The Leidse Instrumentenmakers School (LiS) has received the Leiden erepenning—an honorary medal that is awarded each year during the celebration of the Leids Ontzet to a person or institute that has done a great service to the city of Leiden.

University lecturer Casper Wits wrote an opinion piece on the ongoing diplomatic tensions between the European Union and China for POLITICO. In this article, he argues that 'rather than shrinking from the fight, the EU must develop a China policy that prioritizes progressive values and human rights.…

The Leiden University Labour Law Department started a new cooperation with the Law School of the China University of Labor Relations in Beijing. The agreement was signed by Dean prof. Jiang Ying during the visit of her delegation on 19 September 2019 in Leiden. Also Vice-Dean prof. Li Wenpei and Lecturer…

In this blog post Saskia Postema and Jan Melissen claim that Chinese UN celebrities’ activism under Xi Jinping has become aligned with the Chinese leadership’s ambitions.

The emissions of the Chinese industrial sector alone comprise 24.1% of global emissions (7.8 GtCyr−1 in 2015). This makes Chinese industrial emissions of unique national and international relevance in climate policy. This study reports a literature survey that quantitatively describes the evolution…

Since 2009-2010, the West viewed China as more assertive. Especially after Xi Jinping came to power in 2012, the country abandoned Deng Xiaoping’s ‘low profile’ foreign policy. Friso Stevens explains in his dissertation where this change has come from. The dissertation defence is on 28 March.

On 23 March 2023 Weidong Zhang defended his thesis in Leiden on achieving decent work in China. This research analyses to what extent China is achieving decent work based on a case study of decent working time. The word ‘achieving’ underlines that China is still in the process of securing this aim.…

What are the benefits for us of collaboration with Chinese partners? What sparks off Leiden researchers' interest in collaborating with colleagues in China? Leiden University shows in three short films what joint projects are like.

Previous studies have identified institutional, organizational, and individual factors that promote innovation in public organizations. Yet they have overlooked how the type of public administration—and the type of administrators—is associated with innovative attitudes.

Europe must be prepared to stand up for its values in its relationship with China, argues University Lecturer Casper Wits in an article in Politico.

‘China has become an academic powerhouse, which is good reason for Leiden University to expand our partnerships with universities there.' A delegation headed by Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker visited China and South Korea, to renew and extend existing partnerships.

Chinese universities have big ambitions to be among the leading international higher education institutions. What does this mean in terms of opportunities for researchers at the universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam? Staff at the universities recently discussed the issue.

This article explores how ISIS and the Taliban have fostered support through their parallel legal systems.

On 14 November 2019, Luis Fiallos Pazmino defended his thesis 'Legal Perspectives on the Cross Border Operations of Unmanned Aircraft Systems'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.M.J. Mendes de Leon and Prof. E.C.P.D.C. De Brabandere.

On 27 June 2019, Barry Bussey defended his thesis 'The Legal Revolution Against the Accommodation of Religion: The Secular Age v. The Sexular Age'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. P.B. Cliteur.

On 11 February 2020, Clara van Dam defended her thesis 'Guidance documents of the European Commission in the Dutch legal order'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. W. den Ouden and Prof. J.E. van den Brink (UvA).

This project is a three-year collaborative research between European and Chinese researchers (2015-2018). As a part of the China-Europe “Understanding Population Change” Collaborative Research Initiative, the project utilizes multidisciplinary research methodologies (social and cultural anthropology,…

On 24 September 2020, Bernardo Ribeiro de Almeida defended his thesis 'Building land tenure systems: the political, legal, and institutional struggles of Timor-Leste'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. A.W. Bedner. Co-supervisor was Dr. C.I.M. Jacobs.

For a while, it was uncertain whether prominent American politician Nancy Pelosi would travel to Taiwan. But last Tuesday, she did visit – much to the displeasure of China. Asia expert Casper Wits explains why China reacted so strongly and what the consequences of the visit may be.

Fifteen hundred years ago, the north-west of what we now call China was a jumble of peoples. How did those Indians, Khotanese and Tocharians influence each other and each other's languages? Associate professor Michaël Peyrot has been awarded an ERC grant of almost two million euros to unravel this 'web…

This book considers the porous relationship between legality and illegality in Brazil, a country that presages political and societal changes in hitherto unprecedented dimensions.

On 5 June 2018 Emile Beenakker defended her doctoral thesis ‘The implementation of international law in the national legal order: A legislative perspective’. The doctoral research was supervised by Professor W.J.M. Voermans.

A delegation from Leiden University, headed by the Rector Magnificus Professor Paul van der Heijden, is currently in Xiamen, in South-East China, to conclude two agreements on intensive research and teaching collaboration with academic institutions there, and to open the first MEARC representative office…

Labour is back as a significant social and political force in Indonesia, as was shown in the recent 1 May trade union demonstrations in Jakarta. Over the past years major changes have taken place in Indonesian labour law, leading to new forms of judicial and political resolution of labour disputes.

The United Kingdom’s relationship with the European Union was supposed to be definitively settled several times during the past decade – yet it was not. The 2016 referendum brought about a surge in interest in legal questions, especially of EU law and international economic law. This presented scholars…

Over the past year and a half, China’s diplomacy has attracted attention from media institutions, policy makers and scholars around the globe.

A Leiden University Day, new agreements on exchanging PhD students and a keynote speech by Geert de Snoo at a popular symposium. In November, a Faculty of Science delegation paid a fruitful visit to eight universities in China.

Building cultures of legality: lawmaking and anxiety in the office of the Governor General.

From deepfakes and disinformation to killer robots, surgical robots and AI lawmaking: AI (Artificial Intelligence) is changing our world. That raises the question whether this requires some form of regulation. At eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University, prof. Bart Custers…

Psychologists of Leiden University and Peking University will collaborate to investigate the deficiencies in emotion recognition in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The new collaboration fits very well in the policy of Leiden University in which intensified collaboration with China has…

This year, the Netherlands and China reflect on fifty years of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level. How has the relationship between the countries developed over the past half century? An interview with university lecturer Vincent Chang.

On 26 and 27 May 2017, Richard Jiang, PhD candidate at the Europa Institute, participated as a speaker in the ninth annual meeting of the Society for Environmental Law and Economics at Worcester College, University of Oxford.

That it was students who started the protests in China against its zero Covid policy makes things more dangerous for politicians. China expert Frank Pieke explains the role of students in China, what makes the protests unique and what might happen next.

This dissertation presents a legal geographical analysis of the heritage laws of the independent English-speaking islands of the Lesser Antilles.

It’s impossible to avoid, even in the Netherlands: the US will soon be going to the polls. Where does it come from, this fascination with US elections? PhD candidate Bram Eenink explains.

On May 20 from 14:00-15:30 (CET) The Hague Journal of Diplomacy and the LeidenAsiaCentre (LAC) organise a panel discussion on China’s diplomacy, on the occasion of the launch of a special issue of the Journal on China’s Global Diplomacy, edited by Qingmin Zhang, Paul Sharp and Jan Melissen.

Khadija Kadrouch-Outmany defended her thesis on 16 September 2014.

Rector Carel Stolker officially presented the University's Programme for Cooperation with China to stakeholders from the Chinese Embassy, the Dutch government, the private sector, and societal organizations during a China dinner at Leiden University on 11 October.

China makes no secret of its ambitions to become the world’s leading nation. What can we expect now that the EU and the rest of the world are in recession? And why did President Donald Trump suspend US funding to the World Health Organization? Rob de Wijk, Professor of International Relations and Security…

A large delegation composed of 11 delegates from institutes from the Faculty of Science has made an extensive visit to China and enhanced Leiden’s influence in the Chinese academia, industry and local government.

Op 26 april 2012 kwamen ze samen om ervaringen te delen met Leidse staf: twaalf Chinese promovendi die in Nederland zijn in het kader van het beursprogramma van de China Scholarship Council. Tien dagen eerder, op 16 april, ontving de Universiteit Leiden een delegatie van Peking University.

What is Interaction between Legal Systems (ILS) and what does it entail as research profile area at Leiden Law School? More on this at the kick-off event of ILS 2.0. This will take place on Wednesday 26 October 15.00 – 17.00 in the Grotiuszaal (A051 KOG). The afternoon will be closed with drinks at…

Rong Yuang, PhD candidate from the Institute of Environmental Sciences investigated the impact of the renewable energy expansion on China’s carbon emission. On 17 May, she will defend her thesis. China is investing heavily in the development of low-carbon electricity sources, like nuclear, hydro-,…

A joint global research project, “New Bank Insolvency Law for China and Europe”, which started in 2014, is nearing its completion. China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL, Beijing, China) and Leiden Law School’s Hazelhoff Centre for Financial Law are finalizing an innovative joint research…

There is an increasing amount of attention on EU and its Member States contributions to implementation of two landmark agreements: the Paris Climate Agreement and the UN Agenda 2030 with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Absent from the current literature is an analysis of the political effect of…

How do Chinese view the Netherlands, and what do they experience here? These and other matters were discussed February 9th at the conference: “China, the Netherlands and Europe” which took place in Leiden. The conference, organized by the LeidenAsiaCentre, also marked the opening of the Leiden Asia…