The EU Returns Directive is an important instrument to humanely return third-country nationals without lawful residence to their country of origin. However, the return of third-country nationals remains problematic for a number of reasons.

A special relationship between plants and fungi, which plays an important role in carbon storage in soil, has the potential to slow down climate change. However, the amount of carbon stored in soil is decreasing as a result of human activity. This is what researchers say in a publication in Nature Communications.…

Niall Hodgins, master student Biology and Science Based Business, has earned the right to call himself the best student entrepreneur in Leiden. On June 15th 2016 he won the finals of Gulliver and the associated 10,000-euro prize for his company NADES to continue developing solvents for use in preclinical…

Dr. Ahmad Al-Jallad and Prof.dr. Peter Akkermans have been awarded with the NWO Free Competition Grant for their research project 'Landscapes of Survival: Pastoralist Societies, Rock Art and Literacy in Jordan's Black Desert, c. 1000 BC to 500 AD'. Together, they study settlements, burials and inscr…

Leiden scientists have discovered a new plant genus with two new species at a potential nickel mine site in Indonesia. Remarkable characteristic of the plants: they store manganese in their leaves.

A memorable farewell symposium and a royal distinction: Professor Joke Bouwstra could not have completed her career at Leiden with more pleasure. On Friday, 14 June, she received a Royal Honor from Leiden Mayor Peter van der Velden, who appointed Bouwstra as a Knight in the Order of the Dutch Lion for…

It is mostly rainfall and soil acidity that determine which microbes survive in a particular habitat and which do not. This knowledge is important for maintaining biodiversity. Leiden environmentalists contributed to the research. Publication in Nature on 1 August.

Leiden master's students of Journalism and New Media are going to help Facebook bar fake news from the social medium.

Why does it turn out to be so complicated to solve sustainability issues if everyone ‘knows’ about these problems? This was the central question in a masterclass on Sustainability for alumni provided by Leiden scientists active in public administration and environmental sciences.

How can a single origami crease pattern be folded into two precisely defined target shapes? Researchers at AMOLF and Leiden University have created an ‘alphabet’ of 140 origami ‘puzzle pieces’ that allows them to do just that, as described today in Nature Physics. This discovery could help in the construction…

Dominique Brommers, Lilly Brouwer, Annemiek Buijze and Kyra van Meijgaarden were granted the Bachelor Speckmann Award for their report ‘Community of Healing: Pentecost Revival Church’ (supervisor: Nienke van der Heide). Alumna Louise Nisbet received the Master Speckmann Award for her thesis ‘‘Alright,…

Tom Schreuder has been appointed as the new Business Director of Hortus botanicus Leiden. Schreuder succeeds Peter Inklaar, who held the position for four years. Schreuder currently works as a Commercial Manager at Keukenhof and brings a wealth of experience from that role. He will start his new position…

Yvonne ten Cate (supervisor: Peter Rodrigues, and Marije Meijer (supervisor: Mark Klaassen) were both nominated for the Jaap Doek Scriptieprijs – an award for the best master thesis in the field of children’s rights – and the Hanneke Steenbergen Scriptieprijs – an award for the best master thesis in…

Between 7 and 11 August, Freya Baetens gave three presentations at the 77th International Law Association (ILA) Biennial Conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, on the theme of 'International Law and State Practice: Is there a North/South Divide?'

In Mapping the Pāśupata Landscape: Narrative, Place, and the Śaiva Imaginary in Early Medieval North India, Elizabeth A. Cecil explores the sacred geography of the earliest community of Śiva devotees called the Pāśupatas.

Skandapurāṇa III presents a critical edition of the Vindhyavāsinī Cycle (Adhyāyas 34.1-61, 53-69) from the Skandapurāṇa , with an introduction and annotated English synopsis.

During the 7th annual meeting of the Association for Researchers in Psychology and Health (ARPH) Sylvia van Beugen, from the Health, Medical and Neuropsychology unit, was awarded with the ’Best PhD Thesis Award’ for her dissertation ‘Psychodermatology 2.0: Towards improved assessment and effective digital…

Alexander van Oudenhoven has been appointed as the new Director of Education of the Governance of Sustainability master's programme. Van Oudenhoven has been appointed for a four-year period, from 1 October 2022 to 1 October 2026. The programme is taught in The Hague.

ILS organizes a new lunch seminar series where all researchers from Leiden Law School can present their research. The idea is to hear in a simple and nice way what researchers from other research programs and institutes are working on. During a seminar two or three speakers will present their research.…

On behalf of the Dutch Research and Documentation Centre (WODC), Mark Klaassen and Peter Rodrigues, both from the Europa Institute, conducted research on the procedure of imposing immigration detention on foreign nationals who have to return to their country of origin.

Op 2 oktober 2023 zullen meerdere nieuwe delen in de reeks Middeleeuwse Verzamelhandschriften uit de Nederlanden worden gepresenteerd, ditmaal uitsluitend in digitale vorm.

The silenced paradoxes of urban renewal.

On Thursday 24 November 2016 you can listen to the second Leiden PM concert of this season in the Lokhorstkerk. The musicians are students of Leiden University following a minor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. Students who have a passion for both art and science.

De bevolkingsgroei daalt, de fiscale voordelen voor expats zijn niet aantrekkelijk genoeg en te weinig geschikte arbeidskrachten. Peter Wennink van techreus ASML, is niet blij met het ondernemersklimaat in Nederland. ASML dreigt met een vertrek naar het buitenland.

In connection with the approaching Dutch election, the Institute of Immigration Law of Leiden University will organise in collaboration with Amnesty International and JFV Grotius an election event on Wednesday 25 January 2017.

Tijdens het tweede college in de reeks van drie over het Nederlandse crisismanagementsstelsel, staat de vluchtelingencrisis centraal. Hans Zuidijk, directeur van de Veiligheidsregio Hollands-Midden, is vrijdag 2 juni een van de gastsprekers en licht alvast een tipje van de sluier op waar hij het over…

On 26 November 1940, Professor Cleveringa – at the time the Dean of Leiden Law School – spoke out in protest against the decision of the Nazi Occupying Powers to dismiss Jewish academics. Every year Leiden University appoints a professor as rotating Cleveringa Chair, whose task, amongst others, is to…

Skandapurāṇa V presents a critical edition of Adhyāyas 92-112 from the Skandapurāṇa, with an introduction and annotated English synopsis.

On November 30th Joost Grootens gave a lecture at the workshop ‘Data on Display: Visualisation as a form of argumentation in exhibitions’ organised by the Museumsakademie Joanneum, Graz (Austria)

The Elision Ensemble made a video production of Richard Barrett's half-hour composition 'world-line'.

The Skandapurāṇa Project considers fieldwork to be essential to the study of purāṇic religious topography and the understanding of the socio-political milieu in which the Skandapurāṇa was composed and disseminated.

On November 23, eLaw researcher Helena U. Vrabec participated in a keynote panel at the 2018 Information Law and Policy Centre’s Annual Lecture in London, where policymakers, practitioners, industry, civil society, and leading academic experts addressed and examined the key legal frameworks and policies…

Very few treaties that are negotiated by the EU, have triggered such resistance as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). From chlorinated chicken to a lack of democracy and transparency: emotions on TTIP run high. For that reason, the conference “TTIP: an EU perspective on global…

We are happy to announce that the following missions have been approved by the Ministry of Antiquities, pending final security confirmations:

On 20 September 2019, the opening drinks for the Open Science Community Leiden will be held at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. Open science is the approach to science aimed at making scientific research accessible, reproducible, and freely available to people within and outside the academic…

Electives provide in-depth coverage of specific leadership theories and related skills. They offer students the opportunity to further specialise and deepen in specific aspects of leadership. This deepening is a valuable addition to the Essentials and Labs.

In the Criminal Justice research programme, legal experts, criminal law experts and social scientists – many of whom are criminologists – collaborate on various projects. The research programme focuses on the content and form of decisions that are, can and may be taken in the criminal justice chain…

Is the legitimacy of law and governance of multilevel jurisdictions diminishing? What is the significance of (diminishing) legitimacy for the effectiveness of law? These kinds of questions about the legitimacy of the supranational formation of law, its application, and the policy and governance based…

The Institute CADS adheres to and teaches an approach to research ethics and integrity that emphasizes the processual nature of informed consent, situational ethics, and the indispensability of continually updating the ethical tradition in international anthropology in all the work of its researchers…

Forum essays provide a framework for intellectual exchange and debate about the role of diplomacy around a particular theme. The essays are argumentative contributions and are shorter than research articles.

In 2021 many of our students and staff won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants. This is our traditional review of these successes as the end of one year marks the beginning of another.

Having encountered a series of shocks that pose an existential threat to our livelihoods, our societies have become increasingly polarized.

In 2023, many of our students and staff won great prizes and secured important research grants.

Misinformation spreads easily and fast. It gets presented as news, whereas actual news gets dismissed as fake. Conflicting streams of information allows all sides to cherry-pick whatever is most comfortable, boosting degrees of confidence and confusing the deliberation of both politicians and voters.…

Below you will find an overview of all PRE-Classes provided by the various programmes of Leiden University. For each section, you can find a description of the content and more specific information about the requirements for participation in the Class.

Research projects which are assisted by the NVIC in the field of Arabic studies.

Science, Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML)

Hugo Koning, an expert in Greek mythology, has won the Lucas Public Prize because he has brought his research to the attention of the general public in so many different ways. This is the first Public Prize awarded by the Leiden University Centre for Arts in Society (LUCAS). Hugo says with a smile:…