Maurits Berger worked as a lawyer in Amsterdam and as a journalist and researcher in Egypt and Syria. Since 2008, he has been a Professor of Islam in Leiden. Now he finally gets to do what he really wants: bringing his social knowledge and experience with Islam to the academic world. His call to the…

The title of European City of Science was officially handed over to a delegation from Leiden in the Italian city of Trieste on 6 September. Leiden will be the science capital of Europe for the year 2022. The EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF), the largest interdisciplinary science conference in Europe, will…

How can the Dutch Sand Motor strengthen our coasts in a natural way? And how can this knowledge and experience help prevent coastal erosion in Jamaica? Researchers Alexander van Oudenhoven (Institute of Environmental Sciences Leiden) and Arjen Luijendijk (Delft University of Technology) have compiled…

In the National Think Tank, 20 young academics spend four months mulling over a solution to a societal problem. Two Leiden alumni tell us more.

In 2016, the 23 members of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) generated a collective economic value of €99.8 billion in Gross Value Added and 1.3 million jobs. These and other figures, which appear in a just published report by LERU, demonstrate the impressive contribution that LERU…

Students of the minor in Innovation, Cocreation and Global Impact present their idealistic projects. Watch the film!

In their third year, students of International Studies get their teeth into difficult issues put forward by government and businesses such as Unilever and the World Food Programme. Students who take part gain valuable experience.

Conference

Debate, Film & Panel discussion

Leiden Law School at the heart of society

In developing cooperation on research and education with China, Leiden University focuses on projects that promote innovation, have an impact on science, and benefit society

The mission of science based business (SBB) connects the domains of science, business, and policy. Scientific research we focus on at Leiden in areas such as artificial intelligence promises to reshape our societies for the better. Translating science into positive societal impact however requires new…

Leiden University trains highly qualified academics who transfer their knowledge to society.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding teaching.

With RoMeincraft, you get to play the popular computer game Minecraft while learning about the ancient Romans. RoMeincraft, the project of the VALUE Foundation founded by (at the time) archaeologists from Leiden University, is at the interface between knowledge about the past and computer games.

As part of the process of safeguarding the quality of our research, our institutes are audited regularly by a committee of external experts.

Research

The LLC conducts research into the development of effective public leadership within and between organisations.

Jet Bussemaker, former Minister of Education, Culture and Science, has been appointed Professor at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and Leiden University with effect from 1 July 2018. She will be the holder of the new chair in ‘Science, Policy and Societal Impact, focusing on Healthcare'.

e-SIDES (ethical and societal impact of data sciences) is a Coordination & Support Action (CSA) part of the Horizon 2020 programme.

As a leading research, consulting, and training center, CWTS is dedicated to increasing our understanding of scientific quality, societal impact, and other related concepts. CWTS studies the conditions and consequences of research evaluation for the generation of new knowledge, and the role of research…

Course

Imprint of Action is the first large-scale study focussing entirely on sociocultural impact in archaeology and, as such, is explorative in nature; it provides unique insights into the workings of interaction and participation in archaeological events, and openly shares qualitative and quantitative research…

How do surgeons avoid causing nerve damage or leaving cancerous cells behind? An interdisciplinary research group at the LUMC hopes to improve operations and make them less invasive with the aid imaging techniques. They are working with medical companies to make these techniques widely available.

Sip2020 is sponsored by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Graduate School Experimental Plant Sciences (EPS).

The Faculty of Archaeology has a partnership with Archeologie Magazine, the largest archaeology-themed magazine in the Netherlands, aiming to improve its societal impact. Every edition of the magazine, one page is devoted to research done at our Faculty.

The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences brings together high-quality research and outstanding teaching in the disciplines of cultural anthropology, education and child studies, political science, psychology, science and technology studies, as well as in multidisciplinary approaches.

The two-year master’s programme in Computer Science at Leiden University offers seven specialisations ranging from AI to Bioinformatics and Data Science. The programme combines excellent theoretical teaching with possibilities for applied work with industrial relevance.

Implementing all kinds of change and introducing new structures, far-reaching rules and administrative systems may sometimes seem to distract an organisation from its purpose. Furthermore, there is growing recognition of the need of staff of public organisations to find more meaning in their work: the…

The majority (80%) of e-waste generated globally are recycled informally in developing countries.

Social impact and circular economy. Two topics focusing on the future and bringing forward many concrete problems. Two Master Honours Classes, in which students tackle societal challenges, will start this fall.

Since 1 April 2018, a new project on impact has been pursued by CWTS, coordinated by Anne Beaulieu. The project has been the occasion to focus on a number of areas of activity at CWTS and to consider their impact. It has also spurred an institute-wide reflection on the meaning of impact and on the kinds…

‘It's right and proper that we have policies to prevent terrorism,' says Francesco Ragazzi, university lecturer in International Relations at Leiden's Institute of Political Science. 'But the way the policies are designed and implemented can have unintended consequences. For example, when teachers are…

For medical research, researchers often recreate tissue in the lab. Organ-on-a-chip technology emulates organs, right down to the blood that flows through them, thus creating a realistic test model for drugs or research into disease processes. Researchers from the LUMC are coordinating an NWO Gravitation…

With our research and teaching, we help make the world a better place. We join in the academic and public debate, and seek answers to economic and social issues – not just at the local and regional level but at the global one too.

We are developing the conceptual framework, which is new to this taxonomic group, and evaluate the current state of the art with respect to all critical parameters and transfer functions for a fully developed Population Consequences of Acoustic Disturbance (PCAD) model.

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:

With our research and teaching, we help make the world a better place. We join in the academic and public debate, and seek answers to economic and social issues – not just at the local and regional level but at the global one too.

This project aims to situate the current policy concept of ‘valorization of scientific knowledge’ in historical and epistemological perspectives. Conceptual understanding of the utility of scientific practices is developed in dialogue with historical analyses of the politics of knowledge in European…

The 21 universities of the League of European Research Universities have an enormous economic impact: more than 900,000 jobs and 71.2 billion euros in 2014. Each job at a member university results in 6 jobs elsewhere. Leiden University is a member of the League.

Our research covers a very broad terrain and has a strong disciplinary basis across a wide range of scientific disciplines and fields.

KWR Watercycle Research Institute and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University are collaborating in the area of social impact.

LUCAS is home to a multidisciplinary academic community that facilitates deep analyses of, and appreciation for, the power and dynamics of cultural products (texts, objects, practices) in our past and present. Through high-quality research, education, and valorisation, our Institute contributes to a…

On Thursday 21 September the first monthly ILS lunch of the academic year took place. Prof. Jannemieke Ouwerkerk, from the Department for Criminal Law and Criminology, presented her research on “The Exercise of EU Criminalisation Powers after Lisbon”, showing an insight in the motives behind the harmonization…

On October 23rd, dr. Bart Custers, associate professor and head of research of eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden Universitty, delivers a keynote address on the big data and law at the International Conference on Big Data Research (ICBDR 2017) in Osaka, Japan

The combination of global questions and a wide range of local sources characterizes the Leiden University Institute for History.

The motto of the Institute for History is: ‘Global questions, local sources.’ Its researchers use local sources to find answers to major historical questions. Without historical analysis, it is impossible to understand and explain the issues in society today. Leiden itself has a rich history, with big…

National and international research partnerships

Earlier this year, the public voted environmental scientist Paul Behrens Discoverer of the Year 2018. Behrens is an interdisciplinary scientist who wants to understand our impact on the planet. ‘Unfortunately, we are not doing enough. Huge changes are underway and we’re running out of time to avoid…