the Institute for Public Administration have started an evaluation of Dutch pension funds at the request of the Monitoringcommissie Code Pensioenfondsen. Focus of the evaluation is the role of internal supervision in ensuring good governance…

In 2007, a spy from the Dutch General Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD) planted a destructive computer virus at an Iranian nuclear site, halting the Iranian nuclear weapons programme. Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’ has revealed that the AIVD kept the crucial role of the Dutch spy a secret from…

Professor Sjef Barbiers is leaving his job as scientific director of LUCL for the position of scientific director of the Institute for the Dutch Language (INT) from 1 September.

In the Dutch tv-programme 'NOS Amalia and the Dutch Caribbean' Stacey shows the impact of climate change on the coast, coral and culture.

The proposal made by the Dutch Benefits Agency (part of the Ministry of Finance) to issue one-off compensation payments of €5,000 in the wake of the Dutch childcare benefits scandal is causing a stir among the affected parents, lawyers and academics. Ymre Schuurmans, Professor of Administrative Law,…

For decades it was thought that the family system of the ancient Egyptians was very similar to our own. However, PhD candidate Steffie van Gompel explains that the reality is somewhat different. ‘In Egyptian families, it was often the eldest son versus the rest of the children.’

The Faculty of Archaeology used to be involved in several excavations in Syria, before the outbreak of civil war made travel to the region impossible. One of these excavations is the one of tell Hammam al-Turkman, which started in 1981. Student Ruben Hartman, together with archaeologist Dr Diederik…

Fishermen in the United Kingdom recently protested about the adverse effects of Brexit on their trade. It would be naive to think that covert feelings of being under threat do not exist among the Dutch population. Citizens who feel threatened become defensive, a situation that could lead to a Nexit.

The decolonisation war in Indonesia was violent partly because the Dutch military operated on the conviction that ‘an uprising had to be forcibly suppressed.’ This what historian Christiaan Harinck from the KITLV discovered in his PhD research.

Debate, Panel Discussion

Starting September 2022, Foteini Tsigoni is tasked by the Faculty of Archaeology to bring the different nationalities within the faculty community together. Herself an international student, she experienced culture shock wile adapting to the Dutch way of life, and is committed to help out new and current…

69% of young Dutch people are struggling financially. They’re more likely to take risks by gambling, investing in cryptocurrencies or paying on credit. Like most Dutch people, the young are turning to family and friends for help and advice, rather than experts.

The problem of unequal sports participation will only be addressed if sexism and racism in recreational sports and exercise are taken seriously. That's what cultural anthropologists Jasmijn Rana (Leiden University) and Kathrine van den Bogert (Utrecht University) write in an opinion piece in the Dutch…

In Dutch magazine De Psycholoog, Anne-Laura van Harmelen talks about the impact traumatic experiences, especially for those who are growing up.

Free trade negotiations and agreements are important instruments of EU trade policy. An increasing number of EU climate, environmental and sustainable development objectives play a role in free trade agreements.

Professor Nira Wickramasinghe will research forgotten lineages with an NWO Open Competition grant, in particular the afterlife of Dutch slavery in the Indian Ocean World.

Dutch and Flemish partners, including Leiden University, are joining forces as the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) in the fight against the spread of fake news, and have received the support of the European Commission.

Are AI models such as Midjourney violating artists' copyright? Dirk Visser, Professor of Intellectual Property Law, spoke about this topic on Dutch current affairs news programme 'NOS Radio 1 Journaal' .

Developmental psychologist Yung-Ting Tsou's research is part of the Breaking the Cycle project. This project of the Focus on Emotions lab at Leiden University uses sensor technology to capture children’s social networks and dynamics during school breaks. Congratulations, Yung-Ting, with the wonderful…

What do the election results say about the Netherlands today? Students and experts discussed this at an Election Breakfast organised by study association Diqit. Analysts, including Hans-Martien ten Napel, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, notice a new dividing line in Dutch…

Conference

Archaeologist Bjørn Peare Barthold suspected farmers in a doctorless 19th century Dutch village may have been self-medicating to manage pain and disease. By examining the skeletons' dental calculus this hypothesis could be tested. Science Magazine interviewed him about this new technique.

On Thursday 15 January 2026, the Meijers Lecture was held and the Meijers Prizes and Van Wersch Springplank Prize presented. Suzan Stoter, Dean of Leiden Law School and portfolio holder for research, introduced the lecture to a full house.

When do we say violence was used in an incident? The answer may seem obvious at first. But interim results from a study by Jolien van Breen show that Dutch people are labelling events in increasingly broad contexts as violent.

In Dutch magazine Elsevier, Marieke Liem explains the issues with using the term ‘troubled person‘ in reports on homocide.

In a one-hour interview on Dutch radio programme Sleutelstad, Anne-Laura van Harmelen talks about her research into the role friendships in adolescents' well-being, the resilience paradox and the role of social, hormonal and genetic factors in stress-levels and resilience.

Professor emeritus of Animal Behaviour Carel ten Cate is awarded honorary membership by the Dutch Society for Behavioural Biology (NVG). He received the honour for his activities for the Society and the discipline of behavioural biology.

In the article 'Dankzij Instagram hebben jonge vrouwen over de hele wereld hetzelfde gezicht' in the Dutch newspaper NRC of 4 November 2021, Cultural Anthropologist Jasmijn Rana (Assistant Professor at CADS) talks about what she considers problematic about the Instagram face. The article discusses the…

Not passed your Dutch exam? Then there’s no HAVO (Higher General Secondary) or VWO (pre-university) diploma for you, says the Inspectorate of Education's Inspector General. This comment fuels a discussion on an exam that is already under fire. The final exam for Dutch is said to be uninspiring, too…

Is your strategic vote actually strategic? How can the Netherlands form a stable government? And what should the next government do about migration, defence and the housing crisis? This is what our experts have to say.

On paper it is recycled, but in reality enormous quantities of plastic waste from the Netherlands end up in Asian seas. Researchers from the Leiden Institute of Environmental Sciences charted the fate of plastic food packaging waste from the Netherlands. They published their results on July 8 in the…

It was more than twenty years ago that the plan for a Japanese-Dutch dictionary was born. Now it contains over 65,000 words, and completion is tentatively coming into view. Dictionary makers Oscar Veltink and Hetty Geerdink-Verkoren talk about their enthusiasm for this decades-long mammoth task.

Organisation

On 15 September, Democracy Day, Michael Klos, researcher/teacher at the Department of Jurisprudence of Leiden Law School appeared as a guest on Radio Weetlust.

On on 29 January 2024, it was announced that Aylin Alexa Zainea has won the Thesis Award from the Dutch Data Protection Authority. She wrote her thesis for the Advanced Master programme on Law and Digital Technologies hosted by eLaw, Center for Law and Digital Technologies. Her thesis entitled ‘Automated…