14 July 2025

Due to maintenance work, the Great Auditorium, Telders Auditorium and Senate Room in the Academy Building will be unavailable for events from Monday 7 July to Friday 10 October 2025. The work involves replacing outdated cabling and audiovisual equipment.

All planned inaugural lectures, PhD ceremonies and graduation activities have been relocated to alternative venues. Everyone affected has been or will be informed in advance. Events in the other rooms within the Academy Building will continue as usual.

‘It’s a complex operation due to the number of events, the Academy Building’s listed status – built in 1446 and in use by the university since 1581 –  and its delicate condition,’ says Judith de Wilde, the maintenance coordinator at Administration and Central Services. ‘We have to proceed with great care. For example, the large painting of the Relief of Leiden in the Telders Auditorium will be temporarily removed so we can install cables behind it.’

The work is scheduled to take place during the summer holiday and requires close collaboration multiple university departments, including Real Estate (project management), ISSC, Audiovisual Service, the University Services Department, the Office of the Beadle, Building Management and Maintenance and external contractors. If you have any questions about the work or the use of the Academy Building during this period, please contact the Rapenburg service desk (Oude UB, Rapenburg 70) by email at ServiceDesk@UFB.LeidenUniv.nl or by phone at 071 527 3110.