Elina Zorina presented her work-in-progress on “Distinctiveness in the Parliamentary Arena: Consequences for Vote Choice” during the GTGC lunch seminar on the 1st of May. Please find the abstract below:

Following the European Union membership referendum in the United Kingdom on 23rd of June 2016 and its result, Brexit has turned into a theme dominating public discussion in Europe and beyond. The vote of the people of the UK to leave the EU represents an unprecedented episode in the history of European…

Towards the graduation ceremonies, you sense an increasing nervousness. Not only because all the tradition and glamour surrounding the event, also because that will be the day that the winner of the Political Science master’s thesis award will be announced. For 2022-2023, the jury is considering seven…

Neuropsychologist Mariska Kret is through to the next round in the 2016 Science Talent contest organised by New Scientist magazine.

Special Issue Workshop Res Publica

In a survey held last year by the publication Elsevier, Leiden's Computer Science programme was voted by students as the best university programme of its kind in the Netherlands. And the Rotterdam Economics programme was voted the best in its field. Leiden University now offers a combined study based…

On 6 April the Netherlands will vote on far-reaching cooperation with Ukraine. Referenda are exceptional in Dutch political history, according to Professor of Electoral Research Joop van Holsteijn.

Roel Wouters (24), a biology student at Leiden University, is a finalist in the election for UN youth delegate for Biodiversity and Food. The digital polls open for a week on Friday 22 October. Under-30s can vote for Roel at www.stemroel.nl.

Humour, science and creativity. During the Humanities Lab Film Festival this came all together in the short films that the students of the Honours College Humanities have made in the last few weeks. “Working together with people of different studies is inspiring.”

The daisy has been crowned the Netherlands’ national flower. Rogier van Vugt, Head of Horticulture at the Hortus botanicus, explains why the daisy merits its elevation to national symbol.

The year is 2032 and the Arctic ice cap has melted causing new trade routes to emerge. This case is the focal point of the Young Diplomat Conference during which honours participants spend a weekend as diplomats solving disputes between countries.

Elif Naz Kayran and Anna-Lena Nadler have received the European Political Science Review (EPSR) Prize for early career scholars.

The European Elections are approaching and we get to take a trip to our local polling station. But the turnout in the Netherlands is likely to be low and who exactly do we get to vote for? Rik de Ruiter, Associate Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, explains the two political dilemmas…

SBB alumni Dennis van der Wiel and Max Wijsman are nominated for the ''Best tech-idea of 2017'' of the scientific magazine 'kijkmagazine'.

Research from weekly magazine Elsevier shows that both the Leiden bachelor Wiskunde as the master Mathematics are rated as the best educational programs of the Netherlands according to professors. The first place was achieved by up to 70% of the votes.

On 29 February there appeared a column by Maaike Warnaar in the Volkskrant on the Iranian elections.

Michiel Luining is a Lecturer at the Institute of Public Administration and is especially interested in Eastern and Central Europe.

Leiden Law Cast is a podcast made by Leiden Law School, Leiden University, for everyone who wants to learn more about current legal issues.

At the New Year’s reception of the Faculty of Science on 6 January, it was announced that Annelien Zweemer, Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research, has been awarded the ‘Discoverer of the Year 2014’ prize. Matteo Brogi, Leiden Observatory, wrote the best dissertation in 2014 and Dennis Claessen, Institute…

Christmas is coming, which means that 'Our Talents and Discoveries 2016' has been distributed. This also means that it is time to vote for the 'Discoverer of the year 2016'. Each of the eight institutes nominated one researcher that excelled in the past year. Who is your favourite?

Three Dutch scientists - including Professor of Korea Studies Remco Breuker – put forward forty propositions this summer aimed at improving science. The Young Academy Leiden organised a meeting on 18 November to discuss the pamphlet.

Why are the local parties so popular? Researchers at Leiden University gave their reaction the day after the elections of 21 March.

Bram Geurds (20) is fascinated by politics. When he was 12, a political debate on TV caught his attention. And he decided he wanted to be mayor one day. Unsurprisingly, Bram is studying political science and is politically active. It might seem like he’s on course to become a professional politician.…

Socialising with other people is an important part of feeling good. What do children need from their surroundings to do this?

Students awarded the highest scores to Leiden University and the Radboud University Nijmegen. These are the findings of an annual survey by Elsevier into the best study programmes in the Netherlands. Elsevier Magazine has a weekly readership of half a million, making it one of the most iinfluential…

The monthly ILS lunch seminars continue to bring together colleagues from across Leiden Law School. On December 14, we successfully concluded the calendar year with the presentations of Dr. Moritz Jesse and Helena Ursic.

Loes Janssen would like to foster well-being of families by using an app and sending families short and fun activities each day to do together. For the Synergy Award ’21, PhD candidates were invited to submit their innovative idea on how to create societal impact. Watch the final on 4 February and vote…

Leiden researchers study the extent to which Asian citizens can invoke the rights that they have on paper. This knowledge helps them advise the different levels of government and NGOs on how to improve the lot of poor citizens in particular.

Energy transition will entail the construction of large numbers of new energy installations. Such construction projects may meet with opposition from people living close by. Assistant Professor Bríd Walsh investigated how the local community can best take part in such projects.

Social science research helps us understand human behaviour and social structures. These are determined by various factors, which makes the research complex and increases the likelihood of drawing the wrong conclusions. The choice of research method and analysis is therefore extremely important. It…

We also conduct research to make meaningful contributions to society. For instance, by talking about our research, contributing to community projects or by inviting people to help us with our research. Scroll down and discover how Science and Society can mutually reinforce each other.

It’s Not Easy Being Green – but we’re here to help! Do you want to live more sustainably but have no idea where to start? Are you interested in making the world greener and do you want to get to the bottom of hot topics? Or are you sceptical about climate change and do you want to hear about the…

JUSTREMIT is an ERC-funded project that brings together political theory, ethnography, and security studies in an interdisciplinary study of remittances and global justice.

Few have dared declare a winner of the debate between American president Donald Trump and his Democrat challenger Joe Biden. It was more about who was least worst. What do psychologist Willem van der Does, historian Andrew Gawthorpe and policy science scholar Brandon Zicha make of the debate?

It has been crackling within the European People's Party (EPP) for months, but is it also going to explode? Michiel Luining, lecturer at the Institute of Public Administration at Leiden University, gives an explanation of the suspension of Fidesz, the party of the Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orbán,…

On 18 January 2020 Christa Tobler took part in a fireside talk on the above-mentioned topic, together with European Parliamentarian Andreas Schwab, Swiss Parliamentarian Eric Nussbaumer and German Ambassador to Switzerland Riedel.

The elections for the Leiden University Student Council and Faculty Councils are coming up, starting on the 17th of May!

The Synergy Award aims to connect PhD students with academic and non-academic professionals to explore the practical dimensions of their research. Four candidates will be invited to pitch their compelling impact ideas to a jury at Synergy 2021. Each pitch will also be broadcast to a live audience during…

In the last few weeks Armin Cuyvers was several times in the news on Brexit. He was a studio guest during the new years episode of Legal Affairs on BNR national radio and he was a studio guest in the news programme EenVandaag.

Somali archaeology in Somaliland takes centre stage in a BBC World Service radio programme and a China Global Television Networks (CGTN) programme, both presented by archaeologist Sada Mire.

In May 2024, ahead of the European elections, Professor Wolff spoke to 135 pupils from the European Primary School The Hague about Democracy, Europe and the European elections.

The Sustainable 100 is an initiative by Dutch newspaper Trouw, consisting of a list of the top 100 sustainable civil initiatives. In October of 2020, the Jonge Klimaatbeweging (Youth Climate Movement NL) became the first youth organization to win first prize. An interview with LUC Alumna and Board Member…

Israel was ordered to take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. Giulia Pinzauti, an expert on state conflicts and humanitarian law, explains the significance of the case, the specific details of the ruling and what we can expect to happen next.

Alumnus Ben Smulders has worked for the European Commission for the past 33 years. ‘The discipline and depth that I experienced during my student days has helped me through various stages of my professional career.’

What does a political party do in the wake of a disastrous electoral defeat? Martijn van Nijnanten researched this and discovered that parties turn to core values from the past. PhD defence on 12 September.

The Ecuadorian Pachakutik party is one of the oldest indigenous political movements in Latin America. Despite not being very successful at the polls and hardly having organisational resources at its disposal, Pachakutik is still part of Ecuador’s political landscape. In her dissertation, Political Scientist…

Environmental scientists Stefano Cucurachi and Paul Behrens and astronomer Jorryt Matthee have received prizes during the New Year's reception of the Faculty of Science on Tuesday 8 January. In addition, Kavli Prize winner Ewine van Dishoeck announced a new award.

Political scientist Leila Demarest tells about her research to Nigeria’s National Assembly. How do politicians cooperate and how are public resources distributed among the different regions?

Mathematician Robbin Bastiaansen, physicist Irene Battisti, pharmacist Fouzia Lghoul-Oulad Saïd and physics and astronomy student Maite Boden are the winners of the annual prizes of the Faculty of Science. Boden was honoured as the first Young Star, a new prize for the best bachelor’s student of the…