This paper contributes on an increasing body of work on radicalisation. It specifically focuses on what distinguishes individuals whose behavioural radicalisation includes involvement in terrorist violence from those whose behavioural radicalisation does not.

Source: Nat Biotechnol, Volume 32, Issue 12, pp. 1213-22 (2014)

Sweetie 2.0 is a research project commissioned by Terre des Hommes on online child sex tourism and criminal law.

The Turn of the Soul: Representations of Religious Conversion in Early Modern Art and Literature

Together with Knud Andresen, Bart van der Steen recently published a volume titled A European Youth Revolt. European Perspectives on Youth Protest and Social Movements in the 1980s.

This article presents an in-depth evaluation of a specialized reintegration initiative within the Dutch Probation Service focused on individuals convicted or suspected of involvement in terrorism.

Transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) was tested in chronic worriers. tVNS may reduce spontaneously occurring negative thought intrusions. After a worry induction, there was no longer an effect of tVNS. tVNS did not affect physiological responding to worrying.

Source: Eur J Med Chem, Volume 101, pp. 681-91 (2015)

Squatters and autonomous movements have been in the forefront of radical politics in Europe for nearly a half-century—from struggles against urban renewal and gentrification, to large-scale peace and environmental campaigns, to spearheading the antiausterity protests sweeping the continent.

In recent years, the use of primary data in terrorism research has increased. In order to maximise the benefits of this trend, we want to encourage terrorism scholars to implement open science practices more systematically. This article therefore presents different avenues towards open and reproducible…

Why does one person radicalize to involvement in terrorist violence within a group-based context, while another engages in this form of violence alone?

From deepfakes and disinformation to killer robots, surgical robots and AI lawmaking: AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing our world. That raises the question whether this requires some form of regulation. At eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, prof. Bart Custers…

The book addresses the question “How and why do people become involved in European homegrown jihadism?

In this article, Bart Schuurman and Sarah Louise Carthy conduct further research into the understanding of the causes of terrorism by assessing differences and similarities between left-, right- and jihadist extremists and terrorists. The article draws on the Analysen zum Terrorismus, one of the most…

The institute has six secretariats for the various departments and is located at the Kamerlingh Onnes Gebouw.

In this article, Bart Schuurman and Sarah Louise Carthy explore the distinctions between radicalised individuals and the general population

Childhood sexual abuse is a common problem, with approximately one in five girls and one in 13 boys worldwide experiencing some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. Despite its high prevalence, many individuals remain silent about these experiences, often delaying disclosure for years, with one…

In this publication, the authors explore the reality of accessing and interviewing hard-to-reach populations such as extremists and terrorists

Each year, the Leiden University Student Platform (LUS) presents the Leiden Education Prize.

This article provides an in‐depth assessment of lone actor terrorists’ attack planning and preparation.

Promotor: P. Stevenhagen, Co-promotores: B. de Smit, F. Andreatta

In this thesis we classify the pairs (p,G), where p is a prime number and G is a finite p-group possessing an intense automorphism, i.e. an automorphism that sends each subgroup of G to a G-conjugate, that is non-trivial and whose order is coprime to p.

Promotor: Prof.dr. P. Stevenhagen, Co-promotor: Prof. dr. B. de Smit

The Graduate School of Social and Behavioural Sciences has the responsibility for all PhD candidates in the field of social and behavioural sciences. The School's themes are anthropology, education and child studies, political science, psychology and science and technology studies..

Unfolding potential

In the last two decades, there have been heated public and scholarly debates in France, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands on the violent end of empire. Nevertheless, the broader comparative investigations into colonial counterinsurgency tend to leave atrocities such as torture, execution, and…

Do you wish to contact us for further information on the collaboration between Leiden University and Indonesia?

This article examines Russia’s use of low-level agents in covert operations across Europe since 2022, analysing a dataset of 145 cases to identify patterns in recruitment, demographics and network structure using social network analysis.

PhD defence

Leiden chemists have developed a new technique with which they can determine the role of kinases – a group of proteins – in a living cell. This technique makes it easier to find new drug targets for diseases such as cancer and rheumatoid arthritis. The team published the findings in the journal Nature…

'It gave our team a big boost to hear that our work was valuable,' says medical chemist Elmer Maurits about the moment they won the Venture Challenge. With their company Iprotics, they want to develop a drug that can better treat patients with autoimmune diseases and blood cancers. 25,000 euros of prize…

Supervisor: Anna Vlachodimou

Research in this group, headed by Gerard van Westen, focusses on computational methods integrated in different parts of the drug discovery process. More specifically, topics include innovative treatments for cancer, selectivity modeling, translational research, allosteric modulation, drug resistance…

Microbes influence and respond to other organisms. This theme explores the dynamic relationships within plant and animal microbiomes, and the immune responses that govern host defense. Using model systems such as zebrafish, insects, and plants, we investigate fundamental processes and engineer microbes…

best phd theses of the faculty of science Leiden - physics, chemistry, computer science, biopharmaceutical sciences, biology, industrial ecology, environmental sciences, astronomy, mathematics. thesis

On this page you will find an overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2026, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

The majority of scientists, from archaeologists through to zoologists, collect huge volumes of data. Their massive databases contain large amounts of information which is difficult for humans to filter. With a solid grounding in statistics, we can develop algorithms for analysing and identifying patterns…

Three fundamental research projects at Leiden in physics, chemistry and medical science have received funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). They involve research on magnetic fields in the universe, the role of myeloid cells in cancer immunotherapy and the evolution of ancient proteins.

Acute cardiovascular clinical events such as myocardial infarction and cerebral stroke represent the major cause of death in Western societies. These pathologies are primarily resulting from atherosclerosis, a progressive condition characterized by the accumulation of lipids, immune cells, and fibrous…

Dendritic cells (DC) play a prominent role in the priming of CD8(+) T cells. Vaccination is a promising treatment to boost tumor-specific CD8(+) T cells which is crucially dependent on adequate delivery of the vaccine to DC.

The ambition of the Medical Systems Biophysics and Bioengineering group led by Alireza Mashaghi is to develop and use physics and engineering concepts and tools for pathophysiology, diagnostics and therapy.

Promotor: Prof.dr. B. van de Water, Co-promotor: L.S. Price

This thesis explores different avenues to develop insurmountable antagonists for CC Chemokine Receptors, such as CCR1, CCR2 and CCR5.

Glycosidases are important enzymes in the turnover of polysaccharides and glycoconjugates, and are involved in a range of human pathologies including genetic disorders such as Gaucher and Pompe disease, but also in various cancers.

Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is the principal enzyme responsible for hydrolysis of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). MAGL inhibition provides several potential therapeutic opportunities, including anti-nociceptive, anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer activity.

The CC chemokine receptor 2 (CCR2), a member of the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily, is widely involved in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. However, no drugs for this receptor have made it to the pharmaceutical market yet.