We would like to welcome Matthijs Westera, who will be joining LUCL as Assistant Professor of Humanities and AI for SAILS.

Erik de Maaker and Radhika Gupta received a Seed Grant to initiate research on how heritage has been and can be mobilised to address climate change governance in Himalayan Asia. This project will address a significant knowledge gap on the potentials and pitfalls of climate governance, with an initial…

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system.

In Spring 2023, Simona Demková and Daniel Mândrescu from the Europa Institute secured the new Leiden University Starting Grant, valued at EUR 240,000, for a collaborative project: ‘The EU’s Human-Centred Digital Transformation.’

Late June EP Nuffic awarded a capacity building project in the field of Transnational Law, Asset Recovery and International Investment Arbitration at the Faculty of Law at Universitas Indonesia in Jakarta. The successful consortium brings together experts from VU University Amsterdam, Leiden University…

Security and safety challenges are at the top of the list of the most pressing issues of contemporary society.

The environment also benefits when people follow national nutritional guidelines, Paul Behrens demonstrated in research published in PNAS. The publication attracted media attention both at home and internationally.

On the occasion of the Women & Girls in Science Day, BBC Science Focus Magazine highlighted 6 prominent female chemists. Among them is Leiden professor Ewine van Dishoeck: 'Astrochemist investigating the building blocks of life'.

On Tuesday, September 16, Professor Elisheva Baumgarten (Hebrew University) delivered the keynote speech entitled 'The Kindness of Others: Jews, Christians and Early Childhood Care in Medieval Europe' at the 'Care and the Jewish Experience' Conference at the Faculty Club in Leiden.

This project is aimed at 1) elucidating the role of attention in itch and pain, including orientation, and attentional disengagement (i.e., directing attention away) from itch and pain; and 2) modifiability of these attentional processes.

Studying in The Hague can make a big difference. The Hague is proud to be known as the international city of peace, justice and security. The city is full of opportunity and is a fantastic student city.

Where you end up depends on the chosen study direction, your own skills and interests.

The International Bachelor in Psychology in Leiden is a broad study with a strong focus on research.

Contemporary societies experience numerous crises, risks and disasters. In this minor, you will explore each of these themes in relation to grand challenges such as climate change, intensified disasters, cybersecurity incidents, and risks associated with emerging technologies.

Alumni event, Arts and Culture

How can we work together to create a safe study and learning environment and offer students the support that they need? The Vision on Student Well-Being outlines the University’s plans to promote student well-being in the coming years.

How do people living in a remote part of Northern Mongolia experience the post-socialist transition that occurred twenty years ago? Based on extensive fieldwork, cultural anthropologist Richard Fraser argues that this is not at all clear. In his PhD dissertation, he developed a new framework based on…

Hifadhi ya Dijiti ya Ustadh Mau

A study concerning the collective memory in the region of the Bene lo Ya/ Ene lo I'ya, Sierra Norte, Oaxaca.

What makes South Korean films successful? In the first part of the video series 'The World of the Korean Wave', University Lecturer Peter Verstraten discusses the recent success of South Korean cinema.

Fans of the Korean music movement K-pop go through hell for their idols. In return, artists care deeply about their fans: they even get to decide their hair color. In the video series 'The World of the Korean Wave', PhD candidate Flora Smit takes a closer look at this relationship.

K-pop is wildly popular. Fans all over the world sing along to the Korean songs, often without understanding exactly what the lyrics mean. University lecturer Mirae Kim explains why these songs are so difficult to translate in the video series

In the Western world, kimchi is on an unstoppable rise, but in South Korea the dish is actually losing popularity. Professor Katarzyna Cwiertka explains how this is possible in the video series 'The World of the Korean Wave'.

Many students dream of running their own business. But where to start? The Master Honours Challenge ‘Entrepreneurship’ helps students figure things out. ‘Now I can actually go for it.’

In the near future, students of the LDE Bachelor Honours Programme Sustainability will take on real-life sustainability challenges. But first, the course ‘Fundamentals of Sustainability’ provides them with an environmental mode of thinking: “It allows you to focus on what is useful in practice.”

In the nationalist nineteenth century, people developed an interest in medieval language and literature. The study of medieval material in one’s own vernacular was thought to reveal a great national past. But why, then, was Old English studied by Germans, Danes, Italians and many other nationalities…

On 14 September the second ‘Labour Day’ (Dag van de Arbeid) event took place: the career afternoon of the BA in Russian Studies and MA in Russian and Eurasian Studies in Leiden. Fifty Dutch and international students gathered in the Lipsius Building to talk with experts in the area of Russia and Eastern…

In the ‘Educatips’ column, psychology lecturers share their valuable insights about lecturing. This month: Franz Wurm is developing entrepreneurship workshops together with PLNT for master’s students of Clinical Psychology. ‘We want to teach students to develop from passive consumers to become active…

A professor from Leiden University, together with a former employee (who is also the professor’s partner), has been guilty of long-term unacceptable and often transgressive behaviour in the form of abuse of power and manipulation. This behaviour led to a culture of fear among staff who were largely…

With the municipal elections in the Netherlands just around the corner, an intensive period is beginning for council adviser Kirsten van Adrichem. Behind the scenes, this political science alumnus and her colleagues work to ensure a smooth political transition.

On Sustainable Tuesday, two weeks before Dutch Budget Day, the Dutch cabinet receives a suitcase full of sustainable ideas and initiatives. The initiators' aim: to make the government plans for the upcoming year a little more sustainable. At the Leiden Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), assistant…

Researchers Dr. Natascha van der Zwan and Dr. Philipp Golka from the Institute for Public Administration have started an evaluation of Dutch pension funds at the request of the Monitoringcommissie Code Pensioenfondsen. Focus of the evaluation is the role of internal supervision in ensuring good governance…

The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has awarded the Dutch Administrative Law Association (VAR) a start-up grant for one of the projects of the initiative 'Bestuursrecht beter' (better administrative law): a Digital Helpdesk for the Elderly. The grant will enable the VAR to take the first…

Terwijl NAVO-landen hun defensiebudgetten fors verhogen, ontstaat ruimte voor start-ups om innovatieve technologie te leveren. De flexibiliteit en snelheid maken hen aantrekkelijk voor defensie, maar de opmars brengt ook risico’s met zich mee, waarschuwt Louisa Handel-Mazzetti, promovenda bij Lucht…

What is the difference between highly visible and poorly visible monuments on the alignment? And is this difference reflected in the social position of the dead buried underneath these mounds.

Roll-up solar panels, bendable phone displays, or better computer chips… The EU project STIBNITE investigated the next generation of semiconductors, made from organic materials based on carbon, nitrogen, and boron. The project has now concluded. During the Open Science Debate on 1 July, the group will…

The world abounds with different footprints that calculate human impact on the environment. Environmental specialist Kai Fang is the first person to have developed a family of footprints that allow better measurement of environmental damage and the depletion of natural sources. PhD defence on 24 Nov…

The Greek alphabet dates back to the eighth century BC. At least, that is what science assumed for a long time. Associate Professor Willemijn Waal is going to use a Vici grant to investigate whether the Greek alphabet may be centuries older, and was initially written only on perishable materials.

Cars are equipped with catalysts to disarm toxic exhaust gases. Platinum plays an important role there. Leiden physicists and chemists have now for the first time seen the mechanism behind a platinum catalyst. With a fundamental understanding of the process, scientists can use this rare material more…