Psychology students usually only get to meet patients very late in their studies. Therefore, neuroscientists Ineke van der Ham and Judith Schomaker want to research whether students learn more effectively from a virtual experience with a patient with dementia than from a text. Schomaker: 'We have plans…

How do games help shape our perception of the past? Associate Professor Angus Mol receives a Vidi grant to answer this question.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Sharing his passion for sustainability with students—that’s what Thijs Bosker enjoys most about his work. As an environmental scientist, he conducts ecotoxicological research, but next to this he loves teaching. ‘Everyone can make a difference in their own way.’

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Saskia van Otterloo works as a policy advisor on climate adaptation at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management in the Netherlands. She graduated in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in cultural anthropology and development sociology. How does her knowledge of anthropology help her in her job…

De crèche en het klaslokaal zijn misschien wel de meest gunstige plekken voor ziekteverwekkers. Toch is er relatief weinig bekend over hoe kinderen reageren op virussen en bacteriën en hoe het komt dat sommige kinderen veel beter beschermd zijn dan anderen. Simon Jochems, onderzoeker aan het Leids Universitair…

Monday 14 November marks the start of the Week on the International Student. The perfect moment to reveal our new Acts of Kindness Pillar. At 12.00 hours on the dot, the festive reveal will take place in the restaurant at KOG. Everyone is cordially invited to take part in the ceremony and have some…

Organisation

A ‘world class institute’ with a ‘vibrant atmosphere’, doing research on a continent that is ‘becoming increasingly important’. That is how Annetje Ottow, president of Leiden University’s Executive Board, described the African Studies Centre Leiden (ASCL) on its 75th anniversary celebration on 8 September…

Charlotte Parree won the Jaap Doek Children's Rights Thesis Prize on Tuesday afternoon, 6 December, with her thesis entitled 'Suffering knows no age; active termination of life does.' The prize was awarded for the tenth time by em. prof. Jaap Doek.

If you wish to include Religious Studies expertise in your curriculum (for instance in your thematic seminar(s), elective space, or BA thesis), this new extracurricular course is the thing for you!

To increase the accuracy of climate models, it is crucial that they include past human land-use and human-driven vegetation changes. Here archaeology can make an important contribution. Current models are based on reconstructions of past vegetation. However, their accuracy is limited because it does…

Angry politicians, angry journalists: the initiative of Forum for Democracy politician Gideon van Meijeren during which he secretly filmed a reporter portraying them as a ‘sewer rat’, caused a lot of anger. Where does all this commotion come from? Wouter Hins: ‘Calling a journalist a "sewer rat" is…

The introductory meeting of the new evening track Management and Consultancy (MSc Management Public Sector) was held on Thursday 3 February at Wijnhaven. Prof. dr. Frits van der Meer, in charge of the professional Public Administration master programme, welcomed the first cohort of students together…

Like spoken languages, sign languages evolve organically and do not always have the same origin. This produces different ways of communication and annotation. Manolis Fragkiadakis wrote his PhD thesis on this.

Our own Dr. Martin Berger has been accepted as a member of the Young Academy Leiden! He is thrilled with his appointment. ‘I am honored to be accepted as a member of the Young Academy Leiden and am looking forward to working together with other scholars from across the University.’

Warja Tolstoj, alumna Art History, has been awarded the 2021 edition of the Ted Meijerprijs. Named after the former director of the KNIR (Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome), the prize is awarded yearly to the best MA/ReMa thesis or PhD in the Humanities.

At the age of 16, Alisa Lavrenchenko fled to the Netherlands with her mother. She is now taking a Master’s in Russian and Eurasian Studies at Leiden University. For her support of Ukrainian refugees, she has earned a nomination for the UAF Award for refugees and their professional and academic achie…

When professors become emeriti, it usually does not mean they stop working. The Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) will therefore soon have a first: a symposium is going to be organised where all the speakers are emeriti professors. 'Science will always be part of you are.'

Education

Professor Johan Frijns treats people with hearing loss, conducts research on hearing implants, and gladly shares his knowledge about electrical stimulation of the nervous system.

The art committee of Leiden Law School has extended the exhibition of the sculptures by the Leiden artist Koen de Vries in the C-wing of the KOG building until January 2023. On Thursday 8 December, the finissage of the exhibition will take place in the C-wing at 16.45 hours with drinks and light sna…

What factors play a role in determining inclusive leadership in public organisations? On Friday June 4, dr. Tanachia Ashikali answered this question as she shared the findings from her recent research on inclusive leadership with various academics and professionals.

How can you increase the effectiveness of inspectors using responsible artificial intelligence (AI)? This is the question the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI) Lab AI4Oversight is tackling. By developing algorithms and methods, they try to provide optimal support for, for example,…

As every academic year, the leadership team of the Young Academy Leiden (YAL) is changing. Sarah Giest, Assistant Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, will be the new Vice-Chair. Annemarie Samuels, Asssociate Professor at Social Sciences, will be the new Chair. The Young Academy Leiden…

The Netherlands cannot stop European labour migrants coming here. Nor does The Hague have much influence on the influx of asylum seekers. But experts believe that we should be able to reduce the need for labour migrants by using intelligent economic policies.

With her background in Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leonie Siepmans brings a unique perspective to the corporate world. Find out what an anthropologist does in a big company.

‘It was not always accepted, but I just wanted to be a researcher. Now, I am as happy as can be.’ It is one of the quotes from the International Women’s Day presentation for Biology students. Seven women, working as researchers and teachers at the CML, IBL, and Naturalis, shared their experiences with…

While humanities once mainly involved books and archives, nowadays we can’t imagine life without AI. Next semester a new faculty-wide course will be introduced, taking you along with this development. University lecturer and course coordinator Yann Ryan tells us more about it.

Nowadays they can cause the fall of ministers, but once upon a time receipts were a new phenomenon. Associate Professor Robert Stein is to receive a grant from NIAS to map their origins.

Education

The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) has started a survey to identify the success factors of a strong codetermination culture within higher education institutes. All members of a codetermination council in higher education can participate in this survey until 2 April.

Leiden psychologists Janine Westendorp and Liesbeth van Vliet have investigated types of communication that seriously ill patients may experience as harmful. The results of this research were published in the American journal Cancer. And the results have now also been published as a poster for education…

When Professor of Tax Law Jan Vleggeert delivered his inaugural lecture in Leiden University’s Academy Building on 30 October 2020, only 30 people were allowed to attend due to coronavirus measures. On 10 June 2022, Vleggeert was therefore given the opportunity to deliver a lecture to a much larger…

De collegereeks over het Nederlandse crisismanagementstelstel gaat vrijdag 26 mei van start. Lector crisisbeheersing bij het NIPV (Nederlands Instituut Publieke Veiligheid) Menno van Duin trapt af en geeft vast een voorproefje over het eerste college.

Eduard Fosch-Villaronga, Associate Professor at eLaw, contributed to 'Cyber–Physical–Human Systems', a book exploring the latest developments in interactions between cyber–physical systems and humans.

It can be irritating, all that logging in to university systems: entering your password for the umpteenth time and confirming in an app or with a code that you are the one who is trying to log in. Find out why we really do need to do this.

Researchers from Leiden and Indonesia work together on a range of projects on topics such as disappearing languages and cultures, the role of Islam, circular economy, biodiversity and medicine. They also work on projects to improve legal education and make Dutch sources and Indonesian heritage accessible…

On Monday 8 April, a high-profile guest visited Leiden Law School. Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Geoffrey van Leeuwen gave a powerful speech to students about defending our interests in all current global developments.

The more than 370 sensors that have been hung up in Leiden University buildings to count the people present will not be switched on again. The equipment will eventually be removed from the buildings.

The Leiden interdisciplinary research programme Global Transformations and Governance Challenges (GTGC) and the Embassy of Ireland are jointly organising a special book launch in The Hague. On 13 November, Gerry Finnegan, author and a former director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), will…

Kohei Suzuki, Assistant Professor at Institute of Public Administration, was interviewed by Infobae about loneliness in Japan and the role of government and society.

Two years ago, Russian tanks crossed the border into Ukraine. The war seems to be getting closer and closer. Is it time to dust off and reintroduce military service? Our students have their say.

When are you (sexually) mature? A KNAW grant will enable associate professor Rafal Matuszewski to organise an interdisciplinary workshop on this question.

Time really does fly: it’s one year since the Student Living Room was officially opened! Masterminded by the Student Support team, this initiative soon took centre stage as the place for students to come together, relax and enjoy a well-earned break from their studies.

Social

How does gender of public leaders relate to employees’ satisfaction with the leadership of their direct supervisor? In the online Leiden Leadership Lunch on Friday September 24, Dr. Max van Lent (Assistant Professor of Economics) presented the results of his recent research on the differences between…

A professor from Leiden University has subjected various colleagues to intimidating and unacceptable behaviour for a longer period. These are the findings of an investigation carried out by the University’s independent Complaints Committee for Unacceptable Behaviour at the request of the Executive Board…