A beautiful speech by vice-dean Bart de Smit, a mini-lecture on exoplanets and the presentation of three faculty awards. That's how we started the new year at the faculty. Together with colleagues and students, we raised our glasses to a new year full of great collaborations, science and education.

The Executive Board has appointed Mette Kamerich as the assessor and student member of the Faculty Board of the Faculty of Humanities. The appointment is for the period from 1 September 2025 to 1 September 2026, and she will therefore succeed Nova Verkerk in this role.

The Faculty of Archaeology is on the eve of a new Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) that will cover the years 2026-2028. Dean Jan Kolen stresses the importance of involving both staff and students in this process. 'We want everyone to think along about the direction we should take as a faculty. We want a…

In our column of 7 April, we informed you about the new direction we are taking, as the Faculty Board, to meet the financial challenges faced by the faculty, and the action lines that are now our focus. One of these action lines is a package of control measures for the Faculty Office. In this column,…

At the beginning of this academic year, we informed you about the financial developments we are facing in our faculty. We explained that our faculty’s budget for 2024 shows a deficit and that we also expect a negative financial picture for the subsequent years, if policies remain unchanged. We therefore…

Organisation

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…

Nova Verkerk has represented the interests of students as assessor for the past two years. Now her term has come to an end, and on 1 September she will be succeeded on the Faculty Board by Mette Kamerich.

On 15 February 2024, Leiden Law School's Faculty Board will enter a new phase.

Finance

Organisation

On Friday 5 September, to mark our 450th anniversary we celebrated the opening of the faculty year together with the Leiden Revisited alumni event. Combining both annual events was a huge success, especially as staff brought along their family, partner or friends.

Three programmes at the Faculty of Humanities have been awarded medals by EW and ResearchNed. The bachelor’s in German Language and Culture took gold, and the bachelor's in Ancient Near Eastern Studies and the master's in Middle Eastern Studies each earned a bronze medal.

Elections for the Faculty Council are scheduled for May. Like to have a say in ongoing issues at our faculty or advise the Faculty Board? Find out what the Faculty Council does and how you can stand for election.

De faculteitsraad is het medezeggenschapsorgaan van de faculteit. De raad fungeert als de vertegenwoordiger van studenten en personeel, en als klankbord voor het faculteitsbestuur. De overlegvergaderingen tussen de faculteitsraad en het faculteitsbestuur zijn openbaar en vinden ongeveer om de zes…

How do you teach? Every teacher has their own style, and often an arsenal of tricks, lessons learned and insights. In every Education Newsletter, a teacher shares a personal tip. Here's an overview.

Organisation

The aim is to involve as many faculty colleagues as possible in the development of the new Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP). So after several stakeholder meetings and information gathering, the ball is now in the court of four working groups with a variety of members. They will carry out a SWOT analysis…

The webpage Diversity & Inclusion for the Faculty of Law is live. On this page, you will find everything about the faculty activities and plans in the field of diversity and inclusion.

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…

During much of 2025, the faculty’s financial situation was the main concern. In September 2025 it became clear that a reorganisation with compulsory redundancies would not be necessary, and in December we concluded the investigation stage of the Reorganisation Code. This is now several months ago. Where…

The Faculty of Archaeology was honored by a visit by the Ambassador the Republic of Cyprus. Ambassador Frances-Galatia Lanitou Williams had heard of the Faculty's research projects that currently take place in Cyprus and wanted to learn more about the archaeological activities.

It has become tradition: the opening of the faculty year in the Hortus Botanicus. This year, too, staff and students of the Faculty of Humanities gathered in the botanical garden on the first Wednesday of September to raise a glass to the new academic year.

There was no shortage of smart questions during the recent information sessions. The meetings, in which the Faculty Board provided an update on the faculty's current situation and did its best to address concerns and questions, were well attended. Attendees posed important questions and contributed…

Tuesday 7 June saw the finalisation of the new Faculty Strategic Plan 2022 – 2027 by the Faculty Board. A PDF of the Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) will be available in Dutch and English for the faculty community in July. A number of members of the FSP Steering Committee look back on a far-reaching and…

The end of January arrived together with welcome guests from Saxion University of Applied Sciences. As a part of their two-day-long visit to South Holland, almost 100 Saxion archaeology students visited our Faculty.

It was pouring with rain during the Opening of the Faculty Year, but in the Oranjerie, Dean Henk te Velde had a positive message for those present: the faculty is in better financial shape than expected, and a reorganisation is therefore off the table.

The academic year 2021-2022 is already past the halfway mark. That also means that the current members of the Faculty Council have been at work for more than half a year. Time for an update with staff members Evelien Wolthuis and Kiki Zanolie.

The Faculty Council issued a favourable opinion regarding the Faculty Board’s proposal to withdraw the research master’s programmes in African Studies and Latin American Studies. This was not a proposal we were eager to put forward, but unfortunately it was necessary, in view of the problems we are…

The Faculty of Archaeology was honored by a visit by the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman. Ambassador Sheikh Dr. Abdullah Salim Hamed Al Harthi had heard of the Faculty's research projects that currently take place in Oman and wanted to learn more about the archaeological activities.

The faculty introduction morning was held on Tuesday 31 August as part of the University’s OWL activities. Our new international exchange, master’s and advanced master’s students from more than 50 countries were welcomed to the faculty.

This year too, the faculty year was opened in the Hortus Botanicus. In the centuries-old garden, staff and students met with drinks and snacks.

The Faculty of Humanities has made a festive start to the academic year. On 7 September, staff members were able to meet each other at a drinks party in the Hortus botanicus.

The Humanities Faculty Teaching Award has been won by Olja Karmanova. The Russian lecturer was presented with the award during the opening of the faculty year.

Assistant Professor Mike Schmidli has won the 2025 Faculty Teaching Prize. The Education Committee praised his commitment not only to teaching students well, but also to helping them develop into well-rounded individuals.

Are you in need of some rest, stressed about an exam, or feeling under the weather? Since a few months you can find Mindfulnest at the Science Faculty. Assessor Ava Bauer and student psychologists Petra Penning and Koen Linders explain what the Mindfulnest can mean for you.

On January 17th 2023, Caterina Ghini, Ambassador of Greece to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, visited the Faculty of Archaeology. Her Excellency reached out to Leiden University with the purpose to collaborate and engage with us.

A hidden disability can make studying a considerable challenge, partly because of the disability itself, but also because others may not realise that extra support is justified. To overcome this problem, the Faculty of Humanities is introducing the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower.

As of 1 November W&N has a wellbeing officer. Alexandra Blank will commit herself to the wellbeing of our students. Students, but also lecturers and mentors can approach her with ideas and initiatives to support students.

From September 2024, Berber Verhalle is the new assessor of the Faculty of Science. She thus takes over from Nalani Verwoord. Berber completed her bachelor's degree in Biology this year. Next year, she will start the master's in Biology & Business.

Conference, Workshop

At Leiden Law School’s first Faculty Research Day, scholars were invited to consider the ongoing war in Ukraine from their own perspectives and expertise. Various aspects surrounding this topic were addressed during lectures, discussions, and workshops.

Nikie Veld is an education coordinator at Biology. Her job now mainly revolves around getting students back to the Faculty. ‘In the corona era, we were constantly rearranging the timetables.’

2024 was a remarkable and eventful year for the Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs. In this year overview, we look back month by month at the key events and developments.

The Chlorakas Palloures Excavation on Cyprus, run by Dr Bleda Düring, was featured on Cypriot national television. In the item Düring had the chance to explain the importance of the site and highlight the team's finds.

The Leiden Faculty of Science has appointed three new professors. Daniel Rozen, Frank Takes and Matthijs van Leeuwen were appointed on 1 April.