Sector Plan Themes & Leiden's Contribution

Leiden University’s contribution to the Social Sciences Sector Plan is organized across several interconnected levels. The national Sector Plan themes define shared priorities across Dutch universities, while Leiden’s research themes and faculty focus areas provide direction and focus within the university.

Together, these levels ensure that Leiden’s work is interdisciplinary, strategically aligned, and closely connected to societal challenges.

Sector Plan Themes

Within the Social Sciences Sector Plan, universities collaborate on a number of shared themes that address major societal challenges. At Leiden University, researchers from the Faculties of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) and Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) contribute to these themes:

Resilience in Youth
Research focuses on strengthening resilience across the life course, with particular attention to children and young people. It combines insights from psychology, education, and governance, and often involves collaboration with schools, municipalities, and youth care organisations.
Mental Health Disorders
Research addresses the prevention, early identification, and understanding of mental health problems. It examines how psychological, social, and institutional factors influence mental health and how this knowledge can inform care and policy.
Societal Transitions & Behavioural Change
Research explores how behaviour, institutions, and public policy interact in major societal transitions, such as climate change, digitalisation, and security. A key aim is to support evidence-based and sustainable societal change.
Educational Sciences & Teacher Training
Research focuses on improving learning processes, teaching practices, and educational systems. This includes attention to inclusion, motivation, and innovation in both education and teacher training.

Leiden University research themes

Leiden University organises much of its interdisciplinary research around five university-wide research themes. These themes provide the broader context for the university’s contribution to the Sector Plan and stimulate collaboration across disciplines.

Humans in the World - focusing on identity, culture, migration, and global interaction
Resilient and Learning Society - addressing inequality, social development, and future generations
Technology and Society - examining digitalisation, AI, and responsible innovation
Peace, Justice, Democracy and Governance - focusing on institutions, public trust, and security
Health and Life Sciences - addressing health, wellbeing, and prevention

FSW Core Themes

Within this broader framework, the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) focuses on a number of core themes that reflect its strengths and priorities.

FGGA Core Themes

The Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs (FGGA) contributes to the Sector Plan from a governance and global perspective. Its research focuses on how institutions, policy, and international dynamics shape societal challenges and responses.

FGGA researchers contribute in areas such as:

governance of societal and technological transitions
digital safety and youth resilience
security and violence prevention
educational innovation in an international context

Through this perspective, FGGA complements the behavioural and social science approaches within the Sector Plan.

Alignment Across Levels

The national Sector Plan themes, Leiden University’s research themes, and the FSW and FGGA core themes are closely connected and reinforce one another. Together, they create a coherent framework that links national priorities to the university’s broader research strategy and the faculties’ specific strengths.

Within this structure, the Sector Plan defines the shared ambitions at national level, Leiden’s research themes provide the interdisciplinary context, and the faculty core themes translate these priorities into focused areas of research and collaboration. This layered approach helps ensure that Leiden’s contribution is strategically aligned, academically distinctive, and closely connected to societal challenges.