During the week of 27 June - 2 July, the Institute of History was host to the first SHAFR Graduate Summer Institute held outside of the United States. The theme of the Institute was Culture, Propaganda and Intelligence in Cold War History.

Can trees adapt to (climate) change? Which trees are more or less capable of doing so, and why? A group of researchers from all over the world set to work on these questions. Professor of Environmental Biology Peter van Bodegom helped to classify the functional traits of tree species. These are for…

In December 2023, Mr. Max Farasat (B.A. Religious Studies) was announced as Co-Winner of the

A complete transformation of the steel cycle in the Netherlands with the ultimate goal of a CO2 neutral steel sector by 2050. For this purpose, the Growing with Green Steel program receives €100 million from the National Growth Fund. From Leiden, Professor of Industrial Ecology René Kleijn is involv…

To honour the work of its longstanding chair Nick Ryan, CAA International provides the annual Nick Ryan Bursary Award. The Nick Ryan Bursary Award winner is chosen from each year’s student paper presenters. The award goes towards the costs of attending the CAA Conference the following year, up to a…

Museum Night on Saturday 28 May is a good opportunity to discover the unique museums in Leiden. Thirteen museums will open their doors and give visitors the chance to experience these locations in a different light.

Composer Paul Craenen (1972) is actually a pianist, but as part of his PhD ceremony, he performed a composition on PVC pipes. Craenen studies the position and role of the body in music. ‘I am interested in what precedes the resulting sound’.

Didi van Trijp started her PhD project at LUCAS in October 2015. Her PhD project is part of A New History of Fishes. A long-term approach to fishes in science and culture, 1550-1880, a project directed by prof. dr. Paul Smith.

Fred Janssen is curious about how best to teach students and students to gain a good understanding of complex ‘swamp situations’. This is the subject of his inaugural lecture as Professor of Science Education at the ICLON and the Faculty of Science. Inaugural address 19 June 2017.

It is good for a judge to have some empathy with victims and offenders. But too much empathy can be harmful to the practice of the law, as PhD candidate Claudia Bouteligier has found. Literature may offer a solution. PhD defence 18 September.

Hans Slabbekoorn researches animal sounds and the effect of the noise we humans make on these animals. He is also committed to making his discipline more diverse.

The European Research Council had awarded a Starting Independent Researcher Grant to Bleda Düring for the project Consolidating Empire.Reconstructing Hegemonic Practices of the Middle Assyrian Empire at the Late Bronze Age Fortified Estate of Tell Sabi Abyad, Syria, ca. 1230 – 1180 BC.

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the Leiden Law School thesis prizes were awarded at the New Year’s event.

In secondary education, teacher collaboration is used to further teachers’ professional development. In her dissertation, Loes de Jong (PhD candidate at ICLON) examines how various collaborative initiatives stimulate teacher learning. Her thesis defence is on 20 May 2021.

Arjen Doelman (Leiden University), Max Rietkerk (Utrecht University), Ehud Meron (Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) and Isla Myers-Smith (University of Edinburgh) received an ERC Synergy grant of 10 million euros with their RESILIENCE project. The researchers will investigate whether and how tipping…

After an intensive tender procedure, Leiden University and the Municipality of Oegstgeest have chosen Dura Vermeer for a new housing development with plenty of affordable homes in Nieuw Rhijngeest-Zuid. Dura Vermeer seeks to create a green and playful neighbourhood with welcoming public spaces as its…

The latest issue of NTT Journal for Theology and the Study of Religion debates dr. Markus Altena Davidsen’s vision for the future of religious studies in the Netherlands. Comparison, theory formation, and valorization are among the elements that Davidsen urges scholars of religion to prioritize in order…

Two Leiden Science researchers received an NWO-XS grant for their research. Both projects are highly promising, but also high-risk. Macrophages that trap bacteria and data storage made from 2D materials convinced the board of their potential.

This HJD Forum will look at how the architecture of diplomatic missions reflects both how countries see themselves and their role in the world and how they want other countries and their citizens to see them.

Two events on Music and the Brain will be held in Leiden later this month.

Anthonya (Thony) Visser, Leiden Professor of German Language and Literature, is spending six months as a senior fellow at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies. 'Possibly the most important thing of all is that I have time.'

On 8-10 July, 2024, public law scholars from around the world gathered in Madrid for the annual conference of the International Society of Public Law – the ICON-S, hosted this year by IE University. The theme of the conference “The Future of Public Law: Resilience, Sustainability, and Artificial Intelligence,”…

Dr Erik Kwakkel, Leiden specialist on medieval manuscripts, has one foot in the world of medieval book production and the other firmly planted in the modern environment of social media. He is co-editor of Author, Reader, Book aimed at specialists in medieval authorship, and tweets daily to bring the…

Novel language learning activates different neural processes than was previously thought. A Leiden research team has discovered parallel but separate contributions from the hippocampus and Broca's area, the learning centre in the left hemisphere. The right hemisphere of the brain also seems to play…

On January 25th, artist Jonas Staal will defend his dissertation which explores the development of propaganda art from the 20th to the 21st century.

Political scientist Tom Theuns (Leiden University) has been awarded a Veni grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This means that he is recognised as a promising researcher and that he will receive support to develop his ideas further for a period of three years. Theuns will focus on the role…

The fourth edition of the Middle Eastern Culture market was a great success with more than 2000 visitors over the weekend. Attendees participated in the many workshops, attended lectures, and shopped at the market stands.

From 16 to 18 August, 30 participants from 18 different countries gathered online to participate in the Online Summer Programme: Preventing, Detecting and Responding to Violent Extremism, organised by Leiden University’s Centre for Professional Learning (CPL) together with the International Centre for…

All students receiving their bachelor diploma in Political Science last week had a reason or two to celebrate. Two of them especially so: they won the annual award for the best thesis in the International Relations and Organisations and the Politicologie/Internationale Politiek programmes. Congratulations,…

Astronomer Frans Snik searches for extraterrestrial life. He doesn’t so much look at stars as at the ‘exoplanets’ alongside them.

In some parts of the Roman Empire public meals were the norm: the wealthy treated the whole city to a meal. This phenomenon that suddenly arose and disappeared just as quickly had to do with political and social developments, according to historian Shanshan Wen. PhD defence 6 September.

Professor of Islam and the West Maurits Berger wants to use citizen science to answer this question. On the futureofislam.eu website, he is inviting European Muslims to complete an anonymous survey about how they see their future and the role of Islam in this. He will present the first findings at the…

Tax collection has become highly complex and the system is creaking at the seams. Is there an easier way to collect taxes? This is the question raised by Rex Arendsen, Professor of Tax Law, in his inaugural lecture on 16 September.

Leiden Professor of Molecular astrophysics Ewine van Dishoeck has been awarded an Advanced Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). She has been awarded 2.3 million euros in research funding for the MOLDISK programme. Within this programme, Van Dishoeck wants to connect chemistry and physics in…

Fiction is more effective than autobiographical non-fiction when it comes to conveying the sensation of enforced solitary confinement. That is the conclusion of writer and lawyer Maarten Asscher in his study 'Het uur der waarheid. Over de gevangenschap als literaire ervaring' (The Moment of Truth: Imprisonment…

Young Dutch people’s reading skills have been declining for years. The main reason for this is that many have difficulty with reading at greater depth. Teach pupils to read actively in order to construct meaning is what Leiden researchers Paul van den Broek, Christine Espin and Anne Helder write in…

Staring into the clouds hoping for a glimpse of the sun, cheering in encouragement, video recordings: there was no shortage of things to do at the Leiden Observatory. More than 600 visitors witnessed the last, almost complete solar eclipse of the decade..

By making smart use of available data, the health and care of people can be substantially improved. Marco Spruit wants to use language and machine learning in the coming years to identify and solve the biggest care issues in the region of The Hague. He has been appointed Professor of Advanced Data Science…

Ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of companies should have registered their information in the Dutch UBO register before 27 March 2022. The Dutch Minister of Finance saw no reason to postpone the deadline for registration, according to answers to parliamentary questions. In an article on the legal platform…

On 25-26 October 2022, a select group of high-level participants gathered in Leiden to discuss research on Libya’s national reconciliation and access to justice, and to explore implications for policy and law.

The Netherlands organisation for Scientific Research NWO has granted a subsidy to prof. dr Wilfred H. van Soldt (Humanities, LIAS) and dr Diederik J.W. Meijer (Archaeology, Near East) to conduct a pilot excavation in Iraqi Kurdistan.

Four Leiden researchers have been awarded a prestigious Vici grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Academic Research (NWO).

As of November 1st 2019, Professor Anthonya (Thony) Visser will become Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Groningen and will leave LUCAS.

Anne Krause and Niki Antypa received a facultairy 'Grassroots' subsidy of 1.000 euros for education innovation. They're going to implement live supervision of students during therapy/coaching sessions in the International Practice Internship.

Workshop brings multidisciplinary experts together to debate proposed detection technologies and their impact on fundamental rights.

Leiden Professor of Astronomy Mike Garrett is searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. In his Kaiser lecture on 23 April he will discuss how far science has progressed in this quest.

In 2014 Russia entered Ukraine and occupied Crimea, and about two and a half years ago it began a large-scale invasion. For Ukraine, it’s a war. But Russia calls it a ‘special military operation’. Word choices of this kind affect how people look at issues. A Dutch Research Council (NWO) project led…

How can we tell whether and how a prehistoric weapon was used? How can we better understand the dexterity and combat skills involved in Bronze Age spear fighting? A research team from Leiden and Göttingen University present a new approach to answering these questions: they simulated the actual fight…

On Monday 9 May Mercury will pass between the Earth and the Sun. This rare event can be followed in the Leiden Observatory. The Observatory's new solar telescope produces a very clear image and offers a unique opportunity to observe Mercury at the highest magnification possible in the Netherlands.

Exile: an Interview- 29 December 2022 & 2 February 2023 at Beit Ha'gefen Gallery, Haifa.