Quantum software is essential to make quantum technology work. Research centers QuSoft and aQa work together at the forefront of the Netherlands’ quantum software efforts. With the launch of the Quantum Software Alliance (QSA), this collaboration now scales globally.

To find funding, you first need to define your goal. Do you need to fund your own salary? Go abroad? Start up a collaboration? Buy equipment or do field work? Develop a company based on an invention that came out of the research? Next, find a match between your goal and the many funding opportunitie…

Research

If you have a guest or visitor who needs access to the network drives or a ULCN account, you can have him or her registered in the guest management system (GMS) via your GMS contact person.

From self-driving cars to innovative drug development, artificial intelligence (AI) is going to fundamentally change our lives in a variety of ways.

While the United States continues to carry out drone strikes, and China conducts large-scale cyber and information operations, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers live in trenches, and NATO sends tanks to the Donbas front to force a breakthrough. Has war changed dramatically in recent decades as a result…

‘We’re going to see each other again on campus. We’re so pleased, but we do have to say safe.’ Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl is looking ahead to the new academic year, which begins on 6 September. No more 1.5m distancing, but we do have to take responsibility for other people’s safety.

Europe's latest quantum computer is set to arrive in the Netherlands. The Dutch IT cooperative, SURF, which supports education and research institutions, has secured funding from the European EuroHPC programme to make this possible. Researchers from Leiden University will play a key role in the project,…

Camille Lefebvre, PhD candidate at the Graduate School of International Studies of Université Laval and the Van Vollenhoven Institute for Law, Governance and Society of Leiden Law School, has been selected as a recipient of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship and Leadership Program.

The student elections for the student representatives of the Faculty Council will take place from 22 to 25 April. Prominent members of four student parties engaged in a debate last Thursday on topics close to students’ hearts.

Dr Antonio Missiroli has been appointed as Associate Senior Policy Fellow for Emerging Security Threats at the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA).

The Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) of Leiden University contributed to the design and teaching of modules of this year’s edition of the Ministry of Defence’s ‘International Military Cooperation Course Africa’.

On 7 and 8 October, a two-day workshop will be hosted by the Van Vollenhoven Institute in collaboration with the University of Oxford’s Border Criminologies network and the Social Citizenship & Migration assisted area. The theme of the workshop will be ‘Border policing, boundary creation and emotion…

In March, Jan Pronk starts as the new Executive Director at the Faculty of Archaeology. We sat down with him for an interview on his background, his drive, and his take on archaeology.

Technology holds so much promise – from self-driving cars to enhanced physical performance from smart implants under the skin. But we should not let ourselves be caught off guard. That is the message of Bart Custers, Professor of Law and Data Science in his inaugural lecture on 21 May. ‘We don’t talk…

At Leiden University College, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Europe to show unity and strength in a world defined by fear, power politics, and uncertainty.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Hans Slabbekoorn is specialised in animal sounds. On 1 July, he was appointed professor of Acoustic ecology and behaviour. A great honour, according to the new professor. ‘This job never gets boring, whether I am investigating the urban jungle or marine noise.’

ICT

The Faculty Council is the main consultation and advisory body within the Faculty of Archaeology. Three students and three staff members together represent the Faculty community, advising the board, as well as taking the initiative to put things on the agenda. We speak with council member, and bachelor's…

Education

After more than five years, Professor Armin Cuyvers has handed over the position of Programme Director for the master’s programmes in Law to Marije Schneider, who started on 1 January 2024. Her vision, drive and experience mean she is well placed to fulfil the role.

Police, administrators and other parties will from now on have access to the advice of the new Academic Advisory Board for the Police. Maartje van der Woude, professor of socio-legal studies, is one of the members of this council.

Facility

On 30 June, the Center for Law and Digital Technologies of Leiden University (eLaw) will hold the annual Hans Franken Lecture. This year, the lecture will be held by Jan Kleijssen, the recently retired human rights director at the Council of Europe. The title of the lecture is: 'AI and Human Rights'…

Klara Beslmüller

How can I get students to collaborate more and increase their engagement? That was the question that teacher, and winner of the 2022 Faculty Teaching Award, Astrid Van Weyenberg asked herself two years ago. Her solution? A method in which the use of podcasts ensures that students actively engage with…

Whilst the world is opening up, the teaching will continue in a hybrid form next academic year. During the past year, when all of us were bound to our home offices and computer screens, new forms of education had to be developed – some of which proved to be efficient in preparing the students for their…

In this time of Covid-19, our way of working has changed. Many staff who used to work on a PC, and who now work from home with a laptop provided by the employer, are now returning to the office and this is having an impact on the university network: the WiFi network in particular will be a bottleneck.…

Four lecturers from Leiden University will receive a 50,000-euro Comenius Teaching Fellow grant. This will enable them and their team to realise an educational innovation within their own teaching.

Nearly a year since the abrupt switchover to mostly online learning, the Digital Education seminar gave teaching staff the opportunity to review their experiences. What can stay in 2021 and what must go? Frequently voiced opinions: yes please to digital tools that make lectures more interactive; yes…

What impact will the new workspace standards have? What will the adjustments cost? And can we use the former V&D building? Questions followed each other in quick succession during a meeting with staff of the Faculty of Humanities about the necessary adjustments to the Humanities Campus, now that the…

On 25 September, Leiden University Campus The Hague organised a partner day ahead of the European Association for International Education (EAIE) 2023 Conference in Rotterdam. The EAIE partner day took place both in Leiden and The Hague, to make international partners of Leiden University understand…

Last year he became Teacher of the Year because of his innovative and online teaching, now Alexander van Oudenhoven has to change course again and teach physically. What have the first weeks been like for him? ‘Let's apply what we learned in the lockdown period.’

Young researchers met this month for the fifth Science Communication Summer School. ‘This is the first time some participants get to meet other researchers who also enjoy science communication. It’s great to see’, says Julia Cramer, one of the coordinators.

Highland Bhutan is facing unprecedented challenges from a combination of climate change, new economic opportunities, and changing cultural aspirations of its residents. Today, what does highland heritage constitute, to who, and how does it matter?

The Steering Committee of the European Network on Teaching Excellence (ENOTE) is delighted to announce that Professor Hester Bijl, Rector Magnificus of Leiden University, will deliver the opening remarks for ENOTE’s first Academic Training Week.

Bureaucrats appointed based on merit are not necessarily more professional or autonomous than those who have been, for instance, ‘politically installed’. Furthermore, patronage does not only have negative effects. These are two conclusions reached by Abdul-Nasir Abubakar, PhD candidate at Leiden University’s…

It’ll be a sight to behold: 54 begowned beadles striding through the streets of Leiden. The beadles from 14 universities will gather in Leiden on 25 and 26 August for the 30th National Beadle Day.

Education, ICT

The development of the Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) did not come to a standstill over the summer. We now have a draft version of the Plan that incorporates the feedback on the strategic objectives that we obtained from various meetings and bodies before the summer. The Research Directors and a number…

EuroScience Open Forum – ESOF - is Europe’s biggest multidisciplinary and prestigious scientific conference. ESOF2022 will take place from 13-16 July 2022 and is hosted by Leiden as the European City of Science (in the Netherlands). The Kamerlingh Onnes Building is one of the locations of the ESOF and…

CADS lecturer Sander Hölsgens is one of the initiators of the NWO Smart Culture Project Documenting Complexity (project number CISC.KC.212). This project investigates how and why engaged documentary filmmakers use new technologies in their work. One of the outputs of this project is the series ‘In Whose…

Leiden University and the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) have signed an agreement on ICT for research. This is the further concretisation of previous cooperation between the two.

From Wednesday-Thursday 19-20 April 2023 the Stichting Bob Wessels Insolvency Law Collection (BWILC) invites PhD students from Europe and beyond to participate in the 5th edition of the PhD workshop on European/International Insolvency Law. Following four successful editions, PhD students are invited…

This year, LUCIS adapted the programme of its popular annual Middle Eastern Culture Market into an evening version, featuring a lecture, book discussion, and music.