After nearly five years as President of the Executive Board, Annetje Ottow will be stepping down from the role as of 1 September. During her time as President, she helped shape the university’s strategic direction, strengthening its regional, European and international profile. Sustainability, and dignity…

With the start of June, the annual Leiden Archaeology Field School has begun. Like last year, the Field School takes place in Oss. Every week, a group of 25 first year students gets to learn the ins and outs of a professional excavation.

Researchers Esther Captain, Gert Oostindie and Valika Smeulders have won the Die Haghe Prize 2024. They were awarded the prize for their book The colonial and slavery past of Hofstad The Hague.

The socio-economic effects of climate change often do not receive enough attention. At the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) a group of researchers will provide more insight. How does climate change affect whether people work together or conversely end up as opponents? And what can we learn from societies…

A consortium led by Leiden University has been awarded 6.75 million euros to research traumascapes: physical places associated with collective trauma and loss. The research team aims to make these places more visible, accessible and inclusive.

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.

Welcome to the 2024-2025 academic year! I hope this finds you feeling refreshed following an enjoyable and restful summer holiday season. As we start the autumn semester, I want to look back briefly by highlighting 10 significant milestones at LUCSoR from this past year (some of which I referenced in…

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.

How do games help shape our perception of the past? Associate Professor Angus Mol receives a Vidi grant to answer this question.

During her lecture, Professor Annelou van Gijn explored user-wear analysis and experimental archaeology, showing details about past human life.

Using enslaved people as servants, becoming an administrator in the Dutch West India Company or making uniforms for the colonial army. Many people from Leiden played a role in colonialism and slavery. Historians are conducting preliminary research and finding striking examples.

On Tuesday 12 April Angus Mol and Aris Politopoulos have been awarded the fourth LUCAS Publieksprijs.

With Leiden2022 drawing nearer, LeidenGlobal is busy developing extra activities to demonstrate the knowledge that is present in Leiden and to create interaction with a wider audience. With this valorisation, the partnership between several cultural and academic institutions in Leiden matches the theme…

Heavy! This is the first word that comes to lecturer Marjo de Graauw’s mind when she looks back on the past year. But with her creativity and experience with educational innovation she was nonetheless able to provide her usual high standard of teaching.

On 1 August, Jelly Reinders was appointed head of the Education and Student Affairs (OSZ) department at the Faculty of Humanities. ‘It's a wonderful continuation of my career after some fantastic and interesting years at VU University Amsterdam.'

Education, Research

Special achievements, grants and a top 10 ranking, a great calendar year for the Faculty of Archaeology! See the overview of 2023 in the hall of fame below.

An interdisciplinary photo exhibition about crafts and craftsmanship in different cultures will open at Oude UB on 6 October. At the opening Fridus Steijlen will give an introduction to the Tau Tau puppets that are made in Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Over the past year, Leiden University’s 450th-anniversary celebrations brought together students, staff, alumni, partners and the residents of Leiden and The Hague. Join us as we look back on the highlights.

PhD candidate Maia Casna was a guest on the new episode of the Wetenschappelijke Wezens podcast. In it, Maia discusses her research on urbanisation and respiratory diseases while uncovering the intricacies of studying the human past and bones.

A Student Living Room, free period products and a wide variety of events. Over the past year, the Student Support Team at Leiden Law School has taken measures to turn the faculty into a safe, accessible social space for all students. They’ve been reflecting on the past year.

Are you looking for some listening material for the upcoming long weekend? Staff members and alumni of the Faculty of Humanities have been creating various podcasts over the last few months. A selection is shown here:

Keynote speakers: Jennifer Gaynor (University at Buffalo SUNY) and Sue Peabody (Washington State University)

Back in June, the annual Leiden Archaeology Field School took place in Oss. For a month, every week, a group of 25 first year students gets to learn the ins and outs of a professional excavation. This is what they have been prepared for in the past year. ‘It is very exciting to put all the theory into…

Archaeology is also digging with computers. This digital quest to find out how we humans lived in the past is what Karsten Lambers likes doing most. He is the first Professor of Digital and Computational Archaeology in the country. ‘A dream come true.’

First-year Public Administration students write consultancy report for municipality The Hague

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.’

Literature – and films and social media too – helps us understand ourselves and society. That makes literary studies an eternally modern discipline, especially if you dare to combine it with other disciplines, says Nidesh Lawtoo.

PhD-student Maia has received multiple awards regarding her research on the impact of tobacco on the respiratory health of past Dutch populations.

Human resources

Sufyan Al Karaimeh, a guest researcher at the Faculty of Archaeology, is currently involved in the Aerial Archaeology in Jordan (AAJ) Project. Over the past 25 years, the individuals involved in this project have not only compiled an expansive collection of photographs but have also helped discover…

Tensions between Venezuela and the USA have risen over the past few months. Associate Professor Salvador Santino Regilme explains on Al Jazeera what Donald Trump’s plans might involve.

Pyrotechnology – the manipulation and control of fire – is one of the defining characteristics of humanity, and has impacted nearly every technology that we used in the past and study archaeologically in the present. Our PhD researcher Femke Reidsma joined EXARC's podcast for May’s #FinallyFriday to…

ICT

Most people think of waste as something dirty that needs to be disposed of as soon as possible, but Olivia Yun-An Dung's dissertation aims to show that this does not always have to be the case. For this purpose, she focuses on Tzu Chi recycling in Taiwan. There, an army of elderly volunteers has been…

The student assessor: the one student member of the Faculty Board who attends all important meetings and project discussions. The assessor represents students – one of the key target groups – in the faculty’s administrative decisions. The current assessor, Hannah Saberi, will pass over the reins to…

The ‘Dilemmas of diversity’ research project is to receive a subsidy of 1.8 million euros from the National Research Agenda (NWA). Coordinator Marlou Schrover will be examining the diversity policy of Dutch cities in the present, past and future, together with 37 societal partners.

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.

Gert Renkema vertelt ons meer over het proces en de gang van zaken rondom de financiën van FGGA.

As every academic year, the leadership team of the Young Academy Leiden is changing. As of September 2022, dr. Sarah Giest (Associate Professor, Institute of Public Administration), former Vice-Chair, will be the Chair of YAL. And dr. ir. Julia Cramer (Assistant Professor, Science Communication and…

The JUL board 2025/2026 consists of five colleagues:

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On this page, you will find an overview of the awards, grants, and funding opportunities for higher education that are offered within Leiden University as well as by national and international organizations. Are you working on an education innovation project and do you have questions about the suitability…

How do you fulfill a chairing position during a team meeting? How do you visualise a dataset for a presentation? How do you write the introduction to a scientific article? All Science students can find the answers to these and many more questions in the 100+ skill modules on the digital Science Skills…

With a full auditorium at the university's Wijnhaven campus, an extensive programme, inspiring speakers and visitors from a wide range of disciplines, all the ingredients were in place for a successful second edition of the Nacht van de Digitale Veiligheid of Digital Security on 26 May 2026.

For the second time this academic year, Nobel Prize winner Paul Krugman visited The Hague. Addressing a packed lecture theatre in our new Spui building, he spoke to students, staff and professionals about the tension between economic advice and political decision-making.

Reaching the end of the academic year, we look back fondly on the symposia, conferences and events that our faculty hosted in the previous months. One such symposium marked the end of the 5-year long research project ‘Putting life into Late Neolithic houses: investigating domestic craft and subsistence…

From peace missions and military intervention to climate adaptation and geopolitical competition, students of the Advanced MSc in International Relations and Diplomacy (MIRD) showcased the results of two years of intensive research at the annual Thesis Symposium on 22 May 2026.