This Student Support FSW newsletter tells you all about the services provided by the FSW POPcorner, Career Service, and Community Engagement Service. You can read about upcoming activities and vacancies, and pick up tips on study skills, personal and professional development, student well-being, study…

Als nieuwe hoogleraar Ontwikkelingspsychologie pleit Anna van Duijvenvoorde voor meer samenwerking in de wetenschap. Daarom moedigt ze jonge onderzoekers zich aan te melden bij een netwerk. ‘Het biedt je een bredere blik op de wetenschappelijke wereld.’

A healthy and happy society. This is what researchers from the Faculty of Social Sciences are working towards, together with a selection of partners from different disciplines and regions. To further structure research about Health and Well-being, the faculty has identified three focus area’s. Researchers…

As the end of the year approaches, the new University Sports Centre (USC) building is nearing completion. Vice-President of the Executive Board Timo Kos visited the USC, which celebrates its 55th anniversary this year, to see how work is progressing.

Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl received an honorary degree from the University of Birmingham on Friday 12 December for her contribution to educational innovation, student well-being and culture change within academia.

Psychologist Ellen de Bruijn is investigating what hormonal fluctuations do to women's behaviour and well-being. The National science funding body NWO honoured her research with a Vici grant; earlier this year she received an ERC Consolidator Grant. Read the interview with De Bruijn about her resear…

If you want to stay fit, you have to go to the gym regularly, and – hopefully - cleaning our teeth is something we do at least twice a day. So, why shouldn’t we keep on working on a safe and healthy work climate, HR Director Esther van Opstal asks in a conversation on where things stand now with the…

With its ‘Quality Agreements’, Leiden University is working to improve the quality of its teaching. Much has been done since they began at the end of 2018. At a meeting for delegates from all the faculties and the University Council on 11 June, it became clear just how much has already been achieved…

Security seems to most people a basic necessity of life, a prerequisite for a good life. But if you think about it a little longer and deeper, as political philosopher Josette Daemen has done, you realise that security sometimes comes at the expense of other important goods, such as freedom and equality.…

In the Honours College course 'Climate, Sustainability and Wellbeing', students do more than just sit in a lecture hall. They are encouraged to explore climate and sustainability topics by connecting them to personal, embodied experiences and the natural world.

Universitair docent Klinische Psychologie Laura Steenbergen ontvangt een donatie van Stichting Klei & Zand om onderzoek te doen naar de microbiota-darm-brein-as: hoe de werking van de darmflora samenhangt met emotioneel welzijn. Zo’n persoonlijke donatie biedt, in tegenstelling tot aangevraagde subsidies,…

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

Education

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (KNU), a leading Ukrainian university, is now a member of the EUniWell Alliance. KNU and the EUniWell partners will use their combined strengths to improve the well-being of individuals, communities and societies in Europe and beyond, through international…

Five lecturers from Leiden University have received a Comenius teaching award. With the grants they can carry out an innovation project.

Leiden University is joining the Una Europa European University. Together with other partner universities Leiden University will draw on their collective strengths to shape the future of Europe through innovative education, research and international exchange.

What impact does growing up in a musical environment or during the COVID-19 pandemic have on the brain development of teenagers? This was the focus of psychologist Lina van Drunen’s PhD research, which studied hundreds of twins. Her findings reveal that practising music slows brain development, presenting…

How can universities and research institutions, businesses and government bodies in the Leiden region drive ‘broad prosperity’?

The JUL board 2025/2026 consists of five colleagues:

For the academic year 2025-2026, nine (teams of) teachers will receive a Grassroots or Grass shoots grant. Here you can read about their projects.

Personal development, Working effectively

The University does its best to create a pleasant work environment. It may nevertheless happen that you are unable to work due to a short-term or long-term illness or disability. The occupational health physicians will help you reduce health risks and advise you through your recovery and return to w…

The Hague has positioned itself as a vibrant student city, and with its growing student population is well on its way to becoming one. But the student housing market is struggling to keep pace.

High-quality education, research involving multiple faculties, collaboration between universities and central government funding to make all this possible: these were the topics covered in a working visit of the Standing Committee for Education, Culture and Science (OCW) to the Association of Universities…

The new university Strategic Plan Innovating and Connecting 2022-2027 was presented during the Dies Natalis on 8 February 2022. Colleagues and students from our faculty also made contributions, inspired by the vision and strategy process underway in our faculty since 2019.

With a symbolic basketball pass, the construction company handed over the new sports centre to the university on 1 December. The building is ready to be fitted out for use. From 9 February, all are welcome: to do sports or just explore.

Anne-Laura van Harmelen has received a Vidi grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). This talent programme will enable Van Harmelen to research the social and neurobiological mechanisms of resilience in young people with childhood trauma.

John Kroes received a royal honour from Leiden deputy mayor Julius Terpstra on 20 November. He was appointed Knight of the Order of Orange-Nassau for his exceptional services to the university and his extensive voluntary work for organisations in Leiden and The Hague.

A group of postdoc and PhDs at our Focus on Emotions lab organized an escape room for staff and students to increase their awareness of diversity and accessibility matters. It was designed particularly for this year’s EUniWell FestiWell, which ran under the headline “Towards global sustainable well-being”.…

Loes Janssen would like to foster well-being of families by using an app and sending families short and fun activities each day to do together. For the Synergy Award ’21, PhD candidates were invited to submit their innovative idea on how to create societal impact. Watch the final on 4 February and vote…

Colleagues from the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences work on a variety of topics that contribute to a healthy society. Erik Bähre, Tessa Minter and Natashe Lemos Dekker presented their work during the Healthy Society Event on 9 June 2022.

All five episodes of the first season of 'Breingeheim' are now available to listen on Spotify. The first season of the podcastseries is about the social contexts of adolescent development and how teens become resilient individuals. In every episode, a new Leiden-based behavioural scientist and an adolescent…

Exploring logging's real impact: Insights from Anthropologist Tessa Minter in the Solomon Islands.

The University Council gives the Executive Board (un)solicited advice and helps decide on important topics. For example, permanent contracts for lecturers and the workload and well-being of our students and staff. It’s an important organ, but many staff have no idea what it does. ‘I think it’s great…

PhD candidate Shekinah Dare researched which psychological factors contribute to responsible financial behaviour and well-being. She wants to use this knowledge to develop interventions to encourage people to manage their money better. PhD ceremony on 10 November.

Binnen de Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen (FSW) vinden op 1 april 2026 twee wisselingen van de wacht plaats. Shelley van der Veek wordt de nieuwe directeur onderwijs van het Instituut Pedagogische Wetenschappen. Carlijn Bergwerff, afzwaaiend directeur onderwijs van het instituut, verhuist naar het…

Can kindness training increase political tolerance? And how can we better support children with selective mutism? During the Health@FSW knowledge market and exchange event on 26 May 2025, researchers from all five institutes showcased how their work aligns with the faculty’s research strategy and contributes…

Veel vrouwen in een opvanghuis kampen met een posttraumatische stressstoornis (PTSS). Deze PTSS-klachten herkennen en direct behandelen biedt volgens het Leids Universitair Behandel en Expertise Centrum (LUBEC) de meeste kans op succes. Daarom werkt LUBEC per 1 september samen met vrouwenopvangorganisatie…

Do you often find yourself exhausted in the lecture hall or at your workplace? Not great for your mental well-being, as Laura Pape knows. She is investigating how an online self-help program can assist in addressing sleep issues and preventing mental health problems. Join her on this elevator pitch…

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.

How do social science disciplines collaborate in the field of health and well-being? How do we collaborate within our Faculty? And how do we collaborate with our societal partners in Leiden? These are topics that really resonate with many of our researchers, as was clear at the Food for Thought FSW…

Els de Busser (Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs), Ayo Adedokun (LUC The Hague) and David Fontijn (Faculty of Archaeology) have been nominated for the LUS Teaching Prize 2020-2021.

Organisation