Artificial intelligence algorithms govern in subtle, yet fundamental ways, the way we live and are transforming our societies. The promise of efficient, low‐cost or ‘neutral’ solutions harnessing the potential of big data has led public bodies to adopt algorithmic systems in the provision of public…

The master's specialisation Data Science: Computer Science at Leiden University provides students thorough knowledge and understanding of statistical and computational aspects of data analysis, including their application in databases, advances in data mining, networks, pattern recognition, and deep…

How did our academic community position itself in relation to a system that deprived people of their freedom? What role did the university, as an educational institution, play with regard to colonialism and the system of slavery? How can we best engage with and manage our special collections?

The master's specialisation Applied Mathematics at Leiden University focuses on both computational and fundamental aspects of analysis and probability. It’s also an ideal basis for a PhD degree. Applied Mathematics is an excellent choice if you have the aspiration to pursue a PhD degree

The master’s specialisation Artificial Intelligence offers future-oriented topics in computer science with a focus on machine learning, optimization algorithms, and decision support techniques.

Promotores: A.P. IJzerman, H.W.T. van Vlijmen

Een minderheidskabinet komt in Nederland nauwelijks voor. Dat ligt volgens Corné Smit, gastmedewerker staats- en bestuursrecht, die onlangs op dit onderwerp promoveerde, aan de diepgewortelde traditie van meerderheidskabinetten, zegt hij in EenVandaag.

SAILS likes to occasionally organise workshops about topics that relate to our programme. On this page you can find more information about previous workshops.

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…

Life Sciences Artificial Intelligence Data Science

The research focuses on the understanding of symbolic stratigraphy of the land (through time) from the worldview of the People of the Rain (one of the Indigenous Peoples of southern Mexico), by studying contemporary cultural heritage in communities of the Mixtec Highlands.

Loopholes in international tax legislation contribute to the misuse of tax rules by multinationals. Leiden University legal experts investigate how the complex national and international tax rules can be made more consistent in order to create a better tax system.

The master’s programme Physics at Leiden University offers a wide range of specialisations from theoretical research to cosmology. You will be trained for a career in research or for a more practical-oriented specialisation. The programme offers a wide choice of individual study paths that take into…

No nation-state can solve today's global challenges on its own. In the specialisation International and European Governance you will obtain a deep understanding of the interplay between the international, EU, and (sub)national governance systems and how this interplay affects the capacity of public…

Crises arising from terrorism, cyber threats, and natural disasters dominate world news and make Crisis and Security Management a heavily politicized and hotly debated topic at the top of the national and global societal and governance agenda.

Computers are becoming ever more powerful and are taking on more complex tasks. The Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) contributes to revolutionary scientific research and applies the latest inventions in the field, offering answers to today’s questions of society.

Researchers at Leiden Observatory study the fundamental physics that creates structure in the Universe. These processes collect matter into galaxies and gas into stars. With the use of powerful telescopes and advanced calculations and computer simulations, Leiden astronomers seek to understand the origin,…

How the systematic destruction of valuables created value in Bronze Age Europe, c. 2300-500 BC

Discover the impact of Instagram on our daily lives in the book On Display. Boy and Uitermark delve into the platform's influence on our social interactions.

This work represents the final results of several years of research within the Maya region. It deals with the relations between architecture and urbanism with landscape and astronomy.

Cultural identity at the Late Prehistoric settlement of Aguas Buenas, Nicaragua, AD 500-1522

The Human Origins group at Leiden University studies the archaeology of hunter-gatherers, from the earliest stone tools in East Africa, more than three million years old, to the origin of sedentary societies towards the end of the last ice age.

This book sheds new light on domestic forced migration by examining the experiences of American-born slave migrants from a comparative perspective.

D. Fontijn, Quentin Bourgeois & Arjan Louwen (eds) (2012). This publication describes the history of “barrow landscape” near Echoput in Apeldoorn. Two burial mounds were examined and it became clear that our prehistoric predecessors carefully managed and maintained the open area for a long time, before…

The research programme Statistical Science is concerned with the analysis and interpretation of masses of data, the quantification of uncertainty using probability models, and the development and benchmarking of algorithms and methods with these aims.

From self-driving cars to innovative drug development: artificial intelligence (AI) will fundamentally change our lives in many different ways. We study this technology at a deep and fundamental level. And we seek answers to questions about liability and privacy, for example. Our researchers from…

North, Middle and South America together constitute the single largest area in World Archaeology that is taught as a single focus. It is also the only major world area that saw societies develop from hunter-gatherers to early empires entirely independent from developments in Eurasia & Africa. It is,…

Authentication Processes in Ethnographic Museums

Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography is a state-of-the-art introduction to this dynamic and growing subject. The authors explain its fundamental aspects in a clear and systematic way.

The project aims to conserve and consolidate the entrance gate to the Roman Desert Frontier Fort Qasr Bshir.

The Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance, and Development and the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies organised the Van Vollenhoven Lecture 2013.

How do we process language and speech? How do we integrate information at different levels – intonation, sentence structure, meaning, tone, words, sounds - and how does information at one level interact with information at another level?

Area studies is an approach to knowledge that starts from the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present, through the relevant source languages, with central regard for issues of positionality.

Our Mission: To optimize human well-being within the constraints of planetary boundaries through innovative research, education, and partnerships that advance sustainable production and consumption. We strive to remain global leaders in developing and applying systems-based approaches, methodological…

Százhalombatta-Földvar is a Bronze Age fortified tell settlement on the right bank of the river Danube, 30 km south of Budapest in Hungary. It is one of the best preserved temperate climate tells in Europe and well-known for the extraordinarily rich data it produces. Since 2014 Leiden students are welcomed…

Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) offers a 3-year Bachelor's programme with a focus on Global Challenges: Peace & Justice, Sustainability, Diversity and Prosperity. The programme offers room for flexibility; you get to specialize in a major of your choice and combine this with a minor or electives.…

‘I would never want to be treated by a computer,’ says Boudewijn Lelieveldt, Head of Radiology at the Laboratory for Clinical and Experimental Image Processing and Medical Delta professor in the Bioinformatics group at Delft University of Technology. No matter how intelligent a system, we have to continue…

Ethnography and Photography in a Moroccan Berber Village

What are the values that Leiden University cherishes? What does the University stand for and what does it consider important?

Leiden University aims to equip its students for the world of tomorrow. All our teaching programmes promote international knowledge, global awareness and intercultural skills.

This specialisation focuses on two important trends in health care: early diagnosis and developing the most targeted patient-specific treatment possible with the shortest possible recovery time and minimal side effects.

Do you want to understand the complexities of today’s gender issues, social media use, food habits, social justice movements, labour relations or religious expressions? Join our international bachelor's programme in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology and get insight into people's social…

Discover the MSc Democracy and Representation at Leiden University: a structured and intensive programme focusing on democratic challenges like populism and polarization, with electives, research thesis, and small-group teaching.

German Language and Linguistics at Leiden University offers in-depth knowledge of German linguistic theory and practice.

Leiden University College The Hague (LUC) offers a 3-year Bachelor's programme with a focus on Global Challenges: Peace & Justice, Sustainability, Diversity and Prosperity. The programme offers room for flexibility; you get to specialize in a major of your choice and combine this with a minor or electives.…

In the programme International Criminal Law, you will gain understanding of the systemic environment surrounding international criminal law. Read more

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University with the American University in Cairo.

Study information

Computational thinking, programming, and algorithms form the basic of many of the things that are shaping our world, the way we work, interact, organize ourselves, and even spend our free time with social networks, streaming media, and games. And this transformation is far from being complete, it is…

Would you like to create an extra challenge for yourself? Leiden University gives you plenty of room to do so.