Psychology teacher of the year is Roy de Kleijn. The Master Thesis Awards are for Roosmarijn Goldbach en Matija Čuljak. Jeffrey Durieux receives the PhD Publication Prize; Maedeh Nasri the PhD Wild card: Team Science Award. Wilma van Velzen earns the OBP Prize and Jos Brosschot wins the Leiden Psychology…

Every year, an outstanding lecturer receives the Faculty Teaching Prize. Lecturers are nominated by students and a jury decides who will receive the prize. The prize is awarded during the official opening of the academic year on 8 September. This year, students nominated four candidates. We spoke to…

The socio-economic effects of climate change often do not receive enough attention. At the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) a group of researchers will provide more insight. How does climate change affect whether people work together or conversely end up as opponents? And what can we learn from societies…

Thanks to a clever research method, progress is being made in the quest for better tuberculosis medications. Within an American consortium that received a 30 million dollars grant, Leiden researcher Rob van Wijk plays a significant role. ‘The next breakthrough in tuberculosis research will come much…

Children in the Netherlands develop prejudices based on ethnicity at an early age. Ymke de Bruijn (27) came to this conclusion in her dissertation ‘Child Interethnic Prejudice in the Netherlands: Social Learning from Parents and Picture Books’. For her PhD project she took a closer look at the behaviours…

In the week of 15 November, the Academic Directors and two members of the Faculty Council also participated in a so-called Duplo session, after the Faculty Board did so, led by Elisa Meijer, advisor housing of the Humanities Campus project. During the session, alternatives for the Humanities Campus…

‘If we all possessed just an ounce of Cleveringa, then all would be well in the world,’ said Professor Leo Lucassen. In the Cleveringa debate on the line between free speech and threatening speech he called for ‘more guts’. He is not the only one who thinks this is badly needed if the debate at the…

On Friday 16 February 2024, Rudolf E. de Jong passed away unexpectedly in Cairo. Since 2012, he was the director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC), which he skillfully managed for 12 years. He was laid to rest in Amsterdam on 27 February. Rudolf was 65.

In his last week as interim cabinet minister, alumnus and outgoing Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Geoffrey van Leeuwen set time aside to give a guest lecture at his alma mater, Leiden Law School. It was the perfect opportunity for a flash interview.

Within just a few years, the Chinese government's policy towards the Uyghurs deteriorated sharply. From control and marginalisation, it shifted to violation of human rights. PhD candidate Elke Spiessens was right in the middle of it with her research. 'The fabric of the community is being completely…

In June 2024 the Faculty of Archaeology welcomed a new Assistant Professor. Dr Alejandra Roche Recinos, originally from Guatemala, will strengthen the Faculty’s expertise on the archaeology of Central America. ‘I want to explore the lesser known archaeology of Southern Guatemala.’

For the past year, a steering group has been working hard on the new Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) for 2022-2027 and the corresponding Implementation Agenda. A number of working groups have also carried out a stakeholder analysis, and several consultation rounds have been held with various bodies, including…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing? What kinds of things is he doing and what does his day look like? In each newsletter Jasper gives a peek into his life as dean.

Facility

Lecture

Lecture, LIAS Lunch Talk Series

PhD defence

Lecture, LUCIS What's New?! Series

PhD defence

As of 1 September Miranda van Eck will be the new Scientific Director of the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research. She succeeds Hubertus Irth, who led the institute since 2016. Van Eck has been appointed for a period of four years.

Hastings College of the Law and Leiden Law School have a long-standing exchange programme. Each year, students participate in a student exchange programme. Likewise, professors from Hastings College of Law have been visiting Leiden Law School and vice versa.

Mark Rutgers has been reappointed as Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. After a first term where the focus was mainly internal, it’s time to look outwards.

Timo Kos has been appointed Vice President of Leiden University’s Executive Board and will take up the role on 1 March 2025. He succeeds Martijn Ridderbos, who will join the board of the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) on 1 January 2025.

The Board of Governors of Leiden University is pleased to announce that the outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Robbert Dijkgraaf, has appointed Professor F.B.J. (Ferd) Grapperhaus as the new Chair of the Board of Governors.

Marcello Bonsangue will be the new Scientific Director of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) from January 2024. Bonsangue has been appointed for four years. He succeeds Aske Plaat, who led the institute for eight years.

ESA’s Euclid mission is to reveal the dark side of the Universe. But how? Professor of Observational cosmology Henk Hoekstra explains it in his interview with Space Team Europe and Horizon Magazine. He uses enlightening examples such as… a swimming pool! Listen to Henk Hoekstra to understand how Euclid…

On Tuesday May 21, the Faculty of Archaeology celebrated the end of the academic year. Traditionally, this occasion would have been marked by a BBQ. Now, for the first time, the default option was a more sustainable vegetarian Indonesian meal.

Professor Petra Sijpesteijn has been elected as an International Fellow of the British Academy, a prestigious recognition that highlights her exceptional contributions to the study of early Islamic history.

Facility

Research

PhD candidate Divakar Budda (Division of Systems Pharmacology and Pharmacy) and Solen Gousset (UCLouvain) shared were the shared winners of the best poster award of the 5th QSPainRelief General Assembly meeting held early December in Leiden.

Course

Leiden academics Remco Breuker and Auke-Florian Hiemstra stand to win the title of Person of the Year.

With a trip through the Netherlands, the preparations for the graduation of the Master Cyber Security had already started weeks ago. The apotheosis took place on Thursday, the 11th of February. A report of a digital graduation ceremony.

Excessive regulatory burden causes economic harm and can undermine trust in government. Policymakers wishing to ease this should be more mindful of people’s differing responses to rules, says PhD candidate Ritsart Plantenga in his dissertation.

As of 1 September, Martina Vijver is the new Scientific Director of the Institute of Environmental Sciences. She succeeds Arnold Tukker, who led the institute since 2013 and served the maximum term of two times four years. Vijver has been appointed for a period of four years.

In the online panel discussion of ESOF 2022 ‘The effect of the online world on adolescents’, together with Amy Orben, Professor Eveline Crone, Sterre van Riel, Professor Anne-Laura van Harmelen and Professor Jan Sleutels, Professor Ton Liefaard shared his research on adolescents and the online world…

Organisation

Lecture, Faculty Lecture

The social sciences are vital in navigating complexities, fostering understanding and bridging divides. This was celebrated during the faculty opening of the academic year.

Maarten Schrama (CML) has won the Teacher of the Year Award 2021. During a lunch with fellow nominees, Schrama received a cheque worth 5,000 euros from student assessor Joost Barendse to spend on educational activities.

The Grand Parade was a festive highlight of the 450th anniversary celebration of 3 October. Students and staff members from Leiden University participated with an impressive float.

As of 1 May Gianne Derks is the new Scientific Director of the Mathematics Institute. Derks succeeds Hermen Jan Hupkes who temporarily assumed the role. Derks has been appointed for a period of four years.

Auke-Florian Hiemstra is the Leidsch Dagblad Person of the Year 2022.

As of 1 September, Pim Overgaauw is appointed as Institute Manager of the Mathematical Institute. The job is not new to him, as he has been ad interim institute manager since March 2022. For now, Overgaauw will be working for the MI three days a week, but it is expected that this can be extended to…

Education

If you'll soon be getting a COVID-19 vaccine, you might just get the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) one. This vaccine was developed for the most part in Leiden – and this is no coincidence. Watch the animation below about the development of one of the vaccines in the fight against COVID-19.

On Thursday 15 April, Sabine Mengelberg, associate professor at the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy (NLDA), will defend her thesis on changes in European security architecture. Permanent Change? The Paths of Change of the European Security Organizations is the title of…

Before patients can take a pill, scientists often spend years in the lab developing and testing a candidate drug. That often includes experiments with laboratory animals. As head of the rodent facility, Ilze Bot and her colleagues ensure that these experiments are conducted in an ethically responsible…