Infecting each other with viruses and bacteria while protecting yourself with medicines and vaccinations. Sounds like a fun evening, right? Master students Life Science & Technology Rafael Jezior and Dennis de Beeld certainly think so. Together, they developed ImmunoWars: an exciting card game based…

We are confronted on a daily basis with news about the Corona virus and its consequences. We read alarming headlines like 'Dutch becoming increasingly anxious about Corona virus' or 'Huge fears and stress about Corona crisis'.

The changes that humans are making to the landscape are beneficial for mosquitoes that spread diseases such as Zika, chikungunya and dengue. This is what biologist Maarten Schrama and his colleagues write in the journal Nature Scientific Reports. ‘If we know in which living environments mosquitoes thrive…

The corona crisis relates to not only the medical field but also the field of the social sciences and humanities. SSH Beraad, a consultation body that aims to improve the position of the social sciences and humanities in the Netherlands, has launched a website bringing together experts in the social…

The coronavirus outbreak raises fundamental questions about the politics and narratives of crisis, as well as about our “ordinary” everyday lives and sociality. Irene Moretti and Annemarie Samuels introduce a collection of blogposts of Leiden Anthropologists reflecting on the pandemic and offer a set…

Lecture

All coronavirus updates published in December 2020.

Following China and Italy, it appears that the United States is becoming the next epicentre of the coronacrisis. Can the US handle this crisis? Is president Trump dealing with the situation correctly? We asked Leiden America expert Sara Polak.

Below you will find the answers to frequently asked questions about the coronavirus outbreak.

Leiden has a long history in the treatment of blood cell cancer. Research to find better therapies never stands still. One of the potential treatments currently being worked on is a ‘living medicine’.

Webinars: We are organising virtual events only until further notice; please return to this website for updates.

All coronavirus updates published in September 2020.

By detecting the tiny forces between a micrometer sized magnet and the spins of hydrogen nuclei, we can do MRI with a volume resolution that is approximately 12 orders of magnitude better than a conventional MRI.  

These are CCLS events that have already taken place. PDFs of the presentations will be added once they have been received.

Leiden University is following the recommendations of the Dutch Institute of Public Health and Environment (RIVM) in order to ensure the health and safety of its students and staff. Before departure, it is very important that you familiarise yourself with the travel requirements and coronavirus measures…

Jelle van Buuren, Assistant Professor at Leiden University, appeared in Dutch newspapers the Algemeen Dagblad and Het Parool to discuss conspiracy thinking and the pandemic.

The end of October will be all about the United Nations (UN). The festivities for the 75th anniversary have been scaled down due to the corona virus. 'A shame', says Prof.dr. Alanna O'Malley, but at the same time she sees that corona crisis also offers opportunities for the UN.

The global outbreak of coronavirus and the government measures to slow its spread are having a huge impact on society. Our researchers reflect on this impact from the perspective of their own discipline – or are even working on solutions.

Corrie Bakels would have given this year's Kroon lecture on Friday March 20, but the event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak. Her colleagues had planned to present to her the 50th edition of the Analecta journal on this festive occassion, so these plans had to be changed as well.

The NWO has awarded Sara Polak a Rubicon grant. In September, she will start a 12-month period of research at the International Graduate Centre for the Study of Culture at Justus-Liebig University in Giessen, Germany.

The Diploma in Medieval Studies entitled European Diploma for the study of Medieval Latin written sources, organised in the framework of the ERASMUS+ programme, was created at Louvain-la-Neuve in 1991. More than twenty European and extra-European universities are involved. The courses focus on methodology…

From July 25th till August 7th, a team led by Professor Marie Soressi went to France and worked at La Grande Roche de Quinçay, a cave site located in a forested area close to the city of Poitiers. The corona outbreak triggered the need to rethink the organisation of the excavation.

In this new series, students have the opportunity to meet leading children's rights experts, including representatives of UN agencies, international civil society organizations and research institutes.

On Thursday 30 June Janet van de Bunt will defend her doctoral thesis entitled ‘Disaster Relief Funds’. The defence will commence at 16.15 hrs in the Academy Building of Leiden University, Rapenburg 73. The supervisor is Professor A.G. Castermans.

How are Dutch universities working together in times of corona, and which solutions are they offering? On 15 May VSNU chairman Pieter Duisenberg presented the e-zine ‘Universities in times of corona’ (LINK) to Ingrid Van Engelshoven, Minister of Education, Culture and Science. The e-zine contains a…

On April 8th 2020, Ivan Romashchenko successfully defended his doctoral thesis on 'Related party transactions and corporate groups: When Eastern Europe meets the West'.

From 1 August 2018, Alanna O'Malley was appointed as Chair of United Nations Studies in Peace and Justice, focusing on the ‘lesser-known actors’ of the UN: women, the youth, the agents of informal diplomatic networks within the UN and actors from the Global South. This Special Chair has been created…

Almost all the western countries were too late responding to the outbreak of Covid. Why was that? Three governance experts, including Leiden professor Arjen Boin, have written a book about the response to the pandemic. ‘Our current system isn’t geared towards identifying and managing a long-term crisis,’…

PhD candidate Vincent Walstra reflects on alternative social interactions and mutual aid in the city of Rotterdam during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

At the end of the year we always compile a list of our most interesting, most popular articles from that year. In the crazy year that was 2020 one topic was at the forefront of everyone’s minds: coronavirus. Fortunately, there was also room for other stories.

Prehistoric people may well have had an emotional bond with domesticated dogs much earlier than we thought. Leiden PhD candidate and vet Luc Janssens discovered that a dog found at the start of the last century in a grave dating back 14,000 years had been sick for a long time and had been cared for.…

Lodewijk Petram, author of the book 'The World's First Stock Exchange', discussed the rise of the Amsterdam stock exchange in the 17th century in the ninth Hazelhoff Guest Lecture.

How do first-hand narratives of war of commanders in the front line relate to the official narrative of the Eighty Years’ War?

We exploit secondary metabolites of plant to develop pharmaceutical compounds and we genetically modify plant genomes to improve crops.

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We’re susceptible not only to viruses, but also to fear of viruses. What are the psychological principles at work here? Social and organisational psychologist Gert Jan Lelieveld on the Corona virus at the Dutch news website NRC. Read his 'behavior column' in English.

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.

The article deals with an issue that will be at the heart of the World Health Assembly to be held in May, namely the concept of ‘deep prevention’ and the importance of its integration in the Global Pandemic Treaty - which has been recently proposed by the European Council and currently endorsed by more…

All Leiden alumni, students and anyone else who might be interested is welcome to attend the online Cleveringa Meeting in Leiden on Wednesday 25 November entitled 'The Corrosion of International Relations'.

The Dutch Data Protection Authority is concerned about the way in which businesses in the hospitality sector are registering contact details of customers.

The Dutch government will be unable to make wearing face masks mandatory in public spaces in the short term, according to three constitutional and administrative law experts in NRC newspaper, including Wim Voermans.

At the end of 2019, Leiden law student Aoife Fleming was elected UN Youth Representative for Sustainable Development. What impact is the corona crisis having on international climate negotiations?

Dr. Kirsten Leiss and Prof. Peter Klinkhamer received 900.000 euro’s from “Stichting Toegepaste Wetenschappen (STW)” and the company “Rijk Zwaan” to develop plants that are resistant to thrips, a major agricultural pest all over the world.

Almost all PhD defences at Leiden University have been postponed due to the corona virus, but statistician Sanne Willems is going through with hers. In a different form than usual that is. Hardly any audience, the committee dialing in from a distance and the celebration to be held at a later moment.…

The 18.8 million euro NWO Zwaartekracht grant for quantum software which Amsterdam, Delft and Leiden landed collectively, means for Leiden University among others the appointment of two new permanent scientific staff members, who will each form their own research group, divided among Computer Science,…

Unfortunately, Covid-19 won’t be the last infectious disease to sweep across the world. To nip such diseases in the bud, a team of Leiden students is developing a test kit that will be able to detect infectious diseases at an early stage. With this idea, they won the Grand Prize of the international…

There is an ongoing struggle between the Minister of Public Health, Hugo de Jonge, and the Dutch Municipal Health Services (GGDs). De Jonge wants the GGDs to speed up testing, conduct more tests, and allow priority testing but the GGDs are pulling on the brakes. The waiting lists for a corona test have…

Mirjam van Reisen favours big data built up from local inputs in developing countries and suitable for local use. The new Professor of Computing for Society at Leiden's Faculty of Science connects data science with development sociology. Inaugural lecture 10 March.

Leiden Asia Centre researcher Anoma van der Veere argues that the Japanese government has failed to respond properly to Covid-19. There were difficulties with implementing government measures aimed at limiting the spread of the virus – in some cases those measures were not even taken seriously. How…