Building more in urban areas is, in most places in the Netherlands, the smartest way to tackle the housing crisis. This is evident from research conducted by Janneke van Oorschot, published in a partner journal of Nature. Remarkably, this does not have to come at the expense of green spaces in cities.…

Where should you plant ten trees so that as many city-dwellers as possible can enjoy them? If a smart algorithm knows how people move through the city and where there are already trees, it can calculate the optimal solution. Data scientist Mitra Baratchi makes this possible. Her students are now using…

The touring exhibition 'Presenting with the city' has touched down in the Lipsius Building. In the presentation, students and researchers show how their research has contributed to the city.

How many cities were there actually in the Roman Empire? And why did some regions only have a few cities, while others consisted of a tight urban network? Luuk de Ligt, Professor of Ancient History, wants to know the answer to all these questions. With the ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million awarded to…

The Leiden Leadership Centre brings academia and practice together by organising events on public leadership – such as Leiden Leadership Lunches, webinars, (international) conferences, and the Leiden Leadership Podcast.

Guy Livingston’s five-episode sound-art podcast UNDER/CITY/SOUND brings together people with different backgrounds from all over The Hague to share their listening experiences under quarantine.

Responsible AI for science and a strong and resilient society.

The Leiden municipality wants to make the city centre climate-proof and combat heat stress by greening it. But they want to do this in a way that does justice to the city’s heritage. Researcher Fenna IJtsma delves into historical greenery to offer inspiration.

How many cities were there actually in the Roman Empire? And why did some regions only have a few cities, while others consisted of a tight urban network? Luuk de Ligt, Professor of Ancient History, wants to know the answer to all these questions. With the ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million awarded to…

By 2050, 70 per cent of the world's population will live in cities. This has major consequences for the lives of city-dwellers and for the environment. Uncontrolled urbanisation calls for an interdisciplinary approach. On 4 September, the first group of students started the new English-language Bachelor's…

Students and PhD candidates come to Leiden and The Hague from all corners of the world. On 16 November, the municipality of Leiden presented current international students with a certificate as a token of appreciation for their presence in the city. ‘This makes me feel even more part of the local co…

What makes Leiden the best student city in the Netherlands? This was the question students were invited to answer in films about their city. The winner will be announced on 29 June in the Schouwburg in Leiden.

For a new forum of The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, we are inviting you to submit a proposal for a forum essay on city diplomacy (deadline: 15 August 2021).

People need to get to know each other to see the positive side of migration, according to photographer and documentary maker Koen Suidgeest. Since the end of September, Suidgeest has been the new city photographer for the region of Leiden. His goal is to photograph as many cultural identities as possible…

The VICI research project Citizenship Discourses in the Early Middle Ages, led by Els Rose (Universiteit Utrecht), published a new book: Els Rose, Robert Flierman en Merel de Bruin-van de Beek, red., City, Citizen, Citizenship, 400–1500. A Comparative Approach (Londen: Palgrave-Macmillan, 2024). It…

Animal Sciences’ contribution to the Bioactive Molecules research theme includes research on molecules from natural sources, such as plants, insects, and snake venom, with the aim to identify novel anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial, and anti-diabetic agents.

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Development & Disease research theme include the mechanisms and evolution of embryonic development, the development of cognitive mechanisms, and animal models for understanding mechanisms of human disease.

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Evolution & Biodiversity research theme include evo-devo research, the evolution of cognitive and behavioural traits, and the evolutionary mechanisms of stress adaptation. This research involves both indoor and outdoor studies.

Saskia Bruines, alderman for Education, Knowledge Economy and International Affairs in The Hague, and Erwin Muller, Chair of Campus The Hague, opened an exhibition about 20 years of Campus The Hague on 4 September. The exhibition in the Atrium of City Hall in The Hague focuses on the links between the…

In Leiden University's video series on Leiden and The Hague as student cities, students interview each other at their favorite spots. In the third video of this series, archaeology student Meike spoke with Physics student David in the Leiden Plantsoen.

What does our faculty stand for and what will we do in the next five years? We are proud to present our new strategic plan that we made together. On this website you will find more information about what our Faculty stands for and what our course is for the coming years

On January 25, the University of Antwerp organizes a workshop around the theme of "The Fragmented City in Premodern Europe". The workshop is free to attend but registration is necessary.

The university has been shaping the city of Leiden for 450 years. A brief history of the university buildings that have helped define the city.

The disparities in terms of health and wellbeing in The Hague are considerable. A team headed by Jet Bussemaker, professor in the field of policy and society, wants to change that. The 'fences' in the healthcare system have to be got rid of. In particular the Laakkwartier and Moerwijs, two poorer areas…

I think we should go this way. This way! THIS! WAY!! Making yourself heard in a city can be difficult. That is not only the case for humans, but birds seem to be hindered by urban noise as well. Researcher Hans Slabbekoorn of Leiden University already showed that great tits in Leiden communicate differently…

The objective of this study is to better understand the distribution of microplastics in the environment. More specifically, we will quantify the abundance and distribution of microplastics on beaches.

Animal Sciences’ contributions to the Host-Microbe Interactions research theme focus on the interaction of animal hosts with pathogenic microbes but also the beneficial role of the gut microbiome.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, the city of Batavia was supplied with produce by its hinterland, known as the Ommelanden. Bondan Kanumoyoso studied the history of the various ethnic groups that populated this area and in doing so has shed light on the structure of modern-day Indonesian society.…

What does the European Union mean for people living in Leiden? As part of the Leiden European Festival, and in collaboration with the municipality of Leiden, the city photographers captured Leidenaren from 28 European member states at their favorite place in the city. The exhibition will travel along…

Microbial Sciences' contribution to the Bioactive Molecules research theme is to discover new bioactive molecules and enzymes and unravel their mechanisms of action, regulatory networks, and the (bio)synthetic pathways required for their production.

On 25 September, lights throughout Leiden will be turned off for the Seeing Stars event. What makes the urban night so special? We asked university lecturer Sara Brandellero, who researches cities, night and migration.

This dissertation reports on the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of science teachers during a professional development program. This research intended to help us understand why and how teachers make their classroom decisions as they teach science.

Freemasons, young circus artistes, people at a clothes swap and many more. Seven young anthropologists spent a year exploring Leiden as city photographers. They published their photos in Leidsch Dagblad each week. An exhibition at Oude UB shows the fruits of their labour.

The Greater Angkor Region in contemporary Cambodia was dramatically more urbanized in the 13th century than previously thought, and home to 700.000 to 900.000 people. These discoveries were made by a research team led by Sarah Klassen. Their findings are published in Science Advances.

The Hague is the archetypal multicultural city. With a different language spoken on every street corner, this makes it a paradise for linguists such as Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade. Her book Languages of The Hague is a collection of fascinating conversations with the city’s non-native speakers.

The book 'Darwin comes to town’ by Menno Schilthuizen has been awarded the best nature book in the Netherlands. The Leiden biologist received the Jan Wolkers Prize, awarded annually by Dutch TV and radio show 'Vroege Vogels'. In his book Schilthuizen describes evolution in one of the newest and most…

SAILS aims to forge links between the different disciplines at the University and to initiate new academic partnerships.

In November 2019, Morshed Mannan participated at a conference entitled Who Owns the World? The State of Platform Cooperativism, that was hosted by The New School in New York City.

Leiden University has joined the Hague Climate Agreement. This comprises 38 climate deals aimed at making The Hague climate neutral by 2030.

Are you curious about how the human skeleton works? Discover this and more on 3 October in Leiden and on 4 October in The Hague.

Read more about the International Network Open Science & Scholarship Communities in our Vision and Mission statements.

In Leiden University's video series on Leiden and The Hague as student cities, students interview each other at their favorite spots. In the third video of this series, archaeology student Meike spoke with Physics student David in the Leiden Plantsoen.

Working for a top faculty? Discover the vacancies at the Faculty of Science and apply immediately.

Find an (online) event and/or discuss what OS means to you with a colleague!

Plant Sciences' contribution to the Development & Disease research theme is to unravel the processes that allow plants to adapt to changing abiotic and biotic environmental conditions or stresses, with the aim to contribute to the sustainable production of food, flowers and bio-based products using…

The master’s specialisation Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences and Industrial Pharmacy at Leiden University examines safety and quality control in the production of medicinal products, and prepares students for a career in Quality Assurance and Quality Control in the biotechnological and pharmaceutical ind…

Plant Sciences' contribution to the Host-Microbe Interactions research theme is to dissect how microorganisms and microbiomes interact with the plant host and the insects on those plants, and how these insights may be harnessed to improve plant growth and health, by steering microbiome composition and…

The master’s specialisation Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences and Business Studies at Leiden University combines fundamental and applied research with different aspects of business studies.

Microbial Sciences' contribution to the Host-Microbe Interactions research theme is to investigate how beneficial or disease-causing microbes associate and interact with their host.