Three years after the very first cohort of the Leiden University Bachelor of International Studies graduated, approximately 40 alumni and staff got together for a day of recollecting pleasant memories and sharing new stories. The BAIS Alumni Board collected some ‘Lessons learned’ from their alumni.

On 2 September 2022, 300 students received their Bachelor Diploma of International Studies. The students were awarded their diplomas in the historic Pieterskerk in Leiden, in front of a large audience of family and friends. With about 1000 people present, including the graduates, the International Studies…

The Ghent Rolin-Jaequemyns International Law Institute (GRILI) is a research institute within the Faculty of Law at Ghent University. Founded in 2015 at the initiative of Prof. Tom Ruys, the Institute brings together the existing expertise within the law school in the broader international law domai…

Social assistance and minimum income benefits are important instruments as a safeguard against low income and poverty. There have been major developments in minimum income benefits both in developed and developing countries over the last decades. Our study collects several empirical studies regarding…

Are you interested in the BA programme International Studies but not yet sure what it all means?

Beatrice Noun (alumna BA International Studies) currently lives in Paris and works for the World Bank as a consultant while doing a master’s degree at Sciences Po in International Development. We caught up with her and asked her a bunch of questions like which steps lead her to this career path? And…

Twelve weeks of hard work later, the big moment has finally arrived: the third-year students of International Studies are ready to complete the 'Practising International Studies' (PRINS) consultancy programme by pitching their advice. We were invited to attend the presentations on behalf of Free Press…

On 7 November 2018, Catherine Harwood defended her thesis 'Navigating Between Principle and Pragmatism: The Roles and Functions of Atrocity-Related United Nations Commissions of Inquiry in the International Legal Order'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. L.J. Van den Herik and Prof.…

Women In International Security (WIIS) is a global organisation dedicated to advancing the leadership and professional development of women in the field of international peace and security. As part of her research on women, peace and security, Dr. Vanessa Newby at the Institute for Security and Global…

We are pleased to invite abstracts for a conference on ‘Counterclaims in International Law’ to be held at Leiden University on 27 June 2024, in collaboration with Queen Mary University of London.

To maximise your personal development, we ensure tutorials are small-scale and staff members extremely accessible. In year one, you’ll have an average of 12 contact hours, half of which comprise lectures (in English) and the remainder tutorials (optionally Dutch or English).

On 28 February and 1 March 2019, Stichting Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection (Foundation) held its first PhD Workshop on European and International Insolvency Law. The workshop attracted more than 25 applications from PhD students from all over Europe. At the workshop young researchers had a chance…

In the eighties the Umhlatuzana rock shelter in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa, was excavated. Results from this excavation led to an understanding when the Later Stone Age started in this area. This archaeological period is often associated with the structural presence of modern human behavior. Now a…

It is difficult to hold international organisations (IOs) accountable for human rights violations. Gisela Hirschmann (Institute of Political Science, Leiden University) introduces the concept of pluralist accountability, whereby third parties set the standards for IOs’ actions in relation to human rights,…

On 3 March 2022, Cambridge University Press published An Introduction to Public International Law, a co-authored textbook led by Cecily Rose.

On 16 February, Leiden University participated in the Dutch National Rounds of the 2024 Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, the world's largest moot court competition featuring participants from approximately 700 law schools across the world.

Aileen Schuurmans finished her MA International Relations this summer. She wrote an article titled 'How to Change the Story of the Pandemic with Daoist IR', which got published on E-International Relations, the world’s leading open access website for students and scholars of international politics.

Last month (February 5-8 2024), the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, hosted a workshop entitled ‘Caribbean World Heritage Sites in the light of today’s global challenges: the case of Historic Bridgetown and Its Garrison’.

Comprehensive, scholarly compilation of legal studies of substantive and procedural children’s rights, breaking new ground by analysing a wide range of international children's rights issues.

'After my BA International Studies I decided to do the MA International Relations, and that proved to be a good choice,' Mats Radeck (23, Trier, Germany) says. He is in the last phase of the MA, working on his thesis on

On 30 June 2016, Eesa Fredericks is expected to defend his Ph.D.-thesis ‘Contractual Capacity in Private International Law’ in Leiden. Supervisors are prof. Sierd J. Schaafsma (Leiden) and prof. Jan Neels (Johannesburg).

From 25-27 March, second-year students of the Advanced MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy (MIRD) took part in the programme's annual visit to Geneva, Switzerland. Students participated in institutional visits focusing on a wide range mandates in the field of International Relations and Dip…

Career and apply for jobs

What are International Studies Alumni doing after graduation? Get to know Guido, Paulien and Lennart. They all studied International Studies at Leiden University in The Hague and are now working in three different fields.

Exactly 230 students received their Bachelor’s Diploma of International Studies on 1 September 2017, in front of a large audience of family and friends. With almost 1,000 people present this was the largest graduation ceremony of the programme since its founding in 2012.

Marc Koper has been selected as one of the six new fellows in 2015 of the International Society of Electrochemistry.

The ongoing conflicts between the United States and its allies and Russia and between the United States and its allies and China reflect both the anarchical nature of the international system and the uncertainty with which decision-makers and diplomats have to deal with in attempting to solve the conflicts…

On Monday, 18 January 2016 the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies hosted a roundtable on the practice, process, strategy and impact of the amicus curiae in international criminal trials.

The Farm to Fork Strategy seeks to transform the EU food system towards greater sustainability. To do this, Vincent Delhomme argues, some of the traditional concepts and doctrines in EU internal market law need to be challenged and rethought.

Marc Koper, Professor of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, has been elected as President Elect of the International Society of Electrochemistry (ISE). He will be President Elect for two years starting January 2019, followed by two years as President and two years as Immediate Past President.

After a successful pilot in 2016, the second edition of the International Arbitration Course took place at the end of August. The course is a tripartite collaboration between the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, the Department of Civil Law of Leiden Law School and the Permanent Court…

After a successful first edition in February 2019, the Stichting Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection invites PhD students from Europe and beyond for a second edition of the PhD workshop on European/International Insolvency Law. At this workshop they can present their ideas, but also the challenges…

From 29 – 31 May, second-year students of the Advanced MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy (MIRD) took part in the programme's annual visit to Geneva, Switzerland. Students participated in various institutional visits, and got to hear first-hand from practitioners and experts on a variety of…

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies is delighted that Brooks Daly will rejoin the LL.M. (Adv.) in International Dispute Settlement and Arbitration as a Visiting Professor in 2024.

The UN is highly critical of the Netherlands over the effect of its Work and Income (Capacity for Work) Act (WIA). Contrary to agreements, workers who are less than 35% incapacitated for work receive no benefits and the income of their partner is taken into account when they apply for welfare benefits.…

Eva Michaels talks about the current international security environment, including intelligence issues with Sir John Sawers in an interview in El País.

The Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies & The Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law cordially invite you to a Panel Discussion on “The Dynamics of the Syria Conflict: Challenges for Contemporary International Law” .

A series of workshops at Leiden University and the University of Hamburg will act as a forum in which international legal scholars whose research adopts a behavioural approach can present their works-in-progress and gain feedback from a broad range of peers, including scholars in economics and cognitive…

PhD defence

Intensive and decisive days are coming for the future of MERCOSUR’s external relations. In around two weeks, the regional organization’s negotiating and technical teams will publish the new conditions for the common customs tariff

The world is full of wars, and no war is without its dead. What happens to the bodies of fatal casualties of armed conflict? The winner of the faculty Jongbloed Thesis Prize 2015 is Welmoet Wels (Public International Law). Her thesis Dead body management in armed conflict: paradoxes in trying to do…