Students stream into the lecture hall, handing in their mobile phones at the door. Once everyone’s seated, silence descends and all eyes turn to the large screen at the front of the lecture hall. A live connection has been set up with the prison where Marco is a long-term inmate. Today, the students…

A new series of webinars, the Cleveringa Dallaire Critical Conversation Series, begins on 22 September. In this series of online conversations, expert panels from Leiden and abroad will talk about leadership and moral dilemmas in times of conflict and crisis. The series is open to all.

Wednesday the 23d of March, Olexander Horin, the ambassador of the Ukraine honoured us with a visit to discuss his vision on the referendum and the current political situation in Ukraine. Hereby a short summary of the lecture by Professor Madeleine Hosli, who attended the event.

Molecular Science & Technology student Renske Donkers has won the second edition of the Young Star Award. During the ceremony on Wednesday 17 February, no less than three teachers were awarded the title 'Teacher of the Year'. Finally, students had a surprise in store for all teachers: with a video they…

On Friday 8 February 2019, we were honored by a visit of Ms. Anna Batalla, Human Rights Officer at the Petitions and Inquiries Section of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights - United Nations, who gave a lecture on bringing a case to the Committee on the Rights of the Child and on the…

On 11 March, Oliver Rathkolb (University of Vienna) held a lecture about Social Democracy.

On 24 November 2018 Yvonne Erkens (Associate Professor Labour Law) gave a lecture during the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Labour Court Judges (EALCJ) in Copenhagen.

‘Broad Implications of Climate Change in East Africa in terms of Human and Animal Futures’

Between the early thirteenth and early sixteenth centuries CE, the Sultanate of Cairo affected the balances of power elites across and beyond the regions of Egypt, Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean. Modern historiography has for a long time been determined by the idea of this sultanate as a highly…

Three lecturers from Leiden University have been awarded a 100,000-euro Comenius Teaching Fellowship within the scope of the Senior Fellows programme. The grant will enable them and their project teams to carry out their own teaching innovation project.

On 6 March, Jelle Klaas, lawyer for the Public Interest Litigation Project of the Dutch Section of the International Commission of Jurists, delivered a lecture to the students of the Advanced Master’s in European and International Human Rights Law at Leiden Law School.

On 1 June 2022, Maarten Kunst, Professor of Criminology at Leiden Law School, gave a lecture on his research into the effects of the right to be heard on both the defendant and the victim. Victims have certain rights in the Dutch criminal process, including the right to be heard in criminal proceedings.…

The roof of the lecture halls at the Faculty of Science was fitted with solar panels in June, making it the biggest solar-panel-covered roof in Leiden.

Professor David Simchi-Levi of the MIT Sloan School of Management delivered a guest lecture to SBB students enrolled in the Technology and Operations Management course led by Xishu Li, Assistant Professor at Science Based Business. Simchi-Levi’s lecture focused on new approaches he developed at MIT…

Doctoral Grant for lecturer to research witness protection at the international courts.

Met de H.E. van Gelder Onderzoeksbeurs wordt beoogd interdisciplinair onderzoek naar munten, bankbiljetten en penningen van een impuls te voorzien. De beurs heeft een waarde van € 10.000 en stelt de onderzoeker (m/v) in de gelegenheid een publicatie voor te bereiden en aan de hand daarvan vervolgonderzoek…

On 30 March 2018, a workshop on the subject of

Islam can be a difficult or sensitive subject to discuss with pupils, regardless whether they are Muslim. Fourteen secondary-school teachers and university lecturers went on a fact-finding trip to Morocco accompanied by experts from NIMAR (the Netherlands Institute in Morocco). What did they learn from…

‘Three books published within a year – that happens only once in a lifetime!’ This was the reaction of Katarzyna Cwiertka, Professor of Modern Japan Studies at Leiden University, on the publication of Cuisine, Colonialism and Cold War, one of her three new books. The book sketches the colonisation of…

More allowance should be made for differences between municipalities, argues Geerten Boogaard, Thorbecke Professor of Local Government. The Municipalities Act could, for instance, offer a ‘menu of options’ for the decision on whether to have an elected mayor. Professor Boogaard will deliver his inaugural…

Professor of Archaeometry Patrick Degryse analyses archaeological finds using techniques from chemistry, physics and biology. He will give his inaugural lecture on 19 February. He reflects on three interesting propositions from his lecture.

Many people in the Netherlands have difficulty managing on their income. Professor by special appointment Wilco van Dijk, affiliated to Leiden University and Nibud, is researching what we can do to gain a healthier approach to managing our finances. His inaugural lecture is on 1 April.

Now that selling via digital platforms is flourishing, we need to take a closer look at the rights and obligations of all the parties involved. This is the subject of the inaugural lecture by Leiden Professor Vanessa Mak on 15 October.

Endocannabinoids - the body's own marijuana - are promising departure points for drug research. Professor of Molecular Physiology Mario van der Stelt examines whether inhibiting their production can be a way to fight inflammatory brain disease and to combat obesity. Inaugural lecture 19 October.

On 16 May 2022, Professor Michel Wouters from the Department of Biomedical Data Sciences at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC), will deliver his inaugural lecture titled ‘Quality of Cancer Care: why the real world matters’. Wouters will use the opportunity to describe how quality registries…

Jojanneke van der Toorn, professor by special appointment in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Workplace Inclusion at Leiden University, states that it is difficult to create an inclusive work environment. This is partly due to the fact that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people have themselves…

Biologists today have to be able to work with big data. Data analysis skills should be taught from the start of the degree programme, or - even better - in secondary school. This is the message of Vera van Noort, new Professor of Computational Biology. Inaugural lecture 22 January.

Plants love favourable microbes such as bacteria and fungi: they grow better and become healthier. Jos Raaijmakers, Professor of Microbial Ecology, is in search of the right microbes to be used in agriculture. Inaugural lecture 13 November.

To get important topics such as climate and human rights higher on the agenda of listed companies, stakeholders other than shareholders and employees should officially be given more say. This is what Professor of Business Law Harold Koster said in his inaugural lecture on 18 March. He proposes introducing…

Over 100 participants joined the first grant matchmaking and working session on the call for the Dutch National Research Agenda, on 25 June in the PLNT building. They explored topics ranging from health care to smart cities.

On November 8, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) named Wessel Kraaij as one of the 2017 Distinguished Members. ACM Distinguished Members have made a significant contribution to the field of computing, computer science or information technology. This year, worldwide 43 scientists received…

There were no bitcoins or artificial intelligence when our civil code was compiled. This could cause problems.

Many astronomers suspect that most of the matter in the universe is invisible. So how can you weigh dark matter if you can't actually see it? Professor Henk Hoekstra is looking for a solution. Inaugural lecture 25 June.

Gert Oostindie, Emeritus Professor of Colonial and Postcolonial History, is this year’s Cleveringa Professor at Leiden University. He was appointed by the University on 4 October. In his inaugural lecture on 24 November, entitled Courage and Disregard, he will talk about (academic) freedom in relation…

Starting 1 October 2022, Mirjam Sombroek-van Doorn has been appointed as Professor Law and Health.

The D66 proposed bill on Ending Life with Dignity is inadequately substantiated and contains contradictions. This is the view expressed by Professor of Political Philosophy Paul Nieuwenburg in his inaugural lecture on 17 March.

Starting 1 January 2023, Matthias Haentjens has been appointed as Professor of Civil Law at Leiden University. His expertise lies in the field of property law, insolvency law, and private international law.

Individual traders should be at the forefront of the study of early modern world trade rather than institutions such as states and companies, argues Professor of Global Economic Networks Cátia Antunes. Inaugural lecture on 9 June.

The human trafficking of Eritrean refugees is a booming business, where money is made with smuggling people, but also using violence, hostage situations and even torture. Modern communication methods like money transfer via mobile phones play a vital role in this, conclude professor Mirjam van Reisen…

To properly understand how babies absorb a language we need to study the process from a number of different perspectives, linguist Claartje Levelt argues. She accepts her appointment as Professor of Language Acquisition on 27 March with an inaugural lecture entitled ‘Language in its infancy’.

Medicines are becoming increasingly precise and innovative, but at the same time increasingly expensive. With their innovations, it is up to universities to increase competition, thus causing prices to drop. This is what newly appointed Professor of Biomolecular Analysis Hubertus Irth argues. His inaugural…

Research on art is often compared to other forms of scientific research. Professor Henk Borgdorff believes that's unfortunate. 'Research on art is absolutely one of the front lines of science.' Inaugural lecture 10 February.

Making all those things we normally cannot see visible is the challenge that fascinates Fons Verbeek, Leiden's new Professor of Computational Bio-Imaging. Contributions from chemistry, optics and in particular computational sciences to making and processing these images give greater insight into the…

Professor of Media Law and Information Society Tarlach McGonagle is concerned about the increase in online disinformation and hate speech. He argues that human rights should guide new policies for the online world. McGonagle will give his inaugural lecture on 9 May.

Many Western defence strategies concentrate on maintaining the status quo. Actively promoting universal values can also be a good strategy for resilience, according to Theo Brinkel, Professor by Special Appointment in Military-Social Studies. Inaugural lecture 15 January.

The Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA) is hosting an international conference on November 29 and 30 at Gravensteen on the role and position of sounds and sounding arts in public urban environments. This unique conference aims to increase the attention to the role of the sound, sound design,…

To develop good cancer treatments, we need to know much more about how malignant tumour cells develop. Professor Ewa Snaar-Jagalska looks at not just the effect of medication on isolated cells but also the behaviour of cancer cells in their tissue environment. Inaugural lecture on 11 December.