Het schilderij van Rein Dool waarop voormalig bestuurders van de Universiteit Leiden zijn afgebeeld, is verhuisd naar de Receptieruimte van het Academiegebouw.

Children who lost their fathers in early modern England ran the risk of being sold to the highest bidder. Although Shakespeare wrote about it in his plays, the practice disappeared from collective memory for a long time. University lecturer Lotte Fikkers is bringing it back to light in a new Vidi research…

Over 160 years ago, the Hague-based photography pioneer and traveler Alexine Tinne (1835-1869) captured current South Sudan and its inhabitants on film. These photographs represent some of the earliest images taken in the heart of the African continent.

Annetje Ottow is the first female president of the Executive Board of Leiden University, which means a return to her Alma mater.

One of the good things about my job is that I come into contact with so many different alumni. It’s incredibly important that we build good relationships with our alumni from a young age already. We can help our graduates develop skills and grow their network, and they in turn can help our organisation…

A professor from Leiden University, together with a former employee (who is also the professor’s partner), has been guilty of long-term unacceptable and often transgressive behaviour in the form of abuse of power and manipulation. This behaviour led to a culture of fear among staff who were largely…

Alisa van de Haar is one of three humanities scholars to win a KNAW Early Career Award this year. The university lecturer of Ancient French Literature is receiving the award for her innovative research on multilingualism and migration. 'It would be nice to use this to set up a project with students.…

Marlisa den Hartog is a PhD candidate at the Institute for History since January 2017. She is working on a thesis about perceptions of sexual desire and sexual identity in Italy between 1450 and 1550.

Lecture, Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History

Lecture, Research Seminar Medieval and Early Modern History

Nowadays they can cause the fall of ministers, but once upon a time receipts were a new phenomenon. Associate Professor Robert Stein is to receive a grant from NIAS to map their origins.

Hwæt! You've heard of the adventures of the mighty Beowulf. You've heard of the brave folk standing beside him, and the awe-inspiring foes standing against him. But where their legend still lives, their tale ended long ago... Let us begin a new saga, let us find new heroes, weave a new story - by the…

Dutch universities have responded positively to the new coalition plans. Investments in education, research and innovation will be prioritised, and the stringent cutbacks proposed by the previous cabinet will be reversed. Optimism is the order of the day in Leiden, though caution is advised.

The University Council (UR) approved the outline of the University’s 2024 budget on 18 December 2023.

Spycraft, by professor Nadine Akkerman and Pete Langman has been selected by History Today and The Economist as one of 2024’s best books

For nine years, Mirjam de Baar was vice-dean at the Faculty of Humanities. On Monday 17 March, she took her leave in the Academy Building. ‘You have worn out two deans, two vice-deans, four business managers and six assessors.’

The proportion of female professors at Dutch universities is increasing, but at a modest rate. At 34.2%, Leiden University is in the top three. These are the results of the Women Professors Monitor for 2025.

Having served on the Executive Board for over nine years, the last five of which as Rector Magnificus, Hester Bijl will leave Leiden University at the start of next year. In a new step in her career, she will become Rector Magnificus on the Executive Board of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft)…

Leiden University’s Rector Magnificus, Professor Hester Bijl, has been reappointed for a second term by the Board of Governors.

Professor Sarah de Rijcke will become the new Rector Magnificus on the Executive Board of Leiden University on 15 January 2026. She will succeed Professor Hester Bijl, who will become Rector Magnificus at Delft University of Technology.

VVIK Lecture

Leiden University has a new professor. On 1 June Nadine Akkerman became Professor of Early Modern Literature and Culture, a position she feels is designed to help her help others.

In a supplementary decision on 17 May 2022, the Executive Board of Leiden University has concluded that it will publish the titles of seven articles in which there is evidence of malpractice. This concerns a former staff member of the Institute of Psychology. The Executive Board considers it to be in…

Mirjam de Baar has been Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and portfolio holder for education of master’s and research master’s programmes since 2016. As a result of her reappointment, she will continue to fulfil this role for an additional four years. ‘Being asked by the Vice-Rector and the Dean…

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 Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Universities strategic alliance celebrates its tenth anniversary in 2022. At the ‘The Next Ten Years’ anniversary celebration in the Faculty Club on 12 April, the partners looked back on their achievements and ahead to the major social challenges of the next ten years.

Many PhD candidates, as well as research master students at the Faculty of Humanities, are members of a research school related to their area of expertise. Research schools aim at the collaboration of researchers from different faculties in the same university (interfaculty schools) or in different…

Making use of social media is a good way to meet others or to hear about the latest news and developments. But it also has its downsides: disinformation, trolling, disrespectful comments and even the misuse of (personal) data.

Research into our history of colonialism and slavery, heart-to-heart conversations at a Keti Koti table, exhibitions, lectures and podcasts that establish the link between present and past. Staff and students participated in the national Slavery Memorial Year in many different ways. What have we learned…

How do you achieve the structural change needed for a more inclusive university community? What challenges do female staff face in their careers and what does it take to be a woman in a leadership role? This is what over 40 female staff members from the university discussed on International Women’s…

Samen met een groep enthousiaste wetenschappers bezocht ik deze maand verschillende universiteiten en andere kennisinstellingen tijdens een kennismissie in Indonesië.