Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will retire on 8 February. If there’s one theme running through his career, it’s the links between the University and society. In this series of pre-retirement discussions, Stolker will talk one last time with people from within and outside the University. On this occasion,…

Heritage Quest is a citizen science project in which volunteers help archaeologists in the quest for undiscovered archaeological heritage.

Annick Dezitter from Belgium celebrates 3 October with heart and soul: she has become a fanatical Leidener. Her portrait is part of Leiden meets Europe: an exhibition of 28 portraits of EU citizens in Leiden. City photographer and third-year Cultural Anthropology student Wilke Geurds explains.

Political scientists John Gerring (University of Texas, Austin) and Wouter Veenendaal (Universiteit Leiden) evaluate the political implications stemming from the size of a political unit – on social cohesion, the number of representatives, overall representativeness, particularism ('pork'), citizen…

From virtual education to a friendly meeting place where refugees and Dutch students can get to know one another. Investing in refugees is in the interest of the whole of our society. This was the message of the students who opened the Academic Year of Leiden University on 5 September.

It is time for the international community to put a stop to war crimes – especially against medical personnel, argued international chair of Doctors Without Borders Joanne Liu in her Cleveringa lecture.

On 17 October 2019, Laure d'Hondt defended her thesis 'Addressing Industrial Pollution in Indonesia. The Nexus between Regulation and Redress seeking'. The doctoral research was supervised by prof. A.W. Bedner and dr. J.A.C. Vel.

Climate change is going to have more and more influence on our daily lives in the near future. For example, tackling it is going to have significant consequences for many people in our society.

We are confronted on a daily basis with news about the Corona virus and its consequences. We read alarming headlines like 'Dutch becoming increasingly anxious about Corona virus' or 'Huge fears and stress about Corona crisis'.

Thanks to fanatical lobbying various groups of citizens and traders had a lot of influence on the initial success of the Dutch colony in Brazil. This is the conclusion of Leiden PhD candidate Joris van den Tol, who defended his thesis on 20 March.

Moritz Jesse, Associate Professor of EU Law at the Europa Institute, has published his book, “The Civic Citizens of Europe: The Legal Potential for Immigrant Integration in the EU, Belgium, Germany, and the United Kingdom”.

Quite a lot went wrong during the virtual hearings that courts held during the coronavirus crisis. Researchers from three universities, including Leiden University, concluded that citizens did not always feel heard and that their legal position was compromised.

Heritage Quest citizen scientists conduct research in two ways: online and in the field. Online, from their own home, they inspect elevation maps for traces of archaeological heritage.

How has the digital helped to articulate everyday life concerns of common Southeast Asians in all its sheer diversity?

Globalization, migration, technological innovation and climate change pose challenges to citizens in European countries. These challenges test the limits of cross-national and cross-generational solidarities, touching upon the very foundations of governance and society. This research program aims at…

Leiden archaeologists appealed for help from volunteers to search for archaeological remains on satellite images of Utrechtse Heuvelrug, a national park close to Utrecht. The outbreak of the corona virus made the project a resounding success: in a single month, all 300,971 maps had been examined. 'That's…

Bringing science, technology and innovation to places that normally do not have access to these areas of knowledge. This is the goal of the first Open Science Hub in Portugal, founded in 2017 in collaboration with Leiden University. The hub is managed by assistant professor of astronomy and society…

The ERC Consolidator project Food Citizens? Collective food procurement in European cities: solidarity and diversity, skills and scale (2017-2022) organizes Conference Friday 4 February and Winter School 24 January to 4 February 2022.

The Heritage Quest project is a citizen science project in which volunteers participate in archaeological research. Discover the aims and methodology of the project, the sub-projects and how to participate yourself.

The energy transition is a complex transformation process that is not only about technology -moving towards renewable energy sources-, but even more so about societal and institutional change. The energy transition requires and provides opportunities for actors to take on new roles.

The ERC consolidator project

In 2019 citizen scientists inspected elevation maps of the Veluwe region and discovered several thousand potential new archaeological structures. The project started as exploration into the potential of citizen science in Dutch archaeology, but developed into a fully flexed project in which citizen…

Our Institute’s research focuses on ‘global vulnerabilities and social resilience’. Specifically, we highlight three interconnected themes: diversity, sustainability, and digitalisation.

Europa Institute staff members Jorrit Rijpma, Melanie Fink and Kristof Gombeer participated last week in the Odysseus Network’s Summer School on EU Immigration and Asylum Law and Policy (Brussels, 2-13 July).

The Dies Natalis for alumni on 11 February was an online event. Almost 1,000 alumni tuned in to Bastiaan Rijpkema’s interview with Annetje Ottow, who had then been President of Leiden University’s Executive Board for all of three days. Alumni are part of her portfolio on the Executive Board.

Dr. Stephanie Rap, Denise Verkroost, LL.M. and prof. Mariëlle Bruning conducted a research on the participation of children in youth care in the Netherlands. In 2016 the first part, a legal desk-research on the possibilities for children to participate in youth care procedures and decision-making in…

Lecture, Research Seminar

Fieldwork is an essential part of this research and of course this part of the project is also a joint effort by citizen scientists and professional archaeologists. Discover when fieldwork will take place and how you can participate.

Four PhD candidates from Leiden University started the two-year Europaeum Scholars Programme this month. They have now completed the first week of the programme. How was it and what do they expect from this programme?

Read more about our staff.

Craft your own empirical research in workshops of the ELS lab @Leiden!

The SpaceEU project, coordinated by Leiden University, has launched an online toolkit with a collection of space-centred activities that engage people with the wonders of space. The toolkit is targeted at girls and underrepresented communities and can be used by schools, youth centres, museums, NGOs…

On Friday 8 February, the first Plastic Avengers Conference took place in Amsterdam. Initiator Merijn Tinga, the Plastic Soup Surfer from Leiden, brought together ‘independent plastic fighters' to arrive at a manifesto against plastic pollution. The Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic was also invited…

On Friday 8 February, the first Plastic Avengers Conference took place in Amsterdam. Initiator Merijn Tinga, the Plastic Soup Surfer from Leiden, brought together ‘independent plastic fighters' to arrive at a manifesto against plastic pollution. The Leiden Advocacy Project on Plastic was also invited…

On Saturday 28 September we will be running again, for scholars at risk during the Leiden Science Run. Already 56 teams have registered, from Leiden and The Hague students to scientists and companies. There are still spots left for more teams!

How citizens and professionals are the key to successful collaboration in the delivery of public services. How do individual characteristics of citizens and professionals influence citizen-professional collaboration in the co-production of public services?

In this research note, Van der Does & Kantorowicz aruge that citizens that tend to experience political exclusion are often more supportive of direct and participatory forms of decision-making.

As of 1 February prof. Mariëlle Bruning, dr. Stephanie Rap and Denise Verkroost LL.M. will start the second part of the research project concerning the participation of children in youth care.

Lecture, Sociolinguistics Series

Lecture, Studium Generale

Leiden experts examine European legislation and ways in which better European legislation lead to citizens' support.