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…

PhD student Sung-Shik Jongmans of Leiden University and Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica investigated a new programming method to simplify this. On 3 March 2016, he graduated with the exceptional predicate 'cum laude' on his dissertation 'Automata-Theoretic Protocol Programming'. His results are interesting…

The more opportunities a child has to learn and develop, the stronger his or her future position in society. Leiden University investigates how the brain picks up information, and how learning processes can be influenced positively.

Our immune system protects us against disease, but every now and then, something goes wrong: an enemy invades our bodies or our immune system attacks our own cells and we become ill. Doctors and researchers at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) want to be able to manipulate the immune system…

Evidence-informed policy-making is crucial for good governance. Yet, despite the abundance of evidence from research and evaluation available to decision-makers, we know little about the actual influence of evidence on government policies. The ‘Power of Evidence’ (PoE) research programme, directed by…

The new government needs to look further ahead, says environmental scientist Rutger Hoekstra. ‘We keep pushing forward big dossiers like demographic ageing, climate and migration. Even though we know they play a big role in our future.’ Hoekstra therefore hopes that the new coalition agreement will…

What happens if you are an academic forced to flee your home country and find yourself here in the Netherlands with practically nothing? The Hestia scheme offered by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) gives refugee scientists the opportunity to resume their academic career in the Netherlands. The scheme…

A glowing first-time mother-to-be with an impressive CV for someone of her age, newsreader Amber Brantsen would seem to lead a charmed life. ‘But I began to resent that image,’ says the Leiden Public Administration alumna. This led her to write the impressive and personal Uit Beeld (Out of the Picture).…

David Versluis successfully simulated an infant gut virtually. This is crucial for research on improvements in formula milk. Currently, such research primarily relies on diaper contents, which is not optimal. Versluis defended his doctoral thesis on April 23.

After four years of hard work, the time has finally come: your thesis is finished. But who of your family and friends will ever read it? Biologist Lizah van der Aart decided to make a magazine for layman. 'It was precisely the explanation of the difficult, fundamental parts that gave me good tools for…

Gold nanoparticles give us a better understanding of enzymes and other molecules. Biswajit Pradhan, PhD candidate at the Leiden Institute of Physics, uses gold nanorods to study individual molecules that would be challenging to detect otherwise. Resulting knowledge can be applied to many research fields,…

An international team of astronomers, led by Will Rocha of Leiden Observatory, using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have discovered that the key ingredients for making potentially habitable worlds are present in early-stage protostars, where planets have not yet formed.

Research into our history of colonialism and slavery, heart-to-heart conversations at a Keti Koti table, exhibitions, lectures and podcasts that establish the link between present and past. Staff and students participated in the national Slavery Memorial Year in many different ways. What have we learned…

Daniël Vredenberg did his master’s internship at the communications department of the Rijksvastgoedbedrijf. In this interview, he talks about his internship and the difference between actually working at an organisation, as he is currently doing, and doing an internship.

Lotje Zuur sometimes has to perform disfiguring operations. As a head and neck surgeon, she removes parts of the mouth, throat or face of people with cancer. Now a promising treatment may make such operations unnecessary. What would this mean for patients? This is what her inaugural speech on 19 September…

How can mega sand nourishments, such as the Sand Motor, be designed and managed for optimal ecosystem services provision ?

More than 200 students completed their Bachelor’s degrees in combination with a three-year Honours programme last year. On 15 November, this resulted in a record number of certificates since the start of the Honours College 9 years ago. While listening to personal speeches, the students received their…

Gayathri Jaikamur has been awarded by the Dopper Foundation in the Change Make Challenge. She is a student of Masters Biology (Specialisation: Evolution, Conservation and Biodiversity) from India - working under the supervision of CML-researcher Dr. Thijs Bosker (and co-supervision of Dr. Nadja Brun).…

A consortium made up of Leiden University (Institute of Public Administration/Digitalisation & Public Policy, Bram Klievink, Sarah Giest, Bart Schermer), VU (Professor Fabio Massacci), TU Delft, TNO, and Thales has been awarded a NWO grant of 1.5 million euros. This research project looks into the ‘metadata…

On 19 October, around 10,000 prospective students will come to the Open Day to find out more about student life and the programmes in Leiden and The Hague. But what makes the Open Day so special? Five highlights that you definitely shouldn’t miss!

Better links with the job market, diversity, quality of education, student well-being and free coffee. All these are issues that the student parties taking part in the University elections will be fighting for. The candidates are keen to tell you a bit about themselves. Between 9 May and 13 May you…

Unfortunately we have to postpone the workshop with Ben Spatz due to the Corona-virus.

Turbulent times in Italy: Deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini wants new elections so that he can become prime minister himself. He is campaigning on social media, including photos of himself posing in his swimming trunks.

In Leiden University's Vision on Sustainability 2030, biodiversity (biological diversity) is an important focus in its teaching and research and on its campuses.

Who can you contact for support and advice?

Electives offer students the opportunity to further specialise and deepen in specific aspects of leadership.

A master's degree in Psychology at Leiden University combines theoretical knowledge with academic and professional skills, making you an attractive candidate for many employers.

EUniWell –the European University for Well-Being in which Leiden University and six other universities collaborate – is among the consortia selected for funding in the ‘European Universities Initiative’. The alliance will receive funding of 5 million euros from the European Commission.

Make sure you are well prepared for your studies. Request a university ID card, discover the student website, and get to know your rights as a student. And why not learn a little Dutch and read up on Dutch student life.

The aim of Leiden Islam Academy is to share the broad knowledge of Islam existing in Leiden University with various parties within society, and to bring people together. After three years of preparation, the launch meeting will take place on 7 December.

The New Scholar, an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal at the Faculty of Humanities of Leiden University, is launching its first issue, and how? With a double issue!

There's a myth that people with autism avoid eye contact in conversations. This can come across as indifferent. Unjustified, stresses Jiayin Zhao, who is doing her PhD research on the socio-emotional development of children with autism. 'That people with autism don't care is anything but true.'

Innovation in nest building: bird nests made from anti-bird spikes. Researchers from Naturalis Biodiversity Center and the Natural History Museum Rotterdam describe this behaviour in a publication.

Macrophages – the front line of our immune system – protect us from infections. But in the case of the tuberculosis bacteria, this often goes wrong. The group of Annemarie Meijer from the Leiden Institute of Biology has now discovered that macrophages in zebrafish are better able to eliminate tuberculosis…

On 29 October, seven innovative lecturers from different faculties will join the existing ten fellows of the Leiden Teachers' Academy. The current fellows have been engaged for the past year in implementing their innovation projects. How are these progressing?

A lot of municipalities work with a points system to encourage construction projects to take biodiversity and creating green areas into account. But this way of working also benefits local neighbourhoods and residents, master's student Marije Sesink discovered. She based her study on The Hague.

Industrial ecologists Stefano Cucurachi and Flora Siebler are part of the new consortium PROGENY, which received 3.6 million euros from the European Commission. PROGENY is an exciting project that will study the possibilities of soap films for innovations, such as ultra-thin screens.

When do fire making tools appear in prehistory, and how might the use of these tools manifest in the archaeological record?

Professor of Health Psychology Andrea Evers is one of the coordinators of the national Health and Wellbeing programme and of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) programme that goes by the same name. The aim is to use technology to promote our health. LDE has already been working on this topic for some ti…

On Thursday 6 May 2021, alumni of the Bachelor Security Studies (BaSS) and the Master Crisis and Security Management (CSM) were gathered in an online event arranged by the Institute of Security and Global Affairs and the study association L.S.A. Custodia.

The NET-ROL project builds on the EU's definition of the rule of law to investigate the role of networks in law-making, executive decision-making, and the judiciary. It examines how these networks influence the weakening of the rule of law. Through an interdisciplinary perspective, the project explores…

An assessment of Libyan legislation

Join us at the second edition of the Making Matters symposium, which will take place on Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November 2020 at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam and online.

During the event 'Fout?' by De Jonge Akademie, Ellen de Bruijn held a lecture about the social context of making mistakes and the psychological elements of learning from it.

Leiden University offers intensive support and advice to ensure your studies go smoothly and successfully. However, if they are not going completely according to plan, remember that we can always provide more individual support.

The research conducted is centred around three themes. Within the different themes a multi-level approach is used, focussing on issues at the level of the health care system, the level of organizations and networks of organizations and at professionals within organisations.

The Animal Welfare Body Leiden (AWB) is an internal entity responsible for the well-being of all laboratory animals at Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center. It is actively involved in all aspects of research involving animals. The AWB has several legal responsibilities, including…

Student agency is defined as the ability to increasingly take control of the learning process. It is associated with better grades, well-being, motivation and self-confidence. This research aims to provide teachers tools to stimulate student agency and to monitor its growth.

What are the most important perpetuating factors of chronic fatigue and chronic fatigue syndrome, and which interventions are effective in influencing these factors?

Cognitive decline (amongst other problems with attention, concentration, memory) is a common symptom in patients with a variety of brain disorders and has been related to healthy ageing as well. People suffering from cognitive deficits are often significantly hampered in their day-to-day functioning…