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.

The airspace had almost closed last year as Leiden students and staff rushed to leave the Netherlands Institute Morocco (NIMAR). How is this Leiden institute in Rabat doing over a year later? ‘Luckily we’d done a crisis exercise a few months before. Everyone managed leave the country in time.’

The Meijers prizes are awarded each year for the best published article from each faculty research programme. Reijer received the prize for his contribution to the programme ‘The Legitimacy and Effectiveness of Law & Governance’ with his article ‘Digitalisering en de (dis)balans binnen de trias politica’…

In the event of full or partial occupational disability, your income may decrease. To help protect you against this risk, coverage for occupational disability is included in your standard ABP pension scheme. If you would like extra protection, you can take out supplementary occupation disability insurance…

The first FSW policy and SOPs for research subject to the WMO (Wet medisch-wetenschappelijk onderzoek met mensen) are currently in development.

Our annual strategic conference was held this year on 15 and 16 June in Soesterberg, and has now become a tradition at our university.

The ‘Committee for Assessing Ethical Aspects of Partnerships’ is being launched this month. This committee, created by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl and consisting of former and present Leiden University researchers, has been tasked with assessing Leiden University’s institutional ties with organisations…

All partnerships between Leiden and international partner universities are managed in a central database.

Leiden University offers researchers extensive facilities and support at every stage of their academic career. Here you will find more information on funding, policy, and publishing, as well as answers to questions such as: How do I arrange a PhD track? Which research grants are available? And what…

Collaboration with the fossil fuel industry requires careful assessment. The Fossil Fuel Collaboration Advice Desk was set up to support this process.

Knowledge security requires that we carefully weigh opportunities against risks. The Knowledge Security Advice Desk was set up to support this process.

Didactics

The Leiden University salaries are determined at national level and listed in the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities (CAO). You are assigned to a salary scale on the basis of your job profile and level. If you perform well, your salary will be increased to the next amount in the salary…

Dominique Moïsi, a professor at King’s College London, will be the first holder of the Owada chair. ‘In the present international context of polarisation and divisions within societies and amongst nations, any effort at bringing Asia and Europe closer to each other is truly important.’

Researchers from Leiden University, together with SEO Amsterdam Economics, have been chosen to evaluate the Dutch Telecommunications Sector (Undesirable Control) Act and the Investments, Mergers and Acquisitions (Security Screening) Act.

A delegation from Leiden University visited the Netherlands Institute Morocco (NIMAR) in Rabat at the end of February.

With the Learning@LeidenUniversity vision, Leiden University leads the way in education, training students to become academic professionals and engaged citizens. Here you will find information on the eight ambitions that form the basis of the curriculum, as well as answers to questions such as: How…

Leiden University supports lecturers in designing and delivering high-quality education. Here you can find more information about the vision on teaching and learning, didactic tools and regulations, as well as answers to questions such as: How can I make my lectures interactive? Where can I find the…

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.

On Monday 27 October, Jasper goes on safari in the Van Steenis building. And will he manage to stay dry more often than he gets soaked cycling between meetings? You’ll find out – along with the rest of Jasper’s day – in this column.

‘Art and science can co-exist.’ On 16 August, Dean Suzan Stoter spoke these words when she opened the exhibition ‘Wet op beeld: De Saksenspiegel eeuwenoud modern’, created by visual artist Ilja Walraven and legal scholar Helen Stout. They believe that images can enhance the comprehensibility of legal…

‘Om de problemen in de jeugdbescherming op te kunnen lossen heb ik de gemeenten nodig’, zei minister Weerwind van Rechtsbescherming onlangs in de Tweede Kamer. Maar volgens hoogleraar jeugdrecht Mariëlle Bruning moet het rijk stoppen met het verwijzen naar andere partijen en zélf nu zorgen dat de boel…

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.

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.

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.

Having lectures on sustainability when you're a first-year student of Law, or a course on climate change when you're studying Public Administration may sound odd, but that is just what Associate Professor in Environmental Sciences Thijs Bosker wants to see happening. Together with his colleague Paul…

Met de benoeming van Rijpma en Campos Delgado is de Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid in alle uniersitaire regiogroepen vertegenwoordigd.

Within the scope of innovating and connecting – the theme of our new Strategic Plan – I paid a visit to Brussels last week. It is important to give Leiden University a face in Brussels and to show our expertise, on Africa for instance.

On Tuesday 12 January 2021, the annual Meijers prizes and thesis prizes were awarded at the online New Year’s event broadcast from the Old Observatory.

Soil that is too wet, or too dry. Or with a lot or few nutrients. Due to climate change, the differences are becoming bigger, and plants must increasingly be able to adapt to survive. How do you make plants more stress-resistant? For this purpose, researchers from Leiden, along with other universities,…

‘Our faculty is a very international community. And that is something everybody really benefit from,’ says Yun Tian. As the officer internationalisation, she is the bridge between international students and staff, the faculty and universities abroad. ‘Science goes beyond countries and carries no nationality.…

They are responsible for a wide range of bachelor’s and master’s degree programmes but have more than enough in common to discuss: the programme directors and chairs. They met for the second time on 25 April to share knowledge and experiences and receive an update from Hester Bijl on strategic developments…

Over 40 hard-working programme directors and chairs met for the first time in the Academy Building on 27 October to exchange knowledge and experience and gain new inspiration. Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl opened the meeting with an update on strategic developments in higher education.

Laura Kamsma (31) has been coordinating the International Office (IO) of FGGA for a few months now. An introduction to the ambitious Nijmegen native, who has set herself the goal of making the International Office more visible: 'Knock on our door if you have an internationalisation issue. Now you can…

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.

A number of organisational changes have been implemented in the faculty office of the Faculty of Humanities. This has led to the creation of BAS: the department responsible for Policy, Advice and Strategy. Department heads Marcel Belderbos and Tim Lamers introduce themselves and the new department.

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.

‘Everyone’s talking about it, everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, but the reality is disappointing,’ says biochemist Gerard van Westen in his 3 October University lecture in the Van der Werfpark. In the full marquee, he gets a laugh with this suggestion that artificial intelligence is comparable…

Dutch citizens are not opposed to additional earnings and financial gifts for people on welfare, but believe it is important that there should also be an obligation to look for a job. This was the outcome of a research project on the opinions of Dutch people regarding the implementation of welfare p…

In een spraakmakende rechtszaak over de Wet open overheid (Woo) besloot een rechter zelf documenten over de toeslagenaffaire te beoordelen. Wim Voermans en Annemarie Drahmann deelden hun opvattingen over de zaak met de Volkskrant.

The Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport is to appeal against a recent court ruling on the Public Access to Government Information Act (Wet openbaarheid van bestuur, WOB). The court ruled that the way in which the Ministry handles WOB requests was not in accordance with the law.

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 researchers Tazuko van Berkel (Greek and Latin Language and Culture) and Noel de Miranda (Tumour Immunology, LUMC) will join the KNAW’s Young Academy next year. They will be inducted on 22 March 2021.

Finance