Studying archaeology at Leiden University is all about studying societies and cultures from the past, trying to reconstruct them and bring them back to life. You will apply your interest in the past to make a meaningful contribution to resolving present-day societal issues, such as migration, globalisation…

The History Master at Leiden University has a strong international orientation.

This programme explores Graeco-Roman political, social, and cultural dynamics, focusing on empire development and its societal impact. It shows how imperial rule shaped cultures, religions, and identities, using inscriptions, papyri, coins, and archaeology to highlight perspectives beyond elite sour…

Beryl ter Haar is currently a Visiting Professor at the University of Warsaw, Poland. The Law School is the oldest part of the university (founded in 1808), followed by the School of Medicine (founded one year later). The two schools became the heart of Warsaw University which was founded in 1816 by…

Joris Larik was interviewed by BBC World Service radio on the state of Brexit negotiations, the Irish border issue and ongoing Dutch preparation.

America’s dominance of the world stage is coming to an end. These were the words of Professor Amitav Acharya in his guest lecture in The Hague on 5 February. ‘But the world really won’t be plunged into immediate chaos.’

Freya Baetens is currently a Visiting Professor at the National University Singapore (NUS). NUS started out as a medical school in 1905, founded by a determined group of businessmen led by Tan Jiak Kim, to serve the needs of the local community. Today, it is Singapore’s flagship university consistently…

Associate Professor Lettie Dorst has received a Vidi grant to research how machine translation programmes such as Google Translate and ChatGPT translate words and expressions used metaphorically. This still regularly goes wrong, resulting in far too literal, incorrect and sometimes incomprehensible…

A team of researchers from Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) recently hosted a big international conference (EMO 2023). At the conference, computer scientists discussed algorithms that are important in areas such as drug discovery, industrial production planning, and sustainable…

On 4 and 5 April 2024, the conference "Waterways and Literary Channels of the Premodern World" will take place at Ghent University. The conference is organized within the framework of the Scientific Research Network "Literatures without Borders". Proposals for 20-minute papers, round-table contributions…

ENVIRHUS (Environmental and Rural History of Urbanized Societies) organiseert op 17 februari 2023 (14u-17u) de workshop ‘The Natural World‘.

Leiden University’s Political Science and International Studies programmes continue to enjoy a solid academic reputation. In the 2016 QS World University Rankings, Leiden is in the top 25 of the most esteemed institutes worldwide. Within the Netherlands, Leiden has retained the first position.

On August 27 – 31 2019, PhD candidate Maria Vasile participated in the IUAES 2019 Inter- congress in Poznan, Poland entitled "World Solidarities" and shares some of the insights from presentations she attended and found particularly relevant to the Food Citizens project.

World wide press attention for the article and specifically the image of the 30 micrometer long micro boat 3DBenchy by Rachel Doherty, Daniela Kraft and other Leiden physicists.

This dissertation develops an innovative approach to cultural transformation in the kingdom of Commagene (modern south-east Turkey) during the 1st c. BCE, focusing on a palatial context in the capital Samosata.

Archaic and Classical architectural terracottas constituted an integral part of the architecture of monumental buildings at Akragas. These objects therefore provide unique insights into the built environment of sanctuaries at this important Greek colony in Sicily. This research's multi-disciplinary…

Was the progressive colonial civil servant the precursor of the postcolonial development-aid worker?

While phenomenology and Yogacara Buddhism are both known for their investigations of consciousness, there exists a core tension between them: phenomenology affirms the existence of essence, whereas Yogacara Buddhism argues that everything is empty of essence (svabhava). How is constructive cultural…

This dissertation studies the construction of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a cultural icon in American memory, particularly by FDR himself.

This 25th volume in the series 'Islam in Africa', edited by Annachiara Raia, is a pioneering collection of poetry by the outstanding Kenyan poet, intellectual and imam Ustadh Mahmmoud Mau (born 1952) from Lamu island, once an Indian Ocean hub, now on the edge of the nation state.

In this thesis it is posed that the central object of preference discovery is a co-creative process in which the Other can be represented by a machine. It explores efficient methods to enhance introverted intuition using extraverted intuition's communication lines.

On 9 June 2020, Maral Darouei defended her thesis 'Managing a sustainable career in the contemporary world of work: Personal choices and contextual challenges'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.I. van der Rest.

Archives were a common target during the Second World War, and hundreds suffered damages. Among these archival losses, the losses to medieval manuscript collections stand out.

The main question addressed in this thesis is how we can best conceive the contrast between a priori and empirical truths.

Migration is the talk of the town. On the whole, however, the current situation is seen as resulting from unique political upheavals. Such a-historical interpretations ignore the fact that migration is a fundamental phenomenon in human societies from the beginning and plays a crucial role in the cultural,…

Hot rocky exoplanets are planets that orbit so close to their host star that they possess a molten surface.

Promotor: Carel J. ten Cate, Co-Promotor: Hans W. Slabbekoorn

On Wednesday 3 September 2025 Yu Ai successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

This book reveals how one publishing firm's editorial strategy helped to legitimate European colonialism in the early modern era.

This dissertation investigates how the efficiency of Computed Tomography (CT) can be improved for dynamic scientific and industrial applications.

What are best practices for teaching students to engage with 'wicked' problems?

Various guests with a background in human rights, law, politics and international relations will be taking part in the ‘Human Rights and the World Cup Qatar’ debate on Friday 30 September. Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) Secretary-General and Leiden alumnus Gijs de Jong will be there to provide…

Whether finding signals of dark matter or discovering hydrogen in the vicinity of exoplanets, Leiden astronomers are world players in their field, and they are part of a long tradition: Leiden was the first university in the world to have its own observatory.

As far back as 1575, Leiden University researchers have been leaving their mark on the world.

This new handbook by Frits Naerebout and Henk Singor places the history of the Greeks and Romans within the larger context of the contemporary Eurasian world.

How do young adults find their way in an increasingly complex society? In Leiden, as part of the GUTS project, we study how brain development and self-regulation play a role in this process.

As a twelve-year-old girl, Nicky van de Beek became intrigued by the tomb chapels in Saqqara, Egypt. Now she is doing her PhD on them, just like another Leiden Egyptologist decades earlier. Herta Mohr persevered with her research during World War II. Now she is the namesake of the first Leiden building…

Leiden Law School has been ranked number 32 on the QS World University Rankings 2018. Once again, it has been ranked best law faculty in the Netherlands and eighth in the whole of Europe.

Leiden Law School has been ranked number 32 on the QS World University Rankings 2017. Once again, it has been ranked best law faculty in the Netherlands and eighth in the whole of Europe.

The Iseum Campense, the impressive sanctuary for Isis and the Egyptian gods on the Campus Martius and arguably one of ancient Rome’s most notable absent presences, is a monument central to various debates.

This book presents an archaeological overview of the presence and development of Egyptian material culture in the context of Augustan Rome.

The present study explores the role of water in the ancient Roman city of Ostia.In antiquity, Ostia was situated at the intersection of the Tiber River and the Mediterranean Sea, and acted as one of the harbour cities of Rome for several centuries.This study investigates how water was acquired, used,…

The theme of the opening of this year’s academic year was peace and justice. With the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine, these are turbulent times. During the ceremony those present reflected on what the academic community and universities can mean in times of crisis and conflict.

The students from the Leiden University Green Office have big ambitions and have outlined their recommendations in a new Green Paper. Like being the most sustainable university in the world by 2030. Students Janey Franssen and Job Kemperman are two of the paper’s authors. How do they want to achieve…