The Service Centre International Staff supports and advises all international staff at Leiden University. Not just about things like immigration, accommodation, taxes, insurance and dual career, but also about the social side of things like feeling welcome and at home at Leiden University. SCIS’s recent…

Looking to share your academic results or insights with a global audience? Leiden University is a ‘contributing member’ of the international journalism platform The Conversation. In 2024, this resulted in 51 articles, which together were read by more than 667,000 people.

Connecting worlds, enhancing research and teaching, and providing innovative solutions to complex social issues: that is the idea behind interdisciplinary research. In that respect, a huge amount happened at Leiden University in 2023.

Researchers and policymakers are welcome to attend the AI & Society Conference in The Hague on Friday 23 June. The SAILS interdisciplinary research programme will be taking a nuanced look at the state of the art of AI technology. And offering fresh perspectives.

Transferable skills, Career development

Crucial information about research, funding or how university rankings are created is often not freely accessible. The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information calls for such information to be made open. Professor Ludo Waltman is one of its initiators. What needs to change?

Anna van ’t Veer is the face of Open Science Community Leiden (OSCL). She calls for an academic system that centres transparency. ‘Culture chance can only be achieved together.’

Didactics, Communication, Diversity

From academic freedom to security and medical breakthroughs: during Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis, the speakers reflected on the role of universities in a world of social and geopolitical tensions.

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.

Organisation

The Dutch universities as a whole are lobbying for a 'normal' academic year from the end of August, where on-campus teaching will be possible. It's a view that Leiden University shares. Rector Hester Bijl talks about what teaching will be like then. She also looks back on a year of lockdown.

Employees and students of Leiden University have access to Brightspace and other software with their ULCN-account. For others without a ULCN-account, like guest lecturers or teaching assistants, SEEDS can provide a guest account.

As an academic, it’s not easy to communicate your research to society – and in a language people will understand. With its Outreach Grant Symposium, Young Academy Leiden (YAL) wants to support and inspire a new generation of ‘outreachers’.

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…

Library, Organisation, Research

Much of Leiden University’s income comes from the government and the tuition fee (first income stream). Each year the Executive Board distributes this income among the faculties and institutes. For the sake of transparency, the University applies the First Income Stream Allocation Model. Alongside being…

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…

Alumni and researchers met at two well-attended alumni dinners in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. The alumni reminisced about their time in Leiden and got to see their lecturers once again.

Prof. Andrea Evers is a health psychologist who studies the role of behavioural factors in health and disease. As a Medical Delta Professor, she is now affiliated with Leiden University, TU Delft and Erasmus University. In that position, she conducts research at the intersection of various disciplines.…

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.

Research

Diversity and inclusion are core values for Leiden University, and our aim is to offer all staff and students equal opportunities. As the University lacks adequate information about the cultural diversity of our staff, this spring we are taking part for the first time in the Cultural Diversity Barometer.…

The Knowledge Orchard is a jubilee event at Leiden University to highlight, stimulate and strengthen inter- and transdisciplinary cooperation inside and outside the university. The event is aimed at Leiden University researchers and social partners. Put it in your diary!

What skills do students need to function as academic professionals and engaged citizens?

Young Academy Leiden (YAL) will change its board this month and welcome seven new members. Outgoing chair Julia Cramer and incoming chair Rachel Plak look back at the highlights of the past year and discuss YAL’s plans for the coming period.

Organisation

Our university labs are bursting with cutting-edge research, but how do you commercialise these inventions and discoveries or translate them into outcomes that benefit society? Professor of biological chemistry Nathaniel Martin started a spin-off company with his team. ‘When it comes to valorisation…

In September, the LeidenGobal seminar series ‘Beyond Discipline and Place in the Social Science and Humanities’ will kick off. The series, targeted at PhD’s and Research MA students, engages with the question what it means to be an interdisciplinary researcher. “These seminars can help you define your…

Education

An extra-long cortège, three honorary doctorates, a quiz about 450 years of university history, a Dies Natalis rap and a call to defend academic freedom: these all featured in Leiden University’s 450th Dies Natalis celebration and the official start of its jubilee year.

Lecture, Digital Archaeology Group

Communication, Personal development, Leadership

How do you co-create with researchers in other parts of the world? LDE wants to gather and share knowledge on the grand challenges and to do so across national borders. A delegation of 27 researchers will therefore travel to Indonesia at the end of October to take part in the LDE-BRIN Academy.

After various jobs as an archaeologist, alumnus Ruurd Kok became a journalist. For the ‘Traces of Leiden University’ series, he explored the past of university buildings. ‘To me, history is interesting when you can touch it.’

Who knows more about environmental governance: a professor of natural resource governance or a local shaman in the remote uplands of Myanmar?

The conflict between Israel and Hamas has had a clear impact on Leiden University. Students and staff are angry or scared, feel unsafe and are experiencing group pressure.

International collaboration is essential to research and teaching but it also brings risks. Such as sharing sensitive knowledge and technology or foreign interference in research. Rector Hester Bijl explains what staff can do to prevent this.

Leadership, Management

What if we let students assess themselves, or awarded fewer grades? What if we held challenging discussions in public rather than in the classroom, or embraced AI? With ‘Free your mind’ as its theme, no idea was too outlandish at the Leiden Teachers’ Academy Education Conference.

Students for Palestine – a group of students from Leiden and The Hague – are holding a panel discussion in the Leiden University in The Hague Wijnhaven building on Tuesday 24 May entitled ‘Silencing Palestine’.

At the halfway mark, how should we adjust our strategy to a rapidly changing world? Faculty administrators, academic directors, directors of expertise centres, staff from Administration and Central Services, members of the representative bodies and students assessors met on 6 June to discuss this qu…

The Academy for Professionals project started in November. The project will focus on further developing existing and new educational programmes for professionals. ‘This is part of taking valorisation seriously.’

Research, Social

What do you need to move your interdisciplinary collaboration forward? The Knowledge Orchard event will help. Assistant Professor Eduard Schmidt, who is giving a session on leadership, gives a sneak preview.

When you decide to move to the Netherlands and bring along your family there is a great deal that needs to be taken care of. We will provide some information on schools, childcare and learning Dutch to help you settle in in the Netherlands.

Do you have questions about the Kiem grant? You can find answers to frequently asked questions on this page.