We focus on natural products research, traditional medicine, ethnobotany and phytochemistry.

Which plants are depicted, described or collected in these century-old objects? Who made these objects, where and for what purpose? What is their scientific and societal relevance today?

The research provides insight into disease behavior in both rural and semi-urban areas in Serengeti in Tanzania.

Promotor: Prof.dr. E.F. Smets, Co-promotor: T.R. van Andel

The Leiden Ethnosystems and Development Programme (LEAD) of the Faculty of Science of Leiden University has been involved since 1987 in several Projects and Programmes in policy-based Training & Research, as well as in International Exhibitions, in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean…

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.

Investigating the intercultural connections that shaped practices of knowledge production in colonial Dutch Brazil.

The origins of Surinamese rice, a digital twin of the Earth and a large big-data project in the Chilean sky: three Leiden scientists receive an ENW-KLEIN grant for innovative, fundamental research.

The role of domestic and wild resource exploitation in Bronze Age subsistence

Jan Slikkerveer, professor in ethnobotanical knowledge systems, wants to develop a new form of sustainable tourism that not only focuses on preserving nature, but also the culture of the host country. For this, he receives an Erasmus Plus grant of 900,348 euros from the European Commission.

In 1987, Dr. D. Mike Warren en Dr. L. Jan Slikkerveer established the LEAD Programme during the Inaugural Lecture Series of the CIKARD-LEAD Global Network on Indigenous Knowledge Systems at CIKARD of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, USA.

The Leiden Ethnosystems and Development Programme (LEAD) of the Faculty of Science of Leiden University has been involved since 1987 in several Projects and Programmes in policy-based Training & Research, as well as in International Exhibitions, in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean…

‘Broad Implications of Climate Change in East Africa in terms of Human and Animal Futures’

Projects and Programmes

Since the establishment of LEAD, the input of its staff has focused on several education and training programmes, such as the Post-Graduate Course on Medical Anthropology, Medical Sociology and Ethnomedicine at the Faculty of Social Sciences of Leiden University since 1992, and the Post-Graduate Course…

If you follow the western media, you are likely to think of ‘Africa’ as the continent of origin of desperate migrants, a continent of hunger and disease and a breeding ground for international terrorism. But if you want to see the bigger picture, you should look no further than the African Studies scholars…

The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has personally invited Jan Slikkeveer, professor of Ethnobotanical Knowledge Systems in Developing Countries, to give a lecture during the World Culture Forum. The Forum will be hosted in Indonesia from 24 to 27 November.

An overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2020, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

Lecture