To what extent did the Netherlands grow rich from the Transatlantic slave trade? In his dissertation 'Walcherse Ketens', Gerhard de Kok looks at Vlissingen and Middelburg, the most important slave trade cities in the Netherlands during the second half of the 18th century. It turns out that, although…

The war between Ukraine and Russia is playing out not just on the battlefield but also on the geopolitical playing field of gas. Conflicts at the start of this century about this energy source were, says PhD candidate Ilia Barboutev, a precursor to today’s war.

The BLRN members have published extensively in recent years. In addition to the BLRN book series, dissertations of BLRN members published in the E.M. Meijers Institute Series, you will find below a selection of our publications. For a more complete overview of publications of each BLRN member, please…

How did the medieval manuscript develop as a physical object during the Twelfth Century Renaissance and what do these changes tell us about the intellectual culture of the period?

Security in the broadest sense of the word was the key focus in the Interfaculty Conference on 4 April in Leiden. With almost 200 attendees and such well-known speakers as Dick Schoof, Pieter van Vollenhoven and Ad Verbrugge, the first conference was a success.

Researchers from Leiden and Delft have found a way to look inside early-modern bookbindings. An x-ray technique has allowed them to search for remains of medieval manuscripts hidden inside the bindings. After the Middle Ages many manuscripts were recycled, their pages pasted inside bookbindings to provide…

On Monday 18 March at 10:45 a deadly shooting took place on the 24 Oktoberplein in Utrecht, killing three people and severely injuring five others. Leiden University expresses its solidarity with the families left behind in the wake of this horrendous and regrettable incident. Several researchers of…

As of 1 January 2020 Daan Weggemans has succeeded Ruth Prins as programme director of the bachelor Security Studies. We asked him several questions about himself and his new position.

On May 13 2022, Frans W. Saris will present the third of a series of "Hello World!" lectures, organised by the Media Technology MSc program of Leiden University. In his lecture titled "Computer Modeling to Save the World", Frans Saris addresses three alarming crises: energy and climate, biodiversity…

Starting 1 January 2023, Matthias Haentjens has been appointed as Professor of Civil Law at Leiden University. His expertise lies in the field of property law, insolvency law, and private international law.

The new Dutch-Turkish dictionary has been completed, just in time for the celebration of 400 years of Dutch-Turkish ties. It would not have been possible without Gerjan van Schaaik and Mehmet Emin Yıldırım from Leiden University. On Wednesday 18 April the Education Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt will…

An overview of the media appearances of scientists working with the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs about terrorist attacks in Europe, their consequences, and more.

Professor Sjef Barbiers is leaving his job as scientific director of LUCL for the position of scientific director of the Institute for the Dutch Language (INT) from 1 September.

Edwin Bakker is one of the speakers during the

Frans Osinga has recently been appointed as Professor by special appointment of War Studies at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs in the Hague. Osinga is both professor and an officer of the Dutch Royal Air Force. Given current global developments, the concept of ‘war’ is far from an abstract…

At the beginning of March 2020, the Dutch Taskforce for Applied Research (SIA) awarded Daan Weggemans of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs a research grant. The Taskforce is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Programme director of the bachelor's programme Security Studies Daan Weggemans kicked off the first webinar for prospective students this afternoon. In Kaltura Live he had an international audience of about 60 interested people.

The PhD students at the Academy for Creative and Performing Arts of Leiden University include a composer, an artist and a baroque flautist. Henk Borgdorff, who studied the phenomenon of PhDs in the Arts, says, ‘Artistic research in all disciplines of the Arts is a booming business worldwide.’

Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn teaches the masterclass terrorism 2018 together with Edwin Bakker. Read the interview here.

Identifying novel antibiotic compounds to tackle antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Researchers from Leiden University and VU Amsterdam will unite through a project now funded by NWO’s Open Technology Programme (OTP), which awarded the collaboration nearly one million euros.

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?

For the first time, astronomers have observed in three dimensions that gas from spiral galaxies is blown upwards and downwards at high speed, far out of the galaxy. They thereby confirm the theory of galaxy evolution: that star-forming galaxies create intergalactic gas flows by discharging gas along…

A significant percentage of children who have spent a period in youth care institutions or foster homes since 1945 received inadequate protection from physical, psychological and sexual violence. Interventions by supervisory authorities in cases involving violence were inadequate.

Edwin Bakker, invited speaker, at The EU conference on the future of higher education on March 9, 2016, advocated in his presentation ‘MOOCs as drivers of change: The teacher’s perspective’ for an open and positive attitude to digital learning environments and to leverage the potential of technolog…

Ramsey Albers wins Political Science Master’s Thesis Prize 2022

On Thursday 27 October 2016 Alke Metselaar will defend her PhD dissertation ‘Drie rechters en één norm. Handhaving van de Europese staatssteunregels voor de Nederlandse rechter en de grenzen van de nationale procedurele autonomie’ (Three courts and one standard. Enforcement of European state aid regulations…

Dr Alex Geurds was elected as a Fellow for the Society of Antiquaries, a prestigious and old educational charity based in London. Established in 1707, the society aims at the encouragement and advancement of the study and knowledge of the antiquities.

During an episode of Dutch television talk show PAUW on Monday 24 July, presenter Jeroen Pauw discussed the new threat assessment recently published by the Dutch National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism (NCTV). Jelle van Buuren, Assistant Professor Terrorism and Political Violence at Leiden…

No fewer than three Leiden University Humanities scholars have been awarded funding from the NWO’s Free Competition in the Humanities programme: two grants of 750,000 euros and one of 705,000 euros. In total, twelve researchers have received a grant in the NWO Social Sciences and Humanities domain.

Professor of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry Marc Koper has been appointed as member of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen (KNAW). 'Very honourable, I see this as a confirmation of my work,’ says Koper.

Inviting a navy officer to talk about piracy, inspiring critical thinking and offering to help with finding internships. Students appreciate that and therefore nominated Anita van Dissel, who teaches Maritime History, for the Lecturer of the Year Award.

Now the election results are in, how should we interpret them? Time to call Associate Professor in Political Science Tom Louwerse.

Brain research and statistics are advancing our understanding of language and language acquisition. Linguists are still essential, however, says Professor of Dutch Linguistics Sjef Barbiers. Inaugural lecture on 8 December.

Italian historiographers in the 16th and 17th centuries wrote remarkably often about the Dutch Revolt, better known as the Eighty Years' War (1568-1648). Their works influenced public opinion both in Italy and in the Netherlands. This is the conclusion reached by historian Cees Reijner in his dissertation.…

Professor Edwin Bakker, director of the Centre for Terrorism & Counterterrorism, released his new book “Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies: Comparing Theory and Practice”, published by Leiden University Press.

This week the Turkish army invaded North East Syria. The Turkish invasion might well have had an unintended side effect: the escapement of thousands of Islamic State terrorists held in captivity. Experts on terrorism and politicians fear a resurrection of the terror group.

The discovery of a planet far too large for its sun defies models about the formation of solar systems and planets. In a paper in Science, researchers, including Yamila Miguel of Leiden Observatory, report the discovery of a planet more than 13 times heavier than Earth orbiting the ultracool dwarf star…

The brand-new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‘Risk in Modern Society’ starts on Monday 29 January. This course was developed by the Centre for Safety and Security of the Leiden•Delft•Erasmus alliance.