Citizen science has recently become a widely used term, but what does it mean exactly? How does citizen science compare to crowdsourcing? And where does community archaeology stand in this discussion?

From where litter ends up to which languages are spoken in Leiden and The Hague: over 50 interesting, surprising, complex and entertaining questions were sent in for the Citizen Science project to mark our 444th anniversary. Not one but two Citizen Science projects will be starting this year in Leiden…

How can citizen science be used to communicate and provide data for social network analysis?

The Citizen Science Lab supports researchers, citizens and societal organizations to generate new knowledge together. Explore this website to learn more about the Citizen Science Lab and projects in which you can participate.

The Citizen Science Lab brings together researchers, citizens and societal organizations to create new knowledge for science ánd society.

This year Leiden University exists for 444 years! This will be celebrated together with the residents of Leiden and The Hague during various activities. One of these is scientists and residents doing research on plastics and psychology together.

The objective of this study is to better understand the distribution of microplastics in the environment. More specifically, we will quantify the abundance and distribution of microplastics on beaches.

From how litter spreads to which languages are spoken in Leiden and The Hague: over 50 interesting, surprising, complex and entertaining questions were sent in for the Citizen Science Project to mark our 444th anniversary.

What motivates citizen scientists in the Schone Rivieren project to contribute? How does their motivation, attitude and knowledge change over the years? Are there differences in motivation and attitude between different groups of volunteers (clean up vs. monitoring; long-term vs. short-term)?

Mapping out the problem of plastic pollution requires a lot of data over a large area. That's why scientists are increasingly turning to volunteers for help, also known as citizen science. But what are the challenges for a researcher when he or she involves the public in research in this way? Four Leiden…

How many species of butterfly are living in my garden? Do I recognise the Leiden dialect? What is the air quality like in my area? Do you have a question about something that affects you, your neighbours or the whole city of Leiden or The Hague? Residents and scientists have until 15 March 2019 to send…

Local residents, scientists and students are investigating riverbanks in Leiden for the 'Bank Plants' citizen science project. Which plant species are found where? And how can the municipality of Leiden improve its riverbank management to ensure optimal biodiversity?

Scientists and non-scientists co-creating breakthrough citizen science projects for measuring, understanding, and mitigating air pollution. That’s what happened during the first international workshop of the newly established Citizen Science Lab from 22 until 26 January at the Lorentz Center at Leiden…

A diverse team of Leiden archaeologists applied for, and was awarded, the KNAW ‘Appreciated!’ grant, meant to further their science communication endeavours. We speak with Dr Maikel Kuijpers, who is the main contact person of the application.

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 new open access book The Science of Citizen Science bundles insights into science that is conducted together with citizens, to promote this growing form of science.

The ERC project 'Food citizens?' is a comparative analysis of a growing phenomenon in Europe: collective food procurement, namely networks of people who organize direct food production, distribution, and consumption. This project studies in-depth nine cases of collective food…

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…

Petra van der Bekerom, Joris van der Voet, and Johan Christensen, three assistant professors at Leiden University, conducted a large-scale survey experiment about whether citizens are more negative about failing service delivery than private organizations.

Emily Wolff, PhD candidate at Leiden University, wrote a paper about the inclusion of imperial citizens in the Dutch post-war welfare state.

This book argues that the combined literary, epigraphic and archaeological evidence supports the theory that early-imperial Italy had about six million inhabitants.

In countries with complex domestic situations, citizens have little opportunity to exercise influence on governance and policy. Leiden academics research these situations and share their insights with the public, such as in Nigeria for instance. This enables the people and their communities to improve…

Terrorism only poses a small risk to people but tends to be a major source of public fear. Through fear, terrorism has far-reaching implications for public governance.

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

To understand which groups turn against their government, you need to understand the political culture in which they grew up, what they expect from a ‘state’ and what alternatives there are. With its long interdisciplinary experience, ASCL is often considered to be a regional expertise centre. But this…

The research group Science Communication and Society has been physically within the Institute of Biology (IBL) since 2012 and has become a formal part of the institute in 2018. The mission of this group is understanding how science communication works to improve the interaction between science and s…

With the emergence of new methods and technologies such as improved DNA analysis and big data, archaeological research has changed radically in recent decades. The researchers from the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the Faculty of Archaeology use new scientific knowledge to answer fundamental…

Leiden researchers study the extent to which Asian citizens can invoke the rights that they have on paper. This knowledge helps them advise the different levels of government and NGOs on how to improve the lot of poor citizens in particular.

Data science offers exciting new instruments for governments to reach out to citizens, for example by using data-driven information channels, providing real-time simulations, or personalizing services based on citizen data. At the same time, the possibilities and use of data science methods can have…

Public management scholars have long debated public and private sector differences. However, the generalizability of empirical results has been limited due to the shortage of cross-national studies.

What is the impact of Indonesia’s democratization process on everyday state-citizen relations?

We study and teach science communication. Our research program is aimed at improving science communication with as central themes ‘Authenticity in informal learning’ and ‘Bridging the gap between experts and the general public’.

Conference

Democratic citizenship refers to the capacity and willingness of citizens to actively influence the functioning of state institutions. While considered a vital correlate of democratization and the rule of law, its largely western-oriented literature rarely studies the forms of democratic citizenship…

OSCL is a learning community where anyone associated with Leiden University can learn and talk about open science practices. Example events are Open Science cafés, workshops, and walk-in-hours. The what Open science is an umbrella term for an approach to science that aims to make scientific…

It is often claimed that social media can contribute to democratic decision-making by bringing politicians and citizens into dialogue with one another. But is this potential always realised, and how? Most researchers look at politicians and their online communication strategies. In this New Media &…

Cristina Grasseni’s project

The idea of citizens and public professionals collaborating to provide public services has widely spread in several countries around the globe. Co-production is often presented as the go-to solution for challenges like a legitimacy crisis of both the government and the market, and financial concerns.…

Government impartiality is considered a core feature of quality of government, and one that leads to favorable macro‐level outcomes. We have limited knowledge, however, of how impartiality affects citizens' perceptions of public service quality. In particular, we do not know how the impacts of impartiality…

The Institute of Political Science is a vibrant department with nearly 70 academic staff in Leiden and nearby The Hague.

Politics is about the authorised allocation of values: who gets what, when and how much? This question is relevant at many different levels, in many different places and in very different ways.

Lecture, Sociolinguistics Series