On 15 April 2019 upon the invitation of SIB-Amsterdam- Dutch United Nations Student Association Monika Baár gave a masterclass on the contemporary political situation in Austria and its historical antecedents.

Professor of Contemporary History Wim van den Doel has won the 2024 Boerhaave Biography Prize. Van den Doel receives the prize for his book 'Snouck: Het volkomen geleerdenleven van Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje'.

In the context of urban challenges, multidisciplinary knowledge adds value. The idea is that urban planners, sociologists, economists, and historians can collectively provide a deeper understanding of what has worked and what hasn't so far. Since 2022, scientists from the University of Indonesia and…

Bart Barendregt explains his new Unesco Chair in Anthropology of Digital Diversity in an interview on the Unesco website.

The process of forming a new coalition government in the Netherlands continued in the city of Hilversum last week. Geert Wilders has promised to withdraw three controversial own-initiative proposals in order to accommodate potential coalition partners. But is that enough to persuade Pieter Omtzigt,…

In October 2021 the Volkskrant published the article 'Rond de bloedgoudmijnen van Burkina Faso heerst de angst voor terreur' (Around the blood-gold mines of Burkina Faso, the fear of terror rules). In this report Carlijne Vos describes how Burkina Faso is rapidly destabilising. The lucrative gold mines…

A delegation from Leiden University recently embarked on a knowledge mission to various NGOs, universities and government organisations in Indonesia. New partnerships were formed and important knowledge exchanged, and researchers from Leiden gave guest lectures.

Governance is a complex puzzle of organisations, people and divergent interests. Academic research in this field furthers our knowledge of the role of public administrators, of different organisational structures, of the people who work at such organisations and of how these organisations implement…

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.

In 2021 many of our students and staff won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants. This is our traditional review of these successes as the end of one year marks the beginning of another.

In December 2014, Leiden University’s Institute of Security and Global Affairs with the Australian National University’s Asia-Pacific College of Diplomacy and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, commenced a research project to assess how (temporary) military interventions can best prepare…

The transition to new and renewable energy sources should be completed by 2050. Researchers in various disciplines at Leiden University are conducting unique research that will help us make this transition and reduce CO2 emissions.

With cancer, a person’s body cells grow uncontrollably. Putting together a detailed picture of how this comes about makes it possible to develop efficient therapies. Researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) and Leiden University are working together to gain a better understanding…

Issues such as climate change, the depletion of natural resources or social inequality are too complex to be addressed from a single scientific discipline or by a single country. Leiden University has the expertise to bring the resolution of these enormous problems a small step closer.

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…

A punishment that fits the crime is the cornerstone of the rechtsstaat or constitutional state. But opinions differ greatly on what constitutes a just and effective punishment. Research by Leiden University provides politicians, legislators, law enforcers and the public with new information and insights…

How can we organise society so as to keep our planet habitable for us and for all other life forms around us? To answer this question, Leiden researchers collaborate across disciplines, from biology to data science, and from environmental economy to archaeology.

The worldwide race to the quantum computer is in full swing. This computer can take on computing tasks that we can only dream of today, such as finding proteins that can be used as medicines in seconds flat. Leiden physicists have discovered how the Majorana particle can be used as a building block…

This project involves research into the oeuvre of the Sundanese sculptor Iko, who has worked for the Catholic mission in Java and has carved sculptures for a chapel and church in Ganjuran. The images were designed by the Catholic layman Jos Schmutzer and are characterized by a fusion in style and symbolism…

Conferences, Workshops and Lectures showcasing research and tools in Digital Humanities.

The aim of this project is to study what makes an act or form of violence a specifically political reality.

View all our Alumni newsletters below.

Leiden historian Herman Obdeijn has created an exhibition for NIMAR about the centuries-old bond between the two countries. The exhibition opens on 1 March at the Université Mohammed V in Rabat. ‘The Moroccans changed from distant allies to close neighbours.’

Sergei Boeke has once again proven that there are more roads than one that lead to Rome with his PhD research into al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. It is both the core point of his conclusions as well as the leitmotiv for his approach. Boeke’s dissertation is comprised of five academic articles that…

Authors: Michèle Bos and Jan Melissen

A devastating tsunami engulfed large coastal areas in Asia and East Africa in 2004. With over 170,000 dead, the Indonesian province of Aceh was hardest hit. The survivors proved to be remarkably resilient as they returned to everyday life. Anthropologist Annemarie Samuels went to live in Aceh, and has…

With the official launch of the Al-Babtain Leiden University Centre for Arabic Culture, Leiden University and the AbdulAziz Saud Al-Babtain Cultural Foundation have opened the door for new opportunities of cultural and academic exchange. Have a look at last week's festivities.

Dear friends of the NVIC,

From 19 to 21 September, the Third annual conference of the Law and Development Research Network took place at the National Museum of Ethnology (Museum Volkenkunde) Leiden.

Dear friends of the institute,

Charles Melville, Professor of Persian History at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Pembroke College, will be the Central Asia Visiting Professor from 20 November until 28 November 2017. Charles Melville will deliver a guest lecture on Thursday, 23 November, co-organized with LUCIS, and a masterclass…

Alastair Reed, Assistant professor at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) is interviewed by Devex, the media platform for the global development community.

The Life Cycle of Archaeological Objects: Uncovering the treasures of the faculty of archeology

On Wednesday 11 December 2019, Marieke Liem, Associate Professor, appeared as a guest on the NPO Radio 1 podcast. The central topic of the podcast was risk perception among the Dutch population.

Almost two weeks after the general elections in the Netherlands, negotiations between the leaders of the four parties who were expected to form a new coalition government are still not going smoothly. Ronald Plasterk, appointed as ‘scout’ to explore possible alliances, has said he will need one more…

Like every year, our institute organized the Cleveringa lecture to commemorate the courageous speech held by professor Rudolph Cleveringa on the 26th of November in 1940.

In recent months, the Dutch Islamic Haga Lyceum has increasingly come under the suspicion. The school is suspected of spreading a state-threatening version of the Salafist doctrine. This information came from the Dutch Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD).

Dr Suliman Ibrahim of the Van Vollenhoven Institute (VVI) will conduct research on problems concerning real property in Libya. The project is commissioned by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On Monday, 25 April 2019, a video appeared on the Internet where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was seen and heard. The Islamic terror group IS has distributed this video on the internet. Baghadadi has not appeared in public since 2014.

Kohei Suzuki, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Administration contributed to the research project ‘Reforming Public Administration in Libya’. The brainstorming meeting was organized by the Statistical, Economic and Social Research and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) in T…

It gives us great pleasure to report that the search for a University Lecturer in Christianity in the Modern World has resulted in the appointment of Corey Williams, starting January 2015.

Minister Jet Bussemaker (Ministry of Education, Culture and Science) will open the new headquarters of NIMAR (Netherlands Institute in Morocco) in Rabat on 1 March, in the presence of Mayor of Rotterdam Ahmed Aboutaleb and Rector of Leiden University Carel Stolker. The institute has been part of Leiden…

The Netherlands Institute in Morocco is moving to a new location in the Moroccan capital, Rabat. Following a complete renovation of the building, the doors of the new NIMAR Rabat will open in September 2016.

With the What's Next? series we hope to inspire current Media Technology MSc students, show the variety of paths taken after the studies, and bring together alumni. Editions of the series are generally organized around a particular theme by Media Technology MSc students themselves, and followed by social…

On 19 April, several mosque organisations criticized the way in which the Dutch intelligence service wrote the annual report about increasing 'anti-democratic' tendencies in after-school lessons in Islam and Arabic. Constant Hijzen, assistant professor of Intelligence Studies at the Institute of Security…

Joanita Vroom, Professor Archaeology of Medieval and Early Modern Eurasia at the Faculty of Archaeology, has again received a DANS Klein DataProject (KDP) bursary for her project entitled ‘Data Atlas of Byzantine and Ottoman Material Culture: Archiving Medieval and Post-Medieval Archaeological Fieldwork…

On the passing of Anique Schüller

Lecture, COGLOSS

Since the horrific events of October 7, 2023, Leiden students have grappled with difficult questions about Israel, Gaza and Israel/Palestine conflict more generally. Drawing on her expertise in the history of the Jewish experience in the diaspora and beyond, Prof. dr. Sarah Cramsey has held multiple…