The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) provides artistic research and education in the arts.

Leiden is the ideal city for students. There is a wide variety of activities you can do next to your studies, to make the most out of your student life.

On Thursday 28 September at 19:45, tv channel NPO Cultura will broadcast an interview with Michel Orrit about his Spinoza Prize winning research, as part of the series ‘Dankzij Spinoza’.

This Spring School will pay attention to a wide range of performances in history, from political gatherings, religious rituals, and courtroom proceedings to theatre, concerts, and dance. It combines a focus on the medieval and early modern period with an interdisciplinary perspective, attending to the…

Mariana Gkliati participated on Saturday 2 June at ‘Europe on Trial'.

The Pilgrims to America exhibition at Museum De Lakenhal inspires reflection. How far do you go in the quest for freedom? It focuses on the Pilgrims’ relationship with the University and which knowledge they took with them from Leiden.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, gave a guest lecture to first-year law students at Leiden University. He spoke about democracy, the war in Ukraine and the role of the Netherlands.

If you are new to Leiden, it might be a good idea to join one of its many student associations. You’ll quickly get to know people and build up a network that will continue to prove its worth long after you’ve graduated from your master’s.

Leiden is bursting with student associations, from sports to music associations and from social to cultural associations. And this is good news because they will help you make more than just friends.

On Sunday 29 October the annual open day of the Old Observatory will take place. During this day, people can visit the Old Observatory for free and enjoy the historic building.

Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) is celebrating its fifth anniversary. This English-language programme with on-campus teaching for excellent students has proved to be a great success. On Saturday 10 October, the LUC will be celebrating in Diligentia Theatre in The Hague with numerous speakers,…

ACPA alumni Falk Hübner and Joost Vanmaele aim to put up a few signposts in the expansive field of artistic research with an article recently published on FORUM+ .

On 5 December, Luuk van Middelaar appeared as a guest on Dutch current affairs programme Buitenhof to talk about various European issues, including how Europe had tackled the coronavirus pandemic.

Many Leiden scientists will be taking part in the Night of Arts and Science on 17 September. Find out what's on for English speakers.

Bredero (1585-1618) was known for his farces and comedies, but he also wrote one tragedy. According to Olga van Marion and Tim Vergeer, the play's main protagonists Rodd’rick and Alphonsus were not competing for the love of a lady, but were in love with one another.

How can we make sure that everyone feels welcome at our university? Read the highlights from the conference on The Making of an Inclusive Leiden University: The Do’s and Don’ts.

The International Medieval Meeting Lleida invites you to participate in this new edition. Deadline paper proposal: before 30th March 2025

LUCIS affiliated members are researchers outside Leiden University who are actively involved in the study of Islam and/or Muslim societies and who regularly participate in LUCIS activities. LUCIS affiliate membership offers possibilities to cooperate with LUCIS as well as network opportunities. Contact…

The English Language and Culture programme focuses on four areas, namely: philology, literature, linguistics and language acquisition. It also offers several specialisation options, ranging from renaissance literature to the use of metaphors.

The ARTIVES project studies imaginaries of diversity portrayed by artists in Lisbon and Rotterdam in their films, performances and (oral) literature with the aim to explore their transgressive potential of opening up possibilities of thinking differently about migration-related diversity. Their stories…

Curiosities from the anatomical theatre, swords from the fencing school and 17th-century portraits of the University's founders. The new University Room in Museum De Lakenhal portrays the turbulent first hundred years of Leiden University.

Stijn Bussels and Bram van Oostveldt have both contributed with an article in the book of Caroline van Eck: Idols to Museum Pieces. The Nature of Sculpture, its Historiography and Exhibition History, 1640-1880.

PhD-programmes, specialized in artistic research, docARTES and PhDArts join forces on March 22 and 23.

On Thursday evening, three local councillors from the ONS.Vlaardingen party walked out of a council meeting during a vote on a no-confidence motion. One councillor even went home after the vote out of dissatisfaction with the proceedings. The no-confidence motion against Vlaardingen's municipal executive…

A podcast about classical music featuring interviews with guest musicians about music they love. Come hang out with Emma and Chloe, creators of MusicBox, while they explore a new piece episode.

The Master’s Information Day Leiden University – Campus The Hague will be held on 6 November. The presentations will be given at the Schouwburgstraat 2 in The Hague.

Apart from his activities as coordinator of the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts, Rogier Schneemann is co-founder, guitarist and composer of the Dutch-Italian group Azure Hiptronics, originally formed in 2006.

From now on, you can go for a walk through Leiden’s scientific history and at the same time across the historic city center itself. Master students Lotte Koemans and Mandy Meijer have developed an audio tour which takes you past all six wall formulas in the inner city of Leiden.

Researchers Bibi van den Berg and Ionica Smeets are featured in the Opzij Top 100, the yearly list of most influential woman in the Netherlands.

April and May were busy months for our professor Anke Haarmann. We've highlighted a few of her activities.

How to keep 80 students with different backgrounds motivated for 3 hours? Stefano Cucurachi knows how! By incorporating current developments, lively discussions and even some improvisation theatre, this assistant professor managed to become Teacher of the Year 2018. ‘You have to find ways of gaining…

It was a busy turn-out at the first Study Abroad Festival held recently at the Gorlaeus Laboratory on 30 October 2015. Students gathered here to orient themselves - albeit often in an early phase - on studies or work placements abroad.

Coming four years after part II, and totalling more than one thousand pages, the long awaited first part of the Correspondence of Elizabeth Stuart (1596–1662), daughter of James I, King of England and Scotland has been published.

What can we learn from Cleveringa’s courageous protest speech? ‘Without imagination and a strong community, people do not stand up for one another,' says Cleveringa Professor Michael Ignatieff in his lecture on 26 November.

Gerard Soeteman (1936) created a furore as a screenwriter of films that became classics (Dutch films: Turks Fruit, Soldaat van Oranje, de Aanslag), but personally he is much more attached to his critical documentaries for television. He studied Dutch in Leiden. How did that help him?

Upcoming activities by ACPA PhD candidates Paul Houdijk, Gabriel Paiuk and Magda Dourado Pucci

The last names for the future European Commissioners were made public at the beginning of September 2019 and also which candidates have been put forward for the new European Commission by the different member states.

On November 5, 2021, Guy Livingston will present at an International Colloquium at the University of Lorraine (France), entitled:

Last week, the Ravenna School of Law hosted the UNESCO conference on World Heritage between Education and Economy: A Legal Analysis, at which Freya Baetens presented her paper entitled The new generation of EU Free Trade Agreements: heralding the end of public financial support to maintain cultural…

On Saturday 17 September Leiden will once again be the setting of the Night of Art and Knowledge. Come along and enjoy a fascinating mix of knowledge, theatre, music and art in the museums and academic locations such as the Hortus botanicus. Tickets are now on sale.

As part of his PhD trajectory, Johannes Boer (PhD candidate at the ACPA), created a music theatre production La Tragedia di Claudio M. .

LUC The Hague celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2016 on Friday 1 July 2016 at the Royal Theatre (Koninklijke Schouwburg) in its home city – The Hague. Around 600 guests were present to witness the conferring of the degrees and ‘the turning of the tassel ceremony’ of the 143 (of a total 162)…

This year’s edition of the prestigious art festival Ruhrtriennale, carried in diverse locations around the cities of Essen, Bochum and Duisburg (Germany), has re-staged De Materie, ACPA professor Louis Andriessen’s exceptional opera which overcomes traditional patterns of the genre in terms of dramaturgy,…

February 8 saw the launch of the Medical Delta ‘Sustainable Hospitals’ Interdisciplinary Thesis Lab. The research projects will touch on different aspects of healthcare. The students hope they will be able to offer practical solutions to make hospitals greener.

The Netherlands celebrates Space Exploration Day on 12 April each year. Space exploration has brought us ground-breaking discoveries with applications on Earth as well as in space. Leiden University is at the forefront of space innovation. Below are some examples.

On 28 November 2025, Leiden University and PLNT Leiden hosted “The Knowledge Orchard” - an event aimed at starting up/ enhancing interdisciplinary cooperation between academics at Leiden University, and improving collaboration between Leiden researchers and external partners in research and educatio…

Social, Economic and Organisational Psychology focuses on the application of scientific psychological knowledge of social processes within and between groups of people and individuals, in organisations, but also during economic and consumer decisions.