Remko Offringa, Associate Professor in Plant Developmental Genetics, and Associate Professor in Molecular Microbiology Arthur Ram both have been appointed as the new Directors of Education at the IBL. Offringa in the role as Director of Education for the Master program and Ram as Director for the Bachelor…

Lecturers had a week to convert their courses to online teaching. An enormous challenge because remote teaching definitely wasn’t commonplace at Leiden University, and some lecturers have to share their ‘lecture hall’ with their children or partners. Alexander Pleijter, a lecturer in Journalism and…

This thesis contributes to studying primordial cosmology theories and their detectability in future observations.

How can we broaden youth participation in STEM Learning

Every year, the Leiden University Student Platform (LUS) chooses the best lecturer in the university. The prize is awarded during the Opening of the Academic Year, this year on 5 September.

The opening of the academic year will see the presentation of the LUS Teaching Prize to the best lecturer at Leiden University. Get to know the nominees. This week: Jan van Lith.

This dissertation reports on the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of science teachers during a professional development program. This research intended to help us understand why and how teachers make their classroom decisions as they teach science.

There is certainly some variation in terms of pupils’ performance and motivation. This is evident from the GUTS teaching innovation project conducted by education specialist Lindy Wijsman in the first three classes at a secondary school in Rotterdam. In the first three years, the level of pupils’ performance…

Sarah Wolff has been professor of International Studies and Global Politics since 8 January. Time for a brief introduction about her field and academic interests.

Leiden University now offers almost 20 Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). The enthusiasm displayed by participants makes it rewarding to develop and teach such courses, say MOOC lecturers Marlies Reinders and Edwin Bakker. But that is not all, ‘You bring together a global community.’

How do young people pursue their interests in and across multiple contexts while participating in tailor-made programs in vocational education and training (VET) and social enterprises to regain perspective in school and work?

Science education project Space Awareness engaged 230,000 people in 68 countries with the excitement and challenges of space sciences and technologies. After three years, the project coordinated by Leiden Observatory came to an end in March and has now been evaluated.

Making extensive use of primary source materials this study contributes to existing scholarship in the field of eighteenth-century grammars and grammarians by providing an in-depth study of Ash’s Grammatical Institutes and its influence on other popular grammars for children.

The Academic Language Centre provides a wide range of English courses. The courses differ with regard to level, content and frequency.

How do students start asking more questions on a museum visit? Let them free an Egyptian princess from a sarcophagus! In the minor Living Education Lab, students from TU Delft, Leiden University and Erasmus University Rotterdam designed an escaperoom.

Marja Verstelle has received the SURF Education Award 2020. This prize is awarded each year, to five education professionals who have contributed to innovation in education, both within the Netherlands and beyond.

Associate Professor Asghar Seyed Gohrab considers it his role to tell students about Iran, the country where he was born and raised. His research focuses on the connections between the present and the past on the basis of the ‘magical triangle’: Persian literature, politics and religion.

What if a major world event alters the trajectory of your research project? Tsolin Nalbantian was studying citizenship along the Turkish-Syrian border when the Syrian Civil War erupted and led to a global refugee crisis. While her research participants were forced to flee the region, she was forced…

The Institute of Public Administration studies the complex problems facing the public sector in the 21st century, from climate policy to the effects of digitalisation. Its researchers analyse, explain and help come up with solutions to the challenges of society today.

The Centre for Innovation has launched a new podcast series called What if Education… In each episode, the host Monika Theron invites students, teachers and experts to think differently about education.

Matthijs van Leeuwen and Frank Takes have been appointed directors of education at LIACS as of 1 September. They will succeed Marcello Bonsangue, who has held the position since 2016. Van Leeuwen and Takes have been appointed for a period of four years.

More than 100 teachers, educators and policymakers from 25 countries gathered in Leiden from 18 October for the Space Education International Workshop. Their goal is to inspire children using astronomy and space sciences.

Marco van Eijk is the new Educational Director of the Bachelor's Life Science and Technology (LST). Since 1 September he has been responsible for ensuring the quality of the programme. ‘LST is a unique programme and everyone has to keep working hard for that. That is my main task.’

Can the academic year be structured in such a way to give students, lecturers and researchers a bit more breathing space? To find out, Leiden University is taking part in ‘smarter academic year’ pilots.

School pupils are all different, which is why there is differentiation in our education system. This can be seen in pre-university education and lower vocational schools, and also takes the form of ability groups in junior schools. But according to Professor by Special Appointment Eddie Denessen, differentiation…

Assistant professor and dual PhD candidate, Pieter Slaman writes in Binnenlands Bestuur about the fact that the German occupier lengthened the period of mandatory education in The Netherlands.

The Institute of Public Administration is one of the largest and oldest institutes of academic research and teaching in the field of public administration in the Netherlands. The Institute combines a solid international academic reputation with a central positioning among the international, national,…

Didactics

The core of Leiden University's vision is to train students to become academic professionals and engaged, responsible citizens. Once they have graduated, out students will then be able to make a contribution to resolving the challenges currently facing society - both within and outside academia.

Strategic direction of the Europe Hub lies with a Steering Committee, composed of members from several Leiden University faculties.

Dr. Willy de Heer defended her PhD Thesis

Tinh Le (PhD at ICLON) researched the impact of confucian culture and socialist beliefs on stakeholders' beliefs about democratic education and its implementation in Vietnamese secondary schools. Defence on 29 November.

Princeton University has officially launched its website, MAFE: Middle Ages for Educators. MAFE is aimed at university and secondary students and educators and, more broadly, at anyone who is interested in studying, teaching, or learning more about Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages.

Student agency is defined as the ability to increasingly take control of the learning process. It is associated with better grades, well-being, motivation and self-confidence. This research aims to provide teachers tools to stimulate student agency and to monitor its growth.

PhD defence

Many teachers in secondary education take differences between pupils into account . PhD research by Saskia Stollman (ICLON) shows that they need room to experiment and the support of the school management

Three Humanities lecturers received the Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) this year. Lecturer Hossam Ahmed is one of them. What does he think makes for good education?

Two years ago, university lecturer Kirsty Rolfe was nominated for the Faculty Teaching Prize. Now she is in the running for the university equivalent. ‘It’s lovely to see students blossom.’

During the opening of the Faculty year on 5 September 2023, Barend Barentsen, Professor of Labour Law, and Annemarie Drahmann, Associate Professor of Constitutional and Administrative Law, were presented with the JSVO Teaching Awards 22-23.

Everyone agrees that university students need to learn academic skills. But what exactly are we talking about? The Leiden Teachers’ Academy organised a conference on 7 November on this topic.

How do young zebra finches learn to sing? A research team led by researcher Katharina Riebel has developed a ‘RoboFinch’ to study just that. She and colleagues in the 'Seeing voices' research consortium have spent the past four years designing the robotic bird. And with success: young zebra finches…

Ayo Adedokun, Assistant Professor at Leiden University College The Hague (LUC), was one of the four finalists for the National Teacher of the Year Prize for 2022. The National Prize is an annual event organized by the Dutch National Students Association (Interstedelijk Studenten Overleg, ISO), and the…

Tailoring teaching to students’ learning needs in speaking skills in modern foreign languages is desirable, but difficult to achieve in regular classes in secondary schools. Esther de Vrind, PhD, manager and teacher educator at ICLON, developed a method to make this easier. Defence on 25 November.

This project studies the theory and practice of moral education in the (Neo)Platonic tradition.

In the late colonial Netherlands Indies, starting from 1892, homes were set up for the re-education of children. At first by private individuals, later by the government. Much later still, privately funded institutions existed alongside government-funded ones. Annelieke Dirks’ defence on 23 June 201…

The deadline for the call for abstracts for the 2023 LLRC conference: curriculum and course design for language teaching is 27 March 2023

Conference

‘We’re going to see each other again on campus. We’re so pleased, but we do have to say safe.’ Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl is looking ahead to the new academic year, which begins on 6 September. No more 1.5m distancing, but we do have to take responsibility for other people’s safety.

International partnerships in which Leiden University participates.

In this 'Educatip's column, psychology teachers share their key insights about work. This time: course coordinator Evelien Broekhof received support from teaching assistant Vincent during the last term. ‘I have more room in my schedule now that I don't have to do everything alone anymore.’