Organisation

How can the university decide which partners to work with and why? This is a question many of us have, both within and outside our community. The advice presented by the Temporary Committee on Assessing Ethical Aspects of Collaborations should provide answers.

In 2021, more than 2,600 students and staff members shared their ideas for Leiden University and the Strategic Plan for the coming years, under the banner of LDN>>>FWD. What will be the guiding principle for taking decisions? Which aspects will be emphasised? The last consultations have now been concluded…

What should our education and research look like in 2027? How can we make the university more sustainable and achieve greater impact? The new Strategic Plan will set the direction for the coming years, and the Executive Board wants students and staff to provide as much input as possible. Would you…

On 10 June, students and staff from all the Dutch universities will go on strike against the government’s proposed budget cuts. The day after the strike, on 11 June, the House of Representatives will debate the Spring Budget Memorandum, which includes the proposed cuts. The university supports this…

Prof. Suzan Stoter will be the Dean of Leiden Law School at Leiden University as of 1 January 2024. The Leiden University Executive Board has appointed her for a period of four years. Stoter succeeds Joanne van der Leun, who, together with the other members of the Faculty Board, brought great verve…

In March, Dutch universities will take staggered strike action against the planned cuts. The strike will begin in Leiden on Monday 10 March. The university supports the strike action but is not going to close that day. Below we inform you how the strike will affect our university, students and staff…

Leiden and The Hague have an extra 450 trees thanks to a special campaign to mark the 450th anniversary of the Relief of Leiden and Leiden University’s foundation. Over the past few months, Stadslab Leiden has worked on an initiative to plant young trees with the residents of the two cities.

As of 1 April 2025, Lodewijk Govaerts will be standing down from the Board of Governors due to other commitments that will demand a significant part of his time and attention within the foreseeable future. Govaerts does not want this to affect his ability to fulfil his role on the Board of Governors…

On the university’s birthday, professors teach a class of 10 and 11-year-olds during Meet the Professor. The professors were bombarded with questions.

What is freedom worth in times of hunger? ‘Beleg’ is a modern interpretation of Lucretia van Merken’s 1774 play. With five performances in Leiden’s Schouwburg theatre, the play is a prominent part of the Relief of Leiden celebrations, and Leiden alumni are playing a big role. Take a look behind the…

The first eLaw Conference held at Leiden University was a success and fostered timely discussions on the legal challenges and opportunities presented by digital technologies.

Alex Geurds, hoogleraar Archeologie van Midden-Amerika, wordt vanaf 1 januari decaan van de Faculteit der Archeologie.

Daniël van Loggerenberg, alumnus of the master’s programme Financieel Recht en Fiscaal Recht at Leiden Law School, has won the annual thesis award of the Vereniging voor Financieel Recht.

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) in partnership with Elsevier hosted a series of online seminars on the challenges involved in achieving reproducibility in research. The seminars aimed to identify best practices that can help to overcome central challenges around reproducibility, and to convey several…

The Dutch police force has been deliberately storing personal data relating to millions of Dutch people for many years now. In doing so, the institution has been knowingly breaking the law. Bart Schermer, Professor of Law and Digital Technology expressed his concerns on Follow the Money – a platform…

Security

Francien Dechesne, Associate Professor of Ethics and Digital Technologies, has been appointed by the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences of Tilburg University as Professor to the endowed chair of ‘Data and AI for the Rule of Law’, effective 1 November 2025.

The trial of Dutch rapper Ali B is receiving massive media attention. Party due to himself, the trial can be followed by the public. How will this affect the upcoming verdict? Dutch newspaper ‘De Volkskrant’ spoke to legal scholars and experts including Jan de Keijser.

On 21 April 2022, Cleveringa Professor Jan Grabowski visited Leiden. The theme of his visit was the role of law and historiography in shaping collective memories.

From 1 November we will have a new mobility policy and will track our commuting with an app. The new regulation is more sustainable and will also save us time and effort, say the union reps from the Local Consultative Body.

The demonstration at and occupation of our Wijnhaven building on 6 May had a deep impact on our community, including the Executive Board. The university is therefore holding two meetings to reflect on what happened and discuss how we can address this.

On Tuesday 6 May our university was the scene of an unscheduled demonstration and occupation at Campus The Hague. We understand that this incident and its consequences have shaken both the university and the wider community. We look back at the events and their effects.

The world is in turmoil. International wars and conflicts have been raging for some time. And political and social developments are causing insecurity, uncertainty and unrest. This has not gone unnoticed within our university community. We have seen protests, demonstrations and other incidents. This…

Brightspace is Leiden University's digital learning environment. With Brightspace you can share course materials, grades and updates with your students. You can create and evaluate assignments and quizzes, perform plagiarism checks, provide personalised feedback and peer-feedback, and start discussi…

Marjan van Dasselaar is the Staff Ombuds Officer. The Staff Ombuds Officer gives independent advice to the University on how the staff’s work environment can be made safer.

Strong leadership is essential for building an open and learning organisation.

In 2023-2024 seven (teams of) teachers received a Grassroots or Grass shoots grant. Here you can read about their projects.

We provide answers here to some frequently asked questions about collaborations with the fossil fuel industry.

Congratulations on your awarded grant. Here is a checklist of what to do next and who you will need to involve to get your project started.

Management, Research, Working effectively, Transferable skills

Conference, D&I Event

At the 24-th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, held in The Hague 1-6 December, the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies played a prominent role, contributing cutting-edge research and expert insights to key debates on international law.

Follow these steps to start a new mailing or newsletter.

Prof. dr. Joanne van der Leun is tot september 2025 door het College van Bestuur van de Universiteit Leiden herbenoemd als decaan van de faculteit Rechtsgeleerdheid.

Education, Finance

The Executive Board of Leiden University has appointed Jan Kolen as the University’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Coordinator as of 1 February 2022. In this role Kolen will take the lead in regional and national cooperation relating to the topic of AI, data and digitalisation.

Organisation

Finance, Organisation

Organisation

Leiden University’s Board of Governors is pleased to announce the appointment of Tjerk Kroes to the Board of Governors by the outgoing Minister of Education, Culture and Science, Gouke Moes.

The Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW) has started a survey to identify the success factors of a strong codetermination culture within higher education institutes. All members of a codetermination council in higher education can participate in this survey until 2 April.

University ceremony

Annetje Ottow tells you in this video message why the Executive Board hopes for your active contribution.

Organisation

We are concerned about our research and teaching cuts announced in the provisional deal between the Dutch coalition parties. This will have a profound impact on our students and staff, and on teaching, research and innovation in the Netherlands.

Through the use of artificial intelligence, the executive is gaining in efficiency. At the same time, however, the judiciary is trailing behind in the process of digitalisation. Is this a problem, and what can we do about it?

Research