PhD Research Projects at LUCDH and Affiliated Faculties

Historiography of science is in its current self-image a non-evaluative discipline. Its main goal is to understand past processes of knowledge formation on their own terms. In the last few decades this approach has greatly improved our understanding of the phenomenon of science. Yet, something strange…

On November 21st, Frederick Boswell succesfully defended his doctoral thesis and graduated. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Frederick on this great result.

On 1 September 2022 Güldeniz Kibris successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The project aims to explore Eurasian elk's role in the ecosystems of the past and its relationship with humans through analysis of its distribution and habitat in the Netherlands.

This dissertation is a comprehensive description of the Jiăomùzú dialects. These dialects belong to the Tibetan-Birmese language of the rGyalrong spoken in the province Sìchuā, China.

The book explores how ceramic studies illuminate interactions among ancient Mediterranean communities. By integrating post-colonial perspectives and network analysis, the volume transcends traditional

This is a study of Plateau Shimakonde, a sub-dialect of the Makonde language which is spoken on the Makonde Plateau in northern Mozambique.

This volume provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of the archaeology of a single Caribbean island yet published. Drawing together scholars from the Caribbean, north America and Europe, all working from a range of disciplines within the broader scope of archaeology, and drawing upon recent…

Doctoral Thesis

The topic of Historical Linguistics and Philology at LUCL is language change in its broadest sense.

The department of World Archaeology combines research and education about regions all over the world, from Human Origins to the Middle Ages, and from Europe, to Asia, Africa and the America’s. That broad range in time and space makes the department a dynamic pluriform community with many different approaches,…

ASLU 16

The Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic (LAPP) is a pro bono initiative concerning legal questions on plastics and is founded to address and research the legal issues related to plastic pollution.

Each year, the Faculty of Science celebrates exceptional teaching with its annual award. Here you’ll find how the tradition began, how the winner is chosen, and where to explore the lecturers who have earned the title in previous years.

For decades, this prize has highlighted rising scientific talent — young researchers who often go on to make their mark in the field. Here you can explore how the award began and discover the many promising scientists who received it over the years.

For early modern Europeans, the past was a measure of most things, good and bad. For that reason it was also hotly contested, manipulated, and far too important to be left to historians alone.

We know that armed conflict breeds conflict. We also know the political, economic and demographic factors that inform this repetition of conflict. But we do not understand why accumulated conflict risk factors sometimes do and other times do not pay out in more violence. What if we go beyond macro structural…

We are a multidisciplinary team of researchers from Leiden University. Our work focuses on past diets, food processing, and human–environment interactions.

The Department of Archaeological Heritage and Society focuses on the relationships between past and present, the role of heritage in society, and how heritage conceived broadly can contribute to improving quality of life.

In Applied Archaeology, you follow your personal interests, and choose a matching career profile and regional focus. What kind of archaeologist will you become? In the Applied Archaeology programme you get to plot your own course!

In the master’s programme in Archaeology, you can follow courses on the archaeology of West Asia, deepening your understanding of this region’s fascinating past.

Young Academy Leiden has completed several projects in recent years. While these projects are no longer active, they remain available on our website as an archive, showcasing the themes and initiatives we have engaged with in the past.

In the past we have held lecture series on themes within Islamic thought and history, such as our lecture series on apocalypticism and eschatology in early Islam in 2021. We endeavour to hold at least one thematic lecture series per academic year.

LUCDH has collated a list of useful DH links and Granting opportunities:

This NWO-funded research programme focuses on the assumptions and methodology of the writing of history of science. History of science is in many respects a flourishing discipline: it currently yields an impressive volume of studies. Systematic reflection about the ways in which history of science may…

This study explores the role of linguistic data in the reconstruction of Dolgan (pre)history by analyzing contact-induced changes and using them to infer information about the nature of the contact settings in which they occurred.

The research that is united in the Liveable Planet programme, touches upon a wide range of aspects of human life. The goal is to deepen and expand the scope and to connect more researchers. The following case studies are examples of current research projects.

Haunting the future through poetry

A portrait of the complex historical process of over 500 years of European colonialism in the New World.

We live in a world of things and people in the past must have been as closely entangled with their material surroundings as we are now. In the Laboratory for Artefact Studies Van Gijn takes a close look at the biographies of objects: what kind of raw material an object is made off and what is its provenience,…

Mobility, Globalisation, and Interculturality is one of the six research themes of the LUCAS Modern and Contemporary cluster.

Material Culture, Settlements, and Landscapes from the Mediterranean to Western Asia

On 11 June 2020, Sabine Witting defended her thesis 'Child Sexual Abuse in the Digital Era: Rethinking Legal Frameworks and Transnational Law Enforcement Collaboration'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen and Prof. S. van der Hof.

A recent archaeology of Trio movements

There is little evidence of the routes connecting Amerindian communities in the Caribbean prior to and just after 1492. Uncovering possible canoe routes between these communities can help to explain the structure, capabilities, and limitations of the physical links in their social and material networks.…

Can we really speak about Jewish musicological, musical thought and what is the essence of this thought?

Artistic research has come of age, and with it the Orpheus Institute. Founded twenty years ago, the Institute’s purpose from the start has been to pursue research through the practice of musicians.

This study, Calypso, The Trinidadian Experience, has sought to establish links between calypso music and the construction and maintenance of identities, and to locate the genre as a mechanism (or as part of a broader mechanism) that has exerted on-going social influence within Trinidadian society…

A core interest of our cluster members concerns processes of reception, transformation and (interlingual and intermedial) translation in medieval and early modern art, literature and media from diachronic and synchronic perspectives (in time, space, and between media).

Research and education are two of the pillars the SAILS programme is built on and which we are keen to expand on. Communication of research to researchers, students, companies and other societal partners is another key element.

The Faculty of Archaeology at Leiden University offers education in Human Osteoarchaeology. We offer courses in our one-year Master’s track in Archaeological Science, resulting in a Master of Science degree after completion.

Lecture, Global Questions Seminar

In the podcast series 'Open Geesten', historians Joost Welten and Nadia Bouras tell us about their research and how history is intergrated in modern society. In short: what can the past tell us about the present?

An understanding of our past helps students grasp the complexities of our world today and how our current biology and social structures came to be. By leveraging student interest into what makes us human, we help guide them to engage with topics ranging from archaeology to climate change, medicine,…

Our public programme includes lecture series, conferences, visiting fellowships, panel discussions and many other interesting events. Have a look at what we've organised in the past years.

The Department of Economics concentrates its research and teaching on Social Policies, Public Finance and Law and Economics