Young researchers met this month for the fifth Science Communication Summer School. ‘This is the first time some participants get to meet other researchers who also enjoy science communication. It’s great to see’, says Julia Cramer, one of the coordinators.

A group of biology students are working on a solution to the world’s plastics problem by getting bacteria to make biodegradable plastic.

The subject of the research is ‘difference and repetition’, an area which bears a direct relationship to Wjm Kok’s practice, in which the production of work always emerges and passes through series.

Thanks to the Preparatory Year Leiden, refugee students get the opportunity to start a new study or continue their current one. This joint programme of Leiden University and University of Applied Sciences Leiden enters its third year. In this video, participants talk about their experiences.

In May of 2023, an agreement was signed between Leiden PhD candidate Jonathan Ouellet and General Director Onggar Akan of the A. Kh. Margulan Archaeological Institute in Almaty. The aim: a detailed study of the numismatic history of Southern Kazakhstan.

Associate professor Rens Tacoma has won the 2021 Research Prize for Historical Sciences. The prize is awarded annually by the Italy Studies Working Group for the best scholarly publication in the field of Italy Studies in Dutch or Flemish academia.

The Leiden University Medical Center is being transformed into a Teddy Bear Hospital in the week of 20 to 24 March. During this week more than a thousand children will care for their favourite cuddly toy under the watchful eyes of Leiden's medical students. The aim of the event is to reduce children's…

Work started today on the Kolffpad student complex, with 289 flats for students from Leiden University. Stichtnig DUWO will own the building and the University owns the site at the Bio Science Park. The building should be complete by mid-2023.

Changing your diet can improve both your health and the environment. A new study shows that the national dietary recommendations on reducing animal products can reduce environmental impacts in most high-income nations. Publication in PNAS journal.

At the Capstone Conference, Honours College students of the Humanities Lab presented their final projects. In small groups, they conducted research on relevant societal issues – gathering insights from a multitude of disciplines. ‘The aim is to learn as much as possible from each other.’

Brain research and statistics are advancing our understanding of language and language acquisition. Linguists are still essential, however, says Professor of Dutch Linguistics Sjef Barbiers. Inaugural lecture on 8 December.

Researchers from the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) identified six top priorities where environmental interventions can make the most difference. By doing so, they hope to help researchers and policymakers make the most out of the limited, available resources to protect people and the pla…

Sustainability, health and wellbeing are key factors during the coming renovation of the iconic South Cluster of the Humanities Campus. The conversion of the original seven ‘houses’ to create a single spacious, light and attractive environment under a glass roof will earn an Excellent Level qualification…

A group of ten Indonesian scholars, NGO-members, and state officials coming from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry visited their Dutch colleagues, academic and practical experts, to discuss issues related to water management and environmental regulation .

Radio telescope LOFAR maps the sky. It produces incredibly detailed images of the universe - and vast amounts of data. Huub Röttgering, director of the Leiden Observatory, talks about the challenges of working with those enormous datasets.

Working from your Leiden room with students from the United States: Univeristy Lecturer Dario Fazzi’ students will soon be able to take up this challenge. He receives a grant from the Faculty of Humanities and ECOLe to set up a ‘virtual exchange programme.

At first glance, archaeology seems like a job that is hard to take home. Nothing could be further from the truth though! Our archaeologists are currently developing new dating methods, are looking for lost cities in their living rooms, and perform daring acts of experimental archaeology!

Social resilience and security has never been more important. Over the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a considerable disturbance to our personal and social lives. As a result, the general population reports more stress, loneliness and decreased quality of life. At the same time, there…

The Swahili coast has a long-standing history of transoceanic Islamic connections dating back to the 25th century. Yet, print, has changed the world – not only ours. This project unravels unique forms and archives of intellectual history emerging from within South-South connections. In East Africa Indian…

Work has begun on an accommodation complex for international PhD candidates and postdocs at the Leiden Bio Science Park.

Many students are finishing their master thesis on sustainability this summer. In this blog, we reflect on their topics, approaches, and goals by highlighting theses from Governance of Sustainability, European Law, Global Archaeology, Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence, Industrial Ecology, and…

The Third International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding is set to take place between 19 and 21 June at the Wijnhaven building in The Hague. During the conference, over 400 participants from across the globe will come together to discuss the relationship between the environment and armed co…

Robot technology is flourishing in multiple sectors of society, from retail, health care, industry and education. However, are robots representative towards minority groups of society, like LGBTQ+ people?

The Max van der Stoel Human Rights Award is presented every two years on 10 December (Human Rights Day) in recognition of outstanding academic works in the field of international human rights.

30 October 2021 – 4 December 2021 SPACE, Liège (BE)

The Leiden physics institute LION has bought a painting by the American physicist Gregory Horndeski, who wrote a brilliant article about gravity in 1974. After being ignored for 35 years, Horndeski's paper became a huge hit among cosmologists, unbeknownst to Horndeski himself, who had made a career…

On 7 September 2016, Melanie Fink and Merinda Stewart presented at a Research Forum organised by the European Society of International Law (ESIL) Interest Group on the Law of the Sea. The Research Forum took place in the framework of the Annual ESIL Conference held in Riga from 8-10 September 2016 to…

Last week, the 12th Annual Conference of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) took place on the topic of How International Law Works in Times of Crisis. The conference was hosted by the Riga Graduate School of Law in cooperation with the Latvian Constitutional Court. The conference intended…

A ‘new governance culture’ – a hot topic for a number of years now. What kind of culture of public administration do we have in the Netherlands and how do you change it? This question is the focus of the podcast Het Spel & De Macht (the Game & the Power). Each episode considers one theme related to…

Since January the Dutch public have been able to follow a free course on artificial intelligence (AI) and its far-reaching impact on our lives. Leiden scientists Marlies van Eck and Valerie Frissen, from the Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law at Leiden's Law Faculty, are part of the…

The world’s population is expected to rise to 9 billion people in 2050. At the same time, climate change urges us to dramatically reduce our use of resources. Does the transition to a circular economy offer us a way out, and if so, how? Master Honours Class’ students are looking into this issue: ‘Change…

Museum De Lakenhal issued an open call for creative solutions to the problem of growth addiction. From over 500 submissions, they selected 15 artworks for the exhibition 'If things grow wrong'. These include the creations of Leiden researchers Peter van der Putten and Evert Jan van Leeuwen.

Almost fifty scientists and twenty companies will be working on developing new antibiotics and alternatives for antibiotics use. NWO and the Ministry of Health, Wellbeing and Sport will together invest close to seven million euros in this research. Scientists from Leiden University and LUMC will be…

Mathematical and computational analysis of the dynamics of polar transport of the plant hormone auxin.

Indigenous Peoples possess rich worldviews and unique knowledge that form part of our global heritage. Oppressing these peoples and violating their natural environment is leading to the destruction of this knowledge. Leiden researchers aim to counter this through collaborating with Indigenous Peoples…

During the one-year master’s programme in Colonial and Global History you will learn about the importance of a comparative perspective for understanding transnational processes such as imperialism, colonialism, islamisation, modernisation and globalisation.

Overview of granting opportunities in the wider digital humanities community.Follow links for the most up-to-date details on deadline dates/times and conditions for applying.

Science, Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS)

The seminar is dedicated to the work-in-progress of Leiden Centre for Continental Philosophy staff and doctoral students. The paper is sent in advance and discussed in the meeting. On 18.2 and 22.4. the seminar is proud to host guest speakers. We warmly encourage all interested people to participate…

February 8 saw the launch of the Medical Delta ‘Sustainable Hospitals’ Interdisciplinary Thesis Lab. The research projects will touch on different aspects of healthcare. The students hope they will be able to offer practical solutions to make hospitals greener.

On 18 February 2023, our esteemed former colleague Robert Louw passed away. Rob was 86 years old.

From underground heat exchangers at the Bio Science Park to drinking taps to replace water coolers. With its new environmental policy plan, Leiden University will become greener in the coming years.

The international conference “Legal Reform in Indonesia: towards Justice” will be held on 6-7 September 2017 at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

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…

Leiden University and four other Dutch universities will appoint 51 PhD candidates to conduct solution-oriented research for and with the African continent.

Home workers experience less time pressure and feel better as a result. This appears from PhD research conducted by Maral Darouei, who defends her dissertation from home on 9 June.

Inviting members of the public to help monitor wildlife, photograph plants or conduct samplings. These are some of the many examples of Citizen Science. It is increasingly recognized as effective and impactful for collecting data, but also for engaging the public in scientific research. In Nature reviews…

Thijs Bosker and Paul Behrens, Professors in Environmental Sciences at Leiden University College in The Hague, have received funding from the Leiden University Fund and the Gratama Foundation to work on developing a set of Local Actions: tangible and practical exercises that students can engage in…

Europe can only maintain its level of consumption by structurally relying on resources extracted abroad. This finding was published in the September issue of the prestigious journal Global Environmental Change, in a paper that was co-written by scientists at Leiden University.