On December 13th & 14th Singer Niels Berentsen will defend his thesis Discantare super planum cantum. New Approaches to Polyphonic Improvisation 1300-1470 to obtain his doctoral degree.

What are the advantages of speaking a second language? Why do some people find it easier to learn a second language than others? Does a dialect count as a first language? On 20 May, Leiden University is organising an English-speaking public symposium on bilingualism: Twee Talen - één BeTalen.

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies & The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law cordially invite you to a Panel Discussion on “The Dynamics of the Syria Conflict: Challenges for Contemporary International Law” .

What makes Leiden the best student city in the Netherlands? The winners of the Student & City film competition, Midas Rooijakkers, Niels Rokebrand and Luka Standing, brought into focus the diverse nature of student life in Leiden. Their professional video won them the first prize of 1,250 euros.

On 8 December 2017, the European Commission decided that the International Skating Union (ISU)’s eligibility rules, which impose severe penalties on athletes participating in speed skating competitions that are not approved by the ISU, are in breach of EU competition law.

During this lunch seminar series all researchers from Leiden Law School can present their research. The idea is to hear in a simple and nice way what researchers from other research programs and institutes are working on. During a seminar two or three speakers will present their research.

Compare human social behaviour at a country level and you will find differences. Japan has the highest score whereas the Netherlands is just above average. This is what psychologist Niels van Doesem discovered in research with an international team of 64 colleagues in 31 industrialised countries. Their…

The place of European states and institutions in world politics is the core focus of this pillar. Research on this theme concerns European actors’ ability to promote peace, security and justice in their neighbourhood and to shape the future of global governance by translating its economic size into…

The Just Peace Dialogues were a set of meetings for public deliberation of key aspects of building peace in today’s world. The dialogues were held across seven days at the heart of the Just Peace Festival (16 - 22 June 2025).

WORLDING AMERICA researches how ‘play’ has been a key force in the past and present process of creating America as a coherent and hegemonic ‘world,’ from 1503 to the present.

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) hosts two research journals and publishes the ISGA Reports series. Besides its own publications, researchers at ISGA also publish books or journal articles elsewhere. You can find all these external publications under Research output on the right.

Nico Schrijver and Niels Blokker (Grotius Centre, Public International Law) organised a seminar on the role of non-permanent members of the UN Security Council on 11 and 12 May. The seminar was held with the involvement of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as the Netherlands will be a member of…

Dr. Bettina Reitz-Joosse, postdoctoral researcher in the Classics department has won Ted Meijer Prize of the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR).

Bij Amsterdam University Press verschijnt 'Imams in Western Europe. Developments, Transformations and Institutional Challenges' onder redactie van Mohammed Hashas, Jan Jaap de Ruiter en Niels Valdemar Vinding, een publicatie waarin tal van zaken met betrekking tot imams in Europa behandeld worden. De…

Lidstaten negeren steeds vaker gemaakte afspraken wanneer het hen uitkomt, waardoor de grondbeginselen van de VN meer dan ooit onder druk komen te staan. In een recente VN-spoedvergadering hekelde topman Guterres de lidstaten en zei dat ‘het handvest geen menu á la carte is.’ Niels Blokker, emeritus…

A series of upcoming activities by docARTES researchers Niels Berentsen, Bobby Mitchell, Shaya Feldman, and PhDArts researchers Jonas Staal, Riccardo Giacconi, Yota Ioannidou, and Brigitte Kovacs

David Shakouri has been awarded a PhD-position by NWO for the PhDs in the Humanities Programme.

The activities of the Europa Institute (also known as the Department of European Law) are supported by ‘Stichting Europees Instituut’. This foundation was the first of its kind in both the Netherlands and Europe as a whole. Established in 1957, its aim was to ‘support and advance the study of scientific…

All players on the world stage operate strategically in order to safeguard their interests. Political scientists at Leiden University cast light on this volatile interplay of forces. Their research helps voters, NGOs, governments and international organizations make smart choices in this complex and…

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2022, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

This long term project in Jordan is at the basis of many specialists’ studies and has several off-shoot projects. The project, with its many approaches, is also a framework for much teaching in Levantine Archaeology at Leiden University, especially concerning fieldwork methods, artefact studies, research…

International organisations that represent collaborations between States are becoming increasingly more powerful, and they have an increasing impact on our daily lives. For example, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasburg established that minors have a right to legal aid immediately following…

The Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition (LIBC) is concentrating increasingly on research into the role of the brain in language development. The institute has now set up the LIBC Language website that brings together all the information on this research.

On 3 March 2022, Cambridge University Press published An Introduction to Public International Law, a co-authored textbook led by Cecily Rose.

This week, Leiden University celebrates the fifteenth year of its world-class International Criminal Law Summer School. The International Criminal Law Summer School has convened every year since the creation of the International Criminal Court, guiding scholars and practitioners in this rapidly developing…

Hervorming van de VN-Veiligheidsraad is urgenter dan ooit. De huidige samenstelling van de Raad weerspiegelt al lang niet meer de huidige machtsverhoudingen, schreef emeritus hoogleraar, Niels Blokker, in een opiniestuk in Dagblad Trouw.

On June 26, 2014, LIACS organizes an event where you can learn more about LIACS research on Bioscientific data processing and modelling, as well as Bioinformatics support by the BioIT team.

On 27 September the European Commission informed the International Skating Union (ISU) of its preliminary view that its eligibility rules under are in breach of EU antitrust rules.

At around noon on Tuesday 9 April, a small fire started in the basement of Leiden University’s Snellius building. The fire brigade was quickly on the scene and soon extinguished the fire.

BrainTrain: an initiative from Leiden University in which a team of students visit high schools to make adolescents more resilient against disinformation on the news and on their socials. In an interactive two-hour guest lesson, high school pupils discover how easily their brains can be tricked into…

Anne Meuwese and Francien Dechesne have received SSH Open Competition M funding from the Dutch Research Council for their joint project 'The Artificial Intelligence Act in action. Probing and improving the quality of legislation in the algorithmic era.'

The Hague Diplomacy Podcast aims at bringing the themes of the journal's research off the page, and onto the discussion table. Each episode will feature a guest who will share their insights and personal experience within their practice of or research on diplomacy. Available via SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts…

Looking back on 2024, Elon Musk and his impact on the global stage, political developments in the Netherlands and the war in Ukraine come to mind. These and other topics were discussed in ‘De Jortcast’, a podcast hosted by Jort Kelder on Dutch radio offering ‘radio therapy against hypes and hysteria’.…

De uitnodiging staat ter discussie vanwege Bosmans controversiële uitspraken over het slavernijverleden. Bosman is echter in de hoedanigheid van voorzitter van de Tweede Kamer uitgenodigd en niet als PVV’er. Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staatsrecht, spreekt over dit onderwerp in het Parool.

Climate change, depletion of natural resources, loss of natural and cultural landscapes, and many other (ecological) sustainability challenges urge us to (re)evaluate human interaction with the natural world. This renewed environmental consciousness has invigorated not only scientists working on effects…

Na de 7 oktober demonstraties schoffeerde Wilders burgemeester Halsema, door op X te roepen dat zij het land moet verlaten. Volgens experts overtreedt Wilders hiermee de gemaakte afspraken met de coalitiepartijen. Wim Voermans, hoogleraar Staatsrecht, hierover aan het woord in het Parool.

Former Member of Parliament Lammert van Raan (PvdD) and alumna Eva Floris gave a guest lecture on the 13th of May on the Ecocide penalisation initiative bill. During the lecture, they discussed the idea behind the bill, the objections from politicians and the business community and the advice of the…

The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics has been badly affected by the corona crisis: the research in the four labs and the fieldwork has come to a standstill. What are the implications?

This one-year, English-taught Master's programme offers insights on general developments as well as the specific challenges in the field of the governance of crisis and security, with in-depth knowledge of sub-fields of crisis and security management.

Forum essays provide a framework for intellectual exchange and debate about the role of diplomacy around a particular theme. The essays are argumentative contributions and are shorter than research articles.

A delegation from Leiden University will be visiting Mexico from 21 to 25 October. The visit aims to strengthen the ties between Mexican universities and Leiden University.

This Autumn a group of young asylum seekers will attend the course ‘Know Your Rights’, which is being developed by Pro Bono Connect, New Dutch Connections, law firm DLA Piper and the Leiden Law Clinic. For this course we are looking for 20 jurists who are willing to coach the asylum seekers.

Leiden University’s Executive Board has appointed Erwin Muller as Vice Rector of Organisational Development. In this role, he will help further professionalise and improve the university’s organisation as per the Strategic Plan.

Novel language learning activates different neural processes than was previously thought. A Leiden research team has discovered parallel but separate contributions from the hippocampus and Broca's area, the learning centre in the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere of the brain also seems to play…

Brain scanners have radically changed neurolinguistics. They are increasing our understanding of how the brain processes language. Professor Niels Schiller has produced a standard work on this.

Since 2009, at ACPA, 95 candidates received their PhD in Creative and Performing Arts. On this page you will find an overview of ACPA's alumni.