Leiden University enjoys an excellent worldwide reputation, built on over four centuries of outstanding teaching and research. The university has two locations: Leiden and The Hague. Our Urban Studies programme is located in The Hague, international city of peace and justice and the ideal environment…

The English language and Culture bachelor’s programme at Leiden University will help you develop an excellent command of both spoken and written English and immerse you in the rich global culture of English literature at a high academic level.

Angry politicians, angry journalists: the initiative of Forum for Democracy politician Gideon van Meijeren during which he secretly filmed a reporter portraying them as a ‘sewer rat’, caused a lot of anger. Where does all this commotion come from? Wouter Hins: ‘Calling a journalist a

The research is aimed at development of an efficient gene targeting method that allows controlled integration of DNA at a preselected site in the Trichoderma genome.

In an appeal case, an employee of a care organisation in Nijmegen who was shown the door because of her criticism about the coronavirus voiced on LinkedIn, has had her dismissal reviewed. The court in Arnhem ruled that the employee had crossed a line and that her employer was entitled to dismiss her…

Tolerance and democracy are not our European values

This dissertation focuses on irregular patterns in Vedic Grammar and Poetry.

This master’s programme focuses on understanding the causes and consequences of armed conflict between states and within states. In addition, we explore whether and how local, national and international actors and institutions can forge cooperation, prevent political and armed conflict from emerging,…

Special Issue in: Visual Anthropology, Volume 29, Issue 3, 2016

In Belgium, officially recognised religions receive financial support from the state. Partly as a result, there is no clearly implemented secularism (separation of church and state) though this is considered to be a guiding notion in modern constitutional theories. PhD candidate Alain Vannieuwenburg…

The organisers of the big protest march against government policy, held on Sunday in Amsterdam, want to bring preliminary relief proceedings against the refusal to allow British conspiracy theorist David Icke to enter the Netherlands. Icke was due to give a speech at the meeting of the organisation…

The EU fundamental right to ‘freedom of the arts and sciences’: exploring the limits on the commercialisation of academia (AFITE) AFITE is an interdisciplinary five-year research project. It is funded by the Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research (NWO), as part of its Vidi scheme. Its principal…

Many members of the Royal Family have studied at Leiden University and several have been awarded an honorary doctorate.

Antoaneta Dimitrova, Professor Comparative Governance, presented the Cleveringa Lecture at the Vaclav Havel Library in Prague last week. We spoke to her about her experience.

PhD defence

During the coronavirus years 2020 and 2021, Dutch citizens became poorer, more anxious, less free and more rebellious. The State gained more power and entered the lives of citizens in all manner of ways to protect their health. Only recently did the State give citizens their freedom back – in part.

From October 1-3, 2017, the 24th Annual International Law and Religion Symposium was held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, USA. The Symposium was attended by 100 participants, from 50 different countries, while interpretation at the venue was available in 11 languages (Arabic, French, Italian,…

In his inaugural lecture Professor of Environmental Sustainability Jan Willem Erisman calls for local solutions that give people more freedom in how they meet environmental, nature and climate goals. This would allow farmers to come up with their own solutions to the nitrogen problem. The idea ties…

This research project focuses on the interaction of Buddhist institutions, Chinese central and local governments, and local gentry in the 'transforming temples into schools' movement.

The main methodological aspects of the use of stepwise LCA estimators under different circumstances.

On the occasion of prof Paul van der Heijden’s stepping down as Rector Magnificus and President of the Executive Board of Leiden University in 2013 the Chair bearing his name on Social Justice was established. It was a “farewell present” of the Leiden University to it’s Rector.

Promotor: J.G.E.M.Fraaije, Co-promotor: A. Kros

In the wake of controversial disclosures of classified government information by WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, questions about the democratic status of secret uses of political power are rarely far from the headlines. Despite an increase in initiatives aimed at enhancing government transparency – such…

Social Science Matters is an online variant on London’s famous Speakers’ Corner – a platform for the researchers in the various disciplines in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to react to the news. This soapbox gives our social scientists an opportunity to voice their opinions on current…

The Caribbean before Columbus is a new synthesis of the region’s insular history. It combines the results of the authors’ 55 years of archaeological research on almost every island in the three archipelagoes with that of their numerous colleagues and collaborators.

Supervisor: Lizi Xia

How De Haan is using language in general and his specific style of language in particular to provide truth, solidarity and justice for both the individual and the collective?

The master's programme in Philosophy of Humanities at Leiden University allows you to specialise in conceptual and methodological issues in the Humanities.

It doesn't happen every day that the research project of a first-year bachelor’s student results in a scientific publication. And not only that, but as first author and on the cover of a leading physics journal. ‘We have given our lab education a thorough overhaul and it is paying off.’

Islam has a rich and fascinating history, but if you talk about it in the classroom, all kinds of opinions and emotions come up. 'How do I incorporate these responses into my lessons?' The Netherlands Institute in Morocco is organising a study trip on ‘Islam and Citizenship’. Fourteen teachers from…

Plant-microbe interaction resulted in different physio/chemical responses by host plant and interacting rhizobacteria.

This work describes the use of click-to-release chemistry to get spatiotemporal control over immunocytokine activity. Until now, immunocytokines (cytokines coupled to a tumor-targeting-moiety) remained active throughout the body, being able to bind their respective receptors, causing mild to severe…

Now that war is once again raging in Europe, the question of when you need to stand up against injustice has become more relevant than ever. In his Cleveringa lecture on 24 November historian Gert Oostindie will discuss why colonial domination was not regarded as an issue in Leiden for a long time.

Het voorstel van D66 om een wetsartikel zo te veranderen dat een politieke partij kan worden verboden, is onverstandig, zegt rechtsfilosoof Bastiaan Rijpkema. Hij spreekt er uitgebreid over tijdens een interview met de Volkskrant. ‘Het is overduidelijk bedoeld om één specifieke partij aan te pakken:…

This programme will have you feeling as if you’re being taken on a virtual journey, from China to Europe, and from antiquity to the present day. On the way it will show you how to challenge largely unquestioned patterns of thought and develop new perspectives on current issues.

International Day of Education 2024 is dedicated to the role of education in countering hate speech. Assistant Professor Michael Klos says, 'When people are constantly derided online and that goes unpunished, they may start to withdraw from public discourse.'

Promotor: Prof.dr. G.P. van Wezel, Co-Promotor: E. Vijgenboom

On 12 October 2023, Kosta delivered a keynote speech on academic freedom at the 30th anniversay conference of the (European) Education Law and Policy Association. The conference was entitled ‘Shaping Education Law for the Future’ and took place at Lisbon University, faculty of law (Universidade de Lisboa,…

Dancing in style at the University Sport Centre, and cooking together or visiting the cinema. These two initiatives for bringing Dutch and international students together were the winners of the 2016 Van Bergen Prize. The awards were presented at the annual Diversity Symposium at Leiden University on…

The master’s degree programme Education and Child Studies (Research) is an academic, not a vocational programme. It offers research based knowledge about education and child development.

The study by Tahir Abbas and Liselotte Welten reveals a structural and nuanced understanding of how the question of Salafism in the Netherlands has become an increasingly discussed phenomenon and the types of threats that ought to give genuine concern to security, intelligence and policing services.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) was established in 1919 based on the premise that social justice is a condition for lasting peace. On February 2019 the ILO celebrated its 100th anniversary with an international symposium to consider the future of the ILO.

Interested in studying Ancient History at Leiden University? Find out what our alumni said about this master's programme.

This new article by Bassant Hassib and James Shires is part of a special issue for Journal of Cybersecurity, based on a selection of contributions from THe Hague Program for Cyber Norms' 2019 Conference.

The Just Peace festival is coming up shortly. From 21 to 24 September we will be celebrating peace in The Hague with some inspiring HagueTalks, the Peace in the Park festival and the annual Peace Run.

Leiden University offers ambitious students the latest knowledge and the freedom to develop their own area of expertise.

Welcome from the Rector Magnificus of Leiden University