On 31 January 2014 Professor Willem Heiser (Psychology, Statistics and Data Theory) was awarded the distinction of Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion. After his farewell lecture he received the royal honour for his exceptional academic, social and administrative achievements.

Female and male songbirds sing equally elaborate songs in some species, but in others, females do not sing like males or not at all. How did such pronounced differences in male and female communication evolve?

We perform multidisciplinary research at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels of animal biology to increase fundamental understanding of health and disease.

What are the host immune defence mechanisms that control intracellular infections and how are these subverted by pathogens?

Researchers at Leiden study group behaviour. One of their findings is that when people make sacrifices for another member of their group, it is probably instinctive. Insights of this kind enable us to better understand and influence the social processes in a neighbourhood or company.

Digital technology is changing academia and society at lightning speed. LIACS is in the midst of this with groundbreaking research into data processing and artificial intelligence (AI). It conducts a unique combination of fundamental and applied research into major issues facing academia and society…

When do fire making tools appear in prehistory, and how might the use of these tools manifest in the archaeological record?

Your tuition fee depends on a number of factors, such as your nationality and your previous Dutch higher-education qualifications.

Your time at Leiden is about more than just studying. Some of your best experiences will stem from being a part of our lively and diverse student community, as well as from life in the beautiful city of Leiden.

How humans and rats cohabit the cityscape and what consequences this has for both sides of the conflict?

Leiden University offers its students a wide range of bachelor's, master's and minors that explore sustainability or climate. Here, you find an overview of those programmes in the academic year 2020-2021.

How can we monitor and protect biological and cultural diversity in Suriname best? What can we learn from local knowledge and customs associated with biodiversity? How can we understand current species, acoustical, behavioural, and ecological diversity from an evolutionary perspective? Can we predict…

We are committed to provide you a meaningful, rigorous and quality graduate experiences in a personalized environment with a cutting edge research infrastructure and internationally renowned supervisors.

The CMCB comprises research groups from the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), the Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC) and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).

Freek Vonk and Mike Richardson, with many collaborators, have published two snake genomes in two parallel articles in the prestigious journal PNAS. Their new findings provide insight into the co-evolutionary arms race between predator and prey.

Leiden Biology student Thijmen Breeschoten received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2013 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

“Is it possible to restore antibiotic sensitivity in resistant bacteria?” Dr. Tingjie Guo wondered. “Watch me and learn”, phage responded. Dr. Tingjie Guo received an open competition XS domain ENW grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to investigate the evolutionary trade-off of antimicrobial…

On 16 January student Lisa Bruil from the Institute of Biology Leiden was awarded the annual prize from the Stichting Prof. dr. K. Bakker-Fonds for her outstanding results as BSc-student.

Leiden Biology student Amy Montanje received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2018 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) appointed Professor Thomas Bäck as an IEEE Fellow in the class of 2022. Bäck is becoming a Fellow for his contributions in synthesising evolutionary computation. Less than 0.1% of voting members are selected each year for this member grade…

Leiden Biology student Martienke Baaij received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2017 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

Elk jaar organiseert het LIBC in samenwerking met de gemeente Leiden een Publieksdag over hersenonderzoek.

On this page you find all the ways through which the Institute of Psychology aims to foster Open Science.

On Sunday night 25 September, all the lights in Leiden will switch off and we will see the starry sky above us twinkling in all its glory. A unique opportunity for all residents of Leiden to experience the vastness of the cosmos and view the impressive artwork that hangs over our heads every night.…

Visual art played an important role in the development of cooperative human behaviour. This is the finding of Larissa Mendoza Straffon, a PhD candidate in archaeology, whose dissertation explores the biological and psychological foundations of visual art.

The Leiden University Shii Studies Initiative (LUSSI) is hosting a two-day online conference on Islam and Evolution.

Leiden Biology student Bregje Brinkmann received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2014 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

Professor of Cognitive Psychology Mariska Kret studies how humans and animals express emotions. Comparisons between humans and great apes offer important evolutionary insights, Kret will say in her inaugural lecture on Friday 9 September.

Leiden Biology student Pam Engelberts received the annual award for being the best BSc-student in 2016 from the “Stichting Professor Dr. K. Bakker-fonds”.

Ben Wielstra studies balanced lethal systems, in which half of the offspring die before birth. In the journal Current Biology, he explains in an accessible way how such a disadvantage can originate in nature.

Ben Wielstra and his team have received a ENW-M-1 grant. This grant of 354.000 euros is awarded by NWO, and will enable the researchers of the Institute of Biology Leiden and Naturalis to continue their evolutionary newt research.

Knowledge and culture subproject 1:

Scientists have long assumed Neanderthals simply lost the evolutionary race against humans. But their disappearance may be a bit more complex. In Discover Magazine, Gerrit Dusseldorp sheds light on this illusive question.

Humans and bonobos show striking similarities as well as differences when they see pictures of conspecifics. Both are more interested in photos of conspecifics that show emotion. But while our human attention is more easily drawn to photos of family members and friends that express certain emotions,…

He started his career as a part-time PhD candidate and a reading volunteer at his children's school. Now, as a professor, he looks back on forty years of research and education: Peter Klinkhamer of the Institute of Biology Leiden, ecologist in heart and soul.

A fragment of a human skull discovered in sediments extracted from the bottom of the North Sea, 15 km off the coast off the Netherlands, has been identified as belonging to the extinct Neandertal group.

How do our cells keep DNA stored away? To find out, biochemist Remus Dame received a 3 million euro Science-Groot grant. Leiden University will share the grant with TU Delft, VU Amsterdam and the Hubrecht Institute.

Since the publication of the article in the interdisciplinary journal Nature, over 200 news outlets have showcased the pioneering research.

An international team with researchers from Leiden revealed how a bacterium repurposed an internal system to control its movements. Movement control is very important in host invasion, which can lead to disease. Publication on 27 April in Nature Communications.

Emeritus professor Liesbeth Eurelings-Bontekoe received the royal award from the Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam for her great contribution to the quality of care, especially to clinical and health care psychology.

The company QuantActions promises that through capturing and analysing the data of smartphones it will be able to “detect important indicators related to mental/neurological health”. Neuroscientist Arko Ghosh is the company’s cofounder and talks in The Guardian about tappigraphy patterns.

Leiden psychologist Wilco van Dijk and communication scientist Jaap Ouwerkerk of VU University Amsterdam published a book about the emotion Schadenfreude. The authors describe what the emotion Schadenfreude really is, when people experience the emotion, and what role it plays in social relations.

Health psychologist Andrea Evers has been invited by several Dutch and international media to talk about the coronavirus and the measures taken by the government with regard to public health.

Eiko Fried (Clinical Psychology) was inspired by the idea of ​​mental disorders as complex properties with

The tuktuk of the European City Of Science Leiden 2022 sent science on its way to the neighbourhood. In the town center of Oegstgeest, the Empathy Team, consisting of Liesbeth van Vliet, Hinke Hoffstadt, Yvette van der Linden and Jenny van der Steen, took interested visitors on a journey into the experience…

Social and organisational psychologist Aukje Nauta, who is researching how companies can enhance individuals in a dynamic work context, discusses what science says about working from home in the video portrait made by the LNVH. She also believes that employers could look at the Netherlands for inspiration…

Psychologist Daphne Tona is one of the first to investigate a small nucleus in the brain stem 'in vivo' in living volunteers. That nucleus is involved in cognitive function and neurological and psychiatric disorders. With this research Tona is further mapping the brain. PhD defence on September 10.

On Friday 27 September, through all weathers, Bachelor of Psychology graduates gathered at the Hooglandse Kerk with family and friends to receive their diplomas.

'What do people do with snake venom?' That's the question 11-year-old Joep asked in Dutch TV show Willem Wever. Leiden Professor of Evolutionary developmental zoology and snake venom expert Michael Richardson answers the question in his laboratory.

16 April was a special day at the Faculty of Science. In honour of the collaborations with the Chinese partner university, it was declared Xi’an Jiaotong University Day.