Nearly a year since the abrupt switchover to mostly online learning, the Digital Education seminar gave teaching staff the opportunity to review their experiences. What can stay in 2021 and what must go? Frequently voiced opinions: yes please to digital tools that make lectures more interactive; yes…

The war in Ukraine is leading not only to human suffering. Ukraine's cultural heritage is also experiencing the consequences of the war: museums are being bombed and 'Russification' in the occupied territories means children no longer learn Ukrainian. Researcher Evelien Campfens was commissioned by…

We know we should do it, and we often want to, but… Why is it so hard to live a healthier life? Professor of Behavioural Interventions in Population Health Marieke Adriaanse explains.

Three professors voice their concerns about a vulnerable group in our society: children who come into contact with youth care.

On the university’s birthday, professors teach a class of 10 and 11-year-olds during Meet the Professor. The professors were bombarded with questions.

Het onderzoeksproject heeft als doel ouders te helpen hun kleuters gezonde eetgewoonten aan te leren door het bevorderen van sensitieve voeding tijdens de fase wanneer peuters kieskeurig met eten worden.

Research

In a speech on Keti Koti the Dutch king, Willem-Alexander, apologised on behalf of the royal family for the Netherlands’ historical role in slavery. What is the significance of this?

Kinderen hebben wereldwijd een betere toegang gekregen tot de rechter. Hoogleraar Kinderrechten Ton Liefaard schrijft dit in het tijdschrift Sociale Vraagstukken. Hij is voorzichtig positief over de resultaten van een VN-protocol voor rechtsbescherming van kinderen, dat tien jaar bestaat.

The cargo lost at sea as a result of the MSC Zoe disaster should be considered environmental pollution and information about it should be made public. This was the case made by Leiden Law School’s Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic (LAPP). Following their investigation, the government has finally decided…

Children aged between 12 and 17 years can decide themselves whether they want to be vaccinated or not. Experts say that children are capable of taking a well-considered decision.

The legal protection of parents and children in cases involving placement in care must improve. That is the opinion of Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law.

The Minister has requested urgent advice from Sombroek-van Doorm in relation to the vaccination of children aged between 5 and 12 years against COVID-19.

What happens to children of extremist parents? Commissioned by the Scientific Research and Documentation Center (WODC) of the Ministry of Justice and Security, four ISGA researchers, Layla van Wieringen, Daan Weggemans, Katharina Krüsselmann and Marieke Liem, wrote a report on the nature and extent…

Many children eat too many high-calorie foods and too few vegetables from an early age. PhD candidate Merel van Vliet researched the role of parents in this. ‘Don’t force children to clean their plates.’ PhD defence on 15 June.

For the upcoming conference "Voices of Resistance in and Against the Dutch Empire, 1600-2020s" on September 12 and 13, 2024, at Utrecht University, proposals for papers are invited. The conference is a critical follow-up to the international conference “Visions of Empire in Dutch History”, organized…

Banquets for the rich, porridge for the poor and a standard diet of bread, olive oil and wine. Just a few assumptions about the Roman diet.

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has rewarded four projects in which Leiden researchers are bringing science and society closer together. What are these projects?

The documentary ‘De Stem van het Kind’ (The Voice of the Child) gives an impressive insight into the work of juvenile court judges. Documentary maker Pieter Fleury, Professor of Children’s Rights Ton Liefaard and juvenile court judge Johan Visser worked together for the past seven years to make the…

Imagine: you’re seeking asylum in the Netherlands due to your sexual orientation or gender identity. The immigration authorities might question you about your sexuality. PhD candidate Elias Tissandier-Nasom, who is researching asylum applications submitted by LGBTQI+ children, explains that the process…

You can apply various means to increase your societal impact: through interaction with professionals, the commercial sector or general audiences. The University can support you in this process in a number of ways.

Do young people trust the law? That is what HC Law students are trying to find out. Regular guest speaker and social worker Carlito Jones invited the students to the Bezuidenhout-West neighbourhood centre in The Hague to talk to youth workers and neighbourhood police officers: what do they run into…

After twenty weeks of hard work, third-year students of International Studies wrapped up the ‘Practising International Studies’ (PRINS) consultancy course by pitching their major research findings and advice to organisational partners. We were invited to attend the presentations on behalf of the International…

Who doesn't love to turn on a horror film on a rainy evening? Fortunately, it is only fiction - or is it? According to university lecturer Evert Jan van Leeuwen, modern horror says more about our society than we think. He has been nominated for the Klokhuis Science Prize for his research into addiction…

More than a course. That was the aim of the Leiden Tutoring programme. Through weekly tutoring lessons, students did not just earn five EC. They helped Dutch primary-school children from neighbourhoods with a low socioeconomic status.

Is aggression always bad? PhD research by psychologist Simone Dobbelaar shows that it is not. In fact, children who occasionally fiercely defend themselves and stand up for their peers often feel better mentally.

On Safer Internet Day (Tuesday 6 February), UNICEF Netherlands organised a symposium on the theme of 'Children's rights in the digital world' in collaboration with Leiden University and Kennisnet. Simone van der Hof and Ton Liefaard contributed to the symposium.

In Europe, the Netherlands is in middle position when it comes to the placement of children in care. The consequences of such a placement in care are often disastrous, says Mariëlle Bruning.

Mozambican politician and child rights activist Graça Machel speaks October 27 at Leiden University about her work.

Workshop brings multidisciplinary experts together to produce interdisciplinary outcomes on the EU’s Proposal for a Regulation to prevent and combat child sexual abuse.

Mums posting photos and videos of their child on Instagram and TikTok and also earning loads of money doing so. Kidfluencers, momvloggers and familyvlogs are very popular, in the Netherlands too. But the lack of legislation regulating these activities means that these children are barely protected.…

On 3 November 2022, Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law, spoke as an expert on child protection at a roundtable discussion with Dutch Lower House members of the Standing Committee on Justice and Security.

Onderzoekers van het Instituut Pedagogische Wetenschappen en de afdeling Jeugdrecht gaan samenwerken in 2 nieuwe onderzoeken: onderzoek naar het terugplaatsingen van kinderen na uithuisplaatsing en draagmoederschappen in Nederland.

Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Children and the Law at Leiden University, responded in various media to the new draft agreement aimed at reducing work pressure of youth protectors.

...What does seem clear, though, is that there is a great deal of room for improvement in the process of out-of-home placement. The FSW's social and behavioural scientists give their views.

LeidenGlobal Workshop

On 7 and 8 November, we celebrated a special milestone during the graduation ceremony for the bachelor’s students in Law, Notarial Law, Tax Law and Criminology.

What causes depression in a child and how can they get over it? Leiden Professor of Psychology Bernet Elzinga and behavioural scientist Carine Kielstra recently hosted a webinar on the subject of depression in teenagers. The level of interest was overwhelming.

After a long night of partying, hundreds of people head to Leiden’s Van der Werfpark early on 3 October for a good singsong. Lecturer in Dutch literature Olga van Marion helped compile the new songbook for the occasion. Which songs were left out and which new hits have taken their place?

In the summer of 2021, Lucy Opoka was awarded one of the coveted Meijers PhD positions. In October, she arrived back in Leiden, where she obtained her LLM degree Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights in 2019. Professor Liefaard interviewed Lucy upon arrival.

Defending your PhD research in front of nearly 300 elementary school students: that was the challenge faced by PhD candidates Jo-Anne Verschoor and Marinka de Willigen during the VUURVLIEGEN competition organised by the Centrum JongerenCommunicatie Chemie (C3). After an exciting competition, the children…

In the ESOF2022 mini-symposium organized by the Social Resilience & Security programme, international experts with a background in psychology, philosophy, and law discussed how the online world is related to adolescent mental health issues, moral and emotional awareness and children’s rights. In three…

Festival, Graduation Ceremony

Leiden PhD candidate Mona Shahab climbed Mount Everest two years ago to raise money for the education of disadvantaged children in Egypt. She made it to the top and posed there with the University flag. She recently presented the flag to Rector Carel Stolker.

As part of the euCONSENT consortium, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies (eLaw) has been awarded European Commission funding to create a child rights’ centred cross-border system for online age verification and parental consent.

The Faculty Board and the Institute of Private Law have agreed to combine the disciplines of child law, international children’s rights and health law into one Department of Child Law and Health Law.

Internationalisation

In 2023, a number of students from the bachelor’s, master’s and advanced master’s degree programmes won prizes for their outstanding achievements. Congratulations to the award winners and their supervisors who contributed to these successes.

It is not possible for juvenile courts to properly assess whether it is necessary to place a child in care. This is evident from a fact sheet that has been prepared by legal scholars from Leiden University, commissioned by the Dutch House of Representatives and others.