Our vision on lifelong development

The University aims to be bilingual, and provides its information in Dutch and English wherever possible. This has consequences for the information provided on the University websites.

Didactics

Leiden University Scholarly Publications is a database of publications by academics from and institutions affiliated to Leiden University. Researchers and PhD candidates use LUCRIS Publication Management (PM) to add publications (except for doctoral theses) to the Repository. Wherever possible, publications…

Who should you contact to set up, move or adjust your workplace?

Each month, we publish an article showcasing how social science research and education contribute to solving societal challenges. Researchers, lecturers, students, and societal partners work together to make knowledge accessible and to make a difference. Through open science and engaged education, we…

PhD defence

Education

On Monday, Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf attended the start of Orientation Week Leiden (OWL), the introduction week for international students at Leiden University. He welcomed the students and spoke with them about their ambitions and the problems they face.

For first-year bachelor’s students, it is a well-known phenomenon: student mentors. These older students help newcomers on their way in small groups. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the choice was made to set up a mentor programme for new master's students as well. We talked to three student…

Would you like to take a walk with a fellow student who you don’t know? That is the idea behind Walk & Talk. With this new initiative, International Studies aims to provide more opportunities for social contact.

Which teacher knows best how to inspire their students? Carmen van den Bergh (Humanities), Egbert Koops (Law) and Arjan Louwen (Archaeology) have been nominated for the 2025 Leiden Teaching Prize.

The intake of bachelor’s students from classic immigration countries whose prior education was in the Netherlands does not reflect the growing diversity in society. This is according to data from Statistics Netherlands.

Professor Dario Fazzi has been organising virtual exchanges for students with various American universities for a number of years. Now he has been awarded 400.000 euros from the Erasmus+ programme Cooperation Partnerships to further develop the virtual component of his teaching.

The Faculty of Humanities' Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Fund provides small grants to initiatives in support of diversity and inclusion, with specific emphasis on creating an inclusive learning environment.

Pieter Slaman, Assistant Professor at the Institute of History and the University’s university historian, has won the 2024 LUS Teaching Prize.

From interview training and competence tests to internships and contact with alumni. At Leiden University there are many ways for our students to prepare for the job market, but the support available is often too fragmented and hard to find. How can we best prepare our students for a job market that…

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…

Leiden University signed the Amnesty International ‘Let’s talk about YES’ manifesto on 10 March, confirming the university’s commitment to preventing sexual violence. Steps will also be taken to make sure that everyone within the university feels responsible for a culture in which sex is based on equality…

Working for a social client during your studies: this is what happens at Urban Studies. For the course Urban Studies in Practice, third-year students carry out projects for public clients, such as the municipality of The Hague.

Every year, an outstanding lecturer receives the Faculty Teaching Prize. Lecturers are nominated by students, and a jury – comprising students and lecturers – decides who will receive the prize. The prize will be awarded during the official opening of the academic year on 7 September. Meet this year’s…

Work balance has been a hot topic at the faculty for several years. A smart approach to lectures can help reduce workload. Three (senior) university lecturers share their tips.

Paul Gobée (LUMC), Kirsty Rolfe (Humanities) and Frank Takes (Science) have been nominated for the Leiden Teaching Prize 2023.

Campus The Hague gained a new facility. On Thursday 17 February, POPcorner was opened, helping students find their way during their studies and within the university buildings.

Participating in discussions as a student, at an administrative level? Jonatan Wirix-Speetjens has done so for the past two years as assessor of the Faculty of Humanities. Ebrar Kaya will take over the position of assessor starting this September. In this interview we look back and ahead at the asse…

For the past year, Anne Wellink represented students' interests on the Faculty Board. As of September, Nova Verkerk will take over. In this interview, the two of them look back and ahead to the future.

Students from ‘StudentinzetopSchool’ help schoolchildren and gain valuable teaching experience at the same time. In an online visit on 13 April, Queen Máxima spoke to pupils, students and teaching staff. She also spoke to participants from Leiden. ‘Teaching is wonderful, but it’s complex too.’

A subject like history is all about the past. That often involves scrolling through old documents, but in the Research Master's in History, Professor Dario Fazzi takes a different approach. His students work with Virtual Reality.

How to innovate education? In this series, the Honours Academy highlights examples from their educational testing ground that aim to inspire. Today: pioneering with podcasts. What are the do's and don'ts? Two teachers and a student share their thoughts.

Studenten blijven tevreden over hun opleiding en docenten, maar studentenwelzijn en de aansluiting op de arbeidsmarkt blijven belangrijke aandachtspunten.

Television presenter and journalist Twan Huys will be a lecturer in Journalism and New Media at Leiden University from 1 September 2024.

How to take ownership of your career? To find out, students from ‘Design Your Career as a Climate Change Maker’ visited a farmer who has done just that. They learned from him that it’s never too late to start working on something you believe in.

The results of the 2025 university elections are in. Who will represent us in the participation organs?

The Humanities Faculty Teaching Award has been won by Olja Karmanova. The Russian lecturer was presented with the award during the opening of the faculty year.

This masterclass examines the idea of disegno in relation to the early modern decorative arts by investigating the collection of Italian design drawings in the Rijksmuseum. Meaning both design and drawing, disegno was a fundamental concept in the development of artistic theory in early modern Europe…

From the Open Days and Student for a Day events to the option of following Online Experience modules: the university tries to prepare prospective students for their new study programme as well as possible. In this context, the bachelor’s programmes Dutch Language and Culture and English Language and…

Publishing an article as early as during your studies. Master's students of Nanne Timmer and Astrid Weyenberg are doing it. In the new course 'Leiden Graduate Journal Culture and Society' they are creating an academic journal.

Bringing the community together, doing up the community centre or researching how to make gardens greener. Students now have a base in Leiden-Noord where they can work with local residents and partner organisations to make the city a better place to live. It was the official opening of ‘Learning with…

September 2022 marks the tenth anniversary of International Studies bachelor's programme. Some (former) staff members tell us what they think makes the Faculty of Humanities' largest programme so special.

Education

Eleven lecturers from Leiden University have been awarded Comenius grants that will allow them to work with their teams on an innovation project within their own teaching. They have been awarded three grants of 100,000 euros within the Senior Fellows programme and four grants of 50,000 euros within…

Guiding high school students as a mentor at Pre-University College: what is that like? And what does it all entail? As part of the 20th anniversary of PRE-College Leiden, we asked two experienced PRE-mentors about their job - and what makes their work so meaningful. ‘You really see them grow.’

If there's one thing that students should get from their teachers, it’s good feedback, says assistant professor Andrei Poama. ‘But we need to do it in a more fair way.’ Together with a team of experts on educational sciences, he is working on a project that develops GenAI applications that teachers…