Researchers within the cluster are committed to the close and expert analysis of the materiality and content of the arts, literature and media they study. Different types of media bring various aspects of this core interest to the fore.

Research on the global field of museums, heritage, commemoration, consumption and material culture

How can the importance of the image in late medieval spirituality be understood in the context of the love mysticism inspired by the imagery of the Song of Songs?

The project focuses on communication processes regarding spirituality and existential issues in the medical health care in the Netherlands

This project investigates how the first generation of Dutch printed books (the incunabula, 1473-1501) affected late medieval spirituality, religious practice and visual culture in the Low Countries.

Perception of material culture, design and digital knowledge applications

This research project problematizes the applicability of ballet within a contemporary choreographic practice.

Embracing the Provinces is a collection of essays focused on people and their daily lives living in the Roman provinces, c. 27 BC-AD 476. It offers an overview of current research on Roman provinces and frontiers, deconstructing some long-held preconceptions and providing refreshing insights into unexplored…

The project “Digital Materials” is about the conception, exploration and analysis of possibilities to make digital processes directly operative and tangible in physical materials and examines how the fiction of these “Digital Materials” could affect on figures of interaction between human subjects and…

CERA (CErtification of RAw Materials) is a four-year project that will develop a standardized certification scheme ensuring environmental, social and economic sustainability in extraction, processing, trading and manufacturing of all mineral raw materials. It will guarantee traceability of certified…

This research develops and applies a new approach to study Aegyptiaca Romana from a bottom-up, Roman perspective.

It is not man’s ingenuity, but rather materials that are the source of innovation and progress. This is what archaeologist Maikel Kuijpers concludes based on his research into craftsmanship and material processing in the Early Bronze Age.

On Tuesday 10 March 2015 - 10h Ernst Worrell, professor at the University of Utrecht with a chair on

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Over the past century, the world population has grown exponentially, as has our need for energy and raw materials. If we wish to continue to live prosperously in the future, we have to radically restructure our economy and consumption. Scientific research shows us how to do this.

Where and how are critical materials currently used and how can this information be used to develop scenarios about their future demand.

All our courses require you to do (background) reading. This may include books, readers and/or materials uploaded to the online learning environment Blackboard. You can find an overview of the literature you need to study in the course description in the online prospectus, under the heading ‘Reading…

All of our courses require you to do (background) reading. This may include books, readers and/or materials uploaded to the online learning environment Blackboard. An overview of the literature you need to study can be found in the course description in the online prospectus, under the heading ‘Reading…

LUCAS’ Medieval and Early Modern (MEM) cluster brings together expertise in the fields of art, literature and media. It focuses on the arts in society in Europe and beyond during a vast period of time, from the 7th through to the 18th centuries CE.

This project examines the notion of sacred fertility and sacred landscapes, associated rituals and material culture, both archaeological and ethnographic manifestations in the Horn of Africa.

We have recently discovered that there are biological proteins that phase separate out of solution much the way oil will de-mix from water (see movie). These form dense, liquid-like phases called protein condensates.

The goal is to develop educational materials for Dâw, Hupd’äh, and Nadëb Indigenous peoples (Naduhup family; Middle and Upper Rio Negro; Brazilian Amazon). In order to achieve this, first of all, the fieldwork data collected during a collaborative project among anthropologists and linguists (2017-2020)…

This project looks at material culture to better understand the character and organization of Roman colonial society in the Republican period, with a focus on the colony of Aesernia (founded 263 BC) in Samnium (modern-day Molise, Italy). What impact did the foundation of the colony have on precolonial…

Material Culture Studies revolves around the analysis of the cultural biographies of all sorts of material objects from flint axes, to pottery, to houses and monumental structures.

What are the mechanics of soft materials (e.g. foam, sand)?

The Modern and Contemporary Cluster is the largest within LUCAS and home to more than 100 staff members and PhD candidates.

Please find below links to articles / events that might be of interest.

Can we develop a platform for raw materials intelligence?

A sustainable resource management is an essential aspect to satisfy the current human needs without compromising the needs of future generations.

Proceedings of the International Colloquium Leiden, May 29 and 30, 2008

In our lab, we investigate the physics and material properties of low-dimensional systems.

Examining if large scale application of new energy pathways can be constrained by materials and emissions.

Ongoing microwear analysis of the flint artefacts from the Funnelbeaker period suggests that flint had a pivotal role in the representation and structuration of the cosmological order of Funnelbeaker society.

New Approaches to the Study of Textual Material from the Early Pharaonic to the Late Antique Period

This subproject, carried out by post-doctoral researcher Dr. O. Nieuwenhuyse, investigates changes and continuities in the functional, social and symbolic uses of the material culture, c. 6800-5800 BC. A contextually oriented approach is adopted, which pays attention to the local socio-economic and…

With its Green Deal The European Union has set itself much-needed ambitious climate goals. But the energy crisis and geopolitical tensions are making these difficult to achieve. Seven researchers from the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities (LDE) alliance have written a white paper offering solutions.

New Approaches to Understanding the Eastern Mediterranean during Byzantine and Ottoman Times

Geometric phases lead to a nontrivial interference result when an electron's different quantum mechanical paths choices encircle a magnetic coil in an Aharonov-Bohm experiment.

How can prospective LCA be streamlined in a way that its practical application in research and technology development increases?

An account of the total of material flows going in, out and through Amsterdam.