The Council of Ministers has appointed Jan Willem Erisman, Professor of Environment and Sustainability at Leiden University, as chair of the new Scientific Climate Council (WKR) from 1 March. This council will advise the government on climate policy.

It poured down when Alexander Gallo received his diploma from West Point Military Academy. A bad sign, people said back then. It was June 2001, three months before 9/11. The now 46-year-old American fought in Iraq, did research in Afghanistan and stands in Leiden today, defending his dissertation on…

Johan Christensen, universitair docent bij het Instituut Bestuurskunde, heeft 1,2 miljoen euro subsidie gekregen van de Research Council of Norway. Christensen is co-leider van een project genaamd INFLUEX dat de invloed van experts gaat onderzoeken. Naast Christensen maakt ook Valérie Pattyn van het…

Sebastian Diessner, assistant professor at the Institute of Public Administration, has won a grant from the Leverhulme Fund together with three researchers from the United Kingdom. The grant, worth 350,000 euros, is for the research project: 'The Political Economy of Knowledge-Based Growth.'

Katharina Natter of the Institute of Political Science has been awarded the 2025 IMR Book Review Award for her book on migration politics in Morocco and Tunisia.

Contrary to what one might expect, societal actors influence China’s foreign policy. PhD candidate Sabine Mokry investigated how Chinese academics and think tanks impact the authoritarian leadership’s views on what constitutes the country’s national interest in the international arena. On 14 November…

Human resources

The importance of a healthy lifestyle does not receive the attention it deserves, as the coronavirus pandemic made painfully clear. Twelve behavioural scientists, including Professor Behavioral Interventions in Population Health Management Marieke Adriaanse and Professor of Health Psychology Andrea…

Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from Leiden University has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This grant of 1.5m euros enables talented early-career scholars to start their own pioneer project, lead a research team, and implement their best ideas at the frontiers of their…

Adina Akbik has been appointed as a new member of the Young Academy Leiden (YAL) as of 1 September 2024. Akbik is Senior Assistant Professor of European Politics at Leiden University. YAL serves as a platform for early career academics, and Akbik is keen to promote the needs and interests of young researchers…

How can society let go of its obsession with economic growth and focus on goals as wellbeing, inclusion and sustainability? This is one of the core questions which a new 3 million euro European project will tackle the upcoming four years. Leiden University researcher Rutger Hoekstra is project coordinator…

The programme committees at Leiden Law School play an important role in staff and student participation. What are the activities of such commitee?

After a first successful pilot of the The Hague Southwest Thesis Project a second cohort of students will start this year. The kick-off meeting for this takes place on Thursday 24 March from 15:00-17:00, STEK Shalom Kerk, Vrederustlaan 96, Den Haag.

In a paper, researchers suggest how the next European Commission can develop an alternative policy model that centres people’s well-being.

In Spring 2023, Leiden University’s Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) launched a new Honours Class ‘Model European Union Simulation: Policies, Negotiations and Transatlantic Experiential Learning’.

Healthy lifestyle campaigns are often unsuccessful. It is hard to get people to eat healthily or do more exercise. Behavioural science expertise should be drawn on at a much earlier stage in policy development, say twelve behavioural scientists in a position paper. They will present the paper to Maarten…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

The Knowledge Security Committee plays a central role in the decision-making and organisation relating to knowledge security within the university. Internationally oriented collaboration initiatives can be submitted to this committee (via the Knowledge Security Advice Desk) with a request to assess…

Leiden University College (LUC), an institute of Leiden University in The Hague – the international city of peace, justice, and security – offers the English-taught Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences: Global Challenges since 2010. Inspired by the American university college model, LUC combines…

As an employee of Leiden University, you probably work with or come into contact with personal data. The concept of ‘personal data’ is core to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). If you work with personal data, you must be able to explain clearly, comprehensively and in simple language how…

As a supervisor, you are responsible for the supervision of your PhD candidate. Read here about your duties as supervisor and the procedures relating to this, as well as which forms you will need.

Continuously improving education requires keen insight into quality and results. Here you will find more information about the instruments and committees that help safeguard education quality, as well as answers to questions such as: What management information does the education dashboard offer? What…

Employees of departments participating in the Flexible Working pilot can reserve workstations themselves via SharedDesk. You can reserve a workstation in the office up to one week in advance. If you wish to cancel your reservation, please do so at least 24 hours in advance.

Leiden University is proud of its research and teaching, its staff and its students. This is why we are keen to inform society of what goes on at the University.

As a teacher, you are usually the first point of contact for your students, and you will sometimes receive questions or requests that you cannot help them with yourself. On this page, you’ll find an overview of the parts of the organization to which you can refer your students, depending on their qu…

If you want to travel on business in the Netherlands, you must request permission to do so from your manager. If you travel for work, you are entitled to an allowance for travel and subsistence expenses.

ICT

Teachers work with sensitive information on a daily basis: student data, exam information and communication about education, for example. It’s essential to process this information securely and to protect yourself and your students against digital risks, such as phishing, unauthorised access and other…

If you will become eligible for the state old-age pension (AOW) within the next few years, you should start to discuss this with your manager well in advance (at least two years), for example in your annual GROW interview.

Conference

Starting April 2026, Niels van Willigen will join the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences as Professor by Special Appointment in Strategic Studies. This appointment was made possible by the Atlantische Commissie, which established this chair…

Goede en actuele data zijn cruciaal om infectieziekten effectief te bestrijden en de volksgezondheid te beschermen. Bijzonder hoogleraar Susan van den Hof en haar team zetten zich in voor betere data-methoden, zodat infectieziekten vroeg worden opgespoord en doeltreffend worden aangepakt.

Education

Leiden Child Law Department at Leiden University in the Netherlands formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

Editors: Irene Hadiprayitno and Rizal Shidiq (Leiden Institute for Area Studies, Leiden University, the Netherlands)

Global challenges require global governance answers. For that reason, between 5 and 7 June, the interdisciplinary research programme Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) has selected 'Emerging trends in global governance' as the theme of its annual conference. Researchers, students…

Organisation

Leiden researchers Fenneke Sysling and Joris van der Voet will be admitted to the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences’ The Young Academy.

André van der Laan has been appointed Professor by Special Appointment of Juvenile and Adolescent Crime at Leiden University, a chair established by the Leiden University Fund (LUF) and the Dutch Research and Documentation Centre (WODC). It is the first time that a professorship by special appointment…

Leiden University and African Child Policy Forum hold ‘ground-breaking’ workshop on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and human rights in Africa

That it was students who started the protests in China against its zero Covid policy makes things more dangerous for politicians. China expert Frank Pieke explains the role of students in China, what makes the protests unique and what might happen next.

Joachim Koops, Professor of Security Studies and Scientific Director of Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) has been awarded a ‘Jean Monnet Chair’ with a focus on ‘The European Union’s Role in Security and Global Affairs’ (EURISGA).

The UK has recently been facing racist violence outbreaks. Tahir Abbas, Professor of Radicalisation Studies, discusses this in an article on Hyphen.

Last week, Leiden University welcomed the rectors of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) to the autumn edition of the Rector’s Assembly. They discussed research, innovation and education policy within the European Union, the challenges and opportunities surrounding defence research,…

In October 2021 the Volkskrant published the article 'Rond de bloedgoudmijnen van Burkina Faso heerst de angst voor terreur' (Around the blood-gold mines of Burkina Faso, the fear of terror rules). In this report Carlijne Vos describes how Burkina Faso is rapidly destabilising. The lucrative gold mines…

On Friday 15 January, the Dutch ‘Rutte III’ government resigned following the scathing report on the childcare benefits scandal. What are the political consequences?

The norms, institutions and power relations that have defined the last decades of international political and economic relations in the European Union are undergoing major transformations. With the return of competition between great and ambitious powers, like the US, China, EU and Russia, the need…

In her teaching and research, Mosquera primarily seeks the connection between tax law and other disciplines. Her appointment is effective as of 1 November 2021.