On 5 September 2016 Space Awareness launched their first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on teaching with space and astronomy in the classroom.

Work has begun on an accommodation complex for international PhD candidates and postdocs at the Leiden Bio Science Park.

On 16 April, an edition of Zembla, the Dutch documentary programme produced by BNNVARA, investigated the connection between Thierry Baudet, leader of Dutch political party Forum for Democracy and the Kremlin. Ben de Jong, visiting lecturer at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs, was interviewed…

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.

A political science perspective on our project’s comparative ethnography. I truly enjoyed the one-day conference on February 4th where the research results have been shared with the members of the Advisory Board. The work conducted so far is impressive, and the case studies are very useful in understanding…

Gilles van Wezel has been appointed the new Scientific Director of the Institute of Biology Leiden starting September 1st, 2018. Van Wezel succeeds Herman Spaink, who has been the Scientific Director since September 2014.

Open, extravert, agreeable, stress-tolerant and conscientious. These are the character traits of surgeons according to research by the LUMC.

CompaRe’s third virtual PhD roundtable was held on 29 March 2023. In attendance were the head of the centre, staff and PhD candidates. The roundtable focused on brainstorming a wide range of questions around the research process.

From 1 September 2014, Glen Newey takes up the post of Professor of Practical Philosophy in Leiden University’s Institute for Philosophy.

A better environment starts at the Living Lab. Leiden Scientists investigate the effect of chemical compounds on biodiversity in 38 natural ditches. The official opening took place on 8 June.

The NVAO panel, which consisted of two Dutch and three international eminent professors, expressed their great satisfaction with the quality of both the teaching and support offered to students on all programmes.

Leiden University has taken eighth place in this year’s SustainaBul, the sustainability ranking for universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands. It was in 18th place last year.

One of the tasks of Leiden University Libraries is to manage academic heritage, including letters and scholarly archives of leading researchers. Much of this material is nowadays created digitally and email is one of the main forms of communication. Hence, the UBL launched a pilot for acquiring and…

John Kroes received a royal honour from Leiden deputy mayor Julius Terpstra on 20 November. He was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his exceptional services to the university and his extensive voluntary work for organisations in Leiden and The Hague.

Because of the pandemic, we hardly saw him walking through the corridors. Yet Joost Barendse chooses a second term as assessor. ‘Last year was so much fun and educational. So being an assessor for another year is something I can't refuse.’

Dutch knowledge institutions are taking steps to recognise and reward open science. On 13 December, the Open Science NL Steering Board approved a total of 1.2 million euros in grants to 23 institutions. The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) will lead the national coordination of the local…

Nancy Kula has been Professor of African Linguistics since 1 February. Now is a good time to hear more about her field of expertise and academic interests.

The Erasmus Training Centre in Jakarta supports the exchange of students and researchers between the Netherlands and Indonesia, with training courses and language lessons. The centre was opened officially on 13 February by Minister of Education Jet Bussemaker.

No matter how informative websites and brochures are, you only really know what it feels like to be a student when you are sitting in the lecture rooms. Hundreds of prospective students from home and abroad came to The Hague on Saturday 1 April to take part in the Student for a Day experience.

To check whether the classroom scanners are secure, a ‘pen test’ was performed in the Lipsius building on Monday 28 March. This involved switching on the person counters for a day so that ethical hackers could try to gain access to the system.

Every year the Leiden Centre for Science and Technology Studies publishes the Leiden Ranking, a league table of universities based on the quality of their academic education. But the data can be used for many different purposes, deputy-director Ludo Waltman explains.

Van Es is the successor to Professor Huijgen whose retirement is approaching after nearly 27 years’ professorship. This new appointment is from October 2022, but Van Es has been working at the faculty for some time.

Leiden or The Hague? Dutch or English? These two questions decide which introduction week new Leiden University students should choose: EL CID, HOP or OWL.

Evaluations of a most challenging year to both staff and students in terms of teaching and education support have turned out remarkably well. Although we had to switch to online education almost overnight, we pulled it off!

Nieuwscheckers, a team of journalist fact-checkers from Leiden University, received the Mr. K.J. Cath Prize at the opening of the academic year on 5 September. This biennial prize is awarded to students or staff who have enhanced the University’s good name.

Leiden University has had a diversity policy since 2014. The aim is to create a diverse and inclusive learning and working environment for all students and staff. Diversity Officer Aya Ezawa updates us on the process and the results. It’s now 2022, what has already changed?

Erwin Muller, Dean of FGGA and Administrator of Campus The Hague, and Koen Caminada, Vice-Dean, share their thoughts on how ‘we’ as a faculty are doing based on three themes. A discussion about the balancing act between what is and what isn’t possible and the natural urge to continue to grow, the utility…

The world around us is changing. What does that mean for the future of Europe, on this turbulent world stage? And what does it mean for our teaching, and for the expectations that Leiden University has of its students? These were the key questions during the opening of the 2018-2019 academic year on…

Peter Paul van Benthem is not only head of the ENT department at the LUMC but also chair of the Federation of Medical Specialists. ‘The value is in the mix.’

During the farewell reception on 29 August, the Faculty of Science will say goodbye to Dean Geert de Snoo. On 1 November 2019, he will continue his career as Director of the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW). Colleagues talk about his significance for ecology, about his contribution as a…

How does Leiden University save energy? Could we organise our recycling better? Do our study programmes devote sufficient attention to the importance of sustainability? And how do we address this theme in our research? These and other questions are answered in Leiden University’s Sustainability Report…

Over the coming year, a quartermaster will explore the possibility of a Leiden Law Park in the centre of Leiden. In a building close to Leiden Law School, researchers, students and legal companies and start-ups would together address the topics of technology, law and ethics.

For her internship at the Textile Museum, master's student Evi van Stiphout researched the Surinamese cloths of the Leiden Cotton Company. Leiden and Suriname have a closer relationship than many people think. ‘Not much is written about Suriname’.

On 24 April it was announced that, following his farewell, archaeologist Professor Maarten Jansen was appointed Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion. Unfortunately, due to the corona pandemic the actual ceremony will have to wait.

Master’s student of Linguistics Marten van der Meulen helped organise the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Miracles of Human Language, which ran from 30 March until 11 May 2015. What was it like for a student to organise an MOOC? And what did he learn from it?

Philosophy has an important contribution to make to society, says Professor of Practical Philosophy Glen Newey. You need people who can think clearly, certainly in positions of power and authority. Newey stresses that “there will always be a place for philosophy”. An introduction to the practically…

From help with filling in complex forms to a buddy who will introduce you to student life. The Meeting Point for refugee students meets many needs. This was the finding of experienced experts at the symposium in honour of the one-year anniversary of the Meeting Point.

A perfect world, who doesn't want that? But what is perfect is debatable. What is great for one person is disastrous for another. PhD student Zeynep Anli took a closer look at dreams for the future by looking at gender-separated utopias.

In June the Final Festival took place, the closing event of the 'Social Science Lab'. New participants of Honours College Science and Society presented their solution for a current social problem.

Since the beginning of September, Emma van der Plas (20) is the new student ambassador for CADS. Emma is a third-year student and is currently following a minor in Sustainable Development in Leiden. Her goal? To eliminate the stigmas surrounding anthropology.

This new rotating professorship has been established to offer renowned academics the opportunity to teach and conduct research on international children's rights, while at the same time unlocking knowledge that has been acquired worldwide on children's rights.

Professor of Computer Science Joost Batenburg has received half a million euros from the Dutch Research Council (NWO) to improve the conservation of historical paintings with 3D X-ray imaging.

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.

As of 1 June, Serge Fehr has been appointed as Professor Quantum information theory at the Leiden Mathematical Institute (MI). Fehr is employed by Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) and as of his appointment works one day a week at the MI. Fehr’s research is focused on quantum cryptology and will…

Lichens enthusiast Sander van Zon was eager to use his knowledge for his internship. He wrote an excellent thesis on lichens’ biodiversity in the city, of which his first scientific publication will appear soon. With it, he is nominated for the Leiden Science Young Talent Award 2022.

Leiden University and the Beijing Institute of Technology will be collaborating in the area of computer science teaching and research. One of the first outcomes of this collaboration will be a joint four-year bachelor's programme. Willem te Beest, Vice-President of the Executive Board, and Professor…

On 9 March 2023, the Council for the Judiciary organized a conference on innovations within the judiciary, which took place in the building of the Dutch Supreme Court. The central conference theme was judicial innovation and what we can learn from various forms of socially effective justice (‘maatschappelijk…

Can we use quantum computers in a way that is also relevant to society? With the help of a 2-million-euro NWA grant, Leiden University will work with partners such as Surf, Google and Volkswagen to demonstrate that quantum computers are also of value outside the lab.