Professor of Governance of Sustainability Eefje Cuppen researches sustainability transitions and takes social values such as equity and equality into account. How, for example, can we reduce CO2 in a way that is fair?

One of our talented researchers is Anne-Laura van Harmelen. As Professor of Brain, Safety and Resilience, she studies distressing childhood experiences, such as abuse, bullying or trauma.

The winner of the Leiden University Thesis Prize has made an original and substantial contribution to argumentation theory. This is what Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board and member of the LUF board, said at the online ceremony for the University’s thesis prizes. The winner of the first prize is Charlotte van der Voort. She received her Master’s degree in Dutch Discourse Studies with the summa cum laude distinction.

On Tuesday 20 November, Lilian Visscher, acting Director of Leiden University Fund (LUF) and Rector magnificus Carel Stolker, LUF Board member, met with with representatives of the Lutfia Rabbani Foundation to officially establish a new matching fund called the ‘Leiden University Fund - Lutfia Rabbani Foundation Scholarship’.

On 14 January 2019, Shermarke Hassan boarded a plane to Milan. This young PhD candidate was going to spend the next three months doing research at the ‘Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Centre,’ one of the world’s biggest research and treatment centres for haemophilia, a rare condition that affects the blood’s ability to clot.

The LUF International Study Fund (LISF) will make changes to its allocation process following an investigation into diversity in its grants policy. This investigation, which was carried out for the LISF by, among others, former committee member Mariska Kret and master’s student Marjolijn Wijnen, has shown that female students who submit an application are slightly less likely to be awarded an LISF grant than men.

With her exciting research into criminal truth finding in Europe, Linda Geven won this year’s Gratama Science Prize for young talented scientists. As the winner of the prize, Geven received the sum of €20,000 to use for her research. The jury believed that Geven belongs to ‘a new generation of legal psychologists, who are making a new indispensable contribution to enhancing criminal truth finding.’

A signing ceremony took place in the Academy Building on Thursday 11 December to confirm a new endowment to the Leporis Fund, a named LUF fund. This celebrated a special moment in the continued legacy of Ruurt Hazewinkel, an alumnus and ardent advocate of research and teaching.