This project investigates the causes of the major archaeological change in the period of 40.000-20.000 BC in South Africa.

Tussen de sterren is niet alleen leegte. Er zweven ook stoffen als methanol en koolstofdioxide. Chemische theorieën kunnen nog niet verklaren hoe die zijn ontstaan onder omstandigheden die dat juist onmogelijk zouden moeten maken. Fedor Goumans gaat met een Veni-beurs proberen die vraag te beantwoor…

On the 16th of September, Bert van Pinxteren successfully defended a doctoral thesis. The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics congratulates Bert on this achievement!

In the media, we hear a lot of worrying news from Africa: refugees, attacks, Ebola, starvation, corruption... But Africa is much more than that: it is a continent in transition, with developments occurring at breakneck speed. African Studies scholars from different academic disciplines in Leiden conduct…

Across cultures, parents help their children master the social and linguistic codes needed in adult life. Recent research on language socialization found important cross-cultural differences, pointing out the need for more diversity for a full understanding of this process.

This monograph by Robert Ross provides a detailed narrative of the Kat River Settlement in the Eastern Cape of South Africa during the nineteenth century.

Adriaan Bedner wrote an article on the relationship between Indonesia and the Netherlands in 'de Volkskrant' of 21 November 2016.

This research programme seeks to understand the dynamics in the relationship between social media, mobile telephony and the social fabric under duress in Africa's mobile margins. It combines studies on mobility/migration, conflict and communication in an attempt to uncover these new dynamics, which…

This book reveals how one publishing firm's editorial strategy helped to legitimate European colonialism in the early modern era.

Experimental physicist Tjerk Oosterkamp and theoretician Hans van Leeuwen conduct research on the exact mechanism behind ice skating. De Volkskrant published a news item about it during the opening weekend of the Olympics.

On 29 April 2016 Rick Honings' book 'De dichter als idool. Literaire roem in de negentiende eeuw' (The poet as pop star) was presented.

This project uses archaeological, literary and epigraphic evidence to investigate urban development in Roman-period North Africa, compiling this in a GIS-linked database in order to analyse the development of urban settlement spatially over time.

De positie van kunst en kunstenaars in de westerse samenleving

In recent years, and especially since the ‘Arab Spring’ of 2011, a growing body of research, media reporting, and scholarly literature has focused on the role of ‘Arab youth’ as the drivers of social and political movements across the Middle East and North Africa.

Southern Africa has a rich tradition of social history, one inspired by the tumultuous changes that have regularly convulsed the region from the 1780s onwards. Scholars have always sought to understand what these changes meant for everyday life and emphasised a perspective of marginal groups, how these…

Tot voor kort was de kartering van oppervlaktevondsten de geijkte manier om het in de bronstijd bewoonde gebied in West-Friesland in kaart te brengen. In dit rapport gebaseerd op archeologisch onderzoek in 2012-2015 wordt uiteengezet wat de relatie tussen de oppervlaktevondsten en de aan- en afwezigheid…

This systematic review of 68 English-language articles explores the roles of customary authorities in environmental governance in sub-Saharan Africa

China wordt steeds assertiever in zijn relaties met andere landen, maar achter dit beeld gaat een opmerkelijk diverse maatschappij en politieke realiteit schuil die tal van aanknopingspunten biedt voor samenwerking en verdere integratie van China in de wereld. In China een gids voor de 21e eeuw past…

Every month a member of the Institute for History tells about a book that inspired him or her. Afterwards, the pen is passed on to another colleague. This month dr. Meike de Goede tells about the book 'Between Tides' by Valentin Mudimbe. The novel, little known beyond the circles of Africanists and…

On 10 november 2021, Carmel van Niekerk-Jacobs defended the thesis 'Realising the right to reproduce with assistance in South Africa'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. J.J. Sloth-Nielsen and Prof. T. Liefaard.

Cees van den Hondel, IBL-professor and 2010 Programme director of the Fungus programme of the Kluyver Centre received the royal distinction

On the passing of Anique Schüller

On Sunday, December 10th, at 4:00 PM, the presentation of the book 'Zes eeuwen klokkencultuur in de Abdij van Averbode,' written by Jozef Van Osta, will take place in the Abbey of Averbode. More information can be found in the invitation.

German scientists and NASA have developed a bacteria-killing coating for space toilets. With this coating they hope to protect astronauts in space stations from pathogens. Professor of Biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin sheds light on the discovery: 'You don't expect nasty bacteria up there, but…

La radicalisation est devenue un mot désignant notre monde en couleurs négatives. Ce livre cherche à comprendre ce que c'est que la radicalisation au Sahel et aux Pays-Bas?

Als vertegenwoordiger behartig je de belangen van promovendi en ReMa-studenten binnen de Onderzoekschool Mediëvistiek. Zo krijg je onder meer de kans om mee te denken over het verbeteren van de onderwijs- en onderzoeksactiviteiten van de onderzoekschool. Interesse? Nog vragen? Neem contact op…

This project investigates how early print media covered distant but urgent geopolitical conflicts, using newspapers from the Low Countries, north and south.

Hoe kan de City Deal Kennis Maken bijdragen aan het formuleren van maatschappelijk relevant onderzoek dat de stad in al haar diversiteit centraal stelt? In de stad Leiden zijn burgers momenteel maar in beperkte mate betrokken bij het bepalen van de agenda van de lokale City Deal Kennis Maken. Dit onderzoeksproject…

The Leiden HANDS!Lab for Sign Languages and Deaf Studies hosts research activities in the area of sign language linguistics and Deaf studies, with a focus on Africa. In addition to various research projects, we have our Deaf studies lecture Series in International Sign and offer various regular and…

Friso Stevens, External PhD candidate at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) at Leiden University, wrote in de Volkskrant on the Chinese investment drive.

Leiden University investigates biodiversity not only in the Netherlands, but also abroad, with the goal of improving global nature conservation. We do so in collaboration with local universities. Education is also high on our agenda.

On Monday 28 June 2021, a text based on an interview with Christa Tobler appeared in the Hofvijver (Montesquieu Instituut) on the relationship between the European Union and Switzerland, in particular after the decision of the Swiss Federal Government to refrain from signing an agreement on institutional…

This book is about the workings of networks of the mobile in Africa, a continent usually associated with the ‘global shadows’ of the world.

On Friday April 24th, after a day of festivities in honor of his 60th birthday, Hendrik Lenstra was awarded the distinction of `Ridder in de Orde van de Nederlandse Leeuw' by the mayor of the city of Leiden.

Leiden University will deepen its cooperation with knowledge institutions in Africa. During a trip to Ghana, a delegation spoke with several African knowledge institutions about intensifying their collaboration.

The department of World Archaeology combines research and education about regions all over the world, from Human Origins to the Middle Ages, and from Europe, to Asia, Africa and the America’s. That broad range in time and space makes the department a dynamic pluriform community with many different approaches,…