Professor André Baranski is a champion for improving organ procurement. He believes there should be standardised training and certification for procurement surgeons. This is what he said in his inaugural lecture on 16 April.

Leiden University is featured by French magazine L’Express as one of Europe’s leading ‘schools of power’, highlighting its Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs and the Institute of Security and Global Affairs in The Hague and its role in training future leaders in politics, diplomacy, and securi…

On 26 November 1940 Professor Cleveringa held his courageous speech protesting against the dismissal of his Jewish colleague, Professor Meijers. Cleveringa was arrested and the university was closed. Every year the university honours Cleveringa with a chair and meetings throughout the world.

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…

In the academic world interest in interdisciplinary research is growing. It can help to solve the big challenges of our times. But starting a research project that covers several disciplines is not always easy. This was one of the conclusions at a Young Academy Leiden (YAL) symposium. What are the c…

Leiden University has six top bachelor's programmes according to Keuzigids universiteiten 2025, a consumer guide to university programmes. This puts Leiden in fourth place of the broad-based universities.

What does research support involve? And what should we do to improve the support for researchers at the University? We spoke to Maribel Adame Valero, research policy officer and external cooperation coordinator at the Institute of Biology and a member of the Leiden Research Support (LRS) focus group.…

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

Roel Wouters (24), a biology student at Leiden University, is a finalist in the election for UN youth delegate for Biodiversity and Food. The digital polls open for a week on Friday 22 October. Under-30s can vote for Roel at www.stemroel.nl.

Randal Sheppard recently joined the Institute for History as a lecturer in International Relations. He introduces himself.

Professor Edmund Amann will be the new Professor of Brazilian Studies. A short introduction.

Friday afternoon, 1 October. Location: one of the most vibration-free places in the world. In this setting, Leiden top scientists launched Quantum Leiden. For decades, researchers at the Faculty of Science have been investigating quantum technology at the highest level and also have been brainstorming…

From 1 January 2024, Bart Barendregt will be appointed as vice-dean of Research on the FSW board. This is a new role.

Alex Geurds, hoogleraar Archeologie van Midden-Amerika, wordt vanaf 1 januari decaan van de Faculteit der Archeologie.

The brief removal of Rein Dool’s ‘cigar-smoking white men’ painting generated a storm of reactions last November. Students, staff and alumni reflected on this at a symposium on Friday 26 May.

Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration can be tricky. We don’t all speak the same ‘language’ or know how to find each other. At the Knowledge Orchard anniversary event on 28 November, academics made and strengthened connections.

On 26 January, Rowie Stolk, Laura Hanrath and Marloes Noorloos spoke at the lecture ‘The Right to Demonstrate under Scrutiny’. This discussion session, part of the university lecture series Community. Conversation. Connection., was organised in response to difficult questions about the right to demo…

The Executive Board has decided to extend the terms of office of interim dean Henk te Velde and interim vice-dean Jos Schaeken by one year, to 1 March 2028. Both board members were originally appointed for a period of two years, to 1 March 2027.

With the red flag flying proudly on the Academy Building (Leiden University was on strike for the first time in its history!), the farewell event for former dean Mark Rutgers was held in the Telders Auditorium. After eight years, he has passed the baton to the interim dean, Henk te Velde.

During the New Year’s reception of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW) on 12 January 2026, Sarah de Rijcke said farewell as our dean. She will become the new Rector Magnificus of Leiden University. It was not the only change of leadership announced that afternoon.

Leiden University is joining the Una Europa European University. Together with other partner universities Leiden University will draw on their collective strengths to shape the future of Europe through innovative education, research and international exchange.

Everyone has been watching the attack on Ukraine, a war on the European continent, with a sense of foreboding. It will bring devastation, loss, suffering and worry and it raises questions. With these words, Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl opened the meeting on the war in Ukraine at Wijnhaven on Thursday…

17 November is all about high tech. From consultations with ASML and a component for the world's largest telescope to our high-tech education. Oh right, and a conversation with the new rector magnificus.

Fifteen passionate lecturers earned their Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) on Monday 22 January. Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl congratulated them in the Academy Building. Four of these lecturers talk about what motivated them to take the SKO and how it has benefitted them.

Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker will retire on 8 February. If there’s one theme running through his career, it’s the links between the University and society. In this series of pre-retirement discussions, Stolker will talk one last time to people from within and without the University. This time he…

By way of appropriate 'Twitter-Vlog thank you's', the Dean of LUC Judi Mesman and FGGA Scientific Directors Bernard Steunenberg (BSK) and Joachim Koops (ISGA) sent their personal wishes and gratitude to Rector Carel Stolker, who will hand over the rectorship to incoming rector Hester Bijl on 8 February…

The Comenius innovation programme for higher education and universities of applied science gives teachers the resources to implement their vision for education. Every year, the programme creates the conditions for a wide range of teaching innovations to flourish. The government’s aim with this programme…

Good teaching is a skill in itself. In order to guarantee the quality of education in the Netherlands, the University Teaching Qualification (Basis Kwalificatie Onderwijs, BKO) is now compulsory for all lecturers, university lecturers (UD), senior university lecturers (UHD) and professors. What does…

Good teaching is a skill in itself. In order to guarantee the quality of education in the Netherlands, the University Teaching Qualification (Basis Kwalificatie Onderwijs, BKO) is now compulsory for all lecturers, university lecturers (UD), senior university lecturers (UHD) and professors. What does…

‘Culture change takes time,’ said Vice-Rector Hester Bijl at the closing panel of the University’s Diversity Symposium on 26 January. She talked about the road to a diverse and inclusive university. The symposium provided plenty of concrete examples of small steps that can already be taken.

Prof. Annetje Ottow and Assist. Prof. Seda Gürkan visited the College of Europe campus in Bruges on 22 March 2024.

How do we create connection? And how can we build student resilience? These were just some of the questions explored by study advisers, teaching staff and student counsellors during the Staff Symposium on Student Well-being.

How did science relate to politics and colonialism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Assistant Professor Lauren Lauret has been awarded an NWO XS grant to map the colonial and political activities of nineteenth-century scientists.

How would you convert Egyptian hieroglyphs into Latin script? And what is actually the correct translation of dishes on a Vietnamese menu? On Saturday 28 January, high school students from all over the Netherlands will come to Leiden to ponder a series of language-related puzzles. Their goal? To win…

It was a memorable start to September. While Leiden marked the opening of the academic year, The Hague celebrated the launch of three new degree programmes. Students were welcomed on a blue carpet rolled out at the entrance to the lecture halls.

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…

Online, hybrid, on campus... It was an unpredictable year, also for the Faculty of Humanities. Luckily, there were also non-corona related stories. Let's review 2021 with this list of the most-read news articles per month.

On 25-26 October 2022, a select group of high-level participants gathered in Leiden to discuss research on Libya’s national reconciliation and access to justice, and to explore implications for policy and law.

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Organisation

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Research

With its FestivOWL theme, Orientation Week Leiden (OWL) promises to be one big festival for new international students in Leiden.

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…

Quentin Bourgeois, Associate Professor of European Prehistory, will assume the position of Vice-Dean for Education at the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University as of 1 February 2026, for a term of four years. Quentin Bourgeois succeeds Alex Geurds, who became Dean of the Faculty on 1 January 2…

Educational innovation provides both opportunities and challenges for lecturers. How do you put your innovative ideas into practice or how do you choose the right learning resources for your teaching? From now on, lecturers can go for support and inspiration to the new Leiden Learning & Innovation Centre…

Over 40 hard-working programme directors and chairs met for the first time in the Academy Building on 27 October to exchange knowledge and experience and gain new inspiration. Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl opened the meeting with an update on strategic developments in higher education.

This week, around 1,200 brand new students from 68 different countries are getting to know each other and their new student city. Orientation Week Leiden (OWL) got off to a good start on sunny Lammermarkt, which was packed with enthusiastic internationals.

Fifteen passionate lecturers from Leiden University were awarded the Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) on Thursday 27 January. One of them is Frank Takes, as of 1 February Associate Professor of Computer Science. For him the SKO was a good opportunity to reflect on how he teaches.