We are concerned about our research and teaching cuts announced in the provisional deal between the Dutch coalition parties. This will have a profound impact on our students and staff, and on teaching, research and innovation in the Netherlands.

On 11 March, pharmaceutical company Janssen received approval to launch its corona vaccine on the European market. This made Janssen the fourth company to be given the green light by the European Medicines Agency. As Lead of the Janssen Campus in the Netherlands, Biology alumnus Bart van Zijll Langhout…

Research

Paul Wouters came to the Faculty of Science for a few months to help with organising day-to-day issues after the previous dean left. This has involved rather more than he expected. ‘I can now really understand why every faculty has its own dean.’

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…

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.

A growing number of student organisations are focusing attention on the mental, social and physical well-being of their members. This year, the first Student Well-being Award was therefore presented at the annual reception for new student association board members (’omgekeerde constitutieborrel’) in…

The new academic year also marks the start of a new term for our student and staff representatives. Dozens of them – some experienced, others new to the game – are itching to represent the interests of the university’s students and staff. On the Training Day for Student and Staff Representatives, they…

Are you OK? This question aims to help make unwelcome behaviour easier to talk about. Student rowing club Pelargos made a personal variant on the national campaign, which won them Leiden University’s Well-being Award.

The University Council gives the Executive Board (un)solicited advice and helps decide on important topics. For example, permanent contracts for lecturers and the workload and well-being of our students and staff. It’s an important organ, but many staff have no idea what it does. ‘I think it’s great…

The university is home to many pearls of research institutes that do not make the news every day. The Executive Board visited one such pearl, the Institute of Philosophy, on Tuesday 1 July. It resulted in an inspired conversation.

Dean of the Faculty of Science Jasper Knoester gives a glimpse into his life every two weeks. This time he takes a tour with the Executive Board and visits two institutes of our Faculty. ‘For administrators, these are informative and stimulating opportunities, which unfortunately don't happen often…

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Students and staff from Leiden University are protesting in The Hague on 25 November against the billions in cuts to higher education. ‘The cuts are a terrible idea and we want to show why’, says Claire Weeda from WOinActie. ‘Research and teaching are essential to society.’

Paul Wouters has been involved in open science for 30 years, from his first introduction to a preprint server in 1992 to his recent roles as Dean of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and open science ambassador for Academia in Motion. Wouters is now retiring. He is leaving with high hopes…

Organisation

On Monday 25 November at 13:00, students and staff from higher education institutions are protesting at Malieveld against the announced cuts. How do you ensure that you and your students can be there if you should be teaching then, and cannot or do not want to cancel your class?

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. How is he doing, what exactly does he do and what does his day look like? In each newsletter, Jasper gives an insight into his life.

Leiden University and the Municipality of Leiden will develop new plans for an alternative Humanities Campus in the city centre. This means they will not proceed with the compulsory purchase of the De Doelen housing complex to facilitate the construction of the new Humanities Campus. The plans to demolish…

The Executive Board has appointed Ineke Sluiter and Arnold Tukker as distinguished professors at Leiden University.

Organisation

The free AI and Ethics course (in Dutch) is available online to anyone who wants to find out more about the ethical implications of artificial intelligence. One of the eight experts featured in the course is Professor Reijer Passchier. ‘Artificial Intelligence is spreading so fast and has such an impact…

Portraits that gaze at you and have moving stories to tell: HEAR ME NOW says what usually remains unsaid.

As of 1 September, Pim Overgaauw is appointed as Institute Manager of the Mathematical Institute. The job is not new to him, as he has been ad interim institute manager since March 2022. For now, Overgaauw will be working for the MI three days a week, but it is expected that this can be extended to…

Organisation

Education, Human resources

Organisation

Research

Education, Organisation, Research

Ad IJzerman, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacochemistry, was made a Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands on 26 April. He was presented with the royal honour by Mayor Elbert Roest in the town hall in Bloemendaal.

Organisation

Her Royal Highness Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands will attend the Dies Natalis ceremony at Leiden's Pieterskerk on Friday 7 February to celebrate our 450th anniversary.

ICT, Organisation

Ernst Kuipers, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport, announced on 13 February that he plans to remove children’s heart surgery from the Centre for Congenital Heart Defects Amsterdam - Leiden (CAHAL). He wants to concentrate this highly specialised care for children with congenital heart defects in…

Organisation

Organisation

Organisation

Organisation

Jasper Williams has been appointed as the new Operational Director of CML. He is succeeding Paul de Hoog, who held the position for over eleven years, initially as Institute Manager and later as Operational Director. Williams will assume the position on 1 February.

Research

Education

On 9 December, a lottery to conclude the first call of the Leiden University Global Fund (LUGF) Seed Fund has granted 14 project proposals €15.000. These projects will be working to enhance the relationship between Leiden University and her partners in Africa, Latin America, North East and South East…

Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded NWO Open Competition grants in the Science domain. This is for research into subjects such as immune cells in tumours, antibiotic resistance and magnetic semiconductors.

This Thursday saw the launch of PLNT The Hague, an entrepreneurial hub where Campus The Hague students can learn all about entrepreneurship. They will have the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills, build a network and begin an innovative startup.

From social inequalities in prehistory to placebo effects in medical treatments. Four researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a prestigious ERC Advanced Grant worth EUR 2.5 million to develop their research.

Lenses from Christiaan Huygens’ telescope, instruments used to demonstrate Newton’s laws, and equipment that led to the discovery of superconductivity—around 3,000 scientific instruments from the Faculty of Science at Leiden University are now officially part of the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave collection.…

Last year, 15.8% of all employees of Leiden University experienced undesirable behaviour. This is one of the findings of the 2021 Personnel Monitor. ‘That number is far too high. We have to get rid of the taboo on raising this issue and addressing offenders,‘ says Martijn Ridderbos, in an open and…

The university elections are approaching. Are you going to represent student and staff interests this coming year? University Council chair Pauline Vincenten gives a peek behind the scenes at student and staff participation at Leiden University. ‘I get so much energy from collaborating with the students…