Our research at CWTS is organized in three focal areas. These focal areas represent our core areas of interest, as defined in our knowledge agenda for the period 2023-2028.

We present our plans on five work areas: Students, Inclusive Education, Staff, Research, and Accessible and Inclusive Learning and Working Environment. For each work area, we explain which topics are relevant and what policy measures we (plan to) take.

The GTGC programme advances interdisciplinary research on how we govern – and could govern – major world-scale changes in contemporary society. These global transformations and governance challenges cover the themes listed here. The distinctions are not rigid, of course, and affiliated researchers often…

Within the Graduate School you can conduct your PhD research in a wide range of subjects across the Social and Behavioural Sciences, with five distinct research areas offered by its Institutes.

The Centre is the proud home of several research programmes.

PLATO is active in various fields of work.

The Tappino Area Archaeological Project aims to map and analyze ancient settlement patterns and dynamics in a small valley in Central-Southern Italy, in modern Molise (province of Campobasso). The first sites in the area date to the Bronze Age. In the Iron Age to Classical period, it was reportedly…

To truly understand complex regions such as the Middle East and Asia, you have to know their culture, history and local societies inside out. Driven by curiosity for other cultures, the Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) provides an understanding and analysis of current and historical…

Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP) is the largest knowledge centre in the Netherlands in the field of life sciences & health and is also highly regarded internationally. The clustering of high-quality education, research, care and business attract students, scientists and entrepreneurs from all over the…

Geology and Paleobotany of the Area surrounding the Archaeological Excavation at the Hazendonk River Dune (Western Netherlands).

The Leiden University Institute for Area Studies (LIAS) is devoted to the study of places in the human world from antiquity to the present time in a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective.

How can the legal and socio-legal research skills of Indonesian jurists be increased in order to promote legal certainty and to strengthen the capacity of the judicial training in the country?

On 20 March 2019, Tim Dekkers defended his thesis 'Mobility, Control and Technology in Border Areas: Discretion and Decision-making in the Information Age'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. dr. J.P. van der Leun en Prof. dr. M.A.H. van der Woude.

To what extent are, can, and should, human trafficking and human smuggling be(ing) seen as interlinked phenomena? What are the consequences of seeing the phenomena as either distinct or interlinked for the way in which migrants crossing intra-Schengen borders are treated.

An environmental and palaeo-economic reconstruction.

On 13 December 2023 Alf Farabi successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On Wednesday 14 February 2024 Yorum Beekman successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 30 January 2024 Jurre van der Meer successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 17 January 2024 Ying Wang successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 24 October 2023 Jurre Knoest successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 25 January 2024 H.J. Pak successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 3 September 2019, Ilektra Antonaki defended her thesis 'Privatisations and golden shares: Bridging the gap between the State and the market in the area of free movement of capital in the EU'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. S.C.G. Van den Bogaert.

It is multi-media month for master’s students in Journalism and New Media. This means they are on the streets, armed with pen and paper or tablet, smart phone and camera. In the ‘Leiden Neighbourhoods’ project, master’s students are giving their perspective on local area news for the Leidsch Dagblad,…

Human trafficking is much more than kidnapping and selling people. Those who commit labour exploitation can, for example, also be sentenced for human trafficking. Criminologist Masja van Meeteren hopes to simplify the complexity of the phenomenon by charting the different forms of labour exploitati…

Every January, students of the Minor Sustainable Development have the opportunity to put what they’ve learned over the last few months into practice in a choice of exciting and practical courses called Area Studies. This year, for the first time, there was a choice of four locations: The Netherlands,…

Middle Eastern Studies, African Studies or International Relations: all examples of studies that are part of Area Studies at the Faculty of Humanities in Leiden. Within Area Studies you study a region and immerse yourself in (complex) subjects of that region, such as cultural uniqueness, conflicts,…

On 6 September 2018 Jacqueline Vel of the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society organised a master class on ‘Access to Justice’ at the invitation of the Wira Wacana Christian University in Waingapu, Sumba, Indonesia.

Jorrit Rijpma responds in Dutch newspaper the Volkskrant to attention surrounding the reintroduction of border controls in the Schengen area.

On Thursday 30 May 2024 Corrie van Maris successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Friday 30 January 2015 were the final presentations of the last course of the Minor Sustainable Development.

How can you do your bit for sustainability? Students from Leiden University have launched an interactive website with 150 sustainable initiatives in and around The Hague. The website Sustainable The Hague makes it easy to find a sustainable shop, restaurant or community initiative in your local area…

On Tuesday 11 June 2024 Olivia Ramble successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

On 20 September 2023 Mark van de Water successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

Yisheng Development is to design the entrance area to the Leiden Bio Science Park. Leiden University and the municipality of Leiden selected this Amstelveen-based project developer on the basis of their sustainable design for a vibrant campus. The design provides a combination of residential, working…

On Thursday 28 March 2024 Said Reza Huseini successfully defended a doctoral thesis and graduated.

The MORE project covers the development of the new entrance area for the Leiden Bio Science Park. Partners Leiden University, the Municipality of Leiden and the Amstelveen-based development agency Yisheng signed the agreement on 18 March, marking the official start of the project.