Are you a curious and enthusiastic student, and do you want to do more besides your regular studies? If so, Honours education might be something for you!

Our core themes, which our programmes are about, are: Public Affairs, Leadership, Political-Administrative Sensitivity, Safety and major social issues.

As a bachelor student of Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences, Femke Vlaswinkel wrote a research proposal she was allowed to carry out in her master’s BPS. Femke subsequently graduated with honors. Her research was published in the journal Scientific Reports, she won an award from the Dutch Pharmacy Society…

Aukje Nauta's professorship at Leiden University has been extended for another five years. She will further research how connectedness in the workplace helps people to be their full self and perform better. Her conviction: for a healthy work culture, we need to be willing to feel a bit more ashamed…

Despite the field’s general agreement that pyrotechnology had a significant impact on the cultural evolution of humankind, our understanding of the origins and development of fire use and its role in humankind’s cultural evolution is very limited, blurred by strong disagreements over its chronology…

Here you can find an overview of all our publications.

Do you have a question about our Master's programme in Public Administration? Would you like to hear more about the differences between the specialisations: Economics and Governance, Public Management and Leadership, and International and European Governance? Or on studying at Leiden University at our…

Are you a student and do you find that after reading about the Leiden Leadership Programme, you still have questions?

In the fall of 2021, Cleveringa professor Roméo Dallaire and world experts shared their thoughts about PTSD, children’s rights, war crimes, humanitarian law, and peacekeeping in a series of conversations about leadership and moral dilemma during times of conflict and crisis.

Jeanine de Roy van Zuijdewijn, Chelsea Daymon and David Malet, wrote RESOLVE Network Research Report that examines career foreign fighters who have traversed from one insurgency to another.

The Public Management and Organisation section of the Institute of Public Administration focuses on public organisations and the behaviour of the managers and professionals working within them. Our vision is that understanding human behaviour and organisational dynamics is essential for understanding…

On Wednesday, 14 May 2025, Catherine O'Regan will deliver the annual Van Vollenhoven Lecture

For thousands of years bloodlines have been held as virtually unassailable credentials for leadership, with supreme political power perceived as a family affair across the globe and throughout history.

As a Leiden University student, you’re part of Una Europa: an alliance of 11 leading research universities.

Want to know more about the Public Management and Leadership specialisation of the Master in Public Administration, and experience what it’s like to study in The Hague? There are a number of activities that can help you choose your study. Get to know us through our online and in-person events for prospective…

Working in an operating theatre is a highly competitive sport. High work pressure, stress, and unexpected developments during operations. This requires a lot from care professionals who need to be mentally resilient to be able to deliver peak performances time and time again. What makes a care professional…

New ways of working like working from home can have a positive impact on a person’s career, but only when their superior supports their choice. Researcher Maral Darouei will defend her PhD thesis on sustainable careers on 9 June 2020.

Femke Binnendijk and Olaf van Loon have been appointed as lecturers at the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law at Leiden Law School.

Find out how to apply for Public Management and Leadership at Leiden University by following our step-by step guide.

The Honours Academy works closely with partner organisations where students carry out practical assignments. In addition, the Honours Academy collaborates with schools to realise Pre-University education.

Every year, Leiden University welcomes some 27,000 students from 115 different countries. In educating these students, we are committed to ensuring that the quality of our tuition meets or exceeds the highest-possible standards.

New book on Dutch mayors governing local order and public safety.

Application for 2026–2027 will be open from 1 September to 30 September 2026. Further information about the application procedure for the coming year can be found below.

Honours education offers students an extra challenge. In our educational testing ground, they follow their curiosity, step outside the box and prepare themselves for the future.

Course

An event where students from all honoursprograms meet, learn from each other and gain inspiration. That is the idea behind the Honours Conference, which took place at the end of February in the Old Observatory. The theme of the afternoon: why listening pays off.

The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) of Leiden University and Art Institute West Den Haag are pleased to announce their close collaboration in the second season of the public series In the Making. This series, dedicated to the practice of research in the arts, will consist of seven public…

Inter-Section is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal focusing on contributions from young archaeological researchers at Leiden University. The journal aims to stimulate both undergraduate and graduate students to take an additional step in their academic development by publishing their individual research.…

On the menu of the LLP Skills Café no beer and snacks, but communication skills as listening, resolving conflicts, and giving feedback. ‘Once you really learn to listen, you become a better leader and nicer friend.’

The specific interest of this project is to explore the links between international financial levers and higher education, research and innovation systems in the Sahelian region.

The Classics and Ancient Civilizations (Research) programme offers many extracurricular opportunities to enrich your study experience.

Governance is a complex puzzle of organisations, people and divergent interests. Academic research in this field furthers our knowledge of the role of public administrators, of different organisational structures, of the people who work at such organisations and of how these organisations implement…

Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions about the Public Administration master's programme.

On Tuesday 9 June 2020, researcher Maral Darouei defended her PhD thesis on sustainable careers. A large part of her research dealt with working from home.

The combination of academic and professional skills taught in the Public Management specialisation of Public Administration makes graduates excellent candidates for positions as a public manager, or take on an advisory role as a management consultant or strategic advisor within public organisations.

The need for knowledge among practitioners and the lack of an academic knowledge base for specifically collective arrangements of social work in the Netherlands were the reason for Anouk de Koning, Femke Kaulingfreks and Maartje van der Woude to start working on a Dutch Research Agenda (NWA) application…

Women in International Security -Netherlands (WIIS-NL) is an affiliate of WIIS Global. WIIS-NL Members include: professionals, civil servants, academics, NGOs, employees of international bodies and organizations, embassy staff, politicians, students, and interested members of the general public. The…

Individuals, teams and faculty leaders can all help to set Academia in Motion.

In developing cooperation with Indonesia, Leiden University focuses on projects that benefit culture, nature, society and economy, in Indonesia as well as in the Netherlands.

PhD defence

Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions about the Public Administration master's programme.

Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions about the Public Administration master's programme.

Here you can find answers to some frequently asked questions about the Public Administration master's programme.

A 5 million euros grant from the Dutch Research Agenda allows Anouk de Koning and co-applicants Femke Kaulingfreks and Maartje van der Woude to study social interventions in eight Dutch cities in an innovative and interdisciplinary way.

The book offers different theoretical perspectives to help examine the process of public sector reform. In addition it gives an overview of the major trends in the core areas of the functioning of the public sector.

Every year, eLaw organizes various conferences, symposia, workshops, panels and other events.

On 28 June, Jakob Tobing defended the thesis 'The essence of the 1999-2002 constitutional reform in Indonesia: remaking the Negara Hukum. A socio-legal study'. The doctoral research was supervised by Jan Michiel Otto and Adriaan Bedner.