Leiden University joins the Just Transitions for AMR Working Group, an interdisciplinary team of social science and humanities researchers who are exploring ways to mitigate the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in a just and equitable manner, with due consideration to the human rights of present…

Academics are increasingly facing threats, harassment and hate speech following public appearances. The Dutch universities – united in the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) – is now adopting a number of national measures, from a zero-tolerance policty to psychosocial help for vic…

Organisation

Knowledge institutions play a unique role in society and can contribute to a future-proof and sustainable world. That’s why Leiden University has signed the ‘Think green, act green’ manifesto. The manifesto is the initiative of The Young Academy and The Green Young Academy, who are calling on universities…

On 29 April, doctoral researcher Sophie Vériter will join the annual Ralf Dahrendorf Memorial Lecture at St Antony’s College, Oxford University as a discussant.

ICT

Leiden University has become a partner of the Global Coalition for Social Justice.

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 University has received a Lifelong Learning grant that will enable it to significantly expand its learning for professionals, for example for the government in The Hague and the Leiden Bio Science Park.

The Sustainability Monitor 2023 shows that Leiden University is taking its sustainability efforts seriously.

The university was a gift from William of Orange to the people of Leiden for their courageous resistance to the Spanish. We’ve all heard the story of the university’s foundation. But its foundation was also a success story for two friends.

With the six pieces of the puzzle now assembled by the partners of the University Campus and the Mayor of The Hague, Jan van Zanen, the building at the Spui was officially opened last Thursday.

Leiden University will set up further activities with the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Marjolijn joined Leiden University in June as Policy Adviser on Healthy University and Staff Absence. She is passionate about healthy living and is pleased to be able to draw on this in her work. She is currently hard at work on the preparations for Healthy University Week, which will be from 31 October…

For thousands of years, the prehistoric communities of the Low Countries followed their own path, compared with the rest of Europe. An international research team has now published these findings in Nature.

At a symposium on 26 May, experts, staff and students from Leiden University will discuss what should happen with Rein Dool’s painting in the Academy Building and what the guidelines for the University’s exhibition policy should be. These issues will be explored from diverse perspectives during the…

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has awarded a KNAW Early Career Partnership 2023 to Philippe van Gruisen for interdisciplinary research on (labour) migration from a broad perspective on societal wellbeing.

Leiden University has held its first university-wide iftar, an event aimed at fostering connection and dialogue on cultural and religious diversity. This initiative was made possible by the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, POPcorner-FSW, SABR student association and POPcorner The Hague.

In exactly 450 days’ time, on 8 February 2025, it is the university’s 450th anniversary. We are obviously going to celebrate this with our students, staff and friends. Do you have any ideas for this celebration?

Professor of Science Communication Ionica Smeets will be awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University. She receives the award because she exemplifies how science communication can bridge the gap between experts and the general public.

Leiden University and four other parties have signed a declaration in which they agree to improve the well-being of students in Leiden. They signed this Declaration on Student Well-Being on 5 April at the Leidsch Besturendiner, a dinner for student associations, universities, local government and bu…

At the Leiden University Thesis Awards ceremony, law student Bettina Schmiedler won third prize for her socio-legal study on corporate social responsibility.

ICT, Organisation

ICT, Security

Artificial Intelligence is likely to have far-reaching consequences for all actors in the realm of academic publishing, including authors, editors, researchers, and readers. This symposium aims to foster the conversation about the various ways in which we evaluate, enrich, and disseminate academic knowledge,…

Writer and columnist Nicolien Mizee will be Leiden University’s new writer in residence from autumn 2023.

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…

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…

A 5 million euros grant from the Dutch Research Agenda allows Anouk de Koning and co-applicants Femke Kaulingfreks and Maartje van der Woude to study social interventions in eight Dutch cities in an innovative and interdisciplinary way.

From academic freedom to security and medical breakthroughs: during Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis, the speakers reflected on the role of universities in a world of social and geopolitical tensions.

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…

Seven interdisciplinary projects involving Leiden University academics have been awarded up to €27,000 in seed funding. They will work with Una Europa alliance partners to advance topics including academic freedom, AI in the humanities, sustainable mining and maternal health care.

Organisation, Security

To foster interfaculty collaborations and explore common ground for working interdisciplinary on health-related themes in Leiden and beyond, the Leiden University Medical Anthropology Network has been set up.

This year marks a special occasion because it was just ten years ago that the Georgian language was taught for the first time at Leiden University. It is even more exciting that its first professor, Ramaz Kurdadze, will return to Leiden this year to teach students interested in the language. Kurdadze…

Professor of Privacy and Cybercrime Bart Schermer researches the relationship between new digital technologies, enforcement and human rights. What cybercrime trends can he see that are relevant to an organisation like Leiden University?

Leiden University supports the new Zuid-Holland Acceleration Programme, which builds on the Growth Agenda for Zuid-Holland and focuses on accelerating innovation, sustainability and economic growth in the region.

On 11 July 2024, a gathering was held to celebrate the start of the construction of the new University Sports Centre (USC). Rugby players and a pole dancer from USC Leiden played a role in the celebration. A video was also shown, giving a whistle-stop tour of the new building.

On Tuesday 25 November, Leiden University is holding the first of four sessions on ‘Building Academic Freedom’. Students and staff are invited to a conversation about today’s hot-button issues.

It is the eighth year in a row that the Faculty of Archaeology is placed in the top ten of archaeological institutes worldwide. The QS World University Rankings by Subject looks at criteria like academic reputation and citation ratios.

Five thousand years before the common era (BCE), Proto-Indo-European, the mother of many languages that are spoken today in Europe, Central Asia and South Asia, originated in eastern Europe. PhD candidate Axel Palmér has combined a 175-year-old hypothesis with new techniques to demonstrate how descendants…

Starting April 2026, Niels van Willigen will join the Institute of Political Science at Leiden University’s Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences as Professor by Special Appointment in Strategic Studies. This appointment was made possible by the Atlantische Commissie, which established this chair…

The doors of the new University Sports Centre are open to all students, staff and sports lovers. Want to see what it looks like? Watch the video and run through the centre with Zakari!

Leiden University wants to be a safe and inclusive learning and working environment for all its students and staff. In an interview with XperHR HR knowledge platform, Diversity Officer and lecturer Aya Ezawa and HR director Esther van Opstal explain why all-gender toilets are an important part of our…

Leiden University is concerned about the plans presented by Minister of Education, Culture and Science Robbert Dijkgraaf to limit English-taught courses in higher education. If these plans go forward, the university believes this could have major consequences for our international students and staff.…

The ambitions of the Dutch Recognition & Rewards programme are widely supported by academics at Leiden University. This is one of the findings from the first Culture Barometer survey, carried out in early 2024.

Leiden University College The Hague received the 'Top rated Programme' seal from the Keuzegids Universiteiten 2021 (Dutch University Guide). It is the eighth consecutive time the Liberal Arts & Sciences programme focusing on Global Challenges is awarded the honorary seal.