Professor Annetje Ottow will be appointed President of the Executive Board of Leiden University on 8 February 2021. She will be the first woman to be appointed to this post at Leiden University.

Do citizens care for interest representation? A study on citizens’ perceptions and feelings towards the representative potential of civil society

Having served on the Executive Board for over nine years, the last five of which as Rector Magnificus, Hester Bijl will leave Leiden University at the start of next year. In a new step in her career, she will become Rector Magnificus on the Executive Board of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)…

How do you achieve the structural change needed for a more inclusive university community? What challenges do female staff face in their careers and what does it take to be a woman in a leadership role? This is what over 40 female staff members from the university discussed on International Women’s…

Today, 13 May 2024, Leiden University’s Executive Board is publishing the advice of the committee that investigated reports of unacceptable behaviour and breaches of academic integrity. These reports were about a professor from the university and their partner (a former member of the university staf…

Leiden University’s Rector Magnificus, Professor Hester Bijl, has been reappointed for a second term by the Board of Governors.

Professor Sarah de Rijcke will become the new Rector Magnificus on the Executive Board of Leiden University on 15 January 2026. She will succeed Professor Hester Bijl, who will become Rector Magnificus at Delft University of Technology.

The Executive Board has adopted a new Code of Conduct on Integrity for staff. This new code encompasses all the existing regulations within Leiden University, including in the field of research, behaviour towards students and purchasing. 'This Code of Conduct is a very clear statement,' commented Rector…

Prof. dr. Pancras Hogendoorn is stepping down as dean of the Faculty of Medicine and vice-chair of the Executive Board of Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). He is also resigning from all associated secondary posts. Hogendoorn has taken his decision in anticipation of the findings of an inquiry…

In a supplementary decision on 17 May 2022, the Executive Board of Leiden University has concluded that it will publish the titles of seven articles in which there is evidence of malpractice. This concerns a former staff member of the Institute of Psychology. The Executive Board considers it to be in…

Professor Bert Meijer has been appointed to the Board of Governors of Leiden University by Minister of Education, Culture and Science Jet Bussemaker for a term of four years from 1 January 2017.

The Faculty of Humanities wants to take a stand in the middle of society with its research and education. That’s why last year, in the middle of a pandemic, the Societal Advisory Board was founded. What are the members’ plans?

The Board of Governors is pleased to announce that Professor Cisca Wijmenga has been appointed by outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf as its new member.

Why are we unable to address health-care inequality? This was the topic of the inaugural speech of Professor Jet Bussemaker on Friday 15 February 2019. She analysed why current policy does not suffice when it comes to protecting vulnerable groups and fighting inequality. She proposed an agenda that…

The research provides insight into disease behavior in both rural and semi-urban areas in Serengeti in Tanzania.

PhD defence

Research into our history of colonialism and slavery, heart-to-heart conversations at a Keti Koti table, exhibitions, lectures and podcasts that establish the link between present and past. Staff and students participated in the national Slavery Memorial Year in many different ways. What have we learned…

As of 1 November 2025, Professor Luc Sels will assume the role of President of Leiden University’s Executive Board.

At a symposium on 26 May, experts, staff and students from Leiden University will discuss what should happen with Rein Dool’s painting in the Academy Building and what the guidelines for the University’s exhibition policy should be. These issues will be explored from diverse perspectives during the…

The Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities strategic alliance celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2022. At the ‘The Next Ten Years’ anniversary celebration in the Faculty Club on 12 April, the partners looked back on their achievements and ahead to the major social challenges of the next ten years.

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

Ingrid van Engelshoven, outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), has appointed Robine de Lange-Tegelaar to the Board of Governors of Leiden University.

We take it for granted that water comes out of the tap and electricity out of the socket. But that isn’t always the case. Last Tuesday began like any other day, with our board meeting in the morning. But things were soon to change.

Martijn Ridderbos has been reappointed vice-chairman of the Executive Board of Leiden University by the Board of Governors.

Leiden University’s Board of Governors is pleased to announce the appointment of Tjerk Kroes to the Board of Governors by the outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Gouke Moes.

There’s been a lot of commotion about the ‘Apartheid in Israel’ panel discussion being cancelled. The organisers, Students for Palestine, wanted to hold this at Leiden University’s Wijnhaven building in The Hague on 21 March. The Executive Board would only allow the event to go ahead if guarantees…

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Dr. Stephanie Rap, Denise Verkroost, LL.M. and prof. Mariëlle Bruning conducted a research on the participation of children in youth care in the Netherlands. In 2016 the first part, a legal desk-research on the possibilities for children to participate in youth care procedures and decision-making in…

Students of the minor in Innovation, Cocreation and Global Impact present their idealistic projects. Watch the film!

Annetje Ottow, president of the Executive Board of Leiden University, has been the new chair of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus (LDE) strategic alliance for just two months. What does she want to achieve during her two-year chairmanship?

On Tuesday a few dozen students and staff from Leiden University protested on the square in front of the Lipsius building against the classroom scanners that have been installed in buildings and lecture halls. They are demanding that the scanners be removed.

On 9 June the deans of Leiden University met for the 500th time with the Rector Magnificus for the Board of Deans. An informal, inspiring and contemplative meeting without a strict ending time, say deans and former deans.

The winner of the Leiden University Thesis Prize has made an original and substantial contribution to argumentation theory. This is what Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board and member of the LUF board, said at the online ceremony for the University’s thesis prizes. The winner of the first…

Last year, the abuse of a girl by her foster parents shocked the Netherlands. Their trial begins today in a case that marks a turning point for youth care. Mariëlle Bruning, Professor of Child Law, has spoken to various news outlets.

The brief removal of Rein Dool’s ‘cigar-smoking white men’ painting generated a storm of reactions last November. Students, staff and alumni reflected on this at a symposium on Friday 26 May.

How do we decide on the long-term future of children placed in care in a valid, reliable, traceable and transparent way – together with parents and young people?

During a meeting at the University on 10 November, staff spontaneously removed a painting by artist Rein Dool from the wall in one of the meeting rooms in the Academy Building, reversed it and placed it on the floor. A tongue-in-cheek action with a serious undertone. This has led to a lot of commotion…

Leiden University has set up two committees to consider issues that are the focus of much attention within our community and society at large. They are the Knowledge Security Committee and the Fossil Fuel Industry Collaboration Committee. Former dean Joanne van der Leun will chair both.

The Dies Natalis for alumni on 11 February was an online event. Almost 1,000 alumni tuned in to Bastiaan Rijpkema’s interview with Annetje Ottow, who had then been President of Leiden University’s Executive Board for all of three days. Alumni are part of her portfolio on the Executive Board.

Het zal niemand ontgaan zijn dat de digitale dreigingen blijven toenemen. Uit monitoring door onze cybersecurity-experts blijkt dat er continu wordt geprobeerd om ook onze systemen binnen te dringen. Wat doen wij daartegen en hoe kan jij als medewerker bijdragen aan onze cyberveiligheid?

Leiden University will set up further activities with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Lodewijk Govaerts has been appointed by Ingrid van Engelshoven, caretaker Minister of Education, Culture and Science (OCW), as a member of the Board of Governors of Leiden University.