On 14 November 2019, Luis Fiallos Pazmino defended his thesis 'Legal Perspectives on the Cross Border Operations of Unmanned Aircraft Systems'. The doctoral research was supervised by Prof. P.M.J. Mendes de Leon and Prof. E.C.P.D.C. De Brabandere.

Benjamin Scott, master student Air and Space law in Leiden, was given a unique chance by Professor Pablo Mendes De Leon. Benjamin was allowed to edited “The Law of Unmanned Aircraft Systems”. In close collaboration with the professor, staff of the International Institute for Air and Space Law at Leiden…

On Thursday 16 November 2017 Thomas Leclerc defended his PhD Dissertation ‘A Corrective Approach to Reduce Aircraft Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Contribution to the Study of Interactions between Legal Orders of International Law’. The Supervisors are Professor P. Mendes de Leon and Professor L. Grard.

In ten years, it is projected that ten percent of global civil aviation operations will be unmanned. Are the current international aviation laws and regulations up to these technological developments? Fernando Fiallos will defend his dissertation on 14 November 2019.

PhD Defence

The book, published by Kluwer Law International, on drones entitled

On Thursday 16 November 2017 Thomas Leclerc will defend his PhD Dissertation ‘A Corrective Approach to Reduce Aircraft Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Contribution to the Study of Interactions between Legal Orders of International Law’. The defence will commence at 13.45 hrs, at the Academy Building of Leiden…

Nowadays, it is almost impossible to imagine warfare without unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. For instance, they have been deployed in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are the current laws of war adequate to address the use of drones? PhD candidate James Welch will defend his thesis on 21 March.

By training with virtual opponents known as computer generated forces (CGFs), trainee fighter pilots can build the experience necessary for air combat operations, at a fraction of the cost of training with real aircraft.

This book contextualizes the use of terror as part of wider movements of political contention, demonstrating that terroristic innovation occurs as part of wider historical processes rather than in a vacuum.

Systems are called real-time systems, if the correctness of the system does not only depend on the correctness of the system output but also on whether the output is delivered on time.

Generally the data from remote sensing surveys - the scanning of the earth by satellite or aircraft in order to obtain information about it - is screened manually in archaeology. However, constant monitoring of the earth's surface causes a huge influx of data of high complexity and high quality. To…

Aviation safety is of global concern. Yet 43% of countries worldwide lack the expertise and administrative capacity to ensure effective safety oversight of the aviation activities for which they are responsible under international law.

Our Advanced Master Air and Space Law (LL.M.) combines public air law, private air law and space law from a European and an international perspective.

This open access volume surveys the state of the field to examine whether a fifth wave of deterrence theory is emerging. Bringing together insights from world-leading experts from three continents, the volume identifies the most pressing strategic challenges, frames theoretical concepts, and describes…

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the Islamic State's use of images taken by drones, drawing on a dataset of ISIS propaganda images from October 2016 to December 2018.

Government leaders have been searching for words to condemn the actions of Belarus which intercepted a passenger aircraft flying from Athens to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, having a fighter plane divert it to Minsk.

Researchers of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) have started a 4 year project on developing a system that sends out automatic alerts when components from engines are showing first signs of fatigue.

The project XAIPre (pronounce “Xyper”) aims to develop predictive maintenance system for the maritime industry using sensor technology and artificial intelligence. The project aims at developing Explainable Predictive Maintenance (XPdM) algorithms that do not only provide the engineers with a prediction…

Smart algorithms and powerful processors are just as essential for astronomy as big telescopes. Astronomers at Leiden University therefore constantly operate at the interface between astronomy and data science.

At Leiden University, researchers from all disciplines work together to find answers and design innovations in the field of artificial intelligence.

International alumnus Alejandro tells us in a flash about why it is so important to physically be in Leiden for your studies, about how important his Advanced Master was to his employers and how AI and tech affects his line of work.

In the past decades terrorists have regularly surprised us with unexpected and spectacular attacks, such as the one on the World Trade Centre in New York. How can intelligence services stay one step ahead of them? Consult Charles Darwin and Steven Spielberg is the advice of terrorism expert Yannick…

The Joint Investigation Team (JIT) which is carrying out the investigation into the MH17 disaster has identified four suspects who have been brought in connection with bringing down the aircraft. The four are to be prosecuted and as a result have been placed on international wanted lists.

A research team led by Dr. Yannick Veilleux-Lepage (Institute of Security and Global Affairs) in collaboration with Emil Archambault has secured funding from the Canadian Department of National Defence’s Mobilizing Insights in Defence and Security (MINDS) program to study the use of drones by violent…

Law

The world of aviation has moved on rapidly since the appearance of the ninth edition of this pre-eminent resource five years ago. Those developments pertain to market access and market behaviour by air carriers, including competition, new perceptions of safety and security, among others in relation…

The Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is the world’s largest moot court competition. The Competition is a simulation of a fictional dispute between countries before the International Court of Justice. This year more than 570 law schools from across the world participated.

Counterterrorism specialists often have to contend with difficult ethical dilemmas. There is currently a lack of any adequate infrastructure within intelligence agencies for discussing these dilemmas, Michael Kowalski writes in his dissertation. PhD defence on 12 March.

Birds around airports are more aggressive and sing as if they have hearing loss. Collaboration between researchers of Manchester Metropolitan University and the Institute of Biology Leiden has led to surprising new findings about the impact of anthropogenic noise on birds around airports. Publication…

An international team of researchers with Pascale Ehrenfreund from Leiden University has discovered that the dust particles of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko are made up of even smaller particles. This discovery confirms that clumps of dust form the basis for comets and planets.

The 2019 Model ICAO took place from 21-24 May at the ICAO headquarters in Montreal.

On Friday 7 December 2019, the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) of Leiden University signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) to further collaborative work on the promotion of the Cape Town Convention…

A lesson about aerodynamics from Vice-Rector Hester Bijl, about child rights by UNICEF professor Ton Liefaard, or about muscles by LUMC professor Annemieke Aartsma-Rus. The University treated school children to guest lectures by professors to celebrate its 444th birthday.

Who shall be responsible or liable when damage is caused by Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)? Is it fair enough to force a GNSS provider to bear the burden of compensation given GNSS open signals are provided free of charge? And are current international laws adequate to deal with those questions?…

We would all like to live in a world in which individuals feel safe, conflicts are resolved peacefully and the interests of future generations are taken into consideration. At Leiden University legal scholars investigate to what extent public international law meets the needs of a globalised society.…

NWO (the Dutch Research Council) has granted more than 10 million euros for five human-centered AI research projects (2.1M€ each). Leiden University participates in two of these five research proposals, which are called ELSA labs.

Fleur Visser was awarded a Veni grant by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). She is one of seventeen promising young Leiden scientists, who get the opportunity to develop their own ideas over a period of three years. Veni-funding is part of NWO's Talent Scheme, concerning…

Should the media refer to a criminal’s ethnicity? Law students held an online afternoon symposium on discrimination in the criminal justice system – and, while they were at it, society at large.

There are times when an administrator has too weighty a role in settling bankruptcies. This is the message of Professor Reinout Vriesendorp's inaugural lecture on 24 June.

For the Dutch Safety Board (DSB), the investigation into the MH17 plane crash was unprecedented in scope. It wasn’t easy, but it provided valuable lessons for international disaster investigations, says Sanneke Kuipers, a crisis expert from the Institute of Security and Global Affairs.

It is a known trait in humans to anchor innovations in the past, so as to make new developments easier to accept. It is an aspect of humanity that can also be spotted in classical and prehistoric times. Archaeologist Daniel Turner will investigate the anchoring of monumental building in Greek Prehistory…

On Thursday 16 November 2017, Lalin Kovudhikulrungsri will defend her doctoral thesis entitled ‘The Right to Travel by Air of Persons with Disabilities’. The defence will commence at 11.15 hrs at the Academy Building of Leiden University, Rapenburg 73. The supervisors are Professor P.M.J. Mendes de…

There are times when an insolvency practitioner has to weigh his role in administering bankrupt estates. This was the message of Professor Reinout Vriesendorp's inaugural lecture that took place on 24 June 2016. According to Statistics Netherlands, 5,271 companies were declared bankrupt in 2015.…

Ecologist Rosaleen March from the Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML) will carry on her research on functional biodiversity: a measure to assign value to ecosystems. Following her previous Marie Curie co-fund, she now receives a full Marie Curie fellowship. March: ‘We need to know how losing biodiversity…

Prof. Dr Isabella Diederiks-Verschoor passed away on 17 October 2017 at the age of 102. She was a pioneer of air and space law, both in the Netherlands and all over the world.

Alex Brandsen and Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart, PhD candidates in the Digital Archaeology research group and the Data Science Research Programme, have been awarded a 444 grant by Young Academy Leiden. They are going to use it to hold a session in Oxford on improving collaboration between researchers…