The terms ‘social’ , ‘collective’ or ‘public’ memory, are often contrasted with ‘private’, ‘individual’ or ‘personal’ memory. All these terms derive from a fairly new and interdisciplinary scholarly field that is often referred to as ‘memory studies’, and that according to some critics has developed…

The Amsterdam media played a major role in the rise and fall of Dutch Brazil, the colony held briefly by the Dutch West India Company in the 17th century. This is the conclusion reached by Professor of Maritime History Michiel van Groesen in his book ‘Amsterdam’s Atlantic’.

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When we think of the history of Dutch slavery, the areas that spring to mind are primarily the Antilles and Suriname. However, until the end of the eighteenth century there were also Dutch plantation colonies in neighbouring Guyana. Bram Hoonhout’s book ‘Borderless Empire’ describes this forgotten h…

At one time, the railway from Kimberley to Kambove in Southern Africa symbolised prosperity and progress. Today, the exhausted mining towns along its route are marked by decay and pollution. Professor Jan-Bart Gewald has been awarded an NWO L grant to investigate the long-term global consequences.

Your local city park may be improving your health, according to a new paper led by Leiden environmental scientist Roy Remme. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Remme and his colleagues describe how access to nature increases people’s physical activity—and therefore overall health—in…

Starting 1 July 2020, Pieter Tops will hold the special chair Organised and Subversive Crime Studies. The chair will be hosted by the Institute Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) at Leiden University's Faculty Governance and Global Affairs. Pieter Tops is a lector at the Police Academy. He conducts…

Nearly all documents from the 16th and 17th centuries were written by more than one person but attributed to only one author. Professor Nadine Akkerman wants to rectify this oversight in her research on scribes.

Humans and bonobos show striking similarities as well as differences when they see pictures of conspecifics. Both are more interested in photos of conspecifics that show emotion. But while our human attention is more easily drawn to photos of family members and friends that express certain emotions,…

What does it take to be a good historian? What are the capacities or dispositions needed to thrive as an historian? Put differently, what are the talents, skills, and virtues that historians qua historians have to cultivate? What are the “passions” or the “vices” they are expected to resist? And how…

A Dutch consortium has received €6.7 million to accelerate the development of nanomedicines together with patients. Researchers from Leiden University play a key role in the project.

In large numbers, lecturers from the History study programme responded to the call to share tips for online and hybrid education. Everyone can now take a look at these tips on the university website, says chair of education Kim Beerden.

European dependence on Russian gas, earthquake damage in Groningen and the changing climate: the call for an energy transition is getting louder. This transition will be accompanied by an increasing demand for 'new' raw materials. The Geo-Resources for the Future minor looks at exactly that developm…

During the annual graduation ceremony, not only were the Bachelor's students in Political Science honoured, but also those students who had written exceptional theses. The thesis prizes reward work that excels in originality, social relevance and academic quality. This year's winners are Ronny Wijling…

Ionica Smeets is planning to give the prize money that she won with the Iris Medal, a prize for excellent science communication, to student projects.

Last year, more than 8,000 respondents in the Netherlands took part in a public survey on their navigation behaviour. Headed by neuroscientist Ineke van der Ham from Leiden University, as part of the Weekend of Science, the survey studied how people navigate.

It may not seem necessary to install special tap water stations in University buildings, but it is very useful: every tap here also means a tap in a developing country. With the the 35 tap water stations that Leiden University installs, the slum area of Madoya in Nairobi will soon have clean drinking…

‘A university is a slow-moving institution, which is in many ways a good thing,' commented student Josephine Rook at the opening of the Leiden University Green Office on 27 September in the Hortus botanicus. ‘Sustainability is not about following the latest trends, but about making structural improv…

Last semester, bachelor’s students in Religious Studies spent a lot of time in community centres in Leiden. The reason: field research into loneliness in the city.

More than 300 students received their Bachelor’s Diploma of International Studies on 31 August 2018.

Minister Alexandra van Huffelen will attend the 'Leadership in the digital transition' event at Campus Wijnhaven organised by Alex Ingrams on 16 February. Five questions to Ingrams about the event.

It's easier to understand Trump's America if you have a sound knowledge of the country's history. Research on the US has been given an impetus with the renewed Roosevelt Institute for American Studies. The institute in Middelburg reopened on 20 April with Leiden University as a key partner.

Buying chocolates as a sign of love, getting the best deals on Black Friday and putting on a spooky costume for Halloween. In recent years, these holidays and traditions have taken off in the Netherlands, even though they originated on the other side of the ocean. Why are we so excited about American…

How can we make our cities greener and more people-friendly? Two Campus The Hague projects have secured a grant from the Municipality of The Hague. The researchers and students from both projects are working with city residents to find sustainable solutions to local issues.

Due to technological and societal developments, we are being flooded with more information than our brains can process. How does this affect our decision-making, both as individuals and as a society? And can we learn to make better choices? This is what Lotte van Dillen will explore with her profess…

IAt the Criminal Justice Public Lecture on 20 April, Professor of Law and Society Maartje van der Woude spoke about her research into decisions and practice in relation to intra-Schengen border areas and the free movement of persons. The thinking behind the Schengen area is that where the external borders…

Political games have existed throughout history, but what is the role of 'play' in the way the American political world has developed? University lecturer Sara Polak has received an ERC Starting Grant to investigate this.

The archive of a 17th-century postmaster has been discovered in the Museum for Communication in The Hague. Using new scanning techniques, the international research team Signed, Sealed & Undelivered, headed by literary scholar Nadine Akkerman from Leiden University and historian David van der Linden…

Political scientist Corinna Jentzsch received an NWO Veni grant for her research on the conditions of collaboration between militias and state forces and its consequences for safety and political order.

The person who cried out at Dam Square on Remembrance Day in 2010. For Michiel van der Wolf this marked the rise of a new phenomenon: that of ‘confused people’. Because since that Remembrance Day, the number of reports of ‘confused people’ in the Netherlands has increased rapidly in the statistics.…

In 2018, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) is celebrating its 100-year existence. To commemorate this occasion, policy historian Pieter Slaman conducted a comprehensive survey of the ministry. We now look back on 5 crucial moments.

In the eighties the Umhlatuzana rock shelter in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, was excavated. Results from this excavation led to an understanding when the Later Stone Age started in this area. This archaeological period is often associated with the structural presence of modern human behavior. Now a…

Who doesn't love to turn on a horror film on a rainy evening? Fortunately, it is only fiction - or is it? According to university lecturer Evert Jan van Leeuwen, modern horror says more about our society than we think. He has been nominated for the Klokhuis Science Prize for his research into addiction…

Archaeologist Prof Bleda Düring has been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant for his research on the emergence of social inequalities in the transition from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age in Cyprus. Using excavations, isotope analysis and cultural interpretations, he investigates how and why…

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…

Hunter-gatherers caused ecosystems to change 125,000 years ago. These are the findings of an interdisciplinary study by archaeologists from Leiden University in collaboration with other researchers. Neanderthals used fire to keep the landscape open and thus had a big impact on their local environment.…

The Netherlands has a lot of world-class speed skaters and footballers. Clever statistical analyses could help them perform even better. Leiden University is working on this together with Delft and Amsterdam.

They might not have had Twitter, but they did have brochures (pamphlets), the Roman Catholics and ‘modern’ Protestants between 1840 and 1870. In these, they launched a passionate attack on each other’s ideas. Ineke Smit has catalogued the brochures from the collection of the University Library and outlined…

The Honours College Law (HC Law) is soon going to look very different. What does the HC Law currently do, and what’s going to change? Why should you apply for it? To answer these questions, we spoke to Maartje van der Woude, Designated Professor at the HC Law. She’s designing the new programme in collaboration…

Legal protection. What do those involved in youth care and child protection understand by this concept? And what needs to change to improve legal protection? This question was explored by researchers from Leiden University’s Department of Child Law. Their research fits with the government’s ambition…

Gerrit van Dijk was born on 14th August 1939 in Kampen. He studied Mathematics in Utrecht where he also received his PhD in 1969 on the thesis ‘Spherical functions on the p-adic group PGL(2)’. His supervisor was prof. dr. T.A. Springer. The academic year 1969-1970 he spent in Princeton, at the Institute…

Workshops, tours, talks, music, an AI photobooth, interviews, a special poem and the launch of the LUF Children’s Fund. Alumni celebrated their alma mater’s 450th birthday in style on Saturday at the massively oversubscribed Dies Natalis Festival.