Is the legitimacy of law and governance of multilevel jurisdictions diminishing? What is the significance of (diminishing) legitimacy for the effectiveness of law? These kinds of questions about the legitimacy of the supranational formation of law, its application, and the policy and governance based…

Just imagine: you see someone being treated unfairly. Do you find it more rewarding to help the victim or punish the perpetrator? Research by Leiden psychologist Mirre Stallen indicates that punishing is more rewarding. Publication in JNeurosci.

Tropical butterflies adapt to their environment to improve their chances of survival. The changes are triggered by hormone signals that transmit information about temperature to the butterflies' tissues. Biologist Ana Rita Mateus shows how a complex combination of environment, physiology and genetics…

Just like us, plants also produce growth hormones, and they also go through an ageing process. The study of the genes and mechanisms behind these processes is useful not only for crop breeding and agriculture, but also for medical research. That is the view held by Professor of Plant Developmental Genetics…

The use of fire can tell us a lot about human evolution. Archaeologist Femke Reidsma has developed a more accurate technique to identify how our ancestors used fire. Existing archaeological studies will need to be revised. Reidsma’s study was published in Nature Scientific Reports on 2 November.

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.

Brain researcher Elseline Hoekzema has discovered that the structure of the brain changes during pregnancy, particularly those areas related to social functions. These changes persist for at least two years after the mother gives birth. Publication in Nature Neuroscience on 19 December.

The Hague has positioned itself as a vibrant student city, and with its growing student population is well on its way to becoming one. But the student housing market is struggling to keep pace.

Currently, the bill ‘Wet versterking waarborgfunctie Awb’ (strengthening the guarantee function of the Dutch General Administrative Law Act) is in preparation. The bill is intended to strengthen the human dimension in the execution and administration of justice.

By tradition, the moot court competition of the 'Vereniging voor Bestuursrecht' (VAR, Dutch Administrative Law Association) takes place in May every year. This year, it was the honour of Leiden University to organise the event.

At the start of the year a lot of journals publish lists of their most cited papers of the previous year. Three papers published by Leiden archaeologists were ranked in the top 10 of the Journal of Archaeological Science: reports.

Two talented academics from Leiden who recently obtained their PhD have been awarded a Rubicon grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The grant enables them to gain experience at a knowledge institute abroad.

Door de totale anonimiteit van online servers is het erg lastig om cybercriminelen op te sporen. Dat moet anders, vindt Femke Halsema. Universitair docent Jan-Jaap Oerlemans en hoogleraar Law and Data Science Bart Custers spraken met de Volkskrant.

The journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society – Biological Sciences published its theme issue ‘Conflict across taxa’ on 4 April, which was edited by Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology Carsten de Dreu. Together with researchers from other disciplines he provides more insight…

Jos F. Brosschot has been appointed as a professor by special appointment on the chair ‘psychophysiological mechanisms of stress in daily life’. This chair has been created by the Foundation for Research into Psychosocial Stress.

Acute stress seems to have a surprisingly positive effect on our health. Researcher Erin Faught received an NWO veni grant to find out why that is and how we can use that knowledge to our advantage. For her lab research, she uses a remarkable small animal to learn more about our own stress levels.

Leiden biologists have shown that a gene present in plants, animals and yeasts does play an important role in plants, although for years the gene was considered unimportant. It turns out the gene plays a crucial role in the development of vascular tissue in plants. Publication in Nature Plants on 11…

It may be the best tradition of them all: on the university’s birthday, its professors go to primary schools to teach a special lesson. This year, 75 professors visited 44 local schools. ‘How does stress get into your body?’

Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded prestigious Vici grants the Dutch Research Council (NWO) has announced. The honoured applications are from researchers at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden Observatory, the LUMC and the Faculty of Archaeology.

El CID, the University introduction week, has begun! We spoke on Sunday evening to the first new arrivals who had come to Leiden to spend the night at the University Sports Centre. New students can sleep here all this week as well as at the ice rink or in a student house.

Psychologist Myrthe Jansen conducted research into the performance monitoring that constantly takes place in our heads. People with obsessive-compulsive symptoms are more afraid to make a mistake that harms others, than when they make a mistake that only harms themselves. Jansen received her PhD on…

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The Data Science Research Programme at Leiden University combines data science with PhD projects in a wide range of disciplines. The programme has been running for over two years, and is producing the first astonishing results. A number of PhD candidates talk about their experiences and research bel…

Bones hold a wealth of information about a person’s life, revealing details about where they came from, how old they were when they died and what diseases they may have had. Scientists can use this data to piece together aspects of an individual's life, offering valuable insights that can help address…

Living systems scale from unicellular microbes to complex multispecies communities that constantly change over time. Within the theme Development & Disease, we enhance our fundamental understanding of development and homeostasis of living cells and systems. We analyze the normal situation and how stresses…

Point your talented students to Inter-Section! That is the main message of the journal’s Editorial Board. But what exactly is Inter-Section? ‘It is meant for students to create an opportunity to publish a peer-reviewed article during, or just after, their study.’

Building a fire involves many variables, such as size, choice of fuel, temperature, and burn time, that affect the way the generated heat can be used, and therefore the potential function of a fire. A group of Leiden archaeologists are, together with a team of international colleagues, investigating…

2020 is a year in which we need to reinvent ourselves, including within our faculty's marketing department. For years, colleagues have been organising introduction activities such as the Bachelor's Open Days, Master's Open Days and Online Experiences. From March onwards, everything had to change.

Can dynamic testing provide us with insight in children’s potential for learning?

Apps that can precisely identify shards, coins or heel bones: archaeology has embraced artificial intelligence. Alex Brandsen is working on a search engine that scans vast quantities of text from an archaeological viewpoint.

As a graduate of the Faculty of Humanities, there are unlimited possibilities. Do you want to know more about the sectors and jobs Humanities' graduates end up? Read their stories below!

The master’s programme in North American Studies at Leiden University takes a multidisciplinary approach to the study of the United States, with a particular emphasis on examining key aspects of American history, culture, and literature.

Remko Offringa has been appointed Professor in the field of Plant Developmental Genetics within the Faculty of Science at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL) from the 1st of April 2017. Offringa’s research focuses on the role of the plant hormone auxin in controlling plant growth and development,…

Neuroscientist Elseline Hoekzema receives a large European grant from the European Research Council (ERC). This ERC starting grant for promising young researchers allows her to investigate the effects of pregnancy on the brain in detail.

The Crafting Resilience Kick Off on 30 March seeks to inspire conversations around new state-citizen relations in the social domain. At this conference, international researchers discuss core questions at the heart of the new NWA Crafting Resilience project.

Small, remote islands were long thought to have been the last frontiers of pristine natural systems. Humans are not thought to have been able to reach or inhabit these environments prior to the dawn of agriculture, and the technological shift that accompanied this transition. A paper recently published…

In her “Jews and Judaism” lecture class in Fall 2020, Dr. Sarah Cramsey’s students produced 7-minute long podcasts instead of final papers.

The discovery in 2001 of the importance of microRNAs turned the world of molecular biology upside down. The small particles of RNA also attracted the attention of university lecturer Erno Vreugdenhil. Vreugdenhil: ‘Within five to ten years the first microRNA-directed medicines will come onto the mar…

Everyone benefits when cooperation runs smoothly However, people often act obstructively. Why do they do that? Professor of Social Psychology Carsten de Dreu researches this issue using a wide variety of methods, from brain scans to the role of religion. Inaugural lecture 7 October.

Glorious sunshine, dozens of enthusiastic academics and huge numbers of Leiden residents ensured that this year’s special jubilee version of 3 October University was a great success.

The use of the pill, in combination with genetic factors, can influence experimental psychological research in women. More research is needed into the influence of the pill on mood disorders, concludes psychologist Daniëlle Hamstra. PhD defence on 30 September.

The Institute of Psychology is committed to play a prominent role in teaching and research at the national and international level.

A consortium of researchers from the Leiden Institute of Physics (LION), the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), and the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) received a FOM program grant to develop a novel way of studying individual proteins inside a cell using gold nanorods.

What happens in our bodies when we care for children? And why are some people more caring than others?

Could we stop cancer cells by cutting off their energy supply? That’s what Dione Blok, a bachelor’s student in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences, aimed to find out during her thesis research. She investigated a compound that affects the tumour cells’ energy metabolism. ‘Hopefully, these insights will provide…

Migraine is a brain disease. If it were simple, we would have solved it already'. That is the title of the inaugural lecture delivered by Professor of Neurology Gisela Terwindt on Friday 3 June. In her speech she emphasises the importance of research into the differences between women and men with m…

Leiden biologists have found a mutation in flour beetles that allows them to speed up their development. The study has been published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

Women are more often diagnosed with depression, whereas ADHD is much more frequently detected in men. And there are other more striking differences. What role does the brain play in mental health and what is the influence of the environment? For answers to these questions, listen to the ‘(Un)gendered…

Leiden University is partner of the Netherlands Centre for One Health (NCOH). This initiative brings together leading academic research institutes in the Netherlands in an open innovation network that responds to the theme: One Health. NCOH interviewed Doris van Bergeijk: PhD student of the project…

Protests against textbooks on trans persons in America and against a reading hour by drag queens in Rotterdam: it has been raining protests recently against people with a gender expression that does not match their birth sex. Why does this evoke such resistance? We asked Professor by special appointment…