A lecturer winning a prize, an expert appearing in the media or a professor giving their inaugural speech: these are faces we often see. But we rarely see the staff who work behind the scenes to make their work possible. They are now featured in the photo exhibition ‘The forces behind the faces’.

On the occasion of the retirement of Robert Ross, Professor in African History at Leiden University, his successor and former student Jan-Bart Gewald wrote a valedictory note.

Bart Barendregt, Ratna Saptari, and Annemarie Samuels co-organised a two-day workshop on

The Hofstad group is known mainly because of Mohammed B., the murderer of Theo van Gogh. PhD candidate Bart Schuurman examined this Dutch jihadist group based on interviews and confidential police files. How and why did the group come about? What drove some of the group members to commit terrorist…

The first eLaw Conference held at Leiden University was a success and fostered timely discussions on the legal challenges and opportunities presented by digital technologies.

On 30 November 2021 the book 'Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography: A Practical and Theoretical Guide' was published by Routledge. The book resulted from eight anthropologists of the Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology joining forces: Cristina Grasseni, Bart Barendregt, Erik…

Doing a PhD on the side? External PhD candidates, like Joost Van der Helm, just get on and ‘do it’. Besides his hectic job as a justice at the Court of Appeal in The Hague, Van der Helm managed to still find time to write a PhD dissertation.

What will the future be like? This is something that every student wonders about as graduation approaches. What will I do? How can I find a good job? And even more importantly: How do I land that job once I have found it? If a student has a disability, additional questions may also arise. A symposium…

Understanding the evolving landscape of extremism in the 21st century.

The We Are Science Week, inspiring lectures, and enjoyable gatherings. This year, we frequently came together to inspire and connect with one another. Our biggest event took place at the start of the academic year in September: the official opening of our new Gorlaeus building.

How do the pathways of Dutch converts to Islam involved in jihadist movements differ from those of Dutch converts who are not, in terms of their life prior to Islam, their conversion experience and the form of involvement with the Islamic community after conversion?

SAILS likes to occasionally organise workshops about topics that relate to our programme. On this page you can find more information about previous workshops.

The center studies the many ways in which issues of law and justice are dealt with in art and literature with a focus on liminal issues and cases. These are issues and cases where law comes to the limits of what it is capable of dealing with and art and literature explore the implications of what is…

Leiden has much to celebrate: first, 450 years of the Relief of Leiden and then 450 years of Leiden University. And that is no coincidence.

Leiden University has had a campus in The Hague for over 20 years and sees the city as its second hometown.

Democratic citizenship refers to the capacity and willingness of citizens to actively influence the functioning of state institutions. While considered a vital correlate of democratization and the rule of law, its largely western-oriented literature rarely studies the forms of democratic citizenship…

Leiden University will be recording a brand-new series of podcasts in 2019: Science Shots. Our top scientists will talk about their research in less than 15 minutes. Tip: something to enjoy on the train journey between Leiden and The Hague, our two University cities!

Using artificial intelligence is more complicated for the government than for companies. Bram Klievink, Professor of Public Administration, aims to identify the problems and find solutions.

In autoimmune diseases such as rheumatism and diabetes the immune system attacks autologous proteins. Leiden researchers are trying to discover how this comes about.

Leiden University’s Master of Laws in Advanced Studies in Law and Finance (L.L.M.) examines the complex, international and multidisciplinary area of law and finance: markets, regulation and a sustainable society.

Last Thursday, March 6, Sabine Luning passed away after an illness of more than six months. Sabine was an inspiring teacher who enthused generations of anthropology students with both the theoretical side of social science and the practice of intensive fieldwork. As a researcher, she produced innovative…

Het Amerikaanse hooggerechtshof oordeelde op 1 juli dat een president tijdens hun ambtsperiode een zekere immuniteit heeft. Zij zijn onschendbaar in geval van ‘officiële handelingen’. Tessa van Buchem uit haar zorgen en kritiek in het FD.

The ICC Moot Court Competition, organised by the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies, in partnership with the International Bar Association and sponsored by the Planethood Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and The Hague Municipality, welcomed top students of 64…

The political situation in Venezuela is increasingly complicated. On Monday morning, February the fourth, several EU countries, including The Netherlands, recognised Guiadó as legitimate acting president. Dr. Jan Melissen, attached to the Clingendael Institute and the Institute of Security and Global…

A delegation from Leiden University visited Japan from 18 to 26 November to facilitate cooperation in research and teaching. The delegation also attended the signing of a twinning agreement between the cities of Leiden and Nagasaki and the opening of a bridge to Dejima, once literally the bridge between…

The European Union can only remain in existence if all Member States continue to be inspired by the spirit of compromise. Those words comprised the core message of Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, who delivered the third Europa Lecture on 10 October at Leiden University.

The announcement by US President Donald Trump on 9 March in response to the invitation for a summit meeting with the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong Un came as a big surprise. Media analyses vary from being very positive to almost cynically negative. However, according to researcher on Korea Koen…

Within the scope of innovating and connecting – the theme of our new Strategic Plan – I paid a visit to Brussels last week. It is important to give Leiden University a face in Brussels and to show our expertise, on Africa for instance.

The use of virtual girl Sweetie, used by the police to investigate pedofiles, is problematic in the Netherlands. Researchers of Leiden University and Tilburg University conclude that this is due to the criminal law applicable at the moment.

Han de Winde will step down as a member of the faculty board of the Faculty of Science from 1 September 2018. De Winde had been vice–dean at the faculty since 2013. As director of education he was responsible for the bachelor's and master's programmes at the faculty.

On 21 April 2022, Cleveringa Professor Jan Grabowski visited Leiden. The theme of his visit was the role of law and historiography in shaping collective memories.

After more than five years, Professor Armin Cuyvers has handed over the position of Programme Director for the master’s programmes in Law to Marije Schneider, who started on 1 January 2024. Her vision, drive and experience mean she is well placed to fulfil the role.

The Dutch police force has been deliberately storing personal data relating to millions of Dutch people for many years now. In doing so, the institution has been knowingly breaking the law. Bart Schermer, Professor of Law and Digital Technology expressed his concerns on Follow the Money – a platform…

As of March 16 two PhD candidates have started their work on the project Empirical Legal Studies as part of the sector plan for Law.

The new Asian Library in the centre of Leiden accommodates the dispersed Asian collection of Leiden University. The festive opening of the Asian Library was marked by the Tour of Asia, an exciting knowledge festival, with workshops, talks and film screenings. Leiden anthropologists that work on Asia…

On May 22 eLaw's researcher Helena Ursic spoke at the international conference

In collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, the Europa Institute hosted a roundtable on Thursday 30 May on the theme of the upcoming European elections. The consequences of these elections extend far beyond the European Parliament's political composition: they affect how the European Union is…

A flood of news reports, push notifications and even extra news broadcasts: on Wednesday, the world was shocked by the storming of the Capitol in Washington. Americanist Sara Polak discusses the events.

With his master thesis ‘Passion for Sustainable Fashion’ Public Administration student Wouter Kuin has won the SER thesis award 2018 of the Social Economic Council. He was awarded the prize because of the great relevance for the SER-work, the thorough research, the high analytical level and the good…

This is a difficult time. Above all, for all those directly involved in this horrible case – unacceptable behaviour by a professor and his removal from the University – the case we went public about on 18 October and that has been reported in the media. This is painful and tough for the complainants…

On 1st July Austria will assume the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. An appropriate occasion to invite former president of Austria Heinz Fischer to deliver the eighth Europa Lecture on Friday 8th June. During the lecture Mr Fischer shared his views on the history of his country…

On 24 May, Iyiola Solanke, Jacques Delors Professor in EU Law at the University of Oxford's Faculty of Law and Fellow of Somerville College, gave the annual Europa Lecture organised by Europa Institute in Leiden Law School's historic Lorentz Lecture Hall. Her lecture was entitled ‘A decolonial approach…

‘We can see further than the end of our noses.’ This is what the presidents of the three Zuid-Holland universities in the LDE Alliance say in ScienceGuide. Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam have been working together within the LDE Alliance for seven…

On April 19, Pax Initiative, a youth led NGO, held its first ever event at the Museon in the Hague. The event, “International Court of Justice Idealab: The Future of the ICJ” was a productive and inspiring discussion among students and young professionals on how the Court can reach the 16th Sustainable…

President Trump believes that Iran’s economy is collapsing, and that this will leave Iranians no choice but to surrender to the demands of the United States. But these expectations might not come true, says Arash Pourebrahimi at the website of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Associate Professor Erik Bähre talks about the upcoming elections in Brazil on the Dutch Radio channel BNR Radio.

The British Academy appointed Eveline Crone as a Corresponding Fellow to recognise her contribution to the SHAPE themes - the social sciences, humanities and the arts. The British Academy is the national academy for social sciences and humanities in the United Kingdom. Besides Crone, 83 other Fellows…

Wednesday 18 January 2017, a university-wide meeting was organized on the upcoming alterations with regard to the role and tasks of Study Program Committees (Opleidingscommissies; OCs) within Leiden University.

This year The Netherlands once again chairs the EU Council. In the book ‘Fit for the Future’ Leiden researchers reflect on the priorities that the Dutch presidency has put forward for 2016 and raise the question: is the EU fit for the future?

Following Trump’s resounding victory over his Republican arch-rival in Iowa, it's clear that standing by passively and giving Biden the benefit of the doubt is not an option. Luuk van Middelaar, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions, warns in his column in…