How can we improve the everyday sounds of the city? In his inaugural lecture on 28 November Marcel Cobussen, Professor of Auditory Culture, advocates using the expertise of sound artists to raise the quality of acoustic environments in cities.

On 26-27 September, the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence for Law and Automation at IE Law School in Madrid hosted the third edition of the Lawtomation conference, known for exploring critical legal issues related to automation, AI, and digital rights. This year’s discussions centered around the governance…

It occurs on a regular basis: a public administrator resigns or is dismissed when their integrity is at stake. To what extent does that damage their image? Geerten Boogaard, Professor of Local Government, discusses this in an item published by regional public broadcaster ‘Omroep Gelderland’.

On 8-10 July, 2024, public law scholars from around the world gathered in Madrid for the annual conference of the International Society of Public Law – the ICON-S, hosted this year by IE University. The theme of the conference “The Future of Public Law: Resilience, Sustainability, and Artificial Intelligence,”…

On 20 June 2024, the Europa Institute held its annual PhD Day at the Gravensteen Building. This event brought together PhD candidates in European law to present their research projects, share input from preliminary findings and engage in discussions with their peers and supervisors. The day was filled…

The University of Trento hosts the biennial conference of the International Reynard Society, taking place on September 25-28 2024. Deadline for paper/session submissions: December 31.

Religious Studies at the University of Amsterdam organises a postgraduate seminar on current issues in religious studies and western esotericism. You can find the programme for the year 2023-2024 below.

On 24 June, Olga Ceran and Vasiliki Kosta, together with Peter Maassen from the University of Oslo, presented the Academic Freedom Monitor 2024 to the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT).

Media Technology MSc student Michael "Mikkel" Olthof shows his work "Curved Sounds" at the Highlight Delft 2024 Festival. The project was made for the course "Sound, Space & Interaction".

On 4 and 5 April 2024, the conference "Waterways and Literary Channels of the Premodern World" will take place at Ghent University. The conference is organized within the framework of the Scientific Research Network "Literatures without Borders". Proposals for 20-minute papers, round-table contributions…

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The Diplo21 network organizes scientific meetings to provide young researchers working on diplomacy and written practices in medieval Europe with a forum for scientific dialogue and debate, independent of national historiographic traditions. The first theme chosen is 'the charter's spaces'. The particular…

Yesterday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a preliminary ruling in a case brought by Nicaragua against Germany. Nicaragua accuses Germany of genocide and violating international humanitarian law by supplying arms to Israel. Eric de Brabandere, Professor of International Dispute Settlement…

One of the ECSL’s most successful activities is the ESA/ECSL Summer Course on Space Law and Policy, which is open to students in any stage of their study and a number of young professionals already working in the space industry and space-related sectors. The course is now in its 32nd year and boasts…

Jaïr van Rhenen studied Medicine in Leiden and is now a GP in the largely religious Veenendaal. Before this, he worked as a tropical medicine doctor in Lesotho. ‘If you have the prospect of an afterlife, you often respond differently to illness.’

Are you an assistant professor, associate professor or full professor at one of these universities and interested in spending some research time in Cairo and working in the inspiring and stimulating environment of one of the Dutch Academic Institutes Abroad? NVIC participates in the NWIB Visiting Professors…

On Wednesday 24 April 2024, the European Integration cluster at the Institute of Political Science and the Centre for the Study of Political Parties and Representation hosted a panel on the topic of 'The 2024 European Parliament election: what’s at stake?'

We are excited to announce the winners of this year's The Hague Journal of Diplomacy Article Award: William Stewart and Jason Dittmer's article on "More-than-Human Space Diplomacy: Assembling Internationalism in Orbit", published in 2023.

Dr Letizia Lo Giacco is the recipient of the 2024 Rosalyn Higgins Prize for her article titled 'When a Dispute Exists: The Emerging Evidentiary Practice of the ICJ in Common Interests Proceedings'.

Over the recent period there have been a number of protests and demonstrations at universities by people who oppose the universities’ collaboration with the fossil fuel industry. Students and staff in Leiden are also expressing their concerns about this issue. We are now publishing a list giving an…

The Municipality of Lelystad is using a new kind of council agreement: a general agreement that all parties are entitled to have their say on. As Professor of Constitutional Law Wim Voermans recently said on Dutch current affairs programme ‘EenVandaag’, this form of agreement would also lend itself…

On Wednesday 5 June, Kalin Anev Janse, Secretary-General and Management Board Member of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), was invited to give a lecture on 'Bridging decision-making: a new direction for Europe? Prioritising financial stability: the European Stability Mechanism and the Banking U…

In what settings do great ideas turn op? Quanta Magazine follows top scientists to their favorite places to think, tinker and create. Leiden astronomer Ewine van Dischoeck showed the magazine the Noordwijk beach. 'Somebody from the Netherlands is unavoidably linked with water.'

Tech company Eyeball collects images and data on young amateur football players on a large scale. But is this allowed? Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science, and Gerrit-Jan Zwenne, Professor of Law and Digital Technologies, comment on the issue in ‘NRC’ newspaper.

A civil servant employed by the municipality of The Hague was cause for discussion after taking part in an Extinction Rebellion protest. Only under additional conditions could the employee in question stay on at the municipality. She decided to resign. According to Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour…

From 5 to 15 April 2024, a course on graffiti in Italy between the seventh and sixteenth centuries will take place at the Dutch Royal Institute in Rome (KNIR). Applicants are encouraged to apply before February 4, 2024.

On 5 and 6 june 2024, the conference The Senses, Cognition, and the Body in Medieval Devotional Practices is organised at the University of Padova. The organisers welcome abstracts for 25-minute papers in English or Italian, to be submitted by November 30.

The 2024 Computers, Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP) Conference taking place in Brussels between 22 and 24 May featured a presentation from Simona Demková from Leiden University's Europa Institute.

By working together with external social partners, the knowledge of our scientists finds its way into society.

The Leiden University Academy of Creative and Performing Arts will be proudly awarding an Honorary Doctorate within the upcoming 440th Dies Natalis.

The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (The Hague CAA) successfully marked its official debut conference with the support of partners, which include Leiden University's International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL), the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (NAI), and the Municipality of The…

Climate change, depletion of natural resources, loss of natural and cultural landscapes, and many other (ecological) sustainability challenges urge us to (re)evaluate human interaction with the natural world. This renewed environmental consciousness has invigorated not only scientists working on effects…

From BBC film shootings to a video of snowy Leiden and from bikes in the canal to our birthday, the Dies Natalis. This was our year in 12 Facebook posts!

Universiteit Leiden stond niet altijd bekend als een bolwerk van vrijheid, betoogt Egbert Koops in zijn diesoratie. Leidsch Dagblad sprak met de hoogleraar rechtsgeschiedenis over academische vrijheid: ‘Het bolwerk van vrijheid moest veroverd worden.’

On the occasion of the appearance of the monograph "Varieties of the Self.Peter Abelard and the Mental Architecture of the Paraclete" written by Babette Hellemans and published at Brill in 2023, a workshop will be organized concerning rules of observance as ‘texts of life’ in ascetic communities. The…

How has progress been made on diversity and inclusion at Leiden University over the past decade? Attendees reflected on this at the D&I Symposium 2024: Untold Stories. And in the workshops, students and staff discussed the next steps toward a more inclusive community.

Political scientist Leila Demarest tells about her research to Nigeria’s National Assembly. How do politicians cooperate and how are public resources distributed among the different regions?

Since 2000 the Leiden Student Council (LSR) yearly awards a prize for the best teacher of the university at the Dies Natalis.

On 8 February 2016 prof. Jennifer Chayes received her Honorary Doctorate at Leiden University as part of the 441e Dies Natalis. A video registration of this special event has now been published. For the ceremony of Jennifer Chayes’ Honorary Doctorate, please scroll to the 82th minute.

You can't have missed it: Leiden University celebrated its 444th anniversary in 2019 with a year-long programme of activities for the people of Leiden and The Hague. The Dies Natalis on 7 February 2020 marks the end of this special year. High time to look back at what we did!

447th Dies Natalis

Leiden University is celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2025 with a feast for the eyes, ears and spirit. The anniversary year opens with an extra special Dies Natalis on 7 February. Highlights includes an alumni festival, three exhibitions and a canal concert.

Each year on the university’s birthday, children at primary schools in Leiden and The Hague have a lesson from a professor – about children’s rights and robots in surgery, for example. The children get to do activities. And ask questions: ‘How do you become a professor?’

On November 1st, 2024, professor Johan Kuiper will retire and be appointed as emeritus professor at Leiden University. Since November 2008, Johan Kuiper was professor of Therapeutic Immunomodulation in the division of, at that time, Biopharmaceutics (which later on became the division of BioTherapeutics)…

Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

On 9 February, 2015, the 440th Dies Natalis, Peter J. Katzenstein will be awarded a Leiden University honorary doctorate in recognition of his contribution to the social sciences in general, and to political science in particular. Professor Katzenstein (Cornell University) is one of the most influential…

Archaeology can help us reflect critically on our European identity. This is what David Fontijn will claim in his inaugural lecture on 18 March.

Festival