Museum De Lakenhal is displaying the smallest work of art in the world: a 3D-printed statue of Rembrandt van Rijn, made by sculptor Jeroen Spijker and researchers from Leiden University.

Campus The Hague users can share their thoughts on the development of the new Spui building. Students, lecturers and other staff are welcome to offer their input. We are still looking for students for our user groups.

Leiden's iGEM team has won high honours at the Grand Jamboree in Paris. The biology students came second in the Overgraduate category with their project PHAse Out. They also took home awards for Best Biomanufacturing Project, Best Wiki and Best Entrepreneurship as well as a Gold Medal. To top it all…

What are the benefits for us of collaboration with Chinese partners? What sparks off Leiden researchers' interest in collaborating with colleagues in China? Leiden University shows in three short films what joint projects are like.

This year too, the faculty year was opened in the Hortus Botanicus. In the centuries-old garden, staff and students met with drinks and snacks.

We had more than 20 participants from all parts of the faculty participating in one of 4 sessions at the end of May and early June. It became evident from the discussions that there are many things that the faculty can and should work on in order to foster an inclusive and safe work environment where…

Gianclaudio Malgieri, Associate Professor of Law & Technology at eLaw, is co-author of the article 'Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) 2.0: A Manifesto of Open Challenges and Interdisciplinary Research Directions' which has been awarded the 2025 Best Paper Award by Information Fusion.

Professor of Media Law and Information Society Tarlach McGonagle is concerned about the increase in online disinformation and hate speech. He argues that human rights should guide new policies for the online world. McGonagle will give his inaugural lecture on 9 May.

To increase the accuracy of climate models, it is crucial that they include past human land-use and human-driven vegetation changes. Here archaeology can make an important contribution. Current models are based on reconstructions of past vegetation. However, their accuracy is limited because it does…

From energy transition to the nitrogen crisis: artificial intelligence can be of great help. Researchers from the three universities in Zuid-Holland are seizing the opportunity. Three of them talk about collaborative research in the AI for Energy and Sustainability focus group within the Zuid-Holland…

Greater transparency in science. Broader career paths. Less work pressure. A dynamic conversation at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) focused on these goals.

Last year, 15.8% of all employees of Leiden University experienced undesirable behaviour. This is one of the findings of the 2021 Personnel Monitor. ‘That number is far too high. We have to get rid of the taboo on raising this issue and addressing offenders,‘ says Martijn Ridderbos, in an open and…

For every period, it is a challenge to unearth the details of political trafficking; yet the effort needs to include all relevant persons, groups, and institutions – not only those wielding formal responsibilities. We hope to reinvigorate this effort by inviting specialists to present their research…

‘Culture change takes time,’ said Vice-Rector Hester Bijl at the closing panel of the University’s Diversity Symposium on 26 January. She talked about the road to a diverse and inclusive university. The symposium provided plenty of concrete examples of small steps that can already be taken.

As Board Secretary, Corry Donner aims to be a ‘spider in the web’; someone who keeps a watchful eye on and brings together all the different perspectives of the institute’s board. Now she's left her carefully woven web at the university and transfer her tasks to her successor. Last September, we talked…

Do young people trust the law? That is what HC Law students are trying to find out. Regular guest speaker and social worker Carlito Jones invited the students to the Bezuidenhout-West neighbourhood centre in The Hague to talk to youth workers and neighbourhood police officers: what do they run into…

Scrap the radical cuts to research and teaching. This was researchers and students’ message to government at the opening of the new academic year. Various speakers in Leiden’s Pieterskerk highlighted the importance of science for society.

Piercing through the skull with an ice pick, administering electric shocks without an anaesthetic, or applying leeches to the uterus: these may seem like medieval methods of torture, but they are in fact therapies used in medicine. Willem van der Does writes about all of them in his new book. ‘Physicians…

Although there is considerable evidence that nature in the city is beneficial to both people and animals, we still do not have an overall picture of those benefits. To rectify that, a Leiden PhD candidate and a student – armed with a cargo bike – are using The Hague as a life-size laboratory.

Nearly all university buildings at the Leiden Bio Science Park will be open and operating again as of Wednesday 24 May. Last night a team worked hard to restore the power to the buildings in phases and this was successful. Students and staff can work and study there again.

Hosts and creators of the Nebula tv series ‘Archeology Quest’ Lorraine Boissoneault and Stephanie Sammann compete to see if they could have survived during the Palaeolithic, and this time Dr. Andrew Sorensen is there to help. Every episode different archaeological experts are there to teach them the…

Are you a PhD candidate and are you interested in winning €500 by pitching about your research? Jong KNCV grants you this opportunity! During the ‘Avond van de Chemie’, 3 pitches of 3 minutes each will be presented. The audience of the ‘Avond van de Chemie’ will choose the winner, who will take home…

In the scientific television programme Atlas, social psychologist and former Cultural Anthropology PhD student Stacey MacDonald talks about her research on Bonaire. She shows how to align different parties to make conservation projects succeed.

Organisation

A new website has been set up that provides information about the government funded Law Sector Plan in the Netherlands, including the plans of the participating universities and developments within the agreed themes.

The ‘Kluitersprijs’ is awarded to students who achieve excellent results in the minor Intelligence Studies every year.

Dr. Eun-Ju Kim (LIAS/ATC) has been awarded a Comenius Teaching Fellowship 2024 from NWO. The title of her project is "Leveling the reading and learning environment: language support for students of Korean and Japanese with reading difficulties (LD/dyslexia)".

The Tides of History is a history podcast that takes listeners into the past while trying to identify how it echoes today. The current season centers around the Iron Age and the new episode features an interview with our own Bleda Düring.

Human resources

Simone van der Hof, Professor of Law and Digital Technologies at eLaw, and Mohammed Raiz Shaffique, researcher and PhD candidate at eLaw, have published a self-assessment tool on age assurance for the European Commission.

This study is important because it seeks to uncover whether clinicians' communication influences neurobiological and physiological outcomes for patients.

Leiden University is deeply concerned to have learned that several women have recently been harassed and assaulted in the centre of Leiden. In one case, this appeared to involve rape. We understand that people are upset, especially our students.

Facility

Psychologist Anne Urai has received the Young talent award from the Dutch Neuroscience society. She was described as a 'talented, promising early career researcher' and complimented on her international profile, having spent time in London, Paris, Hamburg and New York.

The carnivore diet, a fact or just a trend?

Why are the majority of our national holidays based around Christian festivities? Arabist Maurits Berger talks about this in an article on Ruetir.

Research

Research

Met de benoeming van Rijpma en Campos Delgado is de Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid in alle uniersitaire regiogroepen vertegenwoordigd.

We all do it sometimes: watch your favourite Netflix series, YouTuber or comfort series while you are eating. But we don't always consider the possible consequences this could have. Floor van Meer talks about this and more during an interview with BBC.

Research

A lot has happened at Cluster Zuid since the highest point of the building was reached in December. See the photo report below.

Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorm heeft in samenwerking met de interventie ‘Nu Niet Zwanger’ een derde geldstroomonderzoek gegund gekregen. Het betreft advisering over gezondheidsrechtelijke kwesties binnen de betreffende interventie.

Speaking with your manager more often, focusing explicitly on well-being and giving more recognition and rewards for teamwork and team performance: the annual Performance & Development (P&D) interview will have a new format and also a new name. With the acronym GROW (Gesprekken over Resultaat, Ontwikkeling…

Changes to halt further biodiversity loss are more urgent than ever and feasible, says IPBES, the United Nations biodiversity panel. In two reports released this week, the panel calls on governments worldwide to develop coherent policies that address biodiversity, climate change, water, food and health.…

At least six people are off to a good start of the summer, because they are the recipients of a Meijers grant. For the next few years, these researchers will be able to devote themselves to their PhD research. Let’s meet these new PhD candidates!

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) in partnership with Elsevier hosted a series of online seminars on the challenges involved in achieving reproducibility in research. The seminars aimed to identify best practices that can help to overcome central challenges around reproducibility, and to convey several…

Tahir Abbas, Professor of Radicalisation Studies at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, is organising a book launch for his new book: 'Ruminations: Framing a sense of self and coming to terms with the other'. The book launch will take place on Thursday 15 December from 16.00-17.00 hrs. at…

Supporting our students’ well-being is a priority for the University. Last week was our Student Well-Being Week, and throughout the year our students have access to mental health support such as buddy programmes, student support groups and study skills workshops. Each faculty is to have its own well-being…