The university has been shaping the city of Leiden for 450 years. A brief history of the university buildings that have helped define the city.

Our Keyholders are a close network of over 500 committed donors who actively support Leiden University. Pauline Höhner-Regout, who started working at the LUF since April, talks about her role as a Keyholder fundraiser.

Arts and culture

Arts and culture

Arts and culture

On 4 May, Leiden University remembered the victims of the Second World War from our university community. Alumni, students and present and former staff of the University came together for this Hour of Remembrance.

Lecture

Conference

3 October University has become something of a tradition: a bit of science among the Leidens Ontzet celebrations. During the new and improved edition, the WetenschapsWarenMarkt (Science Market), visitors spoke to researchers about the nitrogen problem, making organs and the city’s connections with A…

Each research institute has its own dynamic. The Executive Board is visiting our institutes to find out what they are up to. On 24 June, it was the turn of the Institute for History. ‘History helps us make sense the present, whether through family stories, local issues or world politics.’

From health to migration to climate: 25 interdisciplinary research and education initiatives received a Kiem grant in 2024.

So many interesting programmes, but which one suits me best? It was the Bachelor’s Open Day in Leiden and The Hague on Saturday 12 October. Among the many things to do in The Hague, prospective students could find out more about three new bachelor’s programmes: Science for Sustainable Societies, Cybersecurity…

How do our researchers and support professionals work together to ensure that groundbreaking innovations from the lab are given a place in society? Professor Huub de Groot and business developer Serkan Esiner share their experiences on collaborating within an EU-funded project that focuses on converting…

Jaïr van Rhenen studied Medicine in Leiden and is now a GP in the largely religious Veenendaal. Before this, he worked as a tropical medicine doctor in Lesotho. ‘If you have the prospect of an afterlife, you often respond differently to illness.’

What does research support involve? And what should we do to improve the support for researchers at the University? We spoke to Maribel Adame Valero, research policy officer and external cooperation coordinator at the Institute of Biology and a member of the Leiden Research Support (LRS) focus group.…

Conducting research with academics from different disciplines is not easy. ‘But collaboration is vital to society,’ says Professor of Environmental Sustainability, Jan Willem Erisman. On behalf of Leiden’s Liveable Planet interdisciplinary programme, he is organising a symposium that will be held on…

Collaborations with funds and foundations enable a lot of research. As Fundraiser for Foundations and Major Donors, Madelon Rolleman seeks out these opportunities for Leiden University. ‘I’m always looking for ways to start my conversations with funds and foundations.’

By looking at what is different, researchers often discover the special, the unusual. And that has already brought a wealth of highlights – also in Leiden.

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…

The Faculty of Science has gained an extra 30,000 square metres: Thursday 25 January marked the completion of the new Gorlaeus Building. In this second phase of the project, the Gorlaeus Building has acquired a new main entrance on Rosalind Franklinplein with a striking facade. The new space will be…

Leiden is European City of Science in 2022 and this will be celebrated under the name Leiden2022. During Leiden2022, various activities will be organised, such as lectures, workshops, excursions and exhibitions. On the occasion of Leiden2022, Postbus 71 will be opened: the place to go if you have any…

From January 2026, Leiden University will have an additional location in The Hague: Spui Campus. As well as teaching, study and sport facilities, it will offer 90 workspaces and meeting rooms for Leiden University staff.

He officially began as Strategic Adviser for Real Estate on 1 July. But in practice, Ferdy Poppelier, the former Director of Real Estate, will still mainly be the principal of construction projects. ‘It’s great to see that we as the Real Estate expertise centre have achieved so much.’

Every year, the first Monday in November is Emergency Response Day: the opportunity to recognise the importance of emergency response officers. At Leiden University over 400 enthusiastic and dedicated emergency response officers make sure our students and staff are safe, says emergency response training…

Festival

Leiden University has awarded its prestigious University Medal to Emeritus Professor Lex van der Eb. As a pioneer in genetics and molecular biology, he received this honour for his services to science and his key role in the development of the Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP).

In our teaching, Leiden University gives all students the opportunity to learn about sustainability themes and issues. Social issues, including sustainable development, are addressed in the teaching and research at all of our faculties. On this Day of Sustainability, we highlight a number of subject…

A diverse (ad hoc) committee will advise Leiden University’s Executive Board on its exhibitions policy in a broad sense, with a special focus on the painting by Rein Dool in the Academy Building.

Playgrounds often fail to accommodate children with autism, according to researchers Carolien Rieffe and colleagues. They have published an essay offering practical advice on how to make all children feel safe and welcome for Autism Week (Dutch) and World Autism Autism Awareness/ Acceptance Day on 2…

Organisation

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

How can we continue to work on an open university culture where everyone’s contribution is recognised and rewarded? Over 120 university staff spoke about breaking academic barriers at the first Academia in Motion Festival in PLNT.

Presentation

It’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and we’re spotlighting the importance of digital safety in the workplace. Our Chief Information Security Officer, Sylvia Bunte-Thelen, shares how staff can help keep our university a safe place to work and study. ‘We need to work together to protect our knowledge.…

The Kattekop childcare centre has provided day care for the children of staff and students at Leiden University and the LUMC for over 40 years. Time for a chat with Ellen Buschman, Kattekop director, about how things are going there.

Western civil servants openly struggle with their government’s policies on the war in Gaza. During a meeting at Campus The Hague, three former civil servants told their stories.

De Faculteit Archeologie bestaat dit jaar 25 jaar. Ter ere van dit jubileum opende de faculteit op 1 maart zijn deuren voor het brede publiek.

Five lecturers from Leiden University have received a Comenius teaching award. With the grants they can carry out an innovation project.

Sky-high energy prices and a climate that keeps getting warmer: it’s clear that we have to turn down the heat. Sustainability Day on 10 October will mark the start of our five-month Energy Campaign and we’ll be making the switch. Sustainability Coordinators Aranka Virágh (Real Estate) and Marlies Nijemeisland…

Aram Segaar, Corporate Information Security Officer in the Information Management Department, works every day with his team to create and maintain a secure working environment at Leiden University. October is ‘Cybersecurity Month’. Aram explains how the university stays safe and the conscious (and unconscious)…

Leiden University is celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2025 with a feast for the eyes, ears and spirit. The anniversary year opens with an extra special Dies Natalis on 7 February. Highlights includes an alumni festival, three exhibitions and a canal concert.

No fewer than 55 applications were submitted for a Kiem seed grant, an initiative for developing new interdisciplinary, interfaculty research partnerships and encounters. The draw took place on Monday for the allocation of 22 seed grants. The Executive Board was so impressed with the number of applications…

Chris Suijker, since 1 July the new director of Real Estate, likes healthy and sustainable university buildings where you ‘get the feeling you’re right at the heart of society’. Her aim is to achieve the same effect with even more buildings.

On the university’s birthday, professors teach a class of 10 and 11-year-olds during Meet the Professor. The professors were bombarded with questions.

They are big and white, devour energy and could be gathering dust in your department: old, faulty or unused fridges are anything but sustainable. This spring, staff from the Faculty of Humanities swapped 18 of these electricity guzzlers for more energy-efficient models. How did they go about this and…

The Young Academy Leiden (YAL) acquired six new members on 1 September. We talked to the new and former chair of this platform for young academics about what they have achieved over the recent period and what is on the agenda for the coming year.

Egyptologist Marleen De Meyer has been appointed the new Director of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC). Dr De Meyer has worked for the institute, which promotes Egyptian, Dutch and Flemish collaboration in the field of education and research, since 2016.

He was a popular face in the Leiden student world and even developed his own merchandise, but all good things come to an end. After seven years, community support officer Dennis Perdok (49) is leaving this role. Last week he bid farewell to the police and to his job in Leiden’s city centre.

Spui Campus, Leiden University’s fourth location in The Hague, will soon open its doors. The former V&D department store’s transformation into a university campus is becoming more visible by the week. Removal vans will soon be driving back and forth to move all the furniture there in time. The first…

Greater transparency in science. Broader career paths. Less work pressure. A dynamic conversation at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) focused on these goals.