On 8 June the Faculty of Archaeology and the Department of Antiquity and Cultural Heritage (DACH) of the Palestine Ministry of Tourism and Antiquity signed an agreement in Ramallah on the West Bank. The aim of the agreement is renewed and sustainable co-operation in the field of archaeology.

The end of the year often means looking back with lists, overviews and stories. This combines nicely in a list of all the books published this year by various political scientists at Leiden University. Indeed, in terms of books, these scholars have certainly not been idle. A unique collection of stories,…

Robert Ietswaart does research into gene regulation at the famous Harvard Medical School in Boston. He developed an algorithm to better predict whether a candidate medicine is going to produce side effects. He studied mathematics and physics in Leiden, and gained his PhD in computational biology in…

Four PhD candidates from Leiden University started the two-year Europaeum Scholars Programme this month. They have now completed the first week of the programme. How was it and what do they expect from this programme?

In one in four criminal cases in the Netherlands, the court receives a report on the state of the defendant’s mental health. How is that information used exactly and what are the consequences? Scientific research has been lacking in this area. The PhD research of Roosmarijn van Es is a first step in…

During the online panel discussion ‘Het spel en de macht’ (the game and the power) held on 9 March, six members of Leiden’s Centre for Dutch Politics and Governance (CNPB) discussed trends regarding the current and previous general elections. Will it be tense, this campaign? ‘Baudet probably still has…

The outbreak of coronavirus has radically changed our life and work. We have had to work, teach and conduct research from home. How has coronavirus changed your work? What do you miss most? And what is keeping you going? We asked a few colleagues.

Citizens underestimate their role, but they really can make a difference, says legal specialist Corinne Dettmeijer-Vermeulen. Combatting injustice is still the mission of this former National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children. She will deliver the Cleveringa lecture…

For some it will sound like music to their ears, but for others is may sound less appealing: now the advice on working from home has changed, we can once again go to the office. After a period of working from home, which for some lasted almost two years (with maybe a short break), it can be a big transition.…

Every year, an outstanding lecturer receives the Faculty Teaching Prize. Lecturers are nominated by students, and a jury – comprising students and lecturers – decides who will receive the prize. The prize will be awarded during the official opening of the academic year on 7 September. Meet this year’s…

Masses of hamburgers, steaks, cheese and a lot of eggs: Americans love their animal products. But researcher Oliver Taherzadeh discovered that only a relatively small group of high-volume consumers need to modify their diet to achieve an enormous environmental gain.

Jorge Heine writes about 'bricks-and-mortar' diplomatic posts and their significance during a pandemic.

Archaeologist Mike Field spent his summer holiday riding in the toughest horse race in the world, the Mongol Derby: 1,000km in ten days across the Mongolian steppe, following in the footsteps of the Genghis Khan’s messengers. Field was thrown from his horse twice but managed to make it to the finish…

In late May 2019, the Food citizens? team traveled to Poland for a project meeting and team outing. This was made possible by the European Research Council’s support and facilitated networks and knowledge-generation.

Carmen Gonsalves has been the Dutch ambassador to Chile since this autumn. She studied history in Leiden. How useful has her degree been and what’s it like to be an ambassador? ‘Diplomacy is fascinating.’ We spoke to her just before the presidential elections.

Religious minorities and their languages in the emerging nation states of the Middle East (1920–1950)

To stay secure, the transatlantic community must take on emerging and disruptive technologies together.

From the workload to sustainability: the University Council helps decide on important topics. In the University elections – from 9 to 13 May – you can vote for who will represent you on the Council. Three questions to the three lead candidates of the staff parties: PhDoc, Universitair Belang and Leidse…

A number of young researchers recently took part in a knowledge mission to Indonesia, aiming to build a lasting relationship with the country. How did they find the trip, what did they do, and how are they creating new connections with scientists in Indonesia?

A safe place to discuss burning social issues such as racism with each other. The student workspace Space to Talk About Race and the Afro Student Association both meet this need and also organise many other activities. Three board members explain why this is necessary.

Her specialist field is molecular astrophysics, and she is the most quoted scholar in her field. In this, the year of astronomy, she is the ideal person to give the Dies lecture at the university with the world's oldest astronomy institute; it goes without saying that the lecture will be on the newest…

Consumers are encouraged to think of food production and consumption as amoral activities – Michiel Korthals in his book Goed Eten: Filosofie van voeding en landbouw (2019, 353)

15 July 2016 was the hundredth anniversary of the birth of George Maduro, Leiden alumnus and namesake of Madurodam, a park in The Hague where visitors can see Holland in miniature. War-time and resistance hero Maduro died at the age of 28 in Dachau concentration camp. ‘A lot of the information we have…

If you would want to set up an alumni network after you graduated in Leiden and returned to your home country, how would you go about it? Seven Leiden alumni in China did not hesitate and decided to just do it! Last year they launched the Leiden Alumni Chapter in China, an initiative which was met with…

A delegation from Leiden University visited the Netherlands Institute Morocco (NIMAR) in Rabat at the end of February.

If universities want to open their doors to more students and staff from minority groups, good intentions alone will not suffice. That is what Frank Tuitt, Diversity Officer at the University of Denver, has to say. He will speak at the University’s annual Diversity Symposium on 22 January 2020.

Hak, lawyer, international imagery law lecturer, and adjunct associate professor, talks about his PhD research on the use of images in international criminal prosecutions. He was a public prosecutor in Canada for over 30 years and dealt primarily with the prosecution of homicides and other major cri…

André Leliveld has won a grant of 100,000 euros within the Comenius Senior Fellow programme for the project ‘Learning globally, acting locally: co-creation of an international multidisciplinary online learning environment around Frugal Innovation'. André is academic coordinator of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus…

‘Heritage Under Threat’ and ‘The Rooseveltian Century’ are among the 21 best MOOCs for a general public according to New York Magazine.

You would like to book a hotel room and browse the internet for which rooms and rates are an offer. The rates provided depend on forecasted demand and come about through the use of computer algorithms. However, the rates are often manually adjusted by hotel personnel. What are the consequences and how…

Beatrice Penati is Assistant Professor of History at Nazarbayev University (Astana, Kazakhstan). Dr Penati will deliver a guest lecture on Monday, 10 October and a masterclass on Thursday, 13 October within the Central Asia Initiative at Leiden University.

Leiden University has an active open science community. Open science means transparency in all phases of research by precisely documenting every step of the way and making this publicly available. ‘It’s time to be open,’ say psychologists Anna van ’t Veer and Zsuzsika Sjoerds. There is increasing awareness…

The knowledge held by indigenous people is essential if you want to study the history or the language of a particular region. Leiden archaeologists and linguists are now looking for ways of involving local people more systematically in their research.

Teaching during the corona crisis, the high workload and the challenges faced by the Faculty of humanities. In an online working visit to Leiden University on 12 October, Minister for Education, Culture and Science, Ingrid van Engelshoven, discussed the hot topics of the day with the Executive Board,…

Professor of Family Law, Lies Punselie, welcomes the new legislation on surrogacy. The law as it currently stands is ill equipped to deal with the issue, resulting in a legal path that is strewn with many obstacles. Her inaugural lecture took place on 17 January.

From a queer art exhibition to a podcast about people with disabilities, the JEDI Fund this year again honored several projects that contribute to diversity and inclusion.

Markus Kornprobst writes about managing international crises.

Leiden University is investing 4 million euros in a new Data Science research programme. This is a joint initiative of all the faculties, headed by Dean Geert de Snoo at the Faculty of Science. The programme will focus on Leiden scientific data.

For the first time, students were able to develop their skills using a digital platform in Brightspace. It turned out to be a success: on average students who actively used the platform on achieved higher grades than students who used it less. But above all, the students themselves were pleased with…

At the project closure on February 29, 2024.

The new Executive Board of the Institute of Psychology became effective on 1 February 2022. Scientific director Andrea Evers tells us where she gets her energy from.

Ustadh Mau Digital Archive project (UMADA) is among the UCLA Library 29 international cultural preservation projects supported by the Modern Endagered Archive Program (Cohort 3). From the 3rd up to the 5th of October, a digitization training workshop took place on Lamu island, on the so-called northern…

With great sadness we share the news that Prof. Harold Linnartz passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on Sunday 31 December 2023. We are all in shock, and our thoughts are with his wife and children, other family, and friends. Harold was at the heart of our institute, as a researcher, as a supervisor,…

Children who come into contact with the police are not destined to become long-term offenders. This appears from research conducted by Babette van Hazebroek, who defends her dissertation on 30 September 2021.

Two terrifying yellow eyes stared at eleven-year-old Francis Lesilau. In the evening light they changed colour: green, amber, back to yellow... The lion had just grabbed one of his camels and now turned to number two. For a moment Francis was nailed to the ground, then he ran towards the predator, screaming.…

What does a student member of the Faculty Council do? What is it like to be a member of this representative body and how useful is it to be a member? Students Rassoul Coelen (FC 2020-2021 and presently member of the University Council) and Max Garcia Hoogland (FR 2021-2022) talk to us about their experiences.…

Professor Bussemaker and Professor Koenders draw lessons from the handling of the current corona crisis. In a blended guest lecture with some 60 students in Wijnhaven and some 250 online participants, they entered into a discussion led by Willemijn Aerdts. The guest lecture took place on May 25.

‘It was the biggest bunch of flowers I’d ever seen,’ says Emily Strange about the moment she won the Leiden Teaching Prize 2022. The judge praised the conservation biologist for her passion, engaging personality, and the way she motivates her students. On the Dutch Day of the Teacher, we get to know…

There is a real chance of war closer to home, political and military leaders in Europe have warned. What does Frans Osinga, Professor of War Studies, think about the threat and what we should do?

Gendered dynamics and assumptions are prevalent throughout the field of cybersecurity.