How did colonial law work to turn people into property? This project argues that colonial ideas about households and domestic authority were critical to legal processes of enslavement in the early modern Dutch empire. Using colonial court records from Dutch Brazil, Suriname, and the Moluccas, the project…

‘In the field of AI, Leiden is still a relatively unseen university,’ says Thomas Dohmen. The brand-new Director AI Collaboration Center, would like to forge a Leiden AI collaboration network, with sustainable and impactful relationships between the university and civil society organisations. The question…

From Roman ships to the ‘Gordon’ cavalry mask. Alumnus Tom Hazenberg was involved in spectacular finds that put the Dutch frontiers of the Roman Empire on the map. His mission is to give heritage back to the people.

Climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental pollution are urgent problems that call for close collaboration between lawyers and scientists. Dr Hilde Woker and Dr Jason Rudall, both Assistant Professors at Leiden University, are investigating the important interface between law and science.

Arts and culture

Prof. Ton Liefaard has been appointed as member of the Council for the Administration of Criminal Justice and Protection of Juveniles.

As a member of the international advisory board, Prof. Dr. Ton Liefaard, participated in the final expert meeting of the United Nations Global Study on Children Deprived of Liberty, in Venice from 11-13 March 2019.

Prof. Ottervanger, professor emeritus of European Law and Dutch Competition Law has analysed 36 final court judgments concerning decisions by the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets (ACM) in competition cases. The report was part of the review of the ACM that was conducted by the Dutch Ministry…

The Leiden- Delft joined MSc programme on Industrial Ecology has been accredited by the NVAO as an independent MSc programme within Leiden University and Delft University of Technology. Industrial Ecology is an emergent scientific discipline that promotes a systemic approach to sustainability problems,…

In the podcast Het Geldspoor, Professor of Tax Law Jan van de Streek speaks about the profession of tax advisers. 'Tax consultants should take a firmer stance more often’, says Van de Streek.

From 4-6 July, the annual conference of the International Society on Public Law (ICON-S) took place in Wroclaw, Poland. Its theme was 'Global Problems and Prospects in Public Law'. ICON-S brings together scholars of public law from across the globe and has over a thousand active members.

LUCL congratulates Isabelle van de Calseyde with winning the LSr Teaching Prize!

Mathematics student in Leiden Michel Zoeteman received an Encouragement Prize of no less than 500 euro from the “Koninklijke Hollandse Maatschappij der Wetenschappen (KHMW)” Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities on Monday 30 November 2015.

On 29th September 2016 NRC Live, an independent platform for innovative professionals organized by the Dutch newspaper NRC, is hosting an informative event on cyberinsecurity in The Hague.

The University's childcare centre, de Kattekop, has been awarded the 2017 Regional Award by South Holland. In an independent survey, parents gave the centre an exceptional score of 9.4,.

It appears from a study conducted by Independer and Q&A Research that at least one in five Dutch people think you can be refused basic health insurance if you have health problems.

The Department of Methodology and Statistics proudly celebrates the remarkable achievements of two award winners

On the occasion of International Human Rights Day, 10 December, an international conference was organized by the Moscow-based Сenter for Constitutional Studies.

The ‘Toetsingscommissie Inzet Bevoegdheden’ (TIB), an independent Dutch committee overseeing intelligence efforts and competences, is facing criticism on its supervision of the Dutch intelligence services. ‘Whether the increased supervision is hurting (national) security, can really only be determined…

Police, administrators and other parties will from now on have access to the advice of the new Academic Advisory Board for the Police. Maartje van der Woude, professor of socio-legal studies, is one of the members of this council.

Paul van der Heijden, professor emeritus International Labour Law, was recently appointed by the British Minister for Trade as an independent arbitrator under the dispute settlement provisions of the United Kingdom’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Japan.

Social Psychologist Angelo Romano have been awarded the Association for Psychological Science (ASP) Rising Star designation. This award is presented to outstanding APS members in the earliest stages of their research career post-PhD.

On 24 November 2018 Yvonne Erkens (Associate Professor Labour Law) gave a lecture during the Annual Meeting of the European Association of Labour Court Judges (EALCJ) in Copenhagen.

Academic freedom is essential for good scientific practice, but there are limits: scientists and scholars from all domains must always seek a proper balance between academic freedom and independence on the one hand, and social responsibility on the other hand.

Eric De Brabandere, Anna Marhold and Nico Schrijver of the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies have been included as arbitrators and Trade and Sustainable Development experts in the newly established European Commission pool in the framework of EU free trade agreements enforcement.

The South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (also known as Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, or

What makes for a good team? In a series of articles on teams, Forbes referred to the work of Marina Terkourafi, professor of Sociolinguistics at Leiden University.

The Pension Funds Dispute Authority (GIP) was founded on 1 January 2024. Albert van Marwijk Kooy has been appointed Chair of the Dispute Resolution Committee, which forms part of the GIP.

Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour Law, recently spoke at a meeting of experts in Amsterdam on the future of the Dutch incapacity benefit system.

Dutch troops, judges and politicians collectively condoned and concealed the systematic use of extreme violence during the Indonesian War of Independence. Historians have now shown how this could happen. ‘It was scandal management rather than prevention,’ says Leiden historian and research leader Gert…

Alderman Robert Strijk from the Leiden municipality officially opened the artwork Whispering Wind by Edwin van der Heide on Wednesday November 29.

Municipalities and security services actively monitor at least 160 radicalized Muslims in The Netherlands, as is shown in research by the Volkskrant. Terrorism expert Jelle van Buuren explained in the media.

Nadine Akkerman, University Lecturer and researcher at the LUCAS institute, is nominated for a VIVA400 award in the category 'inspiring women in science'. The Dutch magazine, VIVA, selects 400 inspiring women who excel in their field every year for different categories.

Simon Willmetts walks listeners through the founding of the CIA, its successes, controversies, portrayal in media and film.

Since 1974, World Environment Day has been celebrated every year on 5 June, engaging governments, businesses and citizens in an effort to address pressing environmental issues.

On 22 November Dutch Prime Minister Rutte met up with 400 Indonesian professionals, all of whom at some point studied in the Netherlands, during a young entrepreneurial and alumni reception at the Fairmont Hotel in Jakarta.

Sander Hölsgens is Assistant Professor, anthropologist and the editor of Gamer.nl. In NRC he talks about his favourite moments in the online game The Elder Scrolls Online. Despite a mediocre start in 2014, the computer game based on the Elder Scrolls series now has an active community of millions of…

On 1-2 November, Professor Luuk van Middelaar spoke at the Academic Conference “EU Constitutional Imagination: Between ideology and utopia” at the University of Copenhagen.

“The union’s 60th birthday is not a moment for gifts and cake, but for reinvention around three new strategic idea. (…) The new Europe must protect, improvise and tolerate opposition”. This is what Prof. Luuk van Middelaa, Professor of Foundations and Practice of the European Union and its Institutions,…

On 14 June 2020, Maartje van der Woude was invited to participate on NPO Radio 1 to talk about extra controls at borders to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus.

On 5 December, Luuk van Middelaar appeared as a guest on Dutch current affairs programme Buitenhof to talk about various European issues, including how Europe had tackled the coronavirus pandemic.

VVI Research Meetings 2023-2024

Conference, D&I Symposium

On 27-29 June, 2023, Leiden University's Institute for History will host a summer school on Global History in the 2020s, in collaboration with the Huizinga Institute-Research School for Cultural History, the Research School Political History, and the Flying University of Transnational Humanities (FUTH).…

Lecture

‘I didn’t have that answer’ .. ‘No idea’ … ‘Did I have to read the whole judgment? … Sorry, I haven’t prepared for today’s class.’ These are a few comments from students that our teaching staff hear all too often. Usually, after trying some gentle encouragement followed by slight disappointment, you…

In his inaugural lecture Professor of Environmental Sustainability Jan Willem Erisman calls for local solutions that give people more freedom in how they meet environmental, nature and climate goals. This would allow farmers to come up with their own solutions to the nitrogen problem. The idea ties…

Who still remembers that Leiden attracted a lot of reds from Suriname during the 1970s? The exhibition ‘Dynamic Suriname’ offers a number of surprising insights on the links between Leiden University and Suriname, which is celebrating the fortieth anniversary of its independence this year.

Marion Anker is a junior curator at the Rijksmuseum, the National Museum of the Netherlands. She studied History in Leiden and Amsterdam. Together with her team, she organised the controversial exhibition ‘Revolusi! Indonesië onafhankelijk!’ What did studying History teach her?

North Korea is generally thought to be an isolated country. But, according to PhD candidate Tycho van der Hoog from Leiden’s African Studies Centre, the opposite is in fact the case. North Korea actually has strong alliances with countries in southern Africa. Van der Hoog is trying to shed more light…