Research, Working effectively, Transferable skills

This page provides more information about the mentor-tutor system at Leiden University. What is it? What are its objectives? Where can mentors, tutors, and coordinators find more information and teaching materials?

Conference

The university is committed to providing an accessible learning and working environment for students and staff. They should be able to feel at home at our faculty. That is why there is now an all-gender toilet in every humanities building to contribute to that feeling of recognition and safety.

Didactics

Purple clothing and a pride flag flying from all University buildings: Leiden University is once again taking part in Purple Friday. How do people experience this day? We asked some employees and students of the Faculty of Humanities.

Markus Davidsen, assistant professor of Religious Studies, is the winner of the 2021 Impact Prize. He is receiving the prize of 1,000 euros for the material he has developed for religious education in secondary schools.

Interactive meeting

The intake of bachelor’s students from classic immigration countries whose prior education was in the Netherlands does not reflect the growing diversity in society. This is according to data from Statistics Netherlands.

How has progress been made on diversity and inclusion at Leiden University over the past decade? Attendees reflected on this at the D&I Symposium 2024: Untold Stories. And in the workshops, students and staff discussed the next steps toward a more inclusive community.

Op welke manieren kan inclusieve communicatie ervoor zorgen dat mensen zich welkom voelen? Hierover ging het D&I-symposium van Universiteit Leiden.

Conference

The Teaching Fair is once again upon us. What can we expect from this year's afternoon of inspiration for teachers? Three participants tell us.

Bachelor, Master

Bachelor, Master

Last month, with the help of the advisory groups the D&I Calendar was launched for the Faculty of Humanities. The calendar serves as a tool to create awareness about important dates related to diversity and inclusion and their potential impact on work and study.

A more inclusive and diverse society is what Talisha Schilder, Hawra Nissi and Chiraz Hassoumi spend many hours a week working towards. Their hard work led them to being nominated for the ECHO Award.

Course

Professor Judi Mesman interviewed 40 people of colour in leadership positions. What can we learn from them?

It is often thought that immigration threatens the solidarity on which redistribution relies. But looking at the post-war period, PhD candidate Emily Anne Wolff finds that this is not the case.

Aya Ezawa bade farewell as Diversity Officer of Leiden University at a celebration in the Academy Building on 11 June. Since her appointment in 2019, she has been a tireless advocate for culture change and a champion for diversity, inclusion and equal opportunities for all.

Demonstratie

Lecture

Lecture and demo

Campus The Hague gained a new facility. On Thursday 17 February, POPcorner was opened, helping students find their way during their studies and within the university buildings.

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.

Conference

Working from your Leiden room with students from the United States: Univeristy Lecturer Dario Fazzi’ students will soon be able to take up this challenge. He receives a grant from the Faculty of Humanities and ECOLe to set up a ‘virtual exchange programme.

Students from ‘StudentinzetopSchool’ help schoolchildren and gain valuable teaching experience at the same time. In an online visit on 13 April, Queen Máxima spoke to pupils, students and teaching staff. She also spoke to participants from Leiden. ‘Teaching is wonderful, but it’s complex too.’

How do you get more interaction with your students during class? Paz Gonzalez has devised a method by which she gives her students an active role during class, turning (even large-scale) lectures into a seminar.

More focus on diversity in Antiquity, workshops for students with disabilities, and a card game to share stories about diversity: these and other projects will receive funding from the JEDI Fund in 2023.

Didactics, Research, ICT

Lecture, Sign Languages & Deaf People

What role did inequality play in the past? On Friday 5 December, Master's students in history presented their answers at a conference they organised themselves.

Racism and discrimination come in many different shapes and forms – in the Netherlands too. Verbal attacks, stereotypes and violence: some people are confronted with these on a daily basis. A group that is often not included in research and the debate on racism is people of Asian descent. The Diversity…

We are pleased to announce a call for papers for a workshop within the project 'Human Development and Its Outliers' on 26 and 27 March 2026 at Leiden University.

Course

Personal development, Working effectively

We can accrue pensions, reinforce dykes and make our homes more sustainable. But how do we make our higher education fit for the future? And what skills should we be teaching our students now for jobs that don’t yet exist? Lecturers and educational developers looked to the future during the keynote…

Following the success of the pilot calendar that was launched earlier this year, a new D&I calendar for the academic year 2022-2023 has been developed. This calendar is an effort to build awareness and a cultural understanding of important religious holidays and other special observances of the diverse…

Organisation

As of 12 Januari 2026, the FSW faculty building is called Agora. This name was chosen by the FSW community. In ancient Greece, the agora was the heart of the city: a place for meeting, dialogue and the exchange of ideas. This is exactly how we see our faculty building: an open space where knowledge,…

Back to university to attend lectures with master's students: that's what professionals did at the Leiden Leadership Programme. Conclusion of the experiment? Learning about leadership leaves one wanting more. 'Great that this is possible.'

Many will add them to their shopping list without a second thought, but what if you don't have enough money to buy period products each month? The university has recently started providing packs of affordable sanitary pads and tampons in the SchoolSupply vending machines. ‘It's just like providing toilet…

Yesterday marked the start of the National Accessibility Week. How accessible is Leiden University for people with a disability? We asked Lucia Langerak, disabled herself and working at the Honours Academy, about her experiences: ‘Significant improvements are being made.’

The proportion of female professors at Dutch universities is increasing, but at a modest rate. At 34.2%, Leiden University is in the top three. These are the results of the Women Professors Monitor for 2025.

Workloads, inclusion, sustainability: what should be the priorities? In the university elections from 18 to 21 May, you can vote for colleagues who will represent you on the University Council. The leaders of the four staff parties outline their plans.

Eleven lecturers from Leiden University have been awarded Comenius grants that will allow them to work with their teams on an innovation project within their own teaching. They have been awarded three grants of 100,000 euros within the Senior Fellows programme and four grants of 50,000 euros within…

‘We may have taken steps together, but there is still much to do in the fight against racism and discrimination’, says Annetje Ottow, President of Leiden University’s Executive Board. ‘We have to be aware of this and continue to focus on this difficult, uncomfortable and often confronting topic.’