The Old Observatory has a rich history. On this page you will find a short version of the history that took place in the observatory.

Simulation project EAGLE has won the 2022 Group Achievement Award of the Royal Astronomical Society. EAGLE is a large collection of simulations about the formation of galaxies. The largest simulation contains as many as 6.8 billion particles and took months to calculate on the world's fastest superc…

PhD defence

The West is considering military intervention in Libya to stop the rise of IS. The question is: what does IS want in Libya and what can and will the West do about it?

Sexuality is a fundamental part of being human. Yet, for many people with disabilities, it remains overlooked, unsupported, and surrounded by stigma. Eduard Fosch-Villaronga confronts that long-standing neglect with a project that envisions an urgent yet straightforward future: one in which sexual rights…

No less than four Leiden research teams have been awarded a grant by NWO. On 27 July NWO honoured 21 applications in the Open Competition ENW-XL. NWO awards the grants to consortia in the exact and natural sciences who are doing unconnected fundamental research that is 'driven by curiosity'.

Four of Leiden's top researchers have been awarded substantial grants by the European Research Council.

The new VIS grant has been awarded to four projects from the Faculty of Humanities. In a Virtual International Cooperation Project (VIS), Dutch and foreign students work together remotely on a project that links local issues to an international perspective.

A large research group involving Leiden University as corresponding Host Institution has been awarded a major European grant, the ERC Synergy Grant. This for research on how Europe developed after the fall of the Roman Empire with special attention to the yet underexplored but undoubtedly important…

A man died in Assen while being detained by bystanders. The man allegedly touched a young girl inappropriately and the girl’s father is believed to have been one of the bystanders. Five men have been arrested by the police and later released. As a result, wild rumours have started circulating. How does…

Over the past 40 days people in Bulgaria been demonstrating against the deep-rooted corruption in the country. The anger of the protesters is directed predominantly at the government of Prime Minister Borisov. But not all arrows are aimed at their own leaders, some are also pointing towards Brussels.…

At the beginning of the year, the Dutch intelligence services, together with their American, German and Swiss colleagues, revealed that, for years, confidential communications of more than 100 countries had been intercepted. The project named 'Operation Rubicon' is a collaboration between Germany and…

Three projects affiliated with the university will receive grants from the Leids Mediafonds (Leiden Media Fund ed.). The money is to be spend on creating a journalistic production in collaboration with a local media partner.

Astronomer Alvaro Hacar received a Veni grant for his ORION-4D research on the birth of stars.

Last week, a large number of farmers came to The Hague to ask attention for the problems they are faced with. They certainly received a lot of attention but does this mean their problems are actually being addressed?

An international team of astronomers has published a map of the sky showing over 25,000 supermassive black holes. The map, to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, is the most detailed celestial map in the field of so-called low radio frequencies. The astronomers, including Leiden astronomers,…

Switzerland and the EU are conducting negotiations on a renewed institutional framework for a number of already existing and future market access agreements.

The RED team, a group of independent experts, has advised the Dutch government to close down all (secondary) schools. It is a difficult balance the government has to find between limiting the number of contagions and the social consequences of closing down the schools. As a result of the first lockdown…

The crisis in Iran seems to have settled and both countries are claiming victory. The Americans say that they taught Iran a lesson, but Iran projects the contradictory. Now, who is right? On Thursday 9th January, Bert Koenders commented on this on BNR News Radio.

The European Commission sees increased labour migration as a solution to the growing personnel shortages, but the Dutch Labour Inspectorate argues that this is not a tenable business model. Professor of Economics Olaf van Vliet discusses the advantages and disadvantages of labour migration for the economy…

Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn, researcher and lecturer at ISGA, was a guest on NPO Radio 1 where she discussed the attacks carried out in 2011 by Anders Breivik.

On 8 October, Armin Cuyvers was interviewed by RTLZ News and BNR News Radio on the shocking ruling by the Polish Constitutional Tribunal of 7 October 2021 (both in Dutch).

Economic Anthropologist Erik Bähre talks on the Dutch News Radio Channel BNR about the effects of the Russia-Ukraine grain agreement for African countries.

From fake news via WhatsApp to mini hearts from a 3D printer: four Leiden researchers have been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council. These grants, of up to 2m euros, enable researchers to establish or expand their research team and continue to develop their career.

Leiden Observatory has achieved a rare feat: two of its research teams have been awarded prestigious ALMA Large Programmes, allowing them to study how galaxies formed and evolved in the early Universe using cutting-edge telescope observations.

Five Leiden researchers have been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This grant of up to two million euros will enable them to continue and expand their scientific research.

The European Research Council has awarded ERC Consolidator Grants to four researchers from Leiden. These grants of up to 2m euros will enable them to continue and expand their research.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has granted four grants to Leiden humanities scholars. They get to spend this money on research on a topic of their choice, without thematic preconditions.

Fourteen promising researchers from Leiden University have been given the opportunity to realise their research plans for the coming years thanks to a Veni grant from the NWO. This year, these subsidies have been granted to studies of the influence of noise on the great tit, the conditions necessary…

Not only the United States but also the Netherlands are faced with 'systemic problems' to do with racism and discrimination, according to Dutch Prime Minister Rutte during a press conference held on 3 June. The Prime Minister responded to the events taking place in the United States after the death…

Four promising young researchers from Leiden University have received a Rubicon grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This grant will enable them to gain valuable research experience at top universities abroad.

On 1 March Armin Cuvyers was interviewed on BNR national radio on Brexit, the Draft Withdrawal Agreement of the Commission and the key Brexit speech by Theresa May planned for 2 March.

Ten scientists from Leiden University will receive a Starting Grant from the European Research Council. This will allow them to launch their own project, form their own research team and implement their best ideas.

Two research projects with researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Dutch Research Council (NWO) Open Competition Domain Science-M programme grant. These grants fund curiosity-driven, fundamental research in the Science domain.

Seven researchers from Leiden University have been awarded an ERC Starting Grant. This will enable them to start their own project, build their research team and put their best ideas into action.

A permanent exhibition on the place of humans in the cosmos. This is something Franx wants to use his Spinoza Prize for. ‘So much progress has been made that we are still trying to define the questions. In finding the answers we are constantly coming up against surprises.’

Physicist Martin van Hecke receives a 2.5 million euro ERC research grant for research into information processing materials. Starting out with a piece of rubber that can count to ten.

Four Leiden researchers have each been awarded a consolidator grant of up to 2 million euros by the European Research Council (ERC). They carry out research on a diverse range of subjects, from gender stereotyping in the field of science to making sugar molecules.

Simulations of galaxies help researchers understand astronomical observations better. The EAGLE simulation, a large project in which Leiden astronomers play a leading role, shows the evolution of the Universe, from just after the Big Bang to the present day.

OP Grants NWO are awarded to 16 scientists in astronomy, computer science and mathematics, or a combination of these disciplines (multidisciplinary) by NOW Exact Sciences. The scientists received a total amount of 6 million euros.

The ‘Community Resilience Fund’, a programme of the Canadian federal government, approved a research grant for Dr. Bart Schuurman of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs.

Femke Bakker, political scientist at Leiden University, has been awarded a grant from the IPRAF (International Peace Research Organization Foundation) for her PhD research into the influence of political culture of different political regimes on individuals of these societies.

A revolutionary supercomputer with energy-efficient parts that are available in the shops. Professor of Computational Astrophysics Simon Portegies Zwart has been awarded an NWO Medium Grant to build this processing giant, which will have the power of a supercomputer but requires only one percent of…

This weeks marks the 10th anniversary of the European Research Council. For the past decade, the council has contributed to many scientific projects all over Europe, including Leiden University. It has funded almost 7,000 researchers, leading to just short of 100,000 scientific articles. A total of…

De Advanced Grant wordt jaarlijks door de European Research Council (ERC) toegekend. Dit jaar krijgen 2 onderzoekers van FSW deze beurs.

This year, two Leiden physicists have earned a prestigious ERC Starting Grant. With a budget of 1.5 million euros, this is one of the largest individual grants for scientists.

De Starting Grant wordt jaarlijks door de European Research Council (ERC) toegekend. Dit jaar zijn er in Nederland 51 onderzoekers die een Starting Grant ontvangen, waaronder 4 onderzoekers van FSW.

I have studied the hot, diffuse gas around and between galaxies. Specifically, I have used the EAGLE numerical simulations of galaxy formation to predict the properties of this gas, and I have used those properties to predict specific observables: soft X-ray absorption and emission lines.

Four Leiden researchers have been awarded Proof of Concept grants by the ERC. These grants, each worth 150,000 euros, help researchers translate the findings of previous ERC projects into innovative practical applications.