Sebastian Pomplun from the Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research has recently received an ERC Proof of Concept grant for his ambitious MYSTIC project. This initiative is set to transform cancer treatment by advancing the development of HeloMYC, a pioneering therapeutic candidate designed to target…

Marcello Bonsangue will be the new Scientific Director of the Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS) from January 2024. Bonsangue has been appointed for four years. He succeeds Aske Plaat, who led the institute for eight years.

This practical guide is aimed at PhD candidates, Research Master Students, and early-career researchers from all academic disciplines. The instructions in the guide intend to inspire young researchers and to help them practice Open Science, by sharing all aspects of research as open possible.

Research

Phage therapy is a novel yet unmatured therapeutic approach in the face of the crisis of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Dr. Tingjie Guo received a grant from the Elise Mathilde Fund and the LUF to develop innovative phage-antibiotic combination treatment strategy for combating AMR.

Koenraad Schalm will be the new programme director of the Physics master starting 1 November. He has been appointed for a period of four years. Schalm succeeds Ana Achúcarro who has held the position since 2021.

Security

Research, Security

Organisation

Teachers at Leiden University are experts in their field and passionate about educating students in their discipline. It is also important that they can work effectively as a member of a team, together with colleagues and students, and that they feel committed to our organisation. We will therefore…

When we work from home, we are extra vulnerable for cyber attacks and data breaches. If you use a personal device to log on to the university network, please create a secure online workplace.

As you are a new Leiden University staff member, a number of things must happen before we can draw up your contract and activate your ULCN account. This is also the case if you are affiliated with the university as external staff, for example if you were hired as a freelancer.

Transferable skills, Career development

If you want to travel for work to an area with a security risk country or area with the color code orange and/or red, you need prior permission from the university.

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…

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.’

Annetje Ottow is stepping down as President of Leiden University’s Executive Board on 1 September 2025 after almost five years in the role. She looks back at the highs and lows – and ahead to what’s next.

Leiden University’s Committee on External Collaborations – Human Rights and Conflict Zones advises the Executive Board to suspend student exchange programmes with Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University until further notice.

You need not be completely miserable in your current job to start a discussion about your professional development. And if internal career coaching still feels like too big a step, you can take a look at the university’s Career Platform instead.

Speaking for the Executive Board, Timo Kos reflects on the university’s security policy and what lies ahead. ‘We want to keep our buildings open, but we also need to be able to guarantee the safety of everyone there. It’s a real balancing act.’

Geert de Snoo is making the transition from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology to the management of KNAW. Starting 1 October, the professor of Environmental Biology will begin his role as Director of Research Policy in a new, consensus-based management team.

Research

The United Nations fall short in their recently published guide to address hunger without surpassing the 1.5-degree climate threshold. This initial version is a significant step, according to a group of researchers including those of Leiden University. However, they miss an essential topic: reducing…

Finance, Organisation

A mediation meeting was held today between the University Council and the Executive Board about the appointment procedure for the Vice-Rector of Organisational Development, Erwin Muller. We have managed to resolve the dispute.

Find the answers to all your teaching questions on the Science Teacher Platform by SEEDS.

On behalf of the interdisciplinary programme Social Resilience & Security, we would like to remind you of the call for proposals for seed funding (up to €4.000) to boost interdisciplinary research.

Library, Research

On 11 March, pharmaceutical company Janssen received approval to launch its corona vaccine on the European market. This made Janssen the fourth company to be given the green light by the European Medicines Agency. As Lead of the Janssen Campus in the Netherlands, Biology alumnus Bart van Zijll Langhout…

‘We may have taken steps together, but there is still much to do in the fight against racism and discrimination’, says Annetje Ottow, President of Leiden University’s Executive Board. ‘We have to be aware of this and continue to focus on this difficult, uncomfortable and often confronting topic.’

To look for atmospheres around planets outside our solar system is to look for extraterrestrial life. Astronomist Sebastian Zieba used data from the James Webb Space Telescope to study small rocky exoplanets but found no aliens yet. However, his findings are still very interesting for future observations.…

On Monday, 13 October, Jasper will travel to Brussels with a delegation from Key Region Leiden. Why is this collaboration important? And who will he be having dinner with that same evening in Voorschoten? Jasper shares his account of a long and interesting Monday.

They were eagerly awaited: four letters from five ministers that should provide clarity on how to get us out of the nitrogen crisis. Nitrogen expert Jan Willem Erisman explains the plans. And says whether they will get us out of the nitrogen crisis.

Crucial information about research, funding or how university rankings are created is often not freely accessible. The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information calls for such information to be made open. Professor Ludo Waltman is one of its initiators. What needs to change?

More than a course. That was the aim of the Leiden Tutoring programme. Through weekly tutoring lessons, students did not just earn five EC. They helped Dutch primary-school children from neighbourhoods with a low socioeconomic status.

April is the month of showers and tulip fields but did you know that it is also Global Citizen Science Month? And the future of our Leiden citizen science community looks rosy, says coordinator Margaret Gold. She is happy to come and tell you all about this − and to exchange knowledge and ideas. ‘See…

Joao Schim is a business analyst and together with his colleagues of the Sneaker Team, he walks through the buildings of the University for five months. These 6 experts are mapping all measurement and research systems, starting with the Faculty of Science. Joao tells us what he does and what catches…

In the short term, no reorganisation is foreseen within the Faculty of Humanities, nor are any compulsory redundancies expected. Nonetheless, structural changes remain necessary. This is evident from the faculty’s draft budget for 2026 and the accompanying financial multi-year outlook.

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

You can make some astounding images using just a box with a hole. Inspired by the celebration of Leiden as the European City of Science, Professor Matthew Kenworthy left several pinhole cameras across the Observatory over the course of 2021. This is how the simplest devices may uncover the greatest…

Petr Steindl works on quantum dots in microcavities for his PhD research. He manipulates single-photons to create complex structures of light. Applications could include quantum communication and gates for quantum computers.

A flu virus could cause a pandemic. And then we would be poorly armed because flu viruses are starting to become resistant to flu medications like Tamiflu. Chemist Merijn Vriends successfully worked on an improved version of such medications. He will be awarded his doctorate on September 12th.

A better balance between teaching and research duties, greater recognition of team performances and the elimination of simplistic assessment criteria. The ‘Academia in Motion’ paper published by the Leiden University Recognition and Rewards describes the main problems with recognition and rewards in…

A year ago, we launched something new: a way of working together that puts collaboration, equality and mutual support at the heart of how we lead. But how does that actually play out in daily life? Three colleagues share their experiences with collegial institute boards.

We can all look back on a turbulent year, a year in which we rapidly switched to working – and learning – online. Because pandemic or not, many staff members have continued to work on their development. Last year the Learning & Development team developed a wide range of online courses and training,…

Computer scientist Matthijs van Leeuwen is one of four science faculty members who obtained the Senior Qualification in Education in 2021. What was that like and what drives him? ‘In my own education I would have liked to see more attention paid to the responsibility that machine learning and data mining…

December marks the 15th anniversary of the Dual PhD Centre (DPC). Director Johannes Tromp and associate professor Mark Dechesne look back and ahead. Dechesne: ‘The DPC forms a 'community of knowledge' in which science and society are connected.’

Martina Huber, Jacqueline Labra Munoz research Alzheimer's disease. They study ferritine, iron storage in the brain. An inbalance of iron could play a role in this form of dementia.