Historical geographer Marcel IJsselstijn developed a new approach that improves our understanding of how medieval cities were planned. He hopes it will help archaeologists, urban planners and designers address contemporary challenges.

Having received a European Research Centre grant in 2025 the Connected Communities in Early Medieval Europe (COCO) project kicked off with a three-day long programme last month. From the 28th to the 30th of April the National Museum of Antiquities and the Faculty of Archaeology hosted the meetings bringing…

Conference

This dissertation reports on the beliefs and perceptions of Chinese and Dutch university teachers regarding the role of research in university teaching and how these beliefs and perceptions can be explained by their cultural, institutional and individual background characteristics

A successful series of lectures on interior design, a symposium on four-poster beds and a new series of study afternoons on the horizon. University lecturer Alexander Dencher knows how to hold the attention of a growing audience. How does he do it? And what makes the history of interior design so fa…

Joost van den Vondel is considered to be the greatest Dutch poet and playwright of his time, but he certainly wasn’t the most popular. The 17th- and 18th-century public preferred to watch ‘Spanish theatre’. University lecturer Olga van Marion has written a book about this, together with Frans Blom (University…

Herman Paul has received a €140,000 grant from the Thorbecke Fund (KNAW) for a project entitled “The Demands of Our Time: Epochal Thinking from 1800 to the Present.”

A special find has been made in the Alkmaar Regional Archive: a number of 17th-century book bindings contained pieces of parchment from a manuscript from the 11th century. The original manuscript may have belonged to a princess who fled England after the Norman Conquest.

Lecture, CMGI Brown Bag Seminar

The Department of Historical Studies at Central European University (Vienna, Austria) is pleased to announce its call for applications for the 2025/2026 academic year. The deadline is February 1, 2025.

Associate professor Salvador Santino Regilme spoke in various media outlets about the tensions between the United States and Venezuela.

Until very recently malaria was an impactful disease in the Netherlands. While currently mainly regarded as a tropical disease, references to symptoms which could be related to the disease are found in several historical documents from the 17th century onwards. To be able to better understand this disease…

Osteoarchaeologist Rachel Schats investigates traces of malaria in old human skeletons. Even though the disease cannot be spotted directly in bone material, you may find traces of it, for example through porosity caused by anemia, linked to malaria. Rachel was a guest in the programme Science071 on…

Leiden Archaeology students may write their master's theses on the recently acquired collection skeletons from the city of Arnhem. We interviewed osteoarchaeologist Dr Rachel Schats, who is very happy with the news:

The Research Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science in Amsterdam hosts a unique X-ray machine that creates 3D scans of the most diverse objects. This allows them to reveal details that remain hidden in regular scans. In a series of articles they showcase examples of what happens in the lab. Leiden…

On Thursday July 1, our alumna Lise Stork will defend her PhD thesis at Leiden University. It is about using AI to make sense of handwritten natural history archives.

Princess Beatrix celebrated her eightieth birthday on 31 January. She has a warm bond with Leiden University, having studied Law and Sociology here. Since graduating, she has been a frequent visitor to the University, to receive an Honorary Doctorate, for example, and at the re-opening of the Academy…

While Old Germanic studies might seem dated and, regrettably, occupies a less than secure position in various academic institutions, exciting new research presented by young researchers shows that the field is still vibrant and may have a bright future. On Thursday, the 7th of April, the ‘Junius Symposium…

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.

Alwin Kloekhorst, working at the Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, has received a Vidi grant for his research on the break-up of the Indo-European language.

From the effects of hormone fluctuations in women via the interior structure of giant planets to the prehistory of the languages: six Leiden researchers have been awarded a Consolidator Grant by the European Research Council.

Japanologist and linguist Martine Robbeets is going to use her newly acquired ERC Consolidator Grant to study the origins and spread of Trans-Eurasian languages, which include Japanese and Turkish. With it, she’s tackling one of the most controversial subjects in language history.

In the course of 2020 the Faculty of Archaeology was bolstered by some new staff members. Due to the coronavirus situation, sadly, this went for a large part unnoticed. In a series of interviews we are catching up, giving the floor to our new colleagues. We kick off with Dr Tuna Kalayci, who joined…

In the course of 2020 the Faculty of Archaeology was bolstered by some new staff members. Due to the coronavirus situation, sadly, this went for a large part unnoticed. In a series of interviews we are catching up, giving the floor to our new colleagues. We kick off with Dr Tuna Kalayci, who joined…

Paul van Trigt and Anna Derksen, both researchers in the project 'Rethinking Disability', received grants for research abroad.

Can suffering be positive? Currently dominant discourses, primarily voiced through human rights activism and humanitarianism, maintain the opposite: suffering, mentally and physically, has to be avoided and where it exists, it has to be reduced.

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).

The Executive Board has appointed Herman Paul (Institute for History) as Professor of History of the Humanities. He will take up the role from 1 January 2019.

Professor Herman Paul has been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of History from 1 February 2025. ‘Especially in these times, transparency is essential.’

Conference, Interdisciplinary Workshop

Dr. Barbara Veselka recently published an article on Vitamin D deficiency in 19th century skeletal remains in the International Journal of Paleopathology.

CEU's Department of Historical Studies is organizing two online info sessions for anyone interested in applying to their MA and PhD programs on Friday 6 and 13 December and Friday 10 and 17 January.

The ERC project Rethinking Disability has been selected to participate in the ERCcOMICS scheme which exploits the power of visual storytelling to innovate the way in which European science is communicated.

Salvador Santino Regilme's paper “One Great Nation Under Trump? Global Human Rights in Distress Amidst American Decline” has received the

Do you consider applying for the Media Technology MSc programme? This is your chance to meet our staff and students in real life, and learn how we connect creativity, science and personal curiosity!

The ERC-funded project Rethinking Disability was featured in the Fȇte de La Science which was held on 11 October 2019 at Sorbonne University in Paris.

In recent years, online platforms have been utilized more and more to spread Chinese nationalist discourse. In an interview posted on The Diplomat, director of the Leiden Asia Centre Florian Schneider gives his thoughts on how the digital environment has changed the way Chinese activists work.