Leiden University

Two Political Science bachelor students will look back on this year’s graduation ceremony with particular satisfaction: Clémentine Escalas and Sem van der Tang. Their theses were awarded for their originality, social relevance and academic quality. Congratulations!

Researchers usually study what politicians say and do. But how do you investigate what they don't talk about? PhD candidate Yu-Sha Vergeer examined how Dutch media, politicians and policymakers discussed shadow banking, and why the issue repeatedly slipped from view.

Journalists and FGW researchers gathered at the Academy Building on Monday 5 October. During a round-table discussion, they sought an answer to the question of how to maintain control over their coverage of Trump during the upcoming mid-term elections. ‘Realise that what might seem funny could cost people their lives.’

Over a cup of tea, Gert Renkema and Niels Laurens discuss the financial position of the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. Their message is clear: FGGA is in good shape and continues to grow. At the same time, vacancies remain unfilled and limitations in BAS create extra work.

Increasing resistance is making antibiotics less effective throughout the world, while they are indispensable for surgery and fighting infections. So, how can we carry on using antibiotics? Professor of Pharmacology Coen van Hasselt researches new therapies, such as smart ways of combining and personalising antibiotics.

Researchers at Leiden University and the University of Amsterdam have discovered that humans and songbirds recognise complex sounds differently. Zhi-Yuan Ning (formerly at IBL), Carel ten Cate (IBL) and their colleagues investigated this using a listening task in which humans and zebra finches were presented with the same artificial sounds.

A learning robot that keeps making the same mistake may not seem very clever. But behind the scenes, it can still be learning all the time. Researchers at Leiden University have developed signals that allow a robot to show when it is learning something new.

A new material that produces movement patterns repeating in space ánd time, powered without external beat. A team of physicists from Amsterdam, Leiden and the UK published their unique design in Nature.

Researcher Marco Cinelli received the Bernard Roy Award 2026 for his work on Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). The award honors researchers for an outstanding body of work or contribution to the methodology and applications of MCDA.

On Wednesday 14 of October, we had a wonderful afternoon at Leiden University - Faculty of Science during a special Tuesday Talk celebrating 150 years of our Fine Mechanical and Electronics Department.

The interfaculty theme Migration will hold a kickoff event on Monday 16 November, for all academic staff at Leiden University. The event is intended to strengthen the network and develop ideas for the theme’s objectives.

Every day, we process large amounts of information. But what happens when new information clashes with what we already think we know? As we read, we connect new information to our existing knowledge. However, adapting our mental picture in response to contradictory information does not always happen automatically, as shown by the PhD research of Amy de Bruïne.

The Netherlands should not advocate a smaller EU budget, but a smarter one. That is the message being put forward by Dutch knowledge institutions and students in a letter to Prime Minister Jetten and Minister of Finance Heinen on 13 October.

Following the discussions that began around the 10th anniversary of the Master of Laws: Advanced Studies in International Children’s Rights, we are very pleased to announce that the International Children’s Rights Alumni Board has now been formally established.

Her research formed part of her PhD project and provided an opportunity to work with archival and other source materials relevant to her field of study. In an interview with Sarah Cramsey, she reflects on her research stay, the insights she gained, and the value of the stipend for her academic work.

Despite the EU’s general ban on state aid, public authorities can still support initiatives such as social housing and affordable NIPT screening. Ali Al Khatib’s PhD research examines the exceptions to the rule and concluded that there is room for manoeuvre.

Those who received new medications in the Dutch East Indies were sometimes both patients and test subjects. How did patients themselves experience that role? Ph.D. candidate Caroline Schep has received a travel grant from the KNAW to travel to Sweden in search of new ways to bring to light precisely those barely audible voices from the colonial past.

Attending an open day, helping decide which degree to choose and contributing financially: the role of parents in prospective students’ academic futures seems to be growing. Nearly eight out of ten first-year students asked their parents for advice and were glad they did. As a parent, how can you help without being overbearing?

A research team from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen and Leiden University in the Netherlands has examined a tooth from the Schöningen archaeological site in Lower Saxony. Publication in Quaternary Environments and Humans.

Professor Frits Rosendaal was appointed Knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion during his farewell gathering as Professor of Clinical Epidemiology. Mayor Peter Heijkoop presented him with the award at his farewell lecture on Friday 9 October in the Academy Building.