The VVI seeks to develop and disseminate socio-legal knowledge and theory regarding the interaction between law, governance and society. More specifically, the Institute studies the emergence, functioning, and evolution of legal institutions.

This project analyses the democratic consequences of increasing decentralization and regionalization in European countries. Through an original approach that foregrounds informal political dynamics, it studies the functioning of democracy in subnational units, and investigates the effects of ever more…

This article examines how immigration from Central and Eastern Europe influences political support for Eurosceptic parties.

The research group on Diplomacy and Global Affairs studies international diplomacy, international organisation, global, transnational, multi-level and comparative governance.

The Iseum Campense, the impressive sanctuary for Isis and the Egyptian gods on the Campus Martius and arguably one of ancient Rome’s most notable absent presences, is a monument central to various debates.

Both play and politics have the potential to create worlds in which new rules apply, meanings are created, and possibilities emerge for collaboration, strategy and creative solutions. In this sense, play and politics have always been very much alike. But what happens to this kinship in a post-digital…

How does the commodification and re-appreciation of the contiguous uplands of Northeast India, Bangladesh and Burma/Myanmar transform the relationship between these states and their upland citizens?

The project aims at highlighting and strengthening Dutch research into the diversity of the world’s languages from a historic and a cognitive perspective.

With an MSc degree in Physics and Science Communication & Society you are well prepared for a broad array of career prospects in research or industry. The master’s degree is an excellent preparation for a career at the interface of science and public affairs.

Since 2022, a higher proportion of people in the Netherlands have been victims of cybercrime than of 'traditional' crime. The Bachelor in Cybersecurity & Cybercrime trains you to become an all-round cyber expert, equipping you to take on the fight against cybercrime.

Perhaps you are completely new to the concept of Liberal Arts and Sciences, or perhaps you are familiar with the Liberal Arts colleges of the United States. So, what actually is Liberal Arts & Sciences, and why has it become so popular in the Netherlands in recent years?

After graduation you have a lot of opportunities: the field of science communication is very broad. You can also aim for a career in industry or research.

The public sector is increasingly a multi-level system, with interactions between public and private actors on the national, sub-national (provinces, regions) and international level and various public, semi-public and private organisations that perform public tasks. In this minor students pay attention…

LUC's Liberal Arts and Sciences programme is centered around these four Global Challenges: Peace & Justice, Sustainability, Diversity, and Prosperity.

The Master’s in Health, Ageing and Society gives you the insight, knowledge and skills to change eldercare. This change is needed in order to guarantee care for senior citizens in the future, but also offers solutions for growing old more happily and with more vitality.

Liesbet van Zoonen is Director of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for BOLD Cities. The Centre was founded in 2016 and has made a name for itself with such innovations as data walks and the ‘Your Neighbourhood – Your Data’ game and conducts research together with the Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and…

PhD defence

Lecture, Descriptive Linguistics Seminars

Dr. Sarah Giest presented her paper on Digital Access, Data-Driven Policymaking and Public Service Delivery during a research feedback seminar.

79 students, 15 organisations, and 16 projects: within the master’s programme Governance of Sustainability, diverse groups of students worked together with organisations to tackle sustainability challenges. In this blog, Annemiek de Looze reflects on how the power of their transdisciplinary approaches…

Criminal Justice as a concept refers to the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. While the definition seems rather clear-cut,…

On 22 May, the Dutch House of Representatives invited one hundred citizens to pose critical questions regarding the Ministries’ annual reports. This followed on from the annual ‘Accountability Day’. Caspar van den Berg, Associate Professor of Public Administration, helped think about how citizens could…

Within the Centre we cover several research themes.

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

The Public Management and Leadership specialisation emphasises how the behaviour of critical actors – politicians, top-level bureaucrats, street-level professionals and citizens - is critical to understand and improve public governance. The specialisation blends public administration with psychology,…

The Olympic Games will start in Brazil on 5 August. You can find out more about this fascinating but complex country in a series of lectures organised by Studium Generale.

To what extent did the Netherlands grow rich from the Transatlantic slave trade? In his dissertation 'Walcherse Ketens', Gerhard de Kok looks at Vlissingen and Middelburg, the most important slave trade cities in the Netherlands during the second half of the 18th century. It turns out that, although…

Nienke Beets of the Leiden Hortus botanicus has won the brand new Joke 't Hart Prize for connecting nature and art. For the botanical garden in Leiden, she developed a series of colourful plant icons and an educational board game. On 20 May, the Dutch Association of Botanical Gardens (NVBT) unanimously…

Like every year, the NVIC with the support of the Netherlands Embassy in Cairo, organised a Cleveringa lecture to commemorate the courageous speech by Professor Rudolph Cleveringa on the 26th of November in 1940, in which he protested the 'Berufsverbot' imposed on his Jewish colleagues by the Nazi…

How can legal education in Indonesia become more relevant for graduates who will work in contexts of legal pluralism, aiming for social justice and providing legal services that common citizens need?

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…

One way for governments to conduct foreign policy and promote national interests is through direct outreach and communication with the population of a foreign country. This is called public diplomacy. Historians such as Helmer Helmers and William T. Rossiter have shown that printed media were already…

Meet Bart, Reza, Weiyan, James, Daphne and Yasmin.

The Institute of Public Administration studies the complex problems facing the public sector in the 21st century, from climate policy to the effects of digitalisation. Its researchers analyse, explain and help come up with solutions to the challenges of society today.

Here you'll find selected publications and media attention from our group.

The organisations and people who implement government policy face many different types of change. Academics from Leiden University research how they deal with these and advise them on how best to meet the needs and wishes of society.

Researchers from the Institute of Public Administration study the mechanism of lobbying and influencing political parties and the behaviour of these parties to see how solutions are found to problems. This enables them to reach conclusions as to how best to effect changes in political focus and poli…

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has rewarded four projects in which Leiden researchers are bringing science and society closer together. What are these projects?

Leiden's cultural anthropologist Anouk de Koning is receiving a Vici research grant for her project ‘Prototyping Welfare in Europe: Experiments in State and Society’ to study welfare experiments in four countries and to examine what they tell us about the futures of European welfare states.

‘Foreign policy’ may seem to the general public to be merely an official response to problems entering the nation from across the border. Yet the political reach of diplomacy has extended, and diplomats will have to find ways to engage more with home citizens, including those who feel sidelined and…

PhD defence

PhD defence