This thesis manuscript explores the use of video games as tools for conceptual exploration and academic research.

How well children learn depends to a large extent on good teachers and effective learning materials. Wilfried Admiraal investigates such issues as gaming as a modern learning tool. He concludes that this tool has little to offer less talented students.

Can playing certain games decrease cognitive decline or even enhance cognitive performance in the aging population?

In online games conflicts between players may arise. Novin, Bos, Stevenson and Rieffe investigated factors that may explain why some adolescents react more angrily than others in this type of situation. In their realistically designed gaming environment, the (pre-programmed) fellow player suddenly started…

The Game Research Lab (GRL) uses digital games as a medium for academic research, and consider ‘serious’ games and entertainment games equally valuable objects of study.

Are you mad about board games? Then we’ve got good news for you: we’ve developed our very own University game, HORA EST! It’s a fun way to learn more about the University. Get your family and friends together for an evening of fun and games!

How do games work? How do you make them? And how do games make us and our societies and cultures? The minor Game Studies will provide you with both the perspective and practice to give your own answers to these questions.

The Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs of Leiden University in The Hague has developed two Serious Games, 'het Grote Migratiespel' and 'het Schipholspel' to introduce secondary school students to their study and research programmes.

While it has traditionally been seen as a means of documenting an external reality or expressing an internal feeling, photography is now capable of actualizing never-existed pasts and never-lived experiences.

The Game Research Lab uses digital games as a medium for academic research. It considers entertainment games and 'serious’ games as objects of study, develops novel approaches for creating, playing, and analysing games, and studies the interactions between games and AI.

Having open conversations about diversity and inclusion is an important first step towards change. Yet, such conversation can be emotional and vulnerable, and at times uncomfortable to initiate and sustain. The 'What’s Your Story?' Card Game aims to enable participants to exchange and respond to stories…

Computational thinking, programming, and algorithms form the basic of many of the things that are shaping our world, the way we work, interact, organize ourselves, and even spend our free time with social networks, streaming media, and games. And this transformation is far from being complete, it is…

Promotor: F. Arbab, R. De Nicola, Co-Promotor: M. Tribastone

In what way can the qualities of an existing context be used as guiding and enriching principles rather than limiting factors in the process of spatial transformation?

Combinatorial games are games for two competing players, moving in a turn-by-turn fashion, in which there is no chance nor hidden information⁠. Chess, checkers and the simpler tic tac toe are well-known examples of this class of games, as well as game of go⁠.

The Computer Systems, Imagery & media (CSI) research programme performs research on methods and techniques for the design, implementation and application of advanced computer systems, in particular parallel, distributed and embedded computer systems.

Over the last decades, aviation safety has improved strongly. As a downside, airline pilots do not have as many opportunities to develop through experience the competencies that they need in critical situations.

A defining fixture of our contemporary world, video games offer a rich spectrum of engagements with the past.

Computational linguistics uses computational methods to help answer linguistics questions across a variety of topics.

We see computer programming as an essential skill. It enables you to be self-sufficient in building tools, processing data, visualizing research output, communicating research results, etc. Moreover, it empowers you to make beautiful things.

Research in the natural computing group covers theoretical foundations, the development of new algorithms, and interdisciplinary applications of natural computing methods.

Research in the natural computing cluster covers theoretical foundations, the development of new algorithms, and interdisciplinary applications of natural computing methods.

Projects within the theme ‘Computational Biology’ aim to employ mathematical or computational dynamical modelling approaches to discover novel concepts that are important for drug development.

In this theme you will be supplied with a firm background in the core of current computational linguistics and a solid comprehension of its neighboring fields.

This dissertation focused on computational methods based on first principles calculations using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) framework. Emphasis was laid on affordable methods that can provide a tradeoff between computational expense and accuracy.

The NEASQC project brings together academic experts and industrial end-users to investigate and develop a new breed of Quantum-enabled applications that can take advantage of NISQ (Noise Intermediate-Scale Quantum) systems in the near future. NEASQC is use-case driven, addressing practical problems…

Are you thinking about studying Computer Science? Learn more and watch the videos. Note: As of September 2025 you can also combine this master programme with the Business Studies specialisation.

PhD candidates carry out a programme of independent research and additional (limited) course work, culminating in production of a PhD thesis in typically 4 years.

Beowulf clusters looking for new frontiers.

This thesis covers several aspects of quantum algorithms for near-term quantum computers and its applications to quantum chemistry and material science.

The master's specialisation Bioinformatics at Leiden University focuses on research, development and application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral and health data.

The two-year master’s programme in Computer Science at Leiden University offers seven specialisations ranging from AI to Bioinformatics and Data Science. The programme combines excellent theoretical teaching with possibilities for applied work with industrial relevance.

In this work we describe three methods to improve the performance of Quantum Field Theory calculations.

Promotor: Prof.dr. S. Haring

The worldwide race to the quantum computer is in full swing. This computer can take on computing tasks that we can only dream of today, such as finding proteins that can be used as medicines in seconds flat. Leiden physicists have discovered how the Majorana particle can be used as a building block…

LIACS is partner in the project 'Stereotyping in Computer Science.' The project is a collaboration between multiple universities and the Dutch national expert organization on girls/women and science/technology (VHTO), which will investigate the stereotypes that children hold about computer scientist…

We investigate reaction systems, a novel computational model gleaned from the biochemical reactions taking place in living cells and information processing in nature.

A high performance computer or supercomputer owes its massive processing capacity to the fact that it chops a single overarching task into a whole series of smaller tasks. It simultaneously tackles each of those smaller problems.

We are becoming ever more dependent on automation systems in our daily lives. Computer Science is more than programming; you integrate maths and logic into the development of systems and solutions that can be applied in all fields - from business to healthcare.

Natural Computing investigates algorithms and phenonema based on nature to create better and new computer science innovations.

The Leiden Computational Network Science Lab (CNS Lab) researches methods for knowledge discovery from real-world network data.

Met de bachelorspecialisatie Informatica & Economie aan de Universiteit Leiden leer je waardevolle inzichten in de economie te combineren met (programmeer)vaardigheden en kennis uit de informatica.

The Computer Support group provides dedicated support for the computing infrastructure of Leiden Observatory

Research in this group, headed by Gerard van Westen, focusses on computational methods integrated in different parts of the drug discovery process. More specifically, topics include innovative treatments for cancer, selectivity modeling, translational research, allosteric modulation, drug resistance…

Promotor: S.J. Edixhoven, L.D.J. Taelman

The master's specialisation Bioinformatics at Leiden University focuses on research, development and application of computational tools and approaches for expanding the use of biological, medical, behavioral and health data.

Promotores: Prof.dr. J. Zaanen & Prof.dr. K.E. Schalm

The master’s specialisation Computer Science and Education at Leiden University prepares students to teach the subject of biology to secondary school students. The programme comprises a one-year Computer Science component, followed by an education component in the second year.