International Institute for Asian Studies

The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a global humanities and social sciences research institute and knowledge exchange platform based at Leiden University, The Netherlands. IIAS aims to contribute to a better, more integrated understanding of contemporary Asian realities and pioneers new approaches to ‘Asian Studies’ in a changing global context. It does this through a wide range of activities in research, teaching, publishing, dissemination, network development, institutional support, and services to the community beyond academia.

IIAS especially initiates, promotes and disseminates interdisciplinary, trans-sectoral research and analysis on Asia that is produced in collaboration with Asian and other international partners. In so doing, the Institute seeks to contribute to culturally and socially informed, policy-relevant knowledge on/in/with Asia and its place in the world.

IIAS (co-)organises conferences and other events throughout the year, including the International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS), the largest global forum for scholarly and civil society exchange on Asia. The Institute hosts a large number of visiting researchers each year. It runs a book publishing programme and publishes a periodical on Asian Studies (‘The Newsletter’) thrice a year with contributions from scholars and other experts around the world.

For more information, please visit the IIAS website.