Education

Clear information about support services, a well-being self-test and advice on finding a room. YounginLeiden.nl helps students and other young people get started, literally and figuratively. Why is this site so desperately needed?

As part of Leiden University’s aim to be a safe and healthy environment for all staff and students, several activities and lectures were organised in an action week around suicide prevention. Dedicated benches were also placed at several university buildings, including at the Faculty of Humanities.

Since 2023 the newly arriving Archaeology students are invited to join an active introduction day during which they get to know the Faculty and each other in a playful and fun way. The activities are organised by Study Adviser Cleody van der Eijk. ‘It helps people to loosen up and get to know each o…

Every year the newly arriving Archaeology students are invited to join an introduction day during which they get to know the Faculty and each other. This year, however, for the first time, the students were invited to join in on introductory activities of a less static and more fun nature, organised…

The Faculty Council is the most important co-participatory body of the Faculty of Archaeology. Its members represent staff and students in meetings with the Faculty Board, and they can have a profound impact on the Faculty's policies. We speak with the council's chair, Merlijn Veltman, about the goals…

The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) has awarded a KNAW Early Career Partnership 2023 to Philippe van Gruisen for interdisciplinary research on (labour) migration from a broad perspective on societal wellbeing.

Playing a game, picking a cutting for your room or just having a cup of coffee: it is all possible in the new Humanities Living Room in the Matthias de Vrieshof. From Wednesday 17 May, staff and students will be able to meet informally and socialise here.

Not all students spend the holidays with family and friends. The Leiden University Winter Weeks gives these students the opportunity to take part in a range of fun and free activities. The student well-being team worked again with student organisations from Leiden and The Hague to organise this year’s…

Every year the newly arriving Archaeology students are invited to join an active introduction day during which they get to know the Faculty and each other in a playful and fun way. The activities are organised by Study Adviser Cleody van der Eijk. ‘It helps people to loosen up and get to know each o…

Conference

Speaking with your manager more often, focusing explicitly on well-being and giving more recognition and rewards for teamwork and team performance: the annual Performance & Development (P&D) interview will have a new format and also a new name. With the acronym GROW (Gesprekken over Resultaat, Ontwikkeling…

Personal development, Working effectively

During the Week Against Loneliness, we ask staff to (symbolically) open their doors, especially those such as lecturers and student advisers who work with students.

Laura van der Plas has been Wellbeing Officer for the Campus Den Haag since the end of 2021. By means of various projects, she makes sure that more attention is given to student wellbeing. How are things going so far? And what are these projects exactly? Laura talked to us to give us an update.

The announcement was made shortly before the summer break: from 1 September the annual Performance & Development (P&D) interview will have a new format and also a new name. The P&D interview will be changing to GROW (Gesprekken over Resultaat, Ontwikkeling en Welzijn): Conversations on Performance,…

Not all students spend the holiday season with family or friends. That is why the university is organising the fifth edition of the Winter Weeks this year. The goal remains unchanged: to offer both international and Dutch students who stay in Leiden or The Hague during the Christmas break a warm and…

Personal development, Transferable skills

You might not have gone to medical school but you can still help someone with suicidal thoughts. This is what three staff members who took training from 113 Suicide Prevention Foundation are keen to emphasise. ‘I’ve got a better idea of what warning signs to look for and how to refer students to the…

Conference

Leiden University opened the doors of its new Living Room on Thursday 16 February. The Living Room is a home from home where Dutch and international students can relax and meet others and is a strictly no-study zone.

The university strives to create a pleasant working environment for everyone. From terms of employment to health and development: here you will find the right information and support.

It has already been a huge success in The Hague, and now the Lipsius building has one, too: an Acts of Kindness pillar. The official opening took place on Tuesday 20 September.

EUniWell, the alliance of seven European universities committed to developing teaching and research relating to well-being, is celebrating its first anniversary. Law student Fenna van Haeften has been involved as a student representative right from the start. This October she went to Florence, where…

For the health of the staff and the whole organisation, it is important to have an open and honest conversation about work pressure – and to do something about it. New websites offer faculties and staff tips and tricks on how to reduce work pressure.

The number of students suffering from stress and anxiety has decreased slightly compared with 2021. But around half still suffer from mental health problems. This is according to the National Mental Health and Substance Use Monitor.

The new Student Support Team visits university buildings where upsetting incidents have happened, offering support to students in need.

Lecture, Food for Thought

The year 2021 is coming to an end, and with it the first official year of EUniWell. We want to reflect on our highlights of the year with you, celebrate what we have achieved within EUniWell so far and look to the future, to all that is yet to come!

Staff and students who want some quiet time out will now have a low-sensory room available to them. Lipsius 1.38 has been specially designed to help people relax.

Staff development is an important key to promoting staff and student well-being at Leiden University. By following training courses and workshop, you can gain knowledge outside your own field of expertise.

It’s time once again to take the National Student Survey (NSE), the annual student satisfaction survey for all students at research universities and universities of applied sciences. Annie de Jong is a Policy Officer for Quality Assurance at Strategy and Academic Affairs and the central contact person…

GROW: Conversations on Performance, Development and Well-being (Gesprekken over Resultaat, Ontwikkeling en Welzijn). GROW offers the opportunity to speak openly with your manager, several times a year, about your work, development and well-being. This involves both looking back and looking ahead.

What are the advantages of a day’s work at home? Were we happy working from home during the pandemic lockdowns? And who is actually responsible for a healthy and happy homeworker? The employee, or the employer?

GROW: Conversations on Performance, Development and Well-being (Gesprekken over Resultaat, Ontwikkeling en Welzijn). The new GROW interviews offer an opportunity to speak openly with each other about your work, development and well-being.

How do you know if your idea has succeeded? The Queen coming to call a year and a half later might just be a clue. This happened to the Leiden student foundation ‘Door Het Geluid’, which promotes student well-being.

PhD defence

During her student years, Claudia Robustella struggled with her mental health. Thanks in part to the help of her study coordinator Rosa van Straten, she still managed to obtain her bachelor's degree.