X’s guidelines prohibit manipulated and misleading media. And yet owner Elon Musk recently posted a video of Kamala Harris with an AI voice. Professor of Law and Digital Technologies Gerrit-Jan Zwenne talks to Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’ about what Musk is and is not allowed to post.

On 1 October, Yvonne Bleyerveld, Senior Curator Drawings and Prints at the RKD, becomes the Professor by Special Appointment 'Art on Paper and Parchment' at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University. The chair, established by the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD), is hosted by the Leiden…

Saniye Çelik, Professor by Special Appointment of Diversity, Inclusion, and Policing at Leiden University, has received the Woman in the Media Award at Beeld & Geluid in Hilversum. She was selected as the winner by the jury from three female experts with the most votes.

De Raad van Advies bestaat uit leden die een binding hebben met de faculteit. Daarnaast zijn zij goed thuis in de wereld van de advocatuur, de rechterlijke macht, de overheid en het bedrijfsleven. Het faculteitsbestuur gebruikt de adviezen van de Raad van Advies bij de beleidsontwikkeling van de faculteit…

This network brings together scholars whose work explores how contemporary frameworks of crisis produce experiences of the present, rehash or disrupt established narratives of the past, and broker specific outlooks on the future. We collaborate in studying these crisis-scapes and exploring how they…

What happens in our bodies when we care for children? And why are some people more caring than others?

Programme director of the bachelor's programme Security Studies Daan Weggemans kicked off the first webinar for prospective students this afternoon. In Kaltura Live he had an international audience of about 60 interested people.

At the beginning of March 2020, the Dutch Taskforce for Applied Research (SIA) awarded Daan Weggemans of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs a research grant. The Taskforce is part of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Jacques J. M. van Gent (8 June 1932 - 26 March 2021) was director of Leiden University Library from 1983 to 1993. He was librarian in a time of transition and, as director, was able to benefit from the new library building on the Witte Singel. Van Gent was a very different kind of manager from his predecessor,…

The author Manon Uphoff from Utrecht will be Leiden University’s new ‘writer in residence’ from autumn 2025. As the writer in residence, Uphoff will contribute to several courses on writing offered by the BA Dutch Language and Culture programme.

As of 1 January 2020 Daan Weggemans has succeeded Ruth Prins as programme director of the bachelor Security Studies. We asked him several questions about himself and his new position.

Brexit has been a kind of shock therapy for the EU and has eventually led to more appreciation for European cooperation. That is what Professor Luuk van Middelaar claimed on 30 November at the conference ‘Brexit and the future of the European Union’ which marked the 60th anniversary of the Europa Institute…

At the end of December, the concluding lecture of the Bachelor Honours Class 'Policy and Politics: struggling to combat social inequalities' took place. Students, under the guidance of former minister Jet Bussemaker, tackled the question of what inequality actually is.

The large-scale project NanoInformatics will assess the risks associated with nanoparticles. The project will be funded by the EU with 6.8 million euros and was launched at the beginning of this year. Three scientists from Leiden are involved. 'For the first time, this project combines the various experts…

Researchers from Leiden University have developed a method to predict which sellers will be successful in illegal online marketplaces. This could help the police track down big players on the dark web, the hidden part of the internet.

On 17 June, primary school pupils in Leiden will get the chance to explore science in an interactive and engaging way. The exciting new show ‘Wetenschapswonders’ is the initiative of master’s students Boele Visser and Ilse Hordijk, from the Rino Foundation. ‘I’m happy to help build a bridge between…

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are a major problem worldwide. Molecular biologist Changsheng Wu explored innovative methods of developing new antibiotics more simply and more easily. He also discovered a new type of antibiotic.

Just imagine: you see someone being treated unfairly. Do you find it more rewarding to help the victim or punish the perpetrator? Research by Leiden psychologist Mirre Stallen indicates that punishing is more rewarding. Publication in JNeurosci.

In March 2019, the Institute for Public Administration launched the MOOC Population Health Governance, in collaboration with the LUMC at Leiden University. The MOOC was one of the first modules to became available at the Coursera platform, as part of the ongoing development of the new Master’s programme…

Pandemics, terrorist attacks, environmental disasters... These are real threats, which we cannot ignore. In fact: we need to prepare better for the large-scale crises of the future. Preferably in a way that suits our lifestyle and respects our social values. Over the next ten years, an interdisciplinary…

During her master's thesis, Nashanty Brunken (24) worked in a team with five other women. With this female team, they discovered the largest molecule so far identified in a disc. 'I have learned so much and because we are all women, it is incredibly empowering. It's very cool to see how far we've come…

Paul Brakefield, Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the Institute of Biology in Leiden (IBL) has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant for his research. He will receive 2.5 million euro to develop his research programme over a period of five years.

Het onderzoeksproject heeft als doel ouders te helpen hun kleuters gezonde eetgewoonten aan te leren door het bevorderen van sensitieve voeding tijdens de fase wanneer peuters kieskeurig met eten worden.

Brain research and statistics are advancing our understanding of language and language acquisition. Linguists are still essential, however, says Professor of Dutch Linguistics Sjef Barbiers. Inaugural lecture on 8 December.

Author Bibi Dumon Tak will be the new writer-in-residence at Leiden University from autumn 2020.

In het onderzoek van docent Martijn Nouwen wordt voor het eerst aan het grote publiek blootgelegd hoe de ‘geheime’ Europese Gedragscodegroep er niet in is geslaagd om verschillende vormen van schadelijke belastingconcurrentie uit te bannen.

The film Blade Runner as part of the law curriculum? It’s not that weird to Maartje van der Woude, Professor of Law and Society, and Frans-Willem Korsten, Professor of Literature, Culture and Law. ‘The film raises a fundamental question: what’s a human and what’s not?’ From the next academic year onwards,…

The Institute for History announces vacancies for three PhD positions on Rethinking Disability: the Global Impact of the International Year of Disabled Persons (1981) in Historical Perspective and one PhD position to conduct research on the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

Youth care in the Netherlands needs to change. A new alarming inspection report says that children’s safety is not guaranteed. Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Child Law, warns in an Argos podcast: ‘We have a duty to protect children.’

Tim Koopmans is one of the great minds in the history of Dutch and European legal scholarship. He taught law as a professor in Leiden and other universities, among which Ghent, Cambridge, Utrecht. He practiced it as a judge in the European Court of Justice and Advocate-General in the Dutch Supreme Court,…

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Directing soil life and thereby influencing what grows above ground: that is the expertise of Leiden biologist Martijn Bezemer and his colleague Wim van der Putten (NIOO-KNAW). Their research on soil transplants has been nominated for the Huibregtsen Prize 2023. This prize goes to innovative research…

We are pleased to invite paper proposals for the 1.5-day interdisciplinary workshop: “Who rules over migrants? Autocratic elements in migration policies”, that will take place at the University of Leiden on 14 and 15 November 2024.

With his essay 'Why science?', mathematics prodigy Lars Pos (18) won the Robbert Dijkgraaf Essay Prize. Within the theme 'The fascinating workings of science', the bachelor student wrote a plea for the societal value of fundamental scientific research. 'Because you don’t know beforehand where we can…

As an experiment, student Alicia Cai relied solely on AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude for supervision while writing her thesis. What lessons were learned?

Dr. Willy de Heer defended her PhD Thesis

Registering your hypothesis and analysis plan online before starting your study – why should researchers bother? Henk van Steenbergen, a researcher in cognitive psychology, decided to give it a try. 'I used it as an exercise in open science.'

The nominees for the IRO Thesis Prize 2025 and the Prof. Dr. J.Th.J. van den Berg-prijs 2025. Who authored the best thesis in Leiden University’s bachelor’s programme in Political Science?

The 2017 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Kip Thorne for their work on the measurement of gravitational waves. Thorne was Lorentz Professor in 2009 in Leiden. Physicist Jan Willem van Holten explains why this is such an important discovery. ‘A new branch of astrophysics…

Exam, paper, exam, paper. A familiar, though sometimes little unexciting, routine for students. That is why Film and Literary students Sietske de Haan and Wouter Dijkman decided to write a blog post for the course Interculturality. Their impressive achievement was rewarded with a publication on science…

Are you curious about how the human skeleton works? Discover this and more on 3 October in Leiden and on 4 October in The Hague.

‘Let us not forget the power of genuine engagement,’ dean Sarah de Rijcke stressed at the New Year's Reception on 7 January 2025, which was also attended by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl and addressed the Faculty of Social Sciences.

Marieke Adriaanse is Professor of Behavioural Interventions in Population Health and researches behavioural science issues in health. She advocates for better interdisciplinary collaboration and a new form of recognition and rewards within academia. ‘We have to stop being so blinkered,’ she says in…

Fifteen knowledge institutions and the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science have signed the covenant for Open Science NL. Leiden University has also joined the covenant, via the Universities of the Netherlands. This marks the start of the Dutch Research Council’s and brings the transition to open…

Erik Danen is looking at how to inhibit tumours that do not respond well to medicine – and he is making some headway. The Professor of Cancer Drug Target Discovery studies the interaction between tumour cells and their surroundings. Inaugural lecture on Friday 10 May.

Hanneke Hulst explaines how she is trying to bridge the gap between science and health care. ‘For a neuroscientist to actually contribute to solutions for patients, you have to work across disciplines.’

Dr Ionica Smeets, one of the well-known ‘Maths girls’, has been appointed part-time Professor of Science Communication at Leiden University with effect from 1 July. Over the coming five years she will carry out research on science communication, how the subject is taught and how to raise students’ enthusiasm…

Om de weg te vinden letten sommige mensen op de omgeving, anderen onthouden waar ze links of rechts af moeten slaan. Mensen met Niet Aangeboren Hersenletsel (NAH) rapporteren navigatieproblemen. Om opnieuw te leren navigeren heeft neurowetenschapper Milan van der Kuil als revalidatietherapie een serious…