On 6 April the Netherlands will vote on far-reaching cooperation with Ukraine. Referenda are exceptional in Dutch political history, according to Professor of Electoral Research Joop van Holsteijn.

Dark matter is one of the biggest mysteries of the Universe. Its properties cannot be explained with the known laws of physics and elementary particles.

On 16 April, an edition of Zembla, the Dutch documentary programme produced by BNNVARA, investigated the connection between Thierry Baudet, leader of Dutch political party Forum for Democracy and the Kremlin. Ben de Jong, visiting lecturer at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, was interviewed…

The Dutch Research School for Theoretical Physics (DRSTP) has received excellent ratings from an independent international committee. The DRSTP is a school for PhD training which has grown out of a collaboration between the theoretical physics departments at six Dutch universities—including Leiden—and…

The Dutch Student Orchestra (NSO) brings together more than a hundred of the best student musicians in the Netherlands. On 16 February the NSO will be performing in Leiden. Two Leiden members of the orchestra give a foretaste of the concert.

A recent study shows that immigrants in the Netherlands earn 15 per cent less on average than their colleagues without a migrant background. Olaf van Vliet, Professor of Economics, comments on this pay gap in ‘de Volkskrant’ newspaper.

From the energy transition in Namibia to sustainable jobs for young Nigerians, from African cookbooks to vodcasts on vintage Swahili booklets: during a recent visit by the Executive Board, staff from the African Studies Centre Leiden and the African Library presented their research, teaching and acquisition…

In recent months, the Dutch Islamic Haga Lyceum has increasingly come under the suspicion. The school is suspected of spreading a state-threatening version of the Salafist doctrine. This information came from the Dutch Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD).

Francesco Ragazzi (Institute of Political Science), Julian Ross (Center for the Arts in Society) and Mark Westmoreland (Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology) set up the interdisciplinary research centre ReCNTR.

The narrow but long stretched stript of Frisian land along the North Sea was already occupied before Roman times. However, man repeatedly suffered setbacks when he tried to extend his living space, both in the tidal marshes and the peat area south of them.

On the 27th of October the 7th conference - organised by the Centre for European Company Law (CECL) - will be held in Rome, Italy.

The Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University ran an excavation project in Northern Syria, at Tell Hammam al Turkman, some 80 km north of Raqqa. The Faculty of Archaeology and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research N.W.O. finance the undertaking, which is directed by dr Diederik J.W.…

Discover the effects of clothing value and lifespan on buyer-user-producer relationships through collaborative research with Localising Global Garment Biographies.

The Dutch National Student Orchestra will be going on tour again in February. Before that, they will have ten days of rehearsals. The level is high and taking part means a total immersion in music.

On Tuesday 24 September the Marengo trial, also known as the trail against the so-called Mocro Maffia, continued behind closed doors after the fatal shooting of barrister Derk Wiersum. The main suspect is Ridouan Taghi. He is believed to be residing abroad along with several accomplices.

For the first time research has been done on species literacy in the Netherlands. Children in primary schools know about 1 in 3 native animal species. Publication in Biological Conservation.

On Thursday 17 October, Marieke Bos and Anika Bexkens went behind the scenes at the Jeugdjournaal, a Dutch television program that delivers news specifically for children. They talked to the editors-in-chief of Jeugdjournaal about what kind of questions they receive from children and advised how to…

Endangered languages can survive if they are taught properly to new speakers, such as people with a migrant background. This is what Professor by Special Appointment Felix Ameka will say in his inaugural lecture on 30 September. Dutch people can do their bit by being less ‘polite’ to people whose mother…

As of 1 July, Gijsbert Rutten is Professor by special appointment of Historical Sociolinguistics of Dutch at Leiden University. Rutten, who also works as Director of Education at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL), will, among other things, research the historical relationship between…

The Hague has announced that 70,000 refugees are expected to come to the Netherlands this year. How can situations like at the Ter Apel asylum centre - where asylum seekers had to sleep outside due to a lack of space - be prevented.

Statements made by Caroline van der Plas about nitrogen emissions and European law are incorrect: Armin Cuvyers on Dutch radio EenVandaag programme’s item ‘fact or fiction’.

How did Dutch sound 1000 years ago? This is a question that linguist Peter-Alexander Kerkhof has been pondering for some time already. He recently managed to reconstruct this Old Dutch.

The American Chemical Society’s Publication Division (ACS) and Dutch universities represented by the VSNU have reached agreement on including open access publication as part of the contract with publishers. From 2017, all new articles submitted by an author associated with a Dutch university or participating…

Contacts between English and Dutch speakers had a profound impact on the literary landscape and book culture of England and the Low Countries. This conference crosses conventional chronological, linguistic, geographical and disciplinary boundaries to explore the cultural history of relations between…

Since the start of the Corona crisis, several COVID-19 related research and teaching projects were started at LACDR. The computational and teaching activities started right away, as well as a large-scale metabolomics screening program by Thomas Hankemeier’s group. Other experimental activities are still…

On March 7, 2019, the Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law organised a mini-seminar on ‘Asset segregation in the financial sector’. During this meeting a number of experts, both practitioners and academics, gave a presentation on a topic in the field of asset separation. All the participants were also…

From April 6th to 8th the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research hosted the conference ‘Climate Dilemmas – Ideals versus Realities’ at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK).

Residents of Bonaire believe the Dutch government should do more to combat climate change on their island. On their behalf, Greenpeace is taking the Dutch State to court. External PhD candidate Sjoerd Lopik discussed the case on Dutch Radio 1.

Foreign investments in the Dutch East Indies during the colonial period could have been of more benefit to the Indonesian economy. Foreign investments in the Dutch East Indies during the colonial period could have been of more benefit to the Indonesian economy. But the complicated relationship between…

This proposal aims at the construction of a comprehensive and authoritative scientific grammar for Dutch and Frisian in the form of a virtual language institute: het Taalportaal/the Language Portal.

Traces of a Colourful Past

As a result of the refugee crisis and the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (RNM) is stepping up immigration controls in the Dutch borderlands. These measures are part of the so-called Mobile Security Monitor (in Dutch: Mobiel Toezicht Veiligheid), “Schengen…

As a result of the refugee crisis and the terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels, the Royal Netherlands Marechaussee (RNM) is stepping up immigration controls in the Dutch borderlands. These measures are part of the so-called Mobile Security Monitor (in Dutch: Mobiel Toezicht Veiligheid), “Schengen…

China is actively attempting to silence critical voices about the country, including in the Netherlands. This is the main conclusion of a report on Chinese interference and intimidation within the Dutch media landscape. The media are often not well prepared for this.

Recently, the Dutch Health and Youth Care Inspectorate sounded the alarm about the state of the Dutch youth care. What is going wrong and what needs to be done? In a special broadcast from youth care institution Via Jeugd, Op1 talks to adolescents, staff, State Secretary Maarten van Ooijen, and Professor…

On 22 April the 5th edition of the book Introduction to Dutch Law (edited by Jeroen Chorus, Ewoud Hondius and Wim Voermans) was presented to dr. Geert Corstens, former president of the Dutch Supreme Court.

Pieter Omtzigt, leader of the ‘Nieuw Sociaal Contract’ (‘New Social Contract’) party, has withdrawn from talks to form a new Dutch government. Government finances are a divisive issue, and Ronald Plasterk’s decision to withhold documents on government finances seems to have particularly broken trust.…

After the Second World War almost three million people emigrated from the Netherlands to countries such as Canada and Australia. The government information was anything but objective, Professor by Special Appointment of Dutch Studies/Dutch Literature Ton van Kalmthout concludes in his inaugural lect…

Call for Papers: Yearbook for Dutch Book History 33 (2026). Deadline 1 April 2025.

De Nederlandse regering is van plan om een ‘clausule’ in te dienen bij de Europese Commissie om een opt-out te krijgen op het gebied van het asielrecht. Op die manier zou Nederland niet langer gebonden zijn aan het EU recht en daardoor een strenger asielbeleid kunnen voeren.

On 1 February 2017 there was a hearing in the committee on European affairs of the second chamber of the Dutch Parliament on the issue of

The Yearbook for Dutch Book History publishes Open Access articles in the Dutch and English language on all aspects of the book history of the Low Countries. For the 32nd edition of 2025, they particularly welcome contributions within the theme of “Books across borders.”

A series of sessions on the literary heritage of Anglo-Dutch relations (c. 1050-c. 1600) will be held at the Society for Renaissance Studies (29 June - 1 July 2021).

Mavlyuda Yusupova will be Central Asia Visiting Professor in November 2018. She will deliver two guest lectures for Leiden MA and PhD students.

The Dutch colonial past in Indonesia has had a major influence on literature.

A group of ten Indonesian scholars, NGO-members, and state officials coming from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry visited their Dutch colleagues, academic and practical experts, to discuss issues related to water management and environmental regulation .

As from 20 July, six people are being interviewed for over three hours for the Dutch television show ‘Zomergasten’ at the VPRO.

This dissertation investigates the impressive prehistoric cultivated landscape of the eastern part of West Frisia.