After the May elections a new University Council has now taken seat. The university democracy is the result of the long-lived national student protests in 1969. Students from Leiden joined the protests for greater representation, although their actions were less revolutionary than at other universities.…

Leiden Law School has moved up three places in the global ranking of law faculties and is now in 21st place.

Lecture

A delegation from the University of Edinburgh recently visited Leiden University to deepen their collaboration. What makes Edinburgh such an attractive partner?

It is exactly one year ago that the university had to close, bang in the middle of the academic year. Suddenly, on that third Monday in March, we found ourselves at home, working and studying online – many of us from that cramped attic or student room. The momentous coronavirus year in pictures.

Your vote for the University and Faculty Council counts! The councils play an important role at the university. To vote click on the link in the right-hand column. Cast your vote by Friday 21 May, 16.00.

Once again the ONS student party (Enterprising Leiden Students) is the biggest party in the university elections. This gives the party three seats in the University Council. The staff are represented in the UR by FNV Government, with 5 seats.

From research on stellar winds to sign language: an impressive seven researchers from Leiden University will receive a prestigious Vici grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

The biographer of Leiden University, Willem Otterspeer, has a new book out. In ‘De stad, de dood en de dichters’ (The City, Death and the Poets) he combines his love for the University and poetry with autobiographical reflections. ‘With my magnifying glass I discovered yet more new details in the pr…

Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded prestigious Vici grants the Dutch Research Council (NWO) has announced. The honoured applications are from researchers at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Leiden Observatory, the LUMC and the Faculty of Archaeology.

Leiden University no longer wishes to collaborate with fossil fuel partners that are not demonstrably committed to achieving the Paris Agreement targets. Exceptions will be made only if a collaboration demonstrably contributes to the energy transition. This proposal by the Executive Board was discussed…

Leiden University has recently received various petitions from students and staff concerning our ties with Israeli universities. We have also held extensive discussions with the University Council in response to questions raised on the subject. We think it important that our partners and research projects…

Organisation

In May 2021, Professor Bart Custers, Dr Mark Leiser and Dr Eduard Fosch Villaronga (all affiliated to eLaw, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies of Leiden University) will teach a course on Law and Technology at Haifa University, Israel.

Facility

As University historian, Pieter Slaman researches the University’s past, but he’s equally interested in its present. ‘It’s useful to be familiar with issues from the past. Not to be rooted in the past because some developments from history are things you definitely don’t want to repeat.’

Ten Leiden museums and heritage institutions have curated the online exhibition ‘Carel’s Universe’. They selected objects from their collections that symbolise retiring Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker and the research in Leiden. With direct references, playful associations and the odd nod and wink.

Leiden University is a member of the Una Europa European alliance. This partnership of 11 research-intensive universities is working to shape the university of the future.

The Executive Board of Leiden University has asked the University Council to advise on its proposed decision to reactivate the person counters/sensors in due course. The Council will now look at this carefully before the Board makes a final decision. The advice of the University’s participation body…

The university elections are approaching. Are you going to represent student and staff interests this coming year? University Council chair Pauline Vincenten gives a peek behind the scenes at student and staff participation at Leiden University. ‘I get so much energy from collaborating with the students…

Leiden University has taken 14th place in the UI Green Metric, a global sustainability ranking for universities.

The Caring Universities consortium conducts a survey every year on the state of students’ mental health. Following previous surveys in 2020 and 2021, a new study was carried out in November 2022. This latest survey shows that many students still suffer from mental health problems.

Leiden University has secured fifth place in SustainaBul, the sustainability ranking for universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands.

Education, Research, Social

Leiden University has decided to withdraw from EUniWell as of January 2023. The importance of synergy in our international portfolio and research and teaching agendas recently led us to accept the invitation to join Una Europa, an alliance of 11 leading European research universities. We have explored…

This week, Leiden University bade farewell to Henri Lenferink, who is retiring after 20 years as mayor of Leiden.

Better links with the job market, diversity, quality of education, student well-being and free coffee. All these are issues that the student parties taking part in the University elections will be fighting for. The candidates are keen to tell you a bit about themselves. Between 9 May and 13 May you…

Leiden University has a new Executive Board. Since 8 February 2021, Annetje Ottow has been the new President and Hester Bijl the new Rector Magnificus of the Board, while Martijn Ridderbos has continued in his role as Vice-Chairman.

The Executive Board of the University is shocked by the unannounced demonstration that took place Thursday afternoon at the Wijnhaven location in The Hague relating to the situation in the Middle East. Without first requesting permission, a large group of students and staff held a gathering there. Moreover,…

The Executive Board has appointed Ineke Sluiter and Arnold Tukker as distinguished professors at Leiden University.

Leiden University College The Hague received the 'Top rated Programme' seal from the Keuzegids Universiteiten 2023 (Dutch University Guide). It is the tenth consecutive time the Liberal Arts & Sciences programme focusing on Global Challenges is awarded the honorary seal.

The results of the 2024 university elections have been announced. Who will represent us on the university’s participation councils?

Leiden University Academy is making lifelong learning even better! The entire range of programmes on offer for professionals has been expanded and united under this name.

In the context of urban challenges, multidisciplinary knowledge adds value. The idea is that urban planners, sociologists, economists, and historians can collectively provide a deeper understanding of what has worked and what hasn't so far. Since 2022, scientists from the University of Indonesia and…

Natalia Sobrino-Saeb has attended the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo. She was awarded this honour after winning the essay competition of the Nobel Ignitor Fellowship, a programme that seeks to inspire young changemakers around the world – for change can be made by all of us: “You never know…

It is said that robots replace human interaction, but not always. This spring, the robots were the reason why the eLaw Center for Law and Digital Technologies at Leiden University in the Netherlands and Mykolas Romeris University (MRU) Law School in Lithuania got together.

Technology and privacy, trust and mistrust. A discussion about this broke out when the University installed scanners and students protested. On Wednesday 2 February experts from Leiden University will explore this topic at the eponymous symposium. We called Roy de Kleijn, as a computer scientist and…

Eduard Fosch-Villaronga from Leiden University has been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This grant of 1.5m euros enables talented early-career scholars to start their own pioneer project, lead a research team, and implement their best ideas at the frontiers of their…

Social

Leiden University’s Executive Board (CvB) visited Leiden University College in The Hague on Friday 11 November during a working visit tour past the Institutes of the Faculty Governance and Global Affairs. Hester Bijl and Martijn Ridderbos were provided with an overview of the programme, the research,…

Research into depression in children, Leiden alumni in the Dutch House of Representatives and an exceptional achievement by one of our students: what do this topics have in common? They are among our most read stories of 2021.

Collaborating in drug discovery and health research was the goal of a visit to the Leiden Bio Science Park on 14 May by a Swedish delegation including His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden. The delegation visited Leiden University’s Faculty of Science.

Facility

Jyothi Thrivikraman set up a Virtual International Collaboration project with a university in Myanmar.

For the eleventh time in a row, Leiden University’s unique liberal arts and sciences programme has been awarded the ‘Top Rated Programme’ quality seal by Keuzegids universiteiten 2024.

Giles Scott-Smith is the new dean of LUC (Leiden University College) in The Hague. He succeeds Judi Mesman and starts on 1 July. Scott-Smith: ‘Joining LUC as Dean is a serious honour, and I follow in the footsteps of three Deans who I respect and admire.’