SAILS Professor Gerard van Westen tells us about his first 100 days 'in the office'.

Why have some European countries responded faster to the coronavirus outbreak than others? While in some countries the lockdown had already been declared when relatively few cases were known, others did not take action until thousands of people were already infected and hundreds were already dead. What…

Universiteit Leiden en Unicef werken al 10 jaar samen om kennis over kinderrechten uit te breiden en te verspreiden. Ze verlengen deze samenwerking.

Inspectors at the Dutch Tax and Customs Administration can require people to provide more information relating to their tax returns. Esther Huiskers-Stoop from the Tax Law department investigated the rules in place to protect us when we are required to provide information to the tax authorities.

PhD student Raymond van Bommel decided to pore upon one of the most complicated mathematical problems of our time; the solution of it is worth 1 million dollars! Van Bommel did not get that far yet. However, he wrote his own computer program to make new calculations. ‘It could just be that someone else…

The death of George Floyd at the hands of the police may have sparked the Black Lives Matter protests in the United States and here in the Netherlands, but they are about more than that alone. We asked Karwan Fatah-Black, a historian who specialises in the Dutch colonial history, for his analysis. ‘We…

Professor Peter Bisschop has been awarded an ERC Advanced Grant. He will invest the 2.5 million euros in his research into puranas: ancient texts, commonly written in Sanskrit, that are up to fifteen hundred years old.

Researchers have spent years looking for the ‘missing link’ between wolves and dogs. But many of the domesticated dogs that had been found prove to have been wolves after all. This is what vet and archaeologist Luc Janssens says in his dissertation. PhD defence on 27 June.

The energy transition is already a huge challenge for society, but sustainable use of resources is even more complicated. Yet it is at least as urgent. Ester van der Voet has been working on it for decades, for example within the United Nations. Since February, she is a professor at the Centre for Environmental…

Gert Renkema vertelt ons meer over het proces en de gang van zaken rondom de financiën van FGGA.

What do you do if you have a book from the sixteenth or seventeenth century, but you suspect that the binding contains a fragment of a medieval manuscript? University lecturer Thijs Porck has received an NWO grant to experiment with a camera attached to a tube. 'The project boils down to keyhole surgeries…

The question of land property titles is a common source of conflict between indigenous communities and federal authorities all over the Americas. A new Panamanian law have led indigenous communities to reach out to archaeologist Dr Natalia Donner. A grant from the Centre for Indigenous American Studies…

On 15-16 June, Jos Gommans, Marieke Bloembergen, and Carolien Stolte will organize an international conference entitled “India in the Making of the Global Esoteric: 1200-2000”. The conference asks: why is it always India that has been imagined as a wonder, and what did that wonder mean, intellectually…

Building the neutrino detector KM3NeT on the Mediterranean Sea floor has picked up pace. Five detection lines, each carrying eighteen detectors, have been sunk and installed, and the first measurement data are coming in, says neutrino physicist Dorothea Samtleben.

Castles, monasteries and bridges, but also city profiles, history prints and water management works. Leiden University Libraries (UBL) manages one of the most important collections of topographical images in the Netherlands. The collection, bequested to UBL by Johannes Tiberius Bodel Nijenhuis (1797-1872)…

For her internship at the Textile Museum, master's student Evi van Stiphout researched the Surinamese cloths of the Leiden Cotton Company. Leiden and Suriname have a closer relationship than many people think. ‘Not much is written about Suriname’.

Two thousand years ago, the Middle East found itself caught between the rise of the Roman Empire in the west and the Parthian Empire in the east. PhD candidate Nolke Tasma has been awarded an NWO grant to investigate how local inhabitants experienced these changes.

A message from our director

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.

Math girls Jeanine Daems and Ionica Smeets have received the Mr. K.J. Cath prize during the opening of the academic year in Leiden.

Microplastics are small pieces of plastic found in the environment. At CML research have been conducted in the distribution of these plastics on beaches around the world using citizen science. In addition, CML is conducting in depth case-studies in the Caribbean and along the Dutch coast. Follow-up…

Dutch universities involved in lingusitics research and teaching have been asked through the VSNU to provide financial guarantees for the transition of linguistics research to open access. The universities, including Leiden, have agreed.

Myanmar must take immediate measures to protect the Rohingyas. This has been decided by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Prof. Vriesendorp and prof. Wessels have been recognized in the 2020 Lawdragon list of 500 Leading Global Restructuring & Insolvency Lawyers. Prof. Haentjens has been recognized in the 2020 Lawdragon Leading Global Restructuring Advisors & Consultants guide.

Three directors of PostNL have been arrested in Belgium, suspected of human trafficking among other things. Abuses also exist in the Dutch parcel delivery sector. Why does the Netherlands act less firmly?

Michiel Hogerheijde has been appointed temporary programme director of the Astronomy master's programme from 1 January to 1 September 2024. He takes over the duties of Harold Linnartz, who unexpectedly passed away at the end of December. Hogerheijde combines the position with his duties as programme…

The carnivore diet, a fact or just a trend?

Vasiliki Kosta has been appointed Emile Noël Fellow at the Jean Monnet Center of New York University (NYU) School of Law after a competitive selection process.

Dr. Anne-Isabelle Richard has received a Veni grant for her research project ‘Eurafrica, African Perspectives, 1918-1970s’. The project will examine the relationship between Africa and Europe from an African perspective.

LUC Dean Professor Judi Mesman has been awarded the NWO-Vici grant for her project on racial socialization within a family context.

Leiden Law School has been ranked number 32 on the QS World University Rankings 2018. Once again, it has been ranked best law faculty in the Netherlands and eighth in the whole of Europe.

On 15 May the new website about the research programme Digital Society has been launched.

Important note: upon careful consideration, we have decided to resume our Dutch language courses.

Surya Tjandra has been appointed by Indonesian President Joko Widodo as Deputy Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister.

Social Psychologist Angelo Romano have been awarded the Association for Psychological Science (ASP) Rising Star designation. This award is presented to outstanding APS members in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD.

Esteban Szmulewic , PhD candidate at the Constitutional and Administrative Law Department has written a paper on the comparison between Italy and the Netherlands, covering the first part of the pandemic (2020 and early 2021). The article has been published in the prestigious 'Journal Diritto Publico…

A new website has been set up that provides information about the government funded Law Sector Plan in the Netherlands, including the plans of the participating universities and developments within the agreed themes.

As of 16 August Ignas Snellen is the new Scientific Director of the astronomical institute of the Faculty of Science. He will succeed Huub Rottgering, who led the institute since 2012. Snellen has been appointed for a period of four years.

The Erasmus+ programme International Credit Mobility provides opportunities for the exchange of students, PhD candidates and staff with universities outside the European Union though individual study grants and travel allowances.

Pharma company Janssen has begun construction on a new office and lab building at the Leiden Bio Science Park. The first pile of the 13,500 square metre building has been driven into the ground.

The awards for the Leiden University Excellence Scholarship Programme (LExS) have just been presented. In 2017, 53 excellent students from 25 different countries have received a LExS scholarship.

Dr Helmer Helmers (University of Amsterdam) and Dr Nadine Akkerman (Leiden, LUCAS) have been awarded an NWO grant to do historical research on the shipwreck BZN17, from which hundreds of early modern objects have recently been retrieved. Amongst the remarkable finds were a nearly intact, highly expensive…

Leiden Law School has been ranked number 32 on the QS World University Rankings 2017. Once again, it has been ranked best law faculty in the Netherlands and eighth in the whole of Europe.

For years now, collaboration has been the operative word when it comes to successful space missions. But this can only be achieved with good agreements.

The construction work on the South Cluster is going ahead throughout the summer. See the photo's and the video below!

The bridge between the Lipsius building and Cluster Zuid (Paterbrug) will be closed the next 18 months. Cyclists and walkers can use the bridge on the other side of the Lipsius building (Reuvensbrug).

A leak developed in the mains water supply in the new building of Leiden University’s Faculty of Science at the Wassenaarseweg on Tuesday evening.

Alison McDonnell, Managing Editor of the Common Market Law Review and much respected colleague at the Europa Institute of Leiden University, celebrated her 30th work anniversary on 1 February 2020.

Britain's biggest archaeology magazine has announced the nominees Book of the Year award and this time one of our own has been nominated!

Royal honour for Prof. Barend Mons. He was made a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion. He received this award from the mayor of the municipality of Waddinxveen, Evert Jan Nieuwenhuis.