Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. Normally Jasper looks back on a day in his life, but in the last newsletter of the year he does it a little differently....

The year 2025 is a special milestone: we’ll celebrate our anniversary as a university community together with all the faculties. On 7 February, the Dies Natalis will mark Leiden University’s 450th birthday. Leiden Law School is one of the faculties also celebrating 450 years. So, at our faculty extra…

Hopefully it won’t be necessary but should need to access healthcare during your studies, you can find all the necessary contact information here. Make sure you also have adequate health insurance. This is a legal requirement in the Netherlands. We also highly recommend that you take out liability i…

An extra-long procession with musical accompaniment will mark the beginning of the university’s 450th birthday celebrations on 7 February.

Training students to become medical professionals is an important task of a university medical centre. But teaching does not always receive the space and recognition it deserves. This needs to change, says Professor Alexandra Langers. Medical education is a profession in its own right.

So much has happened this year! 2023 was an eventful year in which several wars raged about which our experts could offer interpretation. It was also the year in which the government made apologies for the slavery past. Leiden humanities scholars were at the forefront of this with their research on…

447th Dies Natalis

How can you apply for the Pre-PhD Programme, and what are the selection criteria?

The role of the Board of Examiners is to ensure that study programmes adhere to their Course and Examination Regulations. The Board of Examiners oversees all tests and examinations within the institute and determines whether students have acquired the knowledge and skills required for the awarding of…

Masterclass

Conference

Conference

2025 was a year full of impact and milestones for FGGA: From a record number of graduates and new programmes to international collaborations, prestigious awards and research that pushes boundaries and provides insight into current challenges.

As a bachelor’s student at Leiden University, you will be issued with binding study advice (BSA). This means you must obtain sufficient study credits in the first year of your bachelor’s programme to be permitted to continue studying. Some programmes also have additional requirements.

Your study adviser or coordinator is an expert on all aspects of your study programme. If you have any questions or concerns about your programme, whether they be of a practical or academic nature, you can contact your study adviser.

Your study adviser or coordinator is an expert on all aspects of your study programme. If you have any questions or concerns about your programme, whether they be of a practical or academic nature, you can contact your study adviser.

Your study adviser or coordinator is an expert on all aspects of your study programme. If you have any questions or concerns about your programme, whether they be of a practical or academic nature, you can contact your study adviser.

Your study adviser or coordinator is an expert on all aspects of your study programme. If you have any questions or concerns about your programme, whether they be of a practical or academic nature, you can contact your study adviser.

Your study adviser or coordinator is an expert on all aspects of your study programme. If you have any questions or concerns about your programme, whether they be of a practical or academic nature, you can contact your study adviser.

Other facilities

Find out what to do in the event of an emergency or incident during your studies.

Become a Resident Assistant.

Lecture, Book Talk

PhD-student Maia has received multiple awards regarding her research on the impact of tobacco on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations.

Study information, Experience Day

Leiden health psychologist Liesbeth Van Vliet receives recognition for her research on doctor-patient communication and its influence on quality of healthcare. Van Vliet has been awarded one of four Heineken Young Scientists Award 2022 for promising young researchers working in the Netherlands.

For people who are seriously ill, an empathetic doctor can make a world of difference. Psychologist Janine Westendorp examined helpful and harmful communication in the consulting room. ‘It’s very important to stress that you are always there supporting the person, even if there’s no cure.’

Veel Nederlanders hebben fysieke, psychische en sociale problemen tegelijk. Zij hebben hulp nodig van meerdere professionals uit verschillende organisaties. Fia van Heteren onderzoekt hoe deze professionals met elkaar én met cliënten samenwerken, en welke factoren deze samenwerking versterken of bel…

Minerva, which calls itself the oldest student association of the Netherlands, has the reputation of being an impenetrable bastion. A lustrum exhibition shows the turbulent history and points to a diversity of contacts: from close bonds with Leiden ‘coffee ladies’ to the visit of Sir Winston Churchi…

It poured down when Alexander Gallo received his diploma from West Point Military Academy. A bad sign, people said back then. It was June 2001, three months before 9/11. The now 46-year-old American fought in Iraq, did research in Afghanistan and stands in Leiden today, defending his dissertation on…

Mirjam Oomens was working on her PhD research on language in the consulting room when she was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Four years later, she has made it her mission to encourage doctors and other healthcare professionals to make fewer statements about life expectancy. 'Such a conviction can…

Health and well-being staff spend at least 25 per cent of their working hours on admin.* Time that could be used for care. Much of this work could be automated with artificial intelligence. The LUMC is the first in the Netherlands to offer medical students AI language model programming internships.

Leiden University College The Hague received the 'Top rated Programme' seal from the Keuzegids Universiteiten 2022 (Dutch University Guide). It is the ninth consecutive time the Liberal Arts & Sciences programme focusing on Global Challenges is awarded the honorary seal.

Ayo Adedokun, Assistant Professor at Leiden University College (LUC) in The Hague, is one of the four finalists in the running for the title ‘Teacher of the Year 2022’. The yearly election is organized by the Interstedelijk Student Overleg, the largest national student organization in the Netherlands,…

If doctors could better estimate a patient's chances of survival, this would help in choosing a specific treatment. It would be particularly beneficial for the rare and malignant Ewing sarcoma, which mainly affects children and adolescents. Mathematics professor Marta Fiocco has been awarded a substantial…

Fiffy the chimpanzee had rapidly developed cataracts in both eyes that made her as good as blind. Eye doctors at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have now managed to replace the lenses in both her eyes. As far as we know, Fiffy, who is thought to be between 30 and 40 years old, is the first…

Cancer treatments often have an impact on people’s sexual health, but doctors and nurses do not discuss topics such as sexuality and intimacy with patients as a matter of course. This is what Esmée Krouwel, a physician-researcher at Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), has discovered. With her research…

How do you make effective use of AI and medical technology? And what role do you play in this as a doctor? This is what the LUMC/Leiden University is preparing medical students for, right from the first year of their studies.

Jaïr van Rhenen studied Medicine in Leiden and is now a GP in the largely religious Veenendaal. Before this, he worked as a tropical medicine doctor in Lesotho. ‘If you have the prospect of an afterlife, you often respond differently to illness.’

During her studies, professor Carmen Vleggeert-Lankamp developed a deep passion for spinal surgery. From exploring unknown fields and supervising PhD candidates to providing appropriate care for patients and making the most of data: her fascination remains strong to this day.

Elise Sarton is using her inaugural lecture to give her field of anaesthesiology a chance to take the limelight for a change.

December marks the 15th anniversary of the Dual PhD Centre (DPC). Director Johannes Tromp and associate professor Mark Dechesne look back and ahead. Dechesne: ‘The DPC forms a 'community of knowledge' in which science and society are connected.’

Prisoners who are visited regularly by family or friends are less likely to be reconvicted in the short term than inmates who rarely or never receive visits. Visits should therefore be encouraged and facilitated, according to PhD candidate Maria Berghuis, who will defend her doctoral thesis on 23 June…

Using mathematics to help children with bone cancer. It sounds a little strange, but for statistician Marta Fiocco, it's just her job. She gets a substantial grant from KiKa for it. With that money, she is going to study the effect of chemotherapy adjustments.

Education, Research

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) took healthcare seriously, albeit mainly for business reasons. Former GP Ton Zwaard’s PhD research reveals that although healthcare in Asia was well organised, the VOC faced persistent problems for two centuries.