By effectively integrating world-class scientific research and excellent education, you will become a professional astronomer with an internationally recognized degree.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University’s Faculty of Science with National University of Kyiv, National University of Lviv, Odessa National Maritime University, Odessa National University, V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, The Main Astronomical Observatory,…

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University’s Faculty of Science with Ilia State University in Georgia.

SRON Netherlands Institute for Space Research is moving. In 2021, the Utrecht branch will settle in South Holland. Assistant professor at TU Delft, Akira Endo leads a project that builds a state-of-the-art instrument for astronomical research. ‘SRON is the key to go from proof-of-concept to a science-grade…

By effectively integrating word-class scientific research in astronomy and excellent teacher education, you will become a professional astronomer with an internationally recognized MSc degree and teaching qualification.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Science with the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute in Ethiopia.

After graduation you have a lot of opportunities: the field of science communication is very broad. You can also aim for a career in industry or research.

Galaxies in the early universe are shrouded in a kind of mist: a cloud of hydrogen. With galaxies in the later universe this mist has disappeared. Astronomer Jorryt Matthee has made the first images of this dissipating mist. PhD defence 19 September.

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of the Faculty of Science with two universities in Armenia.

By effectively integrating word-class scientific research and excellent education, you will become a professional astronomer with an internationally recognized degree.

Smart algorithms and powerful processors are just as essential for astronomy as big telescopes. Astronomers at Leiden University therefore constantly operate at the interface between astronomy and data science.

The LOFAR e-infrastructure group is responsible for deploying and maintaining LOFAR processing on distributed e-infrastructure. A co-operation between SURFsara, Leiden University and ASTRON, the group develops software to integrate the LOFAR stack with processing pipelines. Our software can schedule…

By effectively integrating word-class scientific research and excellent business education, you will become a professional astronomer with an internationally recognized MSc degree prepared for technological business challenges.

By integrating world-class scientific research and education, you will become a professional physicist with an internationally recognized degree.

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

What does it mean for a citizen to be ‘literate’ in astronomy? Astronomers who participate in outreach to the general public experience various degrees of astronomical knowledge among people. But so far, there had not been a systematic evaluation and definition of what astronomical literacy actually…

An international team of scientists including Leiden's Joe Callingham has discovered nineteen red dwarf stars that unexpectedly emit radio waves. The outbursts possibly originate from interaction with exoplanets. The results of the research appear in two scientific publications.

Astronomers led by Simon Portegies Zwart used simulations to reconstruct how three stars were ejected from the star cluster R136, 60,000 years ago. The analysis reveals that five stars were involved in the event in the Tarantula Nebula.

After almost twenty years the record for the most distant radio galaxy has been broken. A team of astronomers led by Leiden PhD candidate Aayush Saxena has discovered a radio galaxy from the time when the universe was just one billion years old. The galaxy is at a distance of 12 billion light years…

This is an annual series of public lectures at the location that forms the heart of astronomy in Leiden: the Old Observatory.

We simulate interstellar clouds with special plasma expansions and chemical reactions on icy dust grains to be measured in ultra-high vacuum setups. This provides the data necessary to guide and interpret astronomical observations and to model reaction networks in space. [Harold Linnartz]

The Institute Council (IC) provides an important link between the Institute Board, institute committees, and staff groups (i.e. scientific staff, support personnel, permanent and temporary) and student members of the institute. The IC has an important role regarding policies, strategies and other…

They are often referred to as ‘The Oscars of the Natural Sciences’: the Breakthrough Prizes in Life Sciences, Fundamental Physics and Mathematics. This year, the prize for physics went to the Event Horizon Telescope team, which took the first-ever picture of a black hole. Four Leiden astronomers were…

This is an Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility project of Leiden University’s Faculty of Science with two Nigerian universities, the Center for Basic Space Science and University of Nigeria.

Leiden Observatory is the astronomical institute of the Faculty of Science of Leiden University.

This summer, the Universe is closer than ever. With the online astronomy summer programme Space in Your Living Room!, the Leiden Observatory brings astronauts and Leiden astronomers to the homes of children all across Europe.

Astronomers have discovered seven Earth-like planets around a dwarf star in our galaxy. Three of these planets are located in the habitable zone of this star, and may contain liquid water. ‘The next step is to study the atmospheres for signs of life. In Leiden we are experts in that area,‘ says planetary…

Leiden Professor of Astronomy Mike Garrett is searching for signs of extraterrestrial intelligence. In his Kaiser lecture on 23 April he will discuss how far science has progressed in this quest.

An international team of astronomers has published a map of the sky showing over 25,000 supermassive black holes. The map, to be published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, is the most detailed celestial map in the field of so-called low radio frequencies. The astronomers, including Leiden astronomers,…

The Faculty of Science has multiple study associations, which organise both study-related and social activities for students.

Located in the friendly small city of Leiden in the centre of the Netherlands, Leiden University has for centuries been at the forefront of developments in science and that excellent continues today, with world-leading institutes of computer science, mathematics, physics, astronomy, and chemistry. …

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

Our programmes are known for our scientifically based education and for our open atmosphere.

Our programmes are known for our scientifically based education and for our open atmosphere.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

Our programmes are known for our scientifically based education and for our open atmosphere.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

Our programmes are known for our scientifically based education and for our open atmosphere.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

Our programmes are known for our scientifically based education and for our open atmosphere.

Our programmes are known for our scientifically based education and for our open atmosphere.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

When you apply for admission, you’ll be asked to submit several documents.

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for the World Teachers Programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

Are you interested in taking up an extra challenge during your master’s programme? Have you thought about applying for our Summer School programme or are you interested in developing your personal leadership style?

Many researchers of the Faculty of Science are members of a research school related to their area of expertise. Research schools aim at collaboration of researchers from different faculties in the same university (interfaculty schools) or in different universities (interuniversity schools).

On this section of the website you can find more information about the Old Observatory and the current astronomy research institute.