Van Es is the successor to Professor Huijgen whose retirement is approaching after nearly 27 years’ professorship. This new appointment is from October 2022, but Van Es has been working at the faculty for some time.

Arts and culture

It was the seventeenth time the Moot Court Challenge Cup had been awarded! This time for the best pleader in the autumn term of the 2025–2026 academic year.

How can the academic world best handle the new political reality in the United States? This is the question that managers, lecturers, researchers and students at Leiden University discussed on Friday afternoon at a gathering in the Kamerlingh Onnes building. ‘Don’t just give in; defend academic free…

On 7 November, we marked an important milestone for our Law and Criminology bachelor's students who celebrated at their graduation ceremony.

On 7 and 8 November, we celebrated a special milestone during the graduation ceremony for the bachelor’s students in Law, Notarial Law, Tax Law and Criminology.

On 11 June 2025, the MA in International Relations (MAIR) Programme convened its 2nd Humanities & IR Graduate Conference at The Hague Campus (Schouwburgstraat), welcoming over sixty participants from twenty institutions in Europe, North America, and Asia.

The nominees for the IRO thesis prize 2023 and the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg-prijs 2023. Who wrote the best bachelor theses in Political Science?

Jiska Ogier studied notarial law, which wasn’t always easy because she went to lectures in a wheelchair. As a student she pushed to make society accessible. And with her law degree and lived experience she has now made this her work. ‘You can achieve a lot with creative solutions.’

This month we interview alumna Dominique Mars who made an interesting career choice: she tells us how she chose to be a teacher at a primary school whilst having obtained her Master in Child Law.

Music venue Paradiso, the Keizersgracht Church and the Artis Zoo’s aquarium: these buildings all owe their design to architects Gerlof Bartholomeus Salm and Abraham Salm. Remco van der Kuijp researched the place of father and son in architectural history. PhD defence on 25 March.

Freya Baetens, Professor of European Law, has been awarded a Chair by the Francqui Foundation in Belgium for the impact of her work on lawmaking and policymaking in Europe and beyond.

Have you considered including the Leiden University Fund in your will?

Besides the launch of our new degree programmes in The Hague, at the start of this academic year we are also fully committed to the renewed curricula of our existing bachelor’s programmes. Here, you can read about the most important developments within the programmes.

On Friday 20 May, from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., approximately sixty lecturers met at the Faculty Club for the 2022 Education Showcase.

There are lots of important items on the education and teaching agenda for 2024. Reaccreditation for the Law programmes including Notarial Law and Tax Law degree programmes, preparations for the implementation of the Kernvisie Bachelor, a new online teaching platform and a Teaching Fair, to name just…

Stichting Onderwijsgeschillen (Foundation for Educational Disputes) is pleased to announce that it has established an endowed chair ‘Conflictoplossing en rechtsbescherming in het onderwijs' (conflict resolution and legal protection in education) at Leiden University.

The Corstens Commission that investigated whether there are any grounds for the rumours of antisemitism at the Faculty of Law has found no indication whatsoever for such expressions. This also applies to the professor in question. This is evident from the report that the commission chaired by Professor…

Arts and culture

If a forged Vermeer or Rembrandt is discovered, it is world news. Yet tracing fakes has long been a low priority in art history. University lecturer Anna Tummers will receive an ERC grant of almost two million euros to change that.

The nominees for the IRO Thesis Prize 2025 and the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg-prijs 2025. Who authored the best thesis in Leiden University’s bachelor’s programme in Political Science?

The nominees for the IRO thesis prize 2021 and for the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg prize 2021. Who wrote the best Political Science bachelor’s theses?

Museum Boerhaave commemorated the hundredth anniversary of Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity with the exhibition ‘Einstein & Friends’. The exhibition shined light on the famous physicist’s Dutch friends and his love for Leiden. A review featuring seven images can be found below.

Willemijn de Best’s career path led her to the media sector. Besides the more obvious legal professions, a degree in law actually offers many other possibilities: film and television production with celebrities as clients, for example.

Almost 3,500 visitors came to Master’s Open Day in Leiden and The Hague.

From human rights in Sudan to a new cult of heroes in China. During the board members' visit, the Institute of Private Law and the Institute for Area Studies clarified their social relevance in no uncertain terms. What's happening here in education and research?