With the ongoing development of a corona vaccine, intelligence services worldwide are being deployed for international espionage. Willemijn Aerdts, Lecturer Intelligence Services at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, was interviewed by the Dutch BNR News Radio. Aerdts is an expert in the…

This conference is organised by the European Society for International Law Interest Group ‘EU as a Global Actor’, supported by the University of Leiden (Europa Institute, Europe hub, Ukraine hub), KU Leuven and City Law School, City, University of London. It will be held at the Leiden Law School on…

Students from no fewer than 26 different countries are visiting Leiden from 25-28 February to discuss the refugee crisis and European integration.

From the rights of refugee children to the right to a sustainable Earth. The online platform Leiden Children's Rights Observatory makes information on children’s rights accessible and raises the social and scientific debate on this subject worldwide. Ton Liefaard, Professor of Children's Rights and…

The International Studies and Urban studies study programmes have moved to a new address. After five years in the Wijnhaven building they have moved to the Schouwburgstraat. ‘It is nice to have our own place in The Hague as the Faculty of Humanities.’

The Leiden iGEM team has won the grand prize at the iGEM international biology competition. The students won a further five prizes, including those for best diagnostics tracks and best inclusion. ‘We still can’t believe it. It feels almost surreal,’ team member Amber Schonk said yesterday to University…

Professor Jojanneke van der Toorn has held the chair in LGBT workplace inclusion for five years. To celebrate, organised an international online conference on workplace inclusion, in cooperation with Workplace Pride that was hosted by the university on 20 and 21 May.

Erik Zürcher (1928–2008) is still considered an authoritative source in research on Chinese Buddhism. A new collection of his publications serves as an occasion for an international conference on Buddhism in Leiden. Princess Beatrix, who knew him well, will be in attendance at the opening.

Histories, Philosophies, and Communities

Three young MI students have upheld Leiden's honour in the finals of the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC). PhD candidate Ludo Pulles and Master's student Reinier Schmiermann travelled to Russia and came 15th out of 117 teams. PhD candidate Pim Spelier participated in the online contest…

On Saturday, May 4, Dr. Verena Meyer delivered opening remarks at the International Webinar 'Santri, Literacy, and Indonesia', organized by the Bali Santri Literacy Community (Sanubari) Nurul Ikhlas Islamic Boarding School in Jembrana, Bali, Indonesia.

On 22 September, the Social Justice Expertise Center and the Dutch Association on Labor Rights (VVA) brought together eighty (Dutch) labor law lawyers to discuss the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and fundamental labor rights.

Two years after the first conference, the Napels based Institute of Chemistry and Technology of Polymers, together with a consortium of organisations and research institutes, organised the second conference from 15 to 18 September in Capri, Italy.

In January 2020 the book “Private Enforcement of European Competition and State Aid Law”, edited by Ferdinand Wollenschläger, Wolfgang Wurmnest & Thomas M.J. Möllers, was published by Wolters Kluwer.

In the 4 October, 2017 issue of Nature appeared the comment entitled ‘Scientists have most impact when they're free to move’, an analysis measuring the global movements of researchers and reflecting on the potential adverse consequences that isolationist policies may have on the advance of science.

Since 1919 the International Labour Organization (ILO) has been promoting the rights of workers worldwide. On 7 February, Leiden University hosted the symposium celebrating the 100-year anniversary of the foundation of the ILO. Leiden emeritus professor of International Labour Law Paul van der Heijden…

The buildings are closed and all classes have moved online: these are strange times for students at our university. And for international students, it is even more complicated. They are here without their friends and family, and had to decide whether to stay here or return home. Three of them share…

With its FestivOWL theme, Orientation Week Leiden (OWL) promises to be one big festival for new international students in Leiden.

In his thesis Tjandra analuses the development of labour law in Indonesia. He focusses on the developments after the fall of the Soeharto regime (1998), the so called reformasi period.

Through a range of case studies spanning the post-Cold War period in Iraq, Moldova and Serbia, this book studies asymmetric conflicts where warring sides exhibit vast power differentials.

Does hegemony—legitimated rule by dominant power—have a role in ordering world politics of the twenty-first century? If so, what form does that hegemony take: does it lie with a leading state or with some other force? How does contemporary world hegemony operate: what tools does it use and what outcomes…

An international collaboration of astronomers is organising a special online lecture series for physicists and astronomers in Cuba. The reason for this is the tightening of measures against this country, as a result of which researchers can hardly get any information from outside the island. ‘Everyone…

We are pleased to announce the Program for the “Third International lsmaili Studies Conference: Histories, Philosophies and Communities” (ISC2021), organized by the Leiden University Shii Studies Initiative. This year, ISC2021 will be held virtually on Zoom from Friday, August 6 to Tuesday, August 10,…

Yra van Dijk obtained a NWO 'Internationalisation in the Humanities' grant. Together with Ernst van Alphen she will collaborate with 8 European and Israelian partners in researching 'Digital Memory of the Holocaust'.

Jasper de Bie, who obtained his doctoral degree at the Institute of Criminal Law & Criminology and who is currently employed by the Ministry of Security and Justice, has been awarded an honourable third place in the international competition 'TRI Award for the Best Doctoral Dissertation on Terrorism…

About the book

The Centre for Digital Heritage undertakes collaborative international research in the field of Digital Heritage. It is an initiative of the University of York.

Jus post bellum, the body of laws and norms governing the transition from armed conflict to peace, has emerged as a crucial issue for international law scholars, governments, and all concerned with building a just and sustainable peace. The Jus Post Bellum Project, funded by the NWO and hosted by the…

Snowball the cockatoo gained world fame on social media. Millions of people saw him dance to Queen and The Backstreet Boys. In the journal Current Biology scientists study Snowball's dancing abilities and what they teach us about the origins of dance. Professor of Animal Behaviour Carel ten Cate casts…

On 27 and 28 June 2023, an extensive conference was held on the past and future of Europe’s free travel area: the Schengen zone. The Europa Institute, represented by Jorrit Rijpma, joined forces with the Odysseus Network of the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Konstanz University, and the Royal Egmont…

Skåne University Hospital, Lund University and Leiden University Medical Center will work together to expand their research, teaching and development relating to Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products. That is the essence of a Memorandum of Understanding signed at SciLifeLab near Stockholm on Wednesday…

The United States and the European Union need to work together more closely in the field of the law to fight terrorists and criminals who are operating increasingly internationally. This was the advice given by American Minister of Justice Loretta Lynch during her visit to Leiden University on 1 Jun…

Over the next three years, 92 students and researchers from Leiden University and its partner universities will be strengthening their research and teaching links: all 14 projects that Leiden University submitted to the EU’s International Credit Mobility programme have been awarded a grant. Three ex…

Political Scientist Gisela Hirschmann (Leiden University) asks how international organisations can be compelled to comply with respect human rights. She finds that this is done through ‘pluralist accountability’: external third parties such as courts, NGOs, or regional organisations holding international…

A team of five PhD students from Leiden University is in the running for first prize in the Pharmacometrics Skills Competition. In a drug development simulation, they apply their mathematical pharmacological skills to solve clinical problems. On 24 March they will compete in the finals in Orlando, F…

The Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), the Danstem Institute from the University of Copenhagen and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne have received 300m euros from the Novo Nordisk foundation. The aim of this new international consortium is to bring stem-cell based therapies…

Two new Assistant Professors are joining Science Based Business (SBB) this Autumn. ‘Xishu Li and Jian Wang are the first two Assistant Professors we recruited. This is an exciting, crucial next step for SBB,’ said Professor Simcha Jong who joined Leiden University as the Director and first Professor…

A film and quiz at the Old Observatory, a film whose ending you decide or a political satire in The Hague. These are some of the options at Science & Cinema, the 444 edition, a special programme during LIFF, the Leiden International Film Festival.

A new series of webinars, the Cleveringa Dallaire Critical Conversation Series, begins on 22 September. In this series of online conversations, expert panels from Leiden and abroad will talk about leadership and moral dilemmas in times of conflict and crisis. The series is open to all.

For the Dutch Safety Board (DSB), the investigation into the MH17 plane crash was unprecedented in scope. It wasn’t easy, but it provided valuable lessons for international disaster investigations, says Sanneke Kuipers, a crisis expert from the Institute of Security and Global Affairs.

Mathematicians from Bordeaux, Leiden and Padua have been working together for 20 years. In 2004, they started a two-year mathematics master's degree in Algebra, Number Theory and Geometry (Algant). They celebrated the 20th anniversary of this consortium at the Algant graduation ceremony in Leiden.

On 1 April 2023, Rowie Stolk of the Department of Constitutional and Administrative Law started a new appointment for 0.7 FTE at Empirical Legal Studies Leiden (ELS@Leiden). ELS provides a platform that brings together legal scholars and social scientists to collaboratively explore legally relevant…

Where does Europe begin and end? How have the European Union and its precursors decided which countries are eligible to join the community and which are not? Few issues are more hotly debated, more important for the course of European integration, or more consequential for individuals in and around…

Solving a scientific problem after decades: it’s a long-lasting dream for many scientists. Consequently, the research of Leiden and Eindhoven chemists gained a lot of media attention, for instance from the Belgian news website VRT Nieuws and science website Phys.org.

Researchers from the Coherent Private Law research program have published an article in The Law Teacher about the state of the art of Empirical Legal Studies education in the Netherlands.

This paper examines cyber intelligence in the context of national and international security.

Emotions play a key role in EU politics. This article examines how emotions influence the EU’s response to international crises and norm violations.

After her law degree, Irina Ghazarian (28) started working at Zurich Insurance PLC, an international insurance company. ‘Why do we outsource cases that are going to court?’ she asked. She is now the first attorney to work there.

The new book of Professor of Character evolution and biodiversity Menno Schilthuizen gained a lot of media attention. ‘Darwin comes to town – how the urban jungles drives evolution’ was published in English in February and will be available in Dutch soon.

Professor Nico Schrijver is professor of public international law at Leiden University and currently the president of the Institut de Droit international /International Law Institute, the most prestigious international law institute which was established in 1873 and which for the quality of its work…