Research goal: To support the design of technologies (counter-measures and communication measures) for the prevention, interdiction and mitigation of lone actor extremist events (LOEEs), which are hard to anticipate, yet can be highly damaging to local and national communities and therefore must be…

Urban riots, violent responses by police, drug-related assassinations, child abuse, bar fights: Violence is a core theme in today’s modern society.

Criminal Justice as a concept refers to the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts. While the definition seems rather clear-cut,…

Leiden University finds it very important that you choose the study programme that is right for you. That’s why we offer so-called matching activities, to help you in your decision.

Are you interested in current affairs, developments in society and people? Are you highly motivated, willing to be challenged and able to go just a bit further in finding creative solutions to legal issues, then Rechtsgeleerdheid is the master’s programme for you.

Study information

The researchers at the Institute of Education and Child Studies focus on child rearing and the development of children and adolescents with and without developmental and other problems, in biological and non-biological families, childcare, education and care institutions.

What is the population size/structure and distribution of tiger and leopard inside the Bardia National Park (BNP) compared with the population outside? What is the movement and home range and conflict pattern in time and space of tigers and leopards inside the BNP compared with outside? What constitutes…

A multi-disciplinary approach to past lifestyles and cultural practices

How do people develop and how do they learn? How does their environment affect them? How do we ensure that they develop in optimal fashion? And what can we do if problems occur? These are questions that the researchers at the Institute of Education and Child Studies try to answer.

There are over 7,000 languages in the world and over half of the world’s population is bilingual. But how do all these people use their language? And how do these languages differ from one another? Under the slogan of ‘Interconnecting linguistic diversity,’ the researchers from the Leiden University…

The bottom-up development of post-Roman northwestern Europe

In the Dutch healthcare system, only MHC psychologists (GZ-psychologen) are licensed to practice psychology unsupervised.

In 2022, many of our staff and students won fantastic prizes and were awarded important research grants.

Each year Dutch women’s magazine VIVA draws up a list of creative and enterprising women. This year our alumna and Professor of Law and Society Maartje van der Woude has been nominated. The award ceremony is on 15 November.

As a student of the Master's in Comparative Criminal Justice you develop academic, theoretical and research insight in all aspects of crime control. Student actively work on current, concrete problems and are challenged to independently find solutions. Students not only learn about the organization…

This one-year, English-taught Master's programme offers insights on general developments as well as the specific challenges in the field of the governance of crisis and security, with in-depth knowledge of sub-fields of crisis and security management.

One of the recurring points of discussion within the Criminal Justice research programme is the question of what behaviour should or should not fall within the scope of criminal law. This research theme is examined from a legal-dogmatic and social-scientific perspective.

Maaike Kempes believes more attention should be paid to non-congenital brain injuries in suspects. This may partly explain their criminal behaviour.

Leiden researchers have developed a new method of determining the geographic origin of humans. Archaeologist Jason Laffoon and his team used the technique to discover where precolonial pioneers in the Caribbean region came from.

The number of victims of child abuse is estimated to be higher during the first lockdown compared with a period without a lockdown. This is mainly due to an increase in the number of victims of emotional neglect, including educational neglect and witnessing domestic abuse. Families with children about…

Psychologist Ilse van de Groep found that people react more aggressively when receiving negative feedback. However, if people already exhibit persistent antisocial behavior they do not respond even more aggressively to negative feedback.This research earned her the Koningsheide Prize 2022 for the scientific…

PhD candidate Rachel Schats was awarded the Eve Cockburn student prize for best podium presentation at the 19th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association.

On 20 & 21 April 2017 international researchers in the field of law and society and criminology presented their work in Brussels and shared ideas on discretion and decision-making.

On 1 February 2018 Professor Maartje van der Woude (professor of Law and Society at the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society) became Associate Director of the Oxford-based Border Criminologies Network.

In 2015 the division ‘Migration and Crime’ of the Dutch Society for Criminology has been established to bring together academic researchers that are active in this diverse field with each other and relevant persons and organisations. On March 10 it will organise its first seminar on labour exploitation,…

What role(s) do border officials play in the enforcement and management of border control and border mobilities and how do these roles relate to the personal, organisational and larger societal context within which these officials operate?

Some examples of AI-research done at Leiden.

How safe do you feel walking on the street in Leiden? Do you feel safe, or are there situations that make you feel unsafe in the city? These are questions that city criminologist Marianne Franken of Leiden University wants to find answers to. In collaboration with the municipality of Leiden and the…

Cybercrime and cyberterrorism are serious challenges. The threat posed by state actors who misuse cyberspace for espionage and disruption activities is also real and increasing every year. This minor gives you the skills and knowledge to identify, analyse and address these challenges from a variety…

The community is growing rapidly, select a faculty in the left panel to search and connect with members.

Leiden Law School at the heart of society

Dr Yannick van den Brink, Assistant Professor at the Department of Child Law, has been awarded a grant from the Rubicon programme of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) to conduct research for a period of eighteen months at the University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology,…

Talk That Science, a podcast with the aim of presenting science in a challenging, new and relevant way. They do this by combining music and science. Talk That Science was founded a few months ago and has grown into a medium where science, music, young adults and scientists come together.

A review of Elke Devroe's participation in the European Society of Criminology of 2016 : The first conference of the European Society of Criminology was held in 2000 in Lausanne. Now, 16 years later and lots of new ESC-members later, the 16th Annual conference of the European Society of Criminology…

Herewith we are happy to announce the winners of the Meijers PhD-positions 2019.

Although domestic violence often affects multiple family members, parents and children are usually treated separately for their traumatic experiences. In collaboration with women's shelter Rosa Manus, forensic partner the Waag, the municipality of Leiden and their colleagues from LUBEC (Leiden University…

A delegation from Leiden University is currently visiting Mexico to initiate collaboration with universities and science funding bodies in the country and to extend and expand existing partnerships. Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker is confident enough already to call it a success.

Thousands of school leavers came to Leiden between 29 March and 1 April to experience what it's like to study at university. Students at the Criminology and Psychology departments share their experiences. 'I know the subject I want to study, but I'm not sure about the university. That's why I'm here…

The Dutch Research Council (NWO) has awarded a €4.84 million NWO Large grant to set up a new state-of-the-art laboratory for isotope geochemistry. The new lab, the “Netherlands Isotope GEochemistry Laboratory” (NIGEL), will be built in the brand new VU Research Building at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.…

The first Dutch National Post-Doc Prize was awarded to Dr. Hayley Mickleburgh, postdoctoral researcher in the field of funerary archaeology with ERC-Synergy NEXUS1492 at the Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University.

Dynamics of material, social and ideological relationships in the pre-Columbian insular Caribbean

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.

For Humans of Psychology, students and staff will be put into the spotlight. At our institute prizes are won, exiting research is conducted, knowledge is harnessed, public meeting are organised and open science is highlighted. Take a look behind the scenes.

Dive into the heart of archaeological science: explore the flora and fauna of bygone ages, study human bones and teeth, analyse the cultural biographies of material objects, or become an expert in the use of digital data in archaeological research.

In the specialisation Clinical Psychology, part of the Master in Psychology, you gain extensive knowledge on the asessment and treatment of mental disorders.

The research master’s programme in Archaeology is the most diverse in the Netherlands. Benefit from our extensive experience and international reputation in archaeological research, and lay the best foundation for a career in academia.

The Leiden University Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) aims to demonstrate its relevance to society by means of high-quality research, excellent education and various outreach activities. A few highlights: