Van Vark defended her dissertation 'Separation and immersion: the changing role of the armed forces in Northwestern liberal democracies’ on 17 October 2025. The doctoral research was supervised by Maartje van der Woude and Erwin Muller.

Welcome to the website of the ‘Brave Little Ones’ research group!

Improving health, enhancing well-being and reducing health disparities across society.

Interested in the BSc Science for Sustainable Societies at Leiden University? Please check our admission requirements.

Some offenders are given short prison sentences. They tend to be people who are generally not faring well before they go to prison; they may have difficulty finding a job for instance. A short spell in prison can make them even more vulnerable. Attention therefore needs to be paid to continual supervision…

We are all aware of the importance of a healthy lifestyle. However, at the same time we also experience many difficulties when we are trying to change our behavior to become more healthy. For example, more often than not our good intentions to exercise more or to eat fewer unhealthy snacks fail miserably…

As we are working very hard to make our University more green, it is of upmost importance that you join us in our battle and start increasing the local biodiversity from your own house! Every bit will help, it is beneficial for you own mental health and most importantly it is fun! We have created this…

Neuroimaging research has greatly advanced our insights on how the brain is organized. Now is the time for the next step: Imagine what would be possible when we cannot only map brain-functioning, but use neuroimaging to voluntarily regulate brain-activity!

Meet the people of the Resilience Center

Leiden University contributes to the Social Sciences Sector Plan through designated faculty representatives. These individuals act as contact points for specific Sector Plan themes and support coordination within and across faculties.

The Second Chance project aims to promote recovery and re-integration of entrepreneurs who have recently undergone bankruptcy.

The aim of this project is to investigate the (cost)effectiveness of two innovative forms of trauma-focused therapy for patients with childhood abuse related PTSD. The ultimate goal is to improve quality of care and contribute to treatment innovation for this severely ill target population.

Optimization, mechanisms of action and predictors of the outcome of light therapy in depression: A multicenter randomized trial

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common disorders in children and young people. Social anxiety is characterized by excessive fear and avoidance of social situations. The primary fear in children with social anxiety is that they will be negatively judged by others. To date, the most frequently…

Effectiveness of an early intervention program for anxiety-prone toddlers in the Netherlands

Southern Crossings: Indian activists and the Afro-Asian movement in the early Cold War era

An important aspect of the promotion and safeguarding of good practices at the Institute of Psychology is to make sure that employees are being facilitated and guided by offering information about and resources for training. On this page, an overview of various mandatory and recommended training is…

Research of the Methodology & Statstics unit of the Institute of Psychology at Leiden University.

Music can affect how we feel, think, and behave. But how do we learn about the specifics of people's responses to music so that we can apply this to health and well-being? By looking at characteristics of the music, as well as the differences between listeners, we hope to better understand as well as…

On May 17th, Arthur Crucq succesfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Arthur on this great result.

The starting point of Hermans' research is how both children's physical play and dance improvisation by professionals can be considered somatic practices where sense-making manifests itself in and between bodies, and through movement.

Cognitive enhancement reflects the use of any (legitimate) means such as for example food supplements to reach one’s personal best.

How can we effectively increase biodiversity and climate resilience in Dutch cities from an ecological, societal and governmental perspective?

One of the most crucial aspects of our behaviour is our motivation to explore novel environments and interact with new people. This became painfully clear during the COVID-19 lockdowns, when many people suffered from lack of new experiences and real-life social interactions. The relevance of novelty…

A substantial part of PhD candidates have an increased risk for mental health problems, stress complaints or burnout. Leiden University has appointed a psychologist, especially for PhD candidates: Agnes van Rossum.

This project investigates properties of quantity expressions across languages from the perspective of how quantity is represented in the human brain.

What is students’ engagement in problem-based learning (PBL) and case-based learning (CBL) in teacher certification programs?

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding teaching.

Are you a student from Ukraine, Russia, or any other country and do you have questions about the war? Or are you looking for help or advice? Find out who you can turn to and what you can do to help yourself and others.

CML has its very own PhD committee!

In the ‘Cool Little Kids’ research project, we investigate a parenting program that focuses on the prevention of the development of anxiety problems in young, anxiety-prone children.

Students following this programme can choose one specialisation. This can be either with a focus on psychology in everyday life or on its application in mental health care. Each specialisation consists of mandatory courses, electives a master’s thesis and an internship.

Each month, we publish an article showcasing how social science research and education contribute to solving societal challenges. Researchers, lecturers, students, and societal partners work together to make knowledge accessible and to make a difference. Through open science and engaged education, we…

Leiden University and LUMC benefit from unique knowledge gained from research and teaching about healthy lifestyles. We want to bring this knowledge together into one place, and we want to share it even more effectively than we do now.

A master's degree in Psychology at Leiden University combines theoretical knowledge with academic and professional skills, making you an attractive candidate for many employers.

A master's degree in Psychology at Leiden University combines theoretical knowledge with academic and professional skills, making you an attractive candidate for many employers.

The LUMC, Leiden University and The Hague University of Applied Sciences want to help health professionals support behaviour change in the population. Such change would help people live healthier lives and reduce their risk of disease. The Municipality of The Hague is supporting this educational project…

Marcel Cobussen is professor of Auditory Culture at ACPA. Recently he has published a report (in Dutch) commissioned by the city government of Leiden (NL) on the sonic redesigning of a public space (the Garenmarkt) in Leiden. He is also one of the founders of The Journal of Sonic Studies, an Open Access…

This article explores an emerging “cultural turn” in intelligence studies, which, if fully realized, could entail the expansion of the discipline to include new methodologies and theories, and a more integrative understanding of historical causality that locates intelligence agencies within the widersocio-cultural…

Psychology graduates acquire skills useful in a variety of jobs. Whether helping people with mental disorders, researching the brain or deciding who should be hired at a company, psychologists can do it.

PhD defence

Five lecturers from Leiden University have received a Comenius teaching award. With the grants they can carry out an innovation project.

As climate change and ecological degradation’s effects on our mental health becomes more severe, we must all do our best to protect not just the environment, but also our mental well-being. Therefore, on this Sustainability Day, we have collaborated with Healthy University Leiden to focus on the relationship…