553 search results for “must” in the Staff website
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Looking for candidates for the Spinoza and Stevin Prize
Research
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Farewell event for Mark Rutgers on a unique day in the university’s history
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.
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Leiden University positive about coalition plans, with a few concerns
Dutch universities have responded positively to the new coalition plans. Investments in education, research and innovation will be prioritised, and the stringent cutbacks proposed by the previous cabinet will be reversed. Optimism is the order of the day in Leiden, though caution is advised.
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Una Europa Staff Week 2026: come together as staff and students to transform how we learn and work
Education, Research
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Psychologists at Lowlands Science: can virtual reality trigger a psychedelic experience?
Fantastic plants, dizzying patterns and pulsating sounds: researchers from Leiden are going to study the effects of a simulated psychedelic trip on the mind and body at Lowlands Festival. Why might this be interesting for therapies?
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‘We are destroying our own planet' (and Latin America pays the price)
The whole world gets raw materials from Latin America, but at the expense of nature. Håvar Solheim researches the role of organised crime in this environmental crime and Soledad Valdivia researches sustainable urban initiatives in Latin America. What do these university lecturers think the future of…
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Floris Harm studied Chinese, just like one of his ancestors: ‘We’re both trying to promote mutual understanding’
When Floris Harm took up his role as director of the Leiden Asia Centre, he made a remarkable discovery on the university website. It turned out that a past family member was one of Leiden University’s first sinologists.
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Esther Op de Beek and Stijn Bussels begin as New Education and Scientific Directors of LUCAS: 'Communication with Staff is Paramount'
The LUCAS Institute has both a new Scientific Director and a new Education Director. Stijn Bussels and Esther Op de Beek both commenced their new roles at the start of the academic year.
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LIFF programmer Nick Hortensius: 'It's great to share your taste with so many people'
Alumnus Nick Hortensius started volunteering at the Leiden International Film Festival (LIFF) in his student days. He has since grown with the festival to become head of programming. How does he look back on his student days? And what can we expect from the festival this year?
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Faculty Board Column: Looking Ahead Together in Challenging Times
To underline the urgency: Our faculty faces a significant financial challenge. With a structural reduction of €5 to €6 million in annual income, dark clouds are gathering on the horizon. Added to this are the uncertain consequences of budget cuts from The Hague, including the Balanced Internationalisation…
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Nitrogen report: Nitrogen expert Jan Willem Erisman identifies pluses and minuses
On 5 October, mediator Johan Remkes presented his report on the nitrogen crisis and what he thinks is the best way forward. Leiden University professor and nitrogen expert Jan Willem Erisman responds to Remkes’s recommendations. ‘It’s a step in the right direction.’
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Improved Financial Outlook Faculty of Humanities 2026–2030
In the short term, no reorganisation is foreseen within the Faculty of Humanities, nor are any compulsory redundancies expected. Nonetheless, structural changes remain necessary. This is evident from the faculty’s draft budget for 2026 and the accompanying financial multi-year outlook.
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Ethics committee for partnerships launched
The ‘Committee for Assessing Ethical Aspects of Partnerships’ is being launched this month. This committee, created by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl and consisting of former and present Leiden University researchers, has been tasked with assessing Leiden University’s institutional ties with organisations…
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Championing educational innovation: new Leiden Teachers’ Academy Fellows
Leiden Teachers’ Academy is proud to welcome six new fellows. They will share their expertise with the rest of the university and launch innovative education projects.
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Faculty Board responds to your most frequent questions
Following the announcement of revised financial projections at the start of the academic year, the Faculty Board was keen to engage in dialogue with the wider faculty. Through information sessions held at all institutes, at the Faculty Office and in The Hague, we met with many of you to hear your questions…
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Meeting about the alternative Humanities Campus: Faculty's wishes come first
What impact will the new workspace standards have? What will the adjustments cost? And can we use the former V&D building? Questions followed each other in quick succession during a meeting with staff of the Faculty of Humanities about the necessary adjustments to the Humanities Campus, now that the…
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Vici grants for seven researchers from Leiden University
From research on stellar winds to sign language: an impressive seven researchers from Leiden University will receive a prestigious Vici grant from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).
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Humanities Campus Think Tank: institutes need to discuss work environment layout with staff members
On 12 April the Humanities Campus Think Tank held its second meeting in the Lipsius Building. In a Q&A session with Elisa Meijer, the Facilities project leader, the members asked about the context and room for manoeuvre in the development of the new Humanities Campus work environment.
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Yorum Beekman: ‘I didn’t want to write about people, I wanted to give them a voice’
As a woman, working in Japan and Korea can be pretty tough, Yorum Beekman discovered. It prompted her to pursue a PhD on the subject: ‘I thought: hey, that’s interesting!’
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Leiden University may open new building in the centre of The Hague
The Municipality of The Hague, Leiden University and CBRE Investment Management (CBRE IM) will together try to realise a University building in the former Hudson’s Bay premises at Grote Marktstraat 48-50/Spui 3. This will facilitate the growth of Campus The Hague. A cooperation agreement was signed…
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Censorship in cooperation: the representation of the Indonesian massacre in literature
How do you recount historic events if you are not allowed to talk about them? For his dissertation, Taufiq Hanafi tried to find out how a period of mass murder – despite heavy censorship – found a place in Indonesian literature. PhD defence 31 March.
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Executive Board column: Energy and new insights at the strategic conference
It’s become somewhat of a tradition at Leiden University: the strategic conference at the end of June each year. About a hundred staff including the faculty boards, academic directors, directors of the expertise centres and Administration and Central Services, the representative councils and student…
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Alumni meet in Brussels: ‘We’re at a crossroads in European history’
Alumni who live and work in Brussels met on 18 February at the annual Leiden Alumni in Brussels Event. As well as celebrating Leiden University’s 450th anniversary, they also looked at the challenges Europe faces.
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Nadine Akkerman: ‘It’s an incredible feeling, rewriting such an iconic event from a country’s history.’
Ever since Nadine Akkerman, Professor of Early Modern Literature & Culture, came across a woman spy in her research, secret agents have kept cropping up in her work. Now there’s Spycraft, a popular history book exploring the espionage techniques used by early modern spies, which she has co-written with…
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Scientific breakthrough: evidence that Neanderthals hunted giant elephants
Neanderthals were able to outwit straight-tusked elephants, the largest land mammals of the past few million years. Leiden professor Wil Roebroeks has published an article about this together with his German colleague Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser in the Science Advances journal.
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Lucien van Beek receives LUF grant: 'It is a great feeling to be able to work on my ideas'
University lecturer Lucien van Beek has been awarded a LUF Praesidium Libertatis Grant. He will use the sum of 75,000 euros to research the thinking of people in ancient and prehistoric times. To do that, he will look for unusual or striking metaphors in the earliest Indo-European languages.
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Column Faculty Board
At the beginning of this academic year, we informed you about the financial developments we are facing in our faculty. We explained that our faculty’s budget for 2024 shows a deficit and that we also expect a negative financial picture for the subsequent years, if policies remain unchanged. We therefore…
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Do’s and don’ts for an effective immigration policy
Stopping people at the border does not result in less refugee migration, but providing relief in the region where migrants come from does. What else would be wise for the next government to do in terms of immigration?
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Leiden University and Oegstgeest to build affordable green housing
Leiden University is seeking bids from developers for housing in Nieuw Rhijngeest-Zuid, the Oegstgeest part of the Leiden Bio Science Park.
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Executive Board column: how can we help our lecturers develop their talents?
Good lecturers are extremely important to our university. I therefore think it is crucial that we provide them with enough professional development opportunities. The Lecturer Development Taskforce has issued concrete recommendations on how to improve this. As the Board we welcome this advice.
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Online access to medieval manuscripts improved
Do you frequently search the catalogue of Leiden University Libraries (UBL) for western medieval manuscripts? Then you must have noticed important changes lately. Some 1800 summary catalogue records in Dutch were replaced by more elaborate descriptions in English. Furthermore, the catalogue interface…
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Language as a weapon: alumna Femke Eisma is the spokesperson for the government commissioner on sexual violence
It is one of the most talked-about subjects right now: how do we eradicate sexual harassment and violence? Alumnus Femke Eisma is the spokesperson for Mariëtte Hamer, the government commissioner tasked with tackling this persistent social problem. Eisma studied the Dutch language at Leiden. How is her…
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A ‘confused person’ is more of a misunderstood person
The person who cried out at Dam Square on Remembrance Day in 2010. For Michiel van der Wolf this marked the rise of a new phenomenon: that of ‘confused people’. Because since that Remembrance Day, the number of reports of ‘confused people’ in the Netherlands has increased rapidly in the statistics.…
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NWA grants for interdisciplinary consortia
Several consortia in which Leiden University is involved have been awarded Dutch Research Agenda funding. Leiden is the coordinator of five of these consortia. These five consortia will receive grants worth a total of almost 24 million euros. They relate to interdisciplinary projects that will bring…
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Executive Board column: interdisciplinary collaboration, from suspicion to snowball effect
How is interdisciplinary collaboration faring at Leiden University? And has disciplinarity been completely abandoned? I’d like to reflect on some concerns among colleagues and on our plans for the future.
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Egbert Fortuin appointed professor of Russian Language and Linguistics: 'I am back'
On 1 August, Egbert Fortuin has been appointed Professor of Russian Language and Linguistics. After a five-year term as vice-dean of the Faculty Board, he is eager to fully devote himself to the study programme. His appointment can therefore be summarised in three words: 'I am back'.
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International Studies degree: a skillset to navigate the world
On Friday 29 August 2025, 370 students received their Bachelor's degree in International Studies. The diplomas were awarded in the historic setting of the Pieterskerk in Leiden. Family members, friends, and staff gathered to celebrate this joyous occasion with the graduates in a packed Pieterskerk.
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ERC Starting Grants for five young Leiden researchers
Five researchers from Leiden University have been awarded a Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC). This grant of on average 1.5m euros enables researchers who show potential to start their own project, lead a research team and implement their best ideas.
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Award of 33 Kiem grants for new interdisciplinary initiatives
No fewer than 55 applications were submitted for a Kiem seed grant, an initiative for developing new interdisciplinary, interfaculty research partnerships and encounters. The draw took place on Monday for the allocation of 22 seed grants. The Executive Board was so impressed with the number of applications…
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Flipping the classroom: ‘This course lays a foundation that students can build on for the rest of their studies’
The challenge: take three hundred students from vastly varying disciplines and teach them the basics of academic thinking in twelve lessons. Impossible? Professor Ben Arps and his team of tutors succeeded. It resulted in a large amount of positive student evaluations.
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‘The COVID-19 crisis just goes to show how things can go wrong’
Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmacy at University College London (UCL). As a female scientist of colour, she was initially reluctant to play an active role in the university’s diversity policy. Until, that is, she had a radical change of heart: ‘I knew it; I had to become an evangelist.'
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Feeling stuck with your thesis or writing assignment? You’re welcome to ask the Humanities Writing Center for help
Academic writing: it’s something that all students have to face. And it can be really quite difficult. The writing coaches at the Humanities Writing Center will therefore support you at every stage of your studies.
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Work in the time of the coronavirus: ‘I miss the processions'
How are you doing in these strange and unprecedented times? This is the question we are asking our colleagues in this series of articles. This time we asked Erick van Zuylen, the University beadle. 'This year, I haven't been leading the PhD committee into and out of the chamber, wielding my beadle's…
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Dean Mark Rutgers answers three questions about the Faculty Strategic Plan
For the past year, a steering group has been working hard on the new Faculty Strategic Plan (FSP) for 2022-2027 and the corresponding Implementation Agenda. A number of working groups have also carried out a stakeholder analysis, and several consultation rounds have been held with various bodies, including…
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Copyright in study materials: How to share literature the right way
Education
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A princess’s psalter recovered? Pieces of a 1,000-year-old manuscript in Alkmaar book bindings
A special find has been made in the Alkmaar Regional Archive: a number of 17th-century book bindings contained pieces of parchment from a manuscript from the 11th century. The original manuscript may have belonged to a princess who fled England after the Norman Conquest.
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Genetics proves it: Indo-European did not come to Europe on horseback
Horses were first domesticated in South-West Russia, is the conclusion drawn by an international team of researchers writing in the well-respected journal Nature. Their conclusion resolves a longstanding archaeological question. But, surprisingly enough, this domestication did not contribute to the…
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Dies Natalis Festival for Alumni: a birthday party for 700 guests
Workshops, tours, talks, music, an AI photobooth, interviews, a special poem and the launch of the LUF Children’s Fund. Alumni celebrated their alma mater’s 450th birthday in style on Saturday at the massively oversubscribed Dies Natalis Festival.
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From Leiden to Una Europa: Joanne van der Leun takes on role as alliance chair
This month, Leiden University’s Joanne van der Leun steps into the role of Chair of Una Europa’s Board of Directors. She does so at an important moment of transition for Una Europa.
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Humanities Campus Think Tank: institute’s identity in the work environment is key
On Monday 14 March, the members of the Humanities Campus Think Tank came together for their first meeting in the restaurant of the Pieter de la Court building at the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences (FSW).