Over the centuries painters and photographers have depicted students at study in Leiden. An exhibition at the Hortus botanicus reveals the similarities and differences in 450 years of student life.

Buying chocolates as a sign of love, getting the best deals on Black Friday and putting on a spooky costume for Halloween. In recent years, these holidays and traditions have taken off in the Netherlands, even though they originated on the other side of the ocean. Why are we so excited about American…

Two years ago, university lecturer Kirsty Rolfe was nominated for the Faculty Teaching Prize. Now she is in the running for the university equivalent. ‘It’s lovely to see students blossom.’

LEGO creations, a clothesline of visions and a journey into the past and the future: just some of the highlights of Uni-vision day, where creatives developed their vision of the future of study.

Russian literature is awash with disputes, riots and intense political debates. In the new Dutch podcast Schandaal en Controverse in de Russische literatuur, senior lecturer Otto Boele and film maker and journalist Kay Mastenbroek discuss the most talked-about Russian books published in the past two…

Cryogenic memories, antibiotic treatment for urinary tract infections and recycling plastic sustainably. These are the subjects of the three NWO-XS grants awarded to Leiden Science researchers.

A Student Living Room, free period products and a wide variety of events. Over the past year, the Student Support Team at Leiden Law School has taken measures to turn the faculty into a safe, accessible social space for all students. They’ve been reflecting on the past year.

Many children eat too many high-calorie foods and too few vegetables from an early age. PhD candidate Merel van Vliet researched the role of parents in this. ‘Don’t force children to clean their plates.’ PhD defence on 15 June.

It is with great sadness that we share the news that on Friday, May 3rd 2024, Carla Risseeuw, Professor emerita of CADS, passed away. Carla Irene Risseeuw retired as Professor of Intercultural Gender Studies from CADS in 2009 after a long and productive career.

Her part-time job as a city guide in Dordrecht opened Lotte Hamm's eyes: not business administration, but history was her dream study. This semester she starts her bachelor's degree.

At the end of May, the Leiden English Language and Culture Programme, formerly known as the Department of English Language and Literature, celebrated its 75th anniversary (starting from the appointment of the first professor of English Studies). Over 220 alumni, staff present and past, and students…

LUCSoR is happy to welcome Verena Myer, researcher and lecturer in Islam in South and South-East Asia to the staff. In this interview she will discuss the course she is teaching, as well as her upcoming book.

Een kort filmpje over inclusie van migranten vermindert vooroordelen minstens drie maanden. Maar mensen ervaren fysieke stress als zij conservatiever tegenover migranten staan dan de groepsopinie dicteert. ‘We moeten mensen aanmoedigen, niet confronteren.’ Sociaal psycholoog Feiteng Long promoveert…

How do young zebra finches learn to sing? A research team led by researcher Katharina Riebel has developed a ‘RoboFinch’ to study just that. She and colleagues in the 'Seeing voices' research consortium have spent the past four years designing the robotic bird. And with success: young zebra finches…

But how do you do it? At the annual Education Showcase, lecturers at the Faculty of Humanities could talk to their colleagues about teaching methods and teaching. Plenty of tips were exchanged during the information fair, workshops and drinks. Five participants talk about they learned.

Dilara Erzeybek and Oumaima Hajri, two PhD students in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology received a Mosaic 2.0 grant last week. This NWO programme supports PhD students with a non-western migration background - an underrepresented group within science - in order to foster diversity in…

Ten projects have been selected during the fourth call in the Seed Funding Programme launched by EUniWell. Marieke Liem, Professor Social Resilience and Security, has received a grant for the MASTERY project.

At a festive gathering, 25 projects were awarded a Kiem grant 2025 - 2026 of 10,000 euros. Interdisciplinary teams from Leiden University will conduct innovative research into horror, international payments and fungi in historical collections, among others.

Leiden researchers Max van Duijn (Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science) and Vasilika Kosta (Leiden Law School, Europa Institute) will join The Young Academy (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences) KNAW)).

University lecturer Dario Fazzi and postdoctoral researcher Gaetano Di Tommaso set up a virtual collaboration with the United States last year thanks to a VIS grant. And it was a such a success the project will be repeated next year. Fazzi is looking forward to once again offering his students a multicultural…

What does it mean to be a migrant in a big city? According to assistant professor Kamila Krakowska Rodrigues, artists have the answer to that question. In a new ERC-funded project, she will explore the representation of contemporary urban diversity in films, performance art, written literature and spoken…

Can humans sense where north is, using what is known as magnetoreception? This question had master’s student Björn Keyser (Media Technology) so intrigued that he started crowdfunding to be able to study this together with the California Institute of Technology.

It's 6:30 PM, and the Faculty of Social Sciences is quiet. Classes are over, students and staff have gone home. But at the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, music is playing. Live music. A small group of students has gathered in Wim van Zanten's office, sitting on thin cushions…

Wondering what anthropology students can contribute in daily practice? Both during their bachelor's and master's studies, anthropology students conduct research at the request of social organisations in Leiden via Leren met de Stad. Last week, they presented their experiences and results on the various…

Teaching people to recognize subtle, real-world expressions will help them understand and trust others better. The aim of Mariska Kret is to develop an interactive virtual-reality training tool (E-VIRT) for a broad group of users, including patients. Kret provides a brief description of her idea for…

In 2024, the Herta Mohr building was brought into use. The Faculty Office was the first group to be housed in the new building. Towards the end of 2024, a workplace satisfaction survey was conducted among these staff members. With the relocation of LIAS to Herta Mohr in September 2024, the building…

In 2025, students, lecturers, researchers and alumni of the Faculty of Humanities were once again at the heart of society. They demonstrated the importance of the humanities through their groundbreaking research, meaningful education and strong collaborations.

In a sailboat, a canoe or stowed away on a ship: during the Second World War, many Leiden students tried to cross the sea to join the Allies in Britain. ‘Soldier of Orange’ is the most famous, but who were the other ‘England voyagers’ or Engelandvaarders as they are known?

Film screening and Book Launch

Film screening and panel discussion

Festival

Arts and culture, Film & dialogue

Arts and culture, Studium Generale

Four projects led by the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded KIEM grants. The researchers will receive €10,000 to carry out their plans.

Young people are more likely to find long texts unappealing to read, particularly with all the digital distractions. To improve young people’s reading skills, Elise Swart and Hannah De Mulder are starting an innovative study to make reading fun again.

From the First World War until the height of the Cold War, actors from the decolonizing world sought to build connections with international peace movements. These efforts produced new networks and practices of solidarity while also exposing tensions over the centrality of decolonization in global struggles…

What started with an old Soviet camera and a darkroom in London grew into a lifelong passion. Developmental biologist Michael Richardson has been capturing nature - from wild coastal plants to microscopic details in the lab - since his childhood.

Assistant professor Carmen Van den Bergh has been nominated for the Leiden University Teaching Prize. ‘I combine literature education with social relevance and personal experience.’

Armed with sunglasses, a thick layer of sunscreen and several bottles of water, over 3,300 students have arrived in Leiden for their introduction week. The start of the 55th EL CID happened to be on the hottest day of the year.

Alumnus Anoma van der Veere did Japanese studies and talks in this interview about his studies in Leiden and his work as a researcher at the Leiden Asia Centre and as Japanese correspondent in Tokyo.

A discount on textbooks is always welcome. But for these students joining a study association has meant much more than that alone.

Earning some quick money by drug trafficking, committing an act of violence or almost collapsing under performance pressure. In the four-part NeurolabNL Young vodcast young people talk openly with neuroscientists about high-risk behaviour and performance pressure. How did they find their way back?

On 30 November 2021 the book 'Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography: A Practical and Theoretical Guide' was published by Routledge. The book resulted from eight anthropologists of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology joining forces: Cristina Grasseni, Bart Barendregt, Erik…

Minerva, which calls itself the oldest student association of the Netherlands, has the reputation of being an impenetrable bastion. A lustrum exhibition shows the turbulent history and points to a diversity of contacts: from close bonds with Leiden ‘coffee ladies’ to the visit of Sir Winston Churchi…

The Night of Discoveries will take place on 20 September in the area around Hortus botanicus Leiden, the Old Observatory, Pieterkserk, the Academy Building, Old School, the Faculty Club and the PJ Veth Building.

20 November 2024 is World Children's Day. To mark this occasion, the UNICEF Student Team Leiden is organising a lecture on children's rights. We spoke to board members Rewina Teferi Hagos and Tugwell Chadyiwanembwa to find out what motivates them.

Full lecture halls, a crowded information fair and a queue for coffee in the basement: during the Open Day, the Faculty of Humanities was inundated with curious prospective students.

Her plan was to obtain a PhD, but, during her master’s, alumnus Sangbreeta Moitra discovered that her true interest lay in applying neuroscience in everyday life.