Are there any differences in gaze behavior between high and low socially anxious individuals? What factors influence the relation between social anxiety and gaze behavior?

Individuals suffering from social anxiety disorder (SAD) consistently avoid eye contact. However, in a non-clinical population, gaze avoidance in socially anxious individuals depends on social situations, Jiemiao Chen saw in a series of experiments, for which she used wearable eye-trackers. On 25 April…

Bernhard Brandl, the new Leiden Professor of Infrared Astronomy, is developing instruments for the world’s largest telescopes. These telescopes can be used to observe objects in space that are more than 13 billion years old. Brandl will deliver his inaugural lecture on 26 September.

The Van Vollenhoven Institute is organising a year-long public lecture series entitled 'Reconsidering the Socio-Legal Gaze'. The lecture series aims to spark critical debates about the visions of justice and positions of power that inform Law and Society scholarship at Leiden and beyond.

Effects of age and social anxiety

Can a virtual character’s friendly non-verbal responses stimulate eye-contact in individuals with varying levels of social anxiety?

Researchers of the National University of Singapore and Leiden University have discovered that chimpanzees and bonobos share the contrasting colour pattern seen in human eyes, which makes it easy for them to detect the direction of someone’s gaze from a distance.

Our team consists of the following members.

Reading emotions from others’ faces strengthens social relationships. But how is that for children with hearing loss? Can they learn to read faces just as easily as hearing children? The study by Yung-Ting Tsou and colleagues shows that daily

A P300-based Brain Computer Interface character speller, also known as P300 speller, has been an important communication pathway, under extensive research, for people who lose motor ability, such as patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis or spinal-cord injury because a P300 speller allows human-beings…

Registration for the Co-Align 2023 conference is open!

Debate

From basic science to real-world interventions

Here I propose to study the relationship between autonomic pupil-synchronisation and trust, at the behavioural and neural level, and examine a targeted set of possible contextual moderators.

Is blended care a feasible and effective treatment method for social anxiety in adolescence?

Are you interested in studying Arts, Media and Society at Leiden University? To have an impression of the student life, see the overview of a typical day out of the life of Zofia, first-year student.

On 3 December 2019, Hanna Bosdriesz defended her thesis 'Furthering the fight against impunity in Latin America: the contributions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to domestic accountability processes'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. L.J. van den Herik and Prof. M.A.H. van…

Do you want to leave your mark on societal challenges now and in the future? At Leiden University you'll get prepared to make a difference in society. Together we answer the questions of today and turn our gaze on tomorrow. With more than 50 bachelor's and 80 master's programmes in Leiden and The Hague…

Do you want to leave your mark on societal challenges now and in the future? At Leiden University you'll get prepared to make a difference in society. Together we answer the questions of today and turn our gaze on tomorrow. With more than 50 bachelor's and 80 master's programmes in Leiden and The Hague…

The Developmental and Educational Psychology unit nominated Jiemiao Chen's paper

In this penetrating self-portrait dating from around 1629, Rembrandt presents himself as an aristocratic young man. He enrolled in Leiden University as a student of the arts in 1620, but whether he actually attended lectures is unknown. In his paintings and prints, he incorporated many topics that are…

“We are proud and happy to receive this grant. It will enable us to do truly innovative fundamental research with a direct link to practical applications.” Michiel Westenberg is looking forward to investigate the effects of age and social anxiety on eye-contact. Together with Esther van den Bos he has…

On this page you will find more information about the selected projects of the Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund for 2022.

Comparing gazes between Turin and other cities in the global north.

Young children are not just cheeky monkeys — it turns out they actually laugh like chimpanzees, too. 'That’s because both babies and chimps chuckle while inhaling and exhaling, unlike adult humans who laugh mainly during exhalation', says cognitive psychologist Mariska Kret on Techregister.

Links to various Digital Humanities organizations and resources, mainly in English.

Studying in The Hague can make a big difference. The Hague is proud to be known as the international city of peace and justice. The city is full of opportunity and is a fantastic student city.

What is the role of stress and stress-related hormones in emotion regulation?

With each discovery that is made, the universe reveals a fraction of its secrets: the most distant galaxies and quasars, the atmosphere of exoplanets, evidence of dark matter, complex molecules in space. This is what fills the days and nights of the researchers from the Leiden Observatory and their…

The brief removal of Rein Dool’s ‘cigar-smoking white men’ painting generated a storm of reactions last November. Students, staff and alumni reflected on this at a symposium on Friday 26 May.

On Thursday 23 November, Professor Betty de Hart delivered the lecture ‘Exploring the Legal Archive on Race: Methodological Challenges’ as part of the lecture series ‘Reconsidering the Socio-Legal Gaze’ organized by the Van Vollenhoven Institute. Over 40 people attended the lecture, held online due…

The one-year (60 EC) Master in Middle Eastern Studies provides intensive and comprehensive training. The programme prepares you for a range of careers requiring specialist language, cultural, or political knowledge.

This project is aimed at 1) elucidating the role of attention in itch and pain, including orientation, and attentional disengagement (i.e., directing attention away) from itch and pain; and 2) modifiability of these attentional processes.

The third project, worked on by dr. Rina Knoeff, is a synthesising project directed at studying the Leiden anatomical collections as important parts of ‘public history’. It will use the results of the other projects in order to analyse anatomical collections (their focus, significant silences, audiences,…

Researcher: Hieke Huistra MSc. This PhD-project is directed at the historical and educational import of the Leiden University nineteenth-century pathological collections.

Since itch and pain can be very burdensome, especially when individuals suffer from (either of) these symptoms chronically, it is important to know the factors by which these sensations are influenced. It becomes more and more clear that psychological factors play an important role in the experience…

The 2016 EAA student award was won by Leiden Archaeology PhD candidate Shumon Hussain.

Jiemiao Chen is running a study on eye-contact with a virtual audience. The study involves introducing oneself to the audience while wearing eye-tracking glasses and filling out some questionnaires. Participation is possible until mid-June.

Immerse yourself: read books, listen to podcasts and watch films about racism, discrimination and the colonial past.

The more opportunities a child has to learn and develop, the stronger his or her future position in society. Leiden University investigates how the brain picks up information, and how learning processes can be influenced positively.

Andrew Littlejohn composed a sonic ethnography with sounds recorded in Japan’s northeastern region. To understand the experience of being in the middle of a changing landscape, Littlejohn composed a sonic ethnography called Shizugawa, named after a district in Minamisanriku Town where he recorded.

In a fiery Annie Romein-Verschoor lecture, Sylvana Simons opened up about her experiences as a woman in politics. The leader of the BIJ1 party is regularly the subject of belittling comments and threats. Writer Aafke Romeijn, who reflected on the Simons’ lecture, has also been threatened frequently…

On Thursday 9 December, Dr Upik Djalins presented an online lecture, entitled 'The Colonial Bureaucratic Network versus the Metropole: The Origin Story of Land Alienation Prohibition in the 1870s East Indies'.

On Thursday 14 October, Dr Martine van Ittersum gave the first lecture of the Van Vollenhoven Institute’s year-long workshop 'Reconsidering the Socio-Legal Gaze'. Attended by over 40 people, her lecture, entitled 'Van Vollenhoven and Grotius: Soulmates in Empire' examined Grotius’ influence on Cornelis…

Members of our research team give different types of presentations and lectures.

The year 2020 should finally be Brexit year. The United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union on 31 January, at midnight Dutch time. Legal scholar Joris Larik from Leiden University College The Hague explains why he is not advocating remain.

Various researchers from Leiden University have been awarded NWO (Dutch Research Council) Open Competition funding. Nine social sciences and humanities projects will receive the funding.

Across cultures, parents help their children master the social and linguistic codes needed in adult life. Recent research on language socialization found important cross-cultural differences, pointing out the need for more diversity for a full understanding of this process. Deaf communities form…

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker was presented with a 'Diamond' on 8 June in recognition of Leiden University's role as a 'shining example' of male/female diversity. 'It's a question of determination,' says Stolker, 'and that gets results. For example, we are appointing an increasing number of female…