Galaxies in the early universe are shrouded in a kind of mist: a cloud of hydrogen. With galaxies in the later universe this mist has disappeared. Astronomer Jorryt Matthee has made the first images of this dissipating mist. PhD defence 19 September.

This research project, that started in September 2008, aims to explore how personal and public memories of the Dutch Revolt in the seventeenth century evolved and interacted to create new political and cultural identities for the societies that eventually were to become the kingdoms of the Netherlands…

In the largest study of ancient DNA ever conducted, an international team of scientists has revealed the complex story behind one of the defining periods in European prehistory. The study is published this week in the journal Nature.

A common notion is that autistic people feel no need for social contact, that they are socially clumsy and show little prosocial behavior. But is that image correct? According to developmental psychologist Carolien Rieffe, an important goal of Autism Awareness Week (March 28 - April 5) is to remove…

The coronavirus crisis had a major impact on the judicial system in the Netherlands: courts closed at the start of the pandemic and instead held virtual hearings. Research now shows that things did not always go smoothly.

Between November 2022 and December 2023, 45 one-off and 14 structural security measures were taken for academics or university staff. This is what it says in the External Intimidation, Hatred and Threats against Academics Monitor published by the Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the Dutch Research…

Do people actually understand the constitution? This is what Jelle But, PhD candidate at Constitutional and administrative law, wondered. To find out, he conducted a survey among 1333 respondents. His research shows that lawyers and other legal professionals actually do not have a better understanding…

With his photo of a fish trapped in a rubber glove, external PhD candidate Auke-Florian Hiemstra has made it to the shortlist for the People’s Choice Award in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. The photo shows the impact of Covid litter on wildlife.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) published different statements regarding the Summits of the Asia-Europe Meetings (ASEM).

Research from Dutch news organisation NOS shows that gambling companies, including Holland Casino and the Dutch Lottery, have more influence on the creation of new rules on gambling adverts than addiction experts.

The percentage of female professors at Leiden University has risen to 30.2%. These are the results of the Women Professors Monitor 2021, which was published by the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH). This shows that Leiden University is well above the national average of 25.7%.

The environment also benefits when people follow national nutritional guidelines, Paul Behrens demonstrated in research published in PNAS. The publication attracted media attention both at home and internationally.

With research on the intergenerational transmission of trauma, Tamara Compagner (right) has won the FSW Thesis Prize 2023. The thesis was written as part of the Master's in Education and Child Studies and examines the role of parent-child attachment and child personality in high-risk families.

Students get free advice of Leiden alumni about their career, applying for a job, social networking and more. The Mentor Network is an online platform on which more than 650 alumni offer to help students.

On 16 September 2017 the fifth edition of the Night of Arts & Sciences will take place in the city of Leiden. This is your chance to showcase your own work at the festival!

First author Rubin Dasgupta, PhD student at the Biophysical Organic Chemistry & Macromolecular Biochemistry groups at the Leiden Institute of Chemistry has made the cover of the June edition of Solid State Nuclear Magnetic Resonance.

The VPRO children’s television show Beestieboys visited the Philippine crocodile project of the Mabuwaya Foundation. Presenters Tim and Nicolaas met CML researcher Merlijn van Weerd, who is director of the Mabuwaya Foundation. They joined him on a crocodile night survey and during a school lecture on…

Underneath you will find the 12 most important Facebook events that took place at the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs in the past year, and an overview of our Instagram highlights of 2018.

Health psychologist Kaya Peerdeman has won the article award of the Postgraduate School For Research and Education in Experimental Psychopathology (EPP) for the best academic paper in 2015-2016. Published in European Journal of Pain on 19 April 2017.

Starting on Thursday 16 May 2019, the Faculty of Archaeology features a new mini exhibition, ‘Archaeology&ME’. Ten showcases address the public’s connection with archaeology. They show how archaeology matters to them and how it constitutes a bridge between the past, present and future.

May 12 is Mother's Day in many countries. Becoming a mother is no mean feat: brain scientist Elseline Hoekzema has shown that a woman's brain changes drastically during pregnancy. She explained how in TV show De Kennis van Nu.

SRON, the Netherlands Institute for Space Research, is holding an open day on Sunday 25 September. It has had a branch at the Leiden Bio Science Park since 2021 and works closely with Leiden University.

Donald Trump's US election victory is causing major concerns in many countries, including Iran. Afshin Ellian, Professor of Jurisprudence, spoke about this on Dutch all-news radio station BNR: ‘Denying that they're worried is really just for show’.

What’s the fate of our sun, when in 5 billion years from now our Milky Way will clash with the Andromeda Galaxy? Leiden astronomers have been working on calculations on this collision. They recently gave a visual sneak preview on a big tech conference.

What is the relationship between America and North Korea? How big are the chances that a war will break out? How important are the personalities of Trump and Kim Jong-un? These and other questions about North Korea were treated in the BNR-De Wereld programme that was broadcasted live from Campus The…

A new article, published by researchers from the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science and the Leiden University Centre of Linguistics in the journal PLoS ONE, shows that 50% of Dutch Facebook users are exposed to junk news at least once. In addition, junk news causes more user engagement than…

Ineke was invited as a guest to discuss her findings on navigation behavior and age, and to announce this year's weekend of science on current affairs tv show Tijd voor Max. https://www.maxvandaag.nl/sessies/themas/gezondheid-sport/hoe-navigeert-nederland-doe-mee-aan-het-onderzoek/

NVIC would like to invite you to Tilly Mulder's second exhibition. This time around a new series of paintings, names 'Mindscapes', will be on show.

From a ruinous building site to a lively university building: that is the drastic metamorphosis that the Wijnhaven complex is going through at this moment. The pictures below already show impressions of the end result.

You can still enroll for the master Magnetic Resonance Physics course. It starts at Monday, Nov. 13th 13:30 in HL 226. For more information go to https://studiegids.leidenuniv.nl/courses/show/76629/magnetic-resonance-physics

TEXTS FROM ANCIENT EGYPT. Highlights from the Collection of the Leiden Papyrological Institute. Online exhibition on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the foundation ‘Het Leids Papyrologisch Instituut’ in 2015.

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.

Young children who are less empathetic than their peers are more likely to be aggressive when older. This is what Malou Noten concludes in her dissertation. PhD defence on 25 November.

Merijn de Bakker and colleagues of the IBL-research group of Prof. Mike Richardson provide a unique view on digit evolution in crocodiles and birds in their recent study published in Nature.

Op dinsdag 11 februari 2020 verdedigde Clara van Dam haar proefschrift ‘Guidance documents of the European Commission in the Dutch legal order’.

How do classroom demonstration experiments help students learn chemical reasoning? Marie-Jetta den Otter, PhD student at ICLON, researched this. She defends her thesis on 6 December.

On 8 and 9 June, the second edition of EU Cyber Direct’s Closing the Gap conference took place at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium. This year’s edition was organized by François Delerue and Dennis Broeders as part of their participation in the EU Cyber Direct project, of which the Institute of…

Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is a promising method for removing carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and simultaneously generating energy. Yet this method is controversial, as it may require a great deal of land and water. Researchers at Leiden University have now proposed a…

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…

Professor Kees Waaldijk presented the report on the LawsAndFamilies Database to Pearl Dykstra, member of the High Level Group of Scientific Advisors of the European Commission on 25 April. This comparative study shows that in European countries same-sex partners are increasingly gaining equal rights.…

Leiden criminologists have co-developed an artificial intelligence technology that tracks firearms incidents by scanning over 350 news sources.

The proportion of professors at Leiden University who are female has risen slightly to 32.0%. These are the results of the Women Professors Monitor 2024 released by the Dutch Network of Women Professors (LNVH). This puts Leiden University above the national average of 28.7%.

Cut marks on the bones of bears show that people in North-West Europe used bearskins to keep warm 300,000 years ago.

How to get a PhD position is clouded in mystery. In one afternoon, Peter van der Putten and Maarten Lamers talk about how (they think) the game is played.

From the research Terrorist threat in the Netherlands, the risk perception and opportunities for risk communication (Leiden University) shows that the Dutch respond relatively sober to attacks in neighboring countries and the possible risks of a terrorist threat. Half of the respondents believe that…

There is too much focus on online radicalisation, says Joe Whittaker, when this is just one of the factors that make someone become a terrorist. In fact, Whittaker’s research shows that terrorists who use the internet are less successful in achieving their goal than those who stay offline. He will defend…

Team leaders and other immediate supervisors play an important role in facilitating inclusiveness within public organisations. This is the finding of research by public administration expert Tanachia Ashikali. PhD defence 20 November.