Maarten Feteris, the former president of the Court of Appeal and an alumnus of Leiden University, composed the piece ‘Intermezzo’ to mark the transfer of the rectorate during the Dies Natalis on 8 February 2021.

As a result of the current corona measures, attendance at the Opening of the Academic Year on 6 September will be restricted to a maximum of 75 persons. The ceremony can, however, be viewed online by taking part in a video wall.

A vibrant chronological narrative of ceramic manufacturing practices in the valley of Juigalpa, Chontales, Nicaragua (cal 300 CE - present)

PhD candidate Agnes van Steen researched the history of the Leiden women’s rights movement (1860-1990) and found that the university produced many feminists.

Remembrance Day on 4 May may be different this year, but it will make no less of an impression. Ethan Mark, who specialises in modern Japanese history, will give an online lecture about forgotten stories from the Second World War. Via Open Jewish Homes, moving stories can be heard online of Jewish alumni.…

Preventing or delaying disease often requires lifestyle changes, which turns out to be difficult. Valentijn Visch and Sandra van Dijk are researching how to help people change their behaviour.

Special achievements, grants and a top 10 ranking, a great calendar year for the Faculty of Archaeology! See the overview of 2023 in the hall of fame below.

Tuesday May 24th, the LACDR Annual Spring Symposium was held.

The 2019 Model ICAO took place from 21-24 May at the ICAO headquarters in Montreal.

At LUCIS we offer a varied programme of scholarly meetings (conferences, workshops) which reflect our multidisciplinary and comparative view on Islam and Muslim societies in past and present.

While many healthcare professionals indicate that they frequently use placebo effects and their mechanisms, there is little formal training on how to deal with placebo and nocebo effects in clinical practice. This project aims to address this gap between scientific knowledge on placebo and nocebo effects…

In the master’s specialisation in Economic and Consumer Psychology, students will study the psychological mechanisms that underlie many of our choices and decisions concerning consumption and other economic behaviours.

The objective of the Social and Organisational specialisation is to equip students with advanced training in research methods and professional skills that prepare them both for a career involving psychological research as well as for the application of scientific knowledge and methods in various professional…

In this research group, headed by Bob Van de Water, cell signaling programs that underlie adverse drug reactions as well as cancer development and progression are unraveled. Adverse drug reactions involve cell injury in critical target organ cells which leads to the activation of cellular stress response…

Doing a PhD at the Institute of Psychology can be an exciting experience. On this webpage we provide you with the necessary information on application, registration, the Graduate School and Training and regulations. Leiden University’s Institute of Psychology offers you a professional and supporting…

On February 29 2024, the Humanities Career Service of Leiden University organised a career day to the European Union institutions in Brussels. Natalia Papageorgiou, student of the MA History (Politics, Culture and National Identities), talks about how the day went.

How can the people of Leiden age as well as possible? And what is needed to reduce health disparities? That is the mission of Leiden Healthy Society Center, a new partnership between the Municipality of Leiden, Leiden University and many other partners in the city.

Just about everything that's known about Charles Darwin has already been said or written. Even so, Norbert Peeters – together with Tessa van Dijk – has managed to write an original book about the great English scholar. In the run-up to Darwin Day (12 February) he tells us about his new book.

Every year on 26 November Leiden University commemorates the protest speech given by Professor Cleveringa against the Nazis. At least 663 students, staff and alumni of the University lost their lives during the Second World War, yet little was known about these victims. PhD candidate Adriënne Baars…

The Faculty of Archaeology is running a funding scheme to assist small-scale projects that contribute to diversifying archaeological practice in all domains, including classrooms, laboratories, museums, and the field. We discuss the grant with two representatives from the Diversity Committee: Tuna Kalaycı…

On 10 July 2020, the final of the European Law Moot Court Competition took place online before an impressive line-up of academics and practitioners of EU law.

Twenty three students who obtained excellent results in the minor Intelligence Studies received the annual Kluitersprijs.

The NWO has awarded four Leiden researchers with an Internationalisation in the Humanities grant.

In May 2023, COI researchers collaborated to publish a special issue on the Legitimacy of Institutions for Conflict Resolution with the Utrecht Law Review.

Two books that recently appeared in the Debates on Islam and Society series at Leiden University Press are now available in Open Access through the Knowledge Unlatched initiative.

Over the past 20 years, levels of common crime throughout the world dropped, except in countries that are plagued by poverty, have large families and have been afflicted by civil wars. This was established in a study that compared safety in 166 countries.

On 15 June 2022 Professor Anthropology of Sustainability and Livelihood Marja Spierenburg was one of the invited speakers at the round table in the House of Representatives of The Netherlands.

Professor Jan-Bart Gewald has been appointed as the new director of the African Studies Centre in Leiden with effect from 1 September 2017, for a period of five years. Professor Gewald will succeed Ton Dietz, who will be retiring in September.

Psychology graduates acquire skills useful in a variety of jobs. Whether helping people with mental disorders, researching the brain or deciding who should be hired at a company, psychologists can do it.

Join-in courses zijn MA-cursussen over middeleeuwse onderwerpen gegeven binnen vastgestelde MA-programma's van de zes deelnemende universiteiten van de Onderzoekschool. Op aanvraag zijn deze vakken toegankelijk voor studenten van andere (Nederlandse) universiteiten. De cursusbelasting en het aantal…

Governance of Sustainability is a two-year programme, worth 120 European Credit Transfer System points (ECTS).

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2019, as well as special appointments and royal distinctions.

Franc Weerwind studied Public Administration at Leiden University from 1986 to 1992. Right now, mr. Weerwind is the mayor of the municipality of Almere. The editors of Leidraad, the alumni magazine of the university, had a talk with him in context of the recurring ‘workplace’ section in the magazine…

Leiden University is extremely concerned about the situation in Turkey and offers all possible support to its Turkish colleagues.

What do Byzantine fashion, mosaics, fortifications and menas ampullae have in common? Find out the answer at the second edition of a mini exhibition on Byzantine archaeology in the Van Steenis building.

As of 14 May, people from all over the world can follow a little part of our university’s education through a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Health & Health Behaviour. This MOOC provides an introduction to the field of Health Psychology.

All master’s students in Political Science conclude their studies with a thesis, showcasing their academic skills and personal interest. For some, it is the ‘last hurdle’; others see their thesis as a first step in their development as scientists. To acknowledge the importance of the thesis and to stimulate…

Last month, Symposion, the study association for Philosophy students, organised this year's student-alumni career event. Four alumni joined the event to share their stories and insights. The alumni panel was held for all BA and MA students of Philosophy, in this thesis-writing and graduation-approaching…

From the new street language Smibanese to 17th-century manuscripts: the first national Dutch Studies Open Day explores a wide range of topics. The Open Day will take place on Saturday 7 March in Leiden. Frits Spits will broadcast his radio programme ‘De Taalstaat’ (The Language State’) from the Kamerlingh…

Arts and culture

On the occasion of the conferral of an honorary doctorate to children’s rights activist Graça Machel, a fund has been established that will enable two female students from South Africa to come and study in Leiden.

The Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR) received no less than three awards during the Figon Dutch Medicine Days. Bas Goulooze won the PhD Prize for best PhD candidate, Natalia Ortiz Zacarías and Huub Sijben both received a poster prize. ‘Scientists must be able to communicate their research…

Universities are there for future generations; how can we make sure we pass them on intact? Leiden academics responded to the address given by Cambridge professor Stefan Collini at the opening of the academic year.

Theft, prostitution, fortune-telling or murder. Historian Manon van der Heijden and a group of students are researching court records from The Hague from 1600 to 1800. They are tracing crimes and offenders and shedding new light on The Hague’s Gevangenpoort (or Prison Gate). Among their many discoveries…