Genes are active sometimes, and other times they remain dormant for a while. Leiden physicist John van Noort receives an NWO ECHO grant to find out how this happens.

Some people are predisposed to develop cancer. Mutations in genetic material that increase a person’s chances of developing cancer can already be present at birth. Researchers are closely examining these mutations to learn more about how cancer begins to develop.

‘It was a discovery we did not expect,’ says Remko Offringa, professor of Plant developmental genetics. Today he publishes a new trait of a versatile gene in Current Biology: it makes the difference in plants between herbaceous and woody stem growth. A useful feature to prevent dehydration.

Why do some children confront social challenges with confidence, whereas others experience difficulties? What is the role of child temperament and child emotional dispositions? What is the role of parenting? This project aims to shed light on the mechanisms explaining shyness and confidence in response…

A publication in Nature Plants by a team of Leiden biologists has received national and international media attention. The researchers can have annuals flower multiple times thanks to a particular gene they discovered.

Are there any differences in gaze behavior between high and low socially anxious individuals? What factors influence the relation between social anxiety and gaze behavior?

A neurobiological perspective on individual differences in social competence

The studies outlined in this volume explore how connectedness continues to change Africa and how Africa continues to shape the social life of connections.

Do you have to be able to say everything on Twitter and Facebook? Is Instagram morally obliged to remove photos from attacks? Should we allow the terrorist group to recruit new members on the internet?

Social safety is all about creating a supportive community

At FGGA, we want our staff to feel safe in all respects. We therefore strive to create a work environment where we treat each other with respect, where we promote inclusion and where we speak up if we experience or witness unsafety.

There are several ways to stay up to date via social media.

Social Science Matters is an online variant on London’s famous Speakers’ Corner – a platform for the researchers in the various disciplines in the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences to react to the news. This soapbox gives our social scientists an opportunity to voice their opinions on current…

The [A]Social Creatures Lab is an interdisciplinary research lab that focuses on understanding social interaction with and between artificial creatures. Researchers and students from the Media Technology group collaborate in it.

The [a]social creatures lab focusses on understanding social interaction with and between artificial creatures.

Social Citizenship & Migration (SCM) is one of the nine interdisciplinary programmes launched by Leiden University in 2020. It is led by the Faculties of Governance and Global Affairs, Law, Humanities, and Social Science.

Serious forms of anxiety concerning other people’s opinions can hinder teenagers at school in social interactions or carrying out tasks. Psychologist Anne Miers is looking for ways to reduce this so-called ‘social anxiety’.

YAL is excited to launch the Social Safety Open Dialogue Sessions in collaboration with Human Resources (HR). We aim to connect the existing social safety policies and their implementation with the experiences and expectations of our community.

This interdisciplinary research project explores several adaptive machine learning methods which can give insight into the interaction between human and machine. The ultimate goal is open and natural communication between humans and AI that should result in mutual trust, cooperation and coordination…

The [a]social creatures lab focusses on understanding social interaction with and between artificial creatures.

Social anxiety disorder is one of the most common disorders in children and young people. Social anxiety is characterized by excessive fear and avoidance of social situations. The primary fear in children with social anxiety is that they will be negatively judged by others. To date, the most frequently…

Efficiently responding to others’ emotions has great survival value, especially for social species, such as primates, who establish close, long-term bonds with group members. The closest living relatives to humans are the chimpanzee and the bonobo. Studying these species, and comparing them on the exact…

There are five institutes at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences:

Social anxiety runs in families, but the neurobiology underlying this genetic vulnerability is until now largely unknown. The unique Leiden Family Lab study on Social Anxiety Disorder (LFLSAD) aims to broaden our knowledge with respect to this genetic susceptibility.

We are very happy to welcome you to spend a semester or year studying with us at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. This website will provide you per programme with information on your course schedules and much more.

Are you thinking about studying Social and Organisational Psychology? Learn more and watch the videos.

Social resilience and security has never been more important. Over the last 2 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a considerable disturbance to our personal and social lives. As a result, the general population reports more stress, loneliness and decreased quality of life. At the same time, there…

Innovation plays an essential role in firms' competitiveness and long-term success. It varies from different types, ranging from run-of-the-mill innovation that brings incremental changes to existing technologies to radical innovation that breaks from existing trajectories.

Explore how stakeholders in Gabon's Makokou region interact with forest resources in logging, agriculture, and mining, and their impacts on social and environmental changes.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding teaching in the disciplines of cultural anthropology, education and child studies, political science, psychology, science and technology studies, as well as in multidisciplinary approaches.

As our society becomes increasingly complex, it is critical that we better understand how we can deal with fundamental issues such as societal and personal security, and resilience against threats to our security.

Is willingness to receive Covid-19 vaccine affected by social relationships? To what degree do relationships convey information, social pressure and role-models that alter individual’s willingness to be vaccinated?

There seem to be genes that influence how our brains develop over time. A large international consortium has discovered this with an extensive study. The results of the study were recently published in Nature Neuroscience.

What are the developmental pathways to social anxiety (disorder), the causal processes and maintaining factors? How do these factors interact in the development of social anxiety disorder? How can this knowledge be used to design and implement effective preventive intervention programs for youth?

Developments in globalization and industrialization continuously push governments, international organizations and NGOs to reexamine the opportunities available to people at all levels of society to attain basic socioeconomic necessities. Research into existing social justice initiatives has shown a…

An analysis of pot decoration and hut distributions from the Central European Neolithic communities of Elsloo and Hienheim.

In the specialisation Social and Organisational Psychology, part of the Master in Psychology, you study behaviour in formal and informal groups, such as sports or work teams.

On 1 October 2019, Emile Cammeraat defended his thesis 'Economic Effects of Social Protection'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. K.P. Goudswaard and Prof. P.W.C. Koning.

Researchers and clinicians at Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) are about to begin a milestone clinical study. It will be the first time a stem cell gene therapy developed in the Netherlands is used in a clinic. The therapy will be used to treat children with SCID, a rare disorder where children…

Inequality and violence are the two biggest issues in South Africa. What is the underlying cause? Could they be linked to rivalling groups, economic factors, government policy or all of the above? To understand social issues, it is important to study them within their context. The extended case study…

This project studies social distance—the degree of sympathetic understanding that exists between people—in relation to state foreign policy making. Does, and if so how does, social distance shape political biases, aid narratives, and, ultimately, state foreign policy priorities and decisions?

What is the neural basis of social decision-making across childhood, adolescence and adulthood and what are the developmental patterns in terms of behavior and brain activation?

Researchers from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have successfully used stem cell gene therapy to treat a baby with the severe congenital immune disorder SCID. An important milestone: it is the first time stem cell gene therapy of Dutch origin has been administered to a patient, and also…

What are the main issues leading to polarisation and division? What is the role of social exclusion in these processes? How can we inform and design better policies to safeguard young people from falling prey to intolerance and polarisation? The DRIVE project, led by Leiden University in The Hague,…