Recently, in the midst of coronavirus situation, Professor Corinne Hofman and her team became part of the NWO project Island(er)s at the Helm. Both the application process as well as the start of the project were challenged by the limitations set by Covid-19. ‘As a preparation we travelled through the…

Per februari 2025 heeft Jikke van der Putte de functie stafhoofd van Marketing & Communicatie binnen de Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid overgenomen van Annet van der Helm. Wij spraken met haar over haar visie en ambitie voor de afdeling.

The Leiden African Studies Assembly (LeidenASA) held its Annual Meeting on 12 December. LeidenASA is the network of Leiden based Africa-researchers. Fifteen researchers gave pitches on their projects, and sketches of Leiden University's Africa strategy were outlined.

In academia, the mention of Wikipedia might be met with suspicion. However, for Tsolin Nalbantian, university lecturer Modern Middle Eastern Studies, the encyclopedia is an opportunity to broaden the skills of her students and to increase public knowledge. She received a Teaching Comenius Fellowship…

We spoke with Mathilde Witkam about her research as a dual PhD candidate at the Dual PhD Centre. Her dissertation is about the effect of open government on public trust. Mathilde: ‘Trust in government ensures that people are more honest in their tax returns; less control saves time and money.’

Almost a thousand students started HOPweek in The Hague on Monday morning. During this introduction week students get to know the city, the university and each other.

The Aernout van Lynden Global Citizenship Award award is a recognition given by the LUC community. Each year a student who has demonstrated the qualities of active engagement, responsive and responsible participation in civic and/or community building, within and/or beyond LUC is presented with the…

Psychologist Ellen de Bruijn studies the effects of hormonal fluctuations on behaviour and on the brain over a woman's life course. With an ERC Consolidator grant, she and 3 PhDs and a postdoc will further her EEG research on the different stages at which girls and women experience strong hormonal f…

This week we welcomed a high-level delegation from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) to Leiden’s Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML).

Research

Nano-plastics cause malformations. Meiru Wang, researcher at the Institute of Biology Leiden, looked at the extreme effects polystyrene nano-particles could have, using chicken embryos as a model. Her results were quite alarming. Especially as nano-particles are everywhere. In the air, floating through…

Erkennen en Waarderen Academia in Motion

How do politics and play relate to each other? Six Leiden academics hope to find an answer to that question over the coming years. They have received an NWO grant of 750,000 euros. Professor Sybille Lammes and University Lecturer Bram tell us how they plan to spend the money.

What determines healthy behavior and how do you promote healthy choices and routines? These are a few questions currently being addressed by Marieke Adriaanse, recently appointed Professor of Behavioral Intervention in Population Health Management at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).

This month, Leiden University’s Joanne van der Leun steps into the role of Chair of Una Europa’s Board of Directors. She does so at an important moment of transition for Una Europa.

Annually, the Dutch Palynologische Kring invites nominations for the Florschütz Award for best MSc thesis in Palynology and Palaeobotany. This year, the thesis of Archaeology alumna Oda Nuij was deemed to be the best one. Oda was surprised to hear she won, since she was not sure that the thesis would…

Monday 6 February the Faculty of Archaeology had the honour to receive the e Ambassador of the Dominican Republic, H.E. Dr. Juan Bautista Durán. The motive of the visit was to discuss the collaboration between the university and the Dominican Government after the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding…

On a busy day, Sander Snel sees three hundred people at his coffee counter in the Herta Mohr building. ‘It's fun to remember everyone's favourite drink.’

Cleody van der Eijk recently started as the new study advisor and exchange coordinator at Archaeology. Aside from helping students out when they encounter issues during their studies, she will also focus on the process of studying abroad. ‘It is very valuable to get to know another culture, while you…

Maak kennis met Siggie, online coaching voor FGGA-studenten

How you think about yourself is important for the choices you make. Adolescents are faced with choosing a study programme that will determine their future, while their self-image is still under development. Tough choice? Research by psychologist Laura van der Aar has shown that taking a training course…

In the eighteenth century, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) housed its enslaved people on ‘Slave Island’ in Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. Today ‘Slave Island’ is under serious threat from property developers. Senior lecturer Alicia Schrikker, together with her Sri Lankan colleagues Iromi Perera…

Alumni and researchers met at two well-attended alumni dinners in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. The alumni reminisced about their time in Leiden and got to see their lecturers once again.

The exhibition Leiden celebrates – 450 years of parades at Museum De Lakenhal shows how parades and society have changed through the centuries. Alumnus and historian Danielle van Goethem worked on the exhibition. She gives a preview.

There are as good as no clear rules for the return of stolen art. This means that rather than in court, many cases are decided in the political arena instead. In her PhD research Evelien Campfens suggests how this could change. PhD defence on 11 November.

Research master student Linda Bomm found in her thesis that men, compared to women, believe female sexual assault survivors less, blame women more, and judge them more negatively – especially if they identify strongly with their male gender.

What is it like to study law in the Netherlands as an international? Alumnus Heidi Burrows came to the Netherlands from the UK to study International Children’s Rights, an Advanced Master’s Programme. We asked her about her experiences with this unique programme.

Destroying proteins from the Golgi apparatus of the cell in a controlled manner. That is the focus of chemist Marta Artola’s pioneering research. By developing a groundbreaking technology to target specific proteins in the Golgi, Artola aims to unlock new ways for drug development. For this ambitious…

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.

Together with students and local residents, historians Ariadne Schmidt and Alicia Schrikker researched the Leiden Transvaal neighbourhood. They will present their findings on Thursday 20 October, at a specially organised mini-festival in the neighbourhood.

Lots of employees celebrated special successes in 2023. Here’s a list of all those scholarships, awards and honours.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, many Northern-Netherlandish artists drew outdoors to train their hands and eyes, and to record landscapes and nature. In her inaugural lecture on 21 March 2022, Yvonne Bleyerveld, Professor by Special Appointment of Art on Paper and Parchment, draws our attention to a…

PhD candidate Layla van Wieringen examined how extremist beliefs are passed on within households. In her dissertation ‘Rotten Trees, Bad Apples? Understanding the Intergenerational Transmission of Extremism’, she reveals a reality that media and politics rarely address.

What we buy and consume in Europe often has an impact on biodiversity somewhere else in the world. With a Horizon Europe Funding of 600.000 euros, assistant professor Laura Scherer and her team will develop models to look at the impact of global trade in non-food biomass. ‘After developing the models,…

Laura Kamsma, Head of the International Office of our Faculty kept a travel log during her visit to the EAIE conference. You can read her report here.

Are all murderers calculating psychopaths with an obscene predilection for bloody chainsaws? Yes, if Hollywood is to be believed, but in the real world they are generally everyday people with problematic backgrounds. Professor of Violence and Interventions Marieke Liem therefore calls for the demythologisation…

An article in Leiden University’s Mare newspaper on 24 September states that the University Council advised against reappointing President of the Executive Board Annetje Ottow. The Board of Governors, deans and Annetje Ottow respond below.

Wilke Geurds graduated from the Visual Ethnography master's programme last year with her intimate and vulnerable documentary 'F*ck Endo. More than just menstrual pain.'.

Assistant Professor Lucie Zicha at Leiden University College (LUC) in The Hague is on a mission to bring statistical literacy to all undergraduate students.

During the summer, staff and students of the Faculty of Archaeology travel to all parts of the world, initiating or joining fieldwork projects. Read some of our students' stories here!

In this 'Educatip's column, psychology teachers share their key insights about work. This time: course coordinator Evelien Broekhof received support from teaching assistant Vincent during the last term. ‘I have more room in my schedule now that I don't have to do everything alone anymore.’

The bachelor's programme in International Studies is celebrating its tenth anniversary. Ko Voskuilen was among the very first batch of students to follow the study, and Sophia Healy graduated this summer. How do they look back on their time at the university?

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science at Leiden University. 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.

Psychologist Myrthe Jansen conducted research into the performance monitoring that constantly takes place in our heads. People with obsessive-compulsive symptoms are more afraid to make a mistake that harms others, than when they make a mistake that only harms themselves. Jansen received her PhD on…

Have faith in others, embrace conflict and differences, take your time: these are just a few of the tips that emerged during a Leiden symposium on interdisciplinary collaboration on 1 February. A second session will take place on Thursday 14 March.

How do you keep participants engaged in your research from start to finish? And how do you connect your research with a wider audience? As a science communication adviser, Eva Slings works with researchers at Psychology on these and other questions. Colleagues share their experiences.

We often feel at ease in a salon chair, and the conversation soon starts to flow. That feeling will be recreated in the coming weeks in the [s]TATTOO pop-up studio. Students and staff can share their thoughts, feelings or worries – and will leave with an artwork based on their story.

When hobby divers revisited a nearly 400-year-old shipwreck off the coast of Texel, they discovered more than 1,000 objects in wooden boxes. Eight years later, postdoc Janet Dickinson used recovered books to compile a profile of the mysterious owner.

Is my cap on straight? Where in the cortège will I be walking? These are some of the questions asked by professors joining the Dies Natalis procession for the first time.

Health and well-being staff spend at least 25 per cent of their working hours on admin.* Time that could be used for care. Much of this work could be automated with artificial intelligence. The LUMC is the first in the Netherlands to offer medical students AI language model programming internships.