‘Let’s get everyone home safely!’ This was the message of an estimated 750 demonstrators as they marched through the centre of Leiden on 18 November.

Sunshine, ice cream, coffee, and plenty of good vibes. Once again, students and staff made the most of the We are Science Week. Relive some of the highlights with our photo report!

Researchers at the Universities of Amsterdam (Uva) and Leiden together with the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oncode Institute have received a €10,6 million ERC Synergy Grant to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to target glioblastoma. This is a deadly primary brain tumour for which no curing…

Welcome to Leiden University

Academic ceremony

The demonstration at and occupation of our Wijnhaven building on 6 May had a deep impact on our community, including the Executive Board. The university is therefore holding two meetings to reflect on what happened and discuss how we can address this.

On 14 July, the University Council discussed the draft version of the new ‘security framework’ with the Executive Board. This framework should make Leiden University’s security policy more transparent.

Smiling faces, sweltering heat and a record-breaking donation – that was the Leiden Science Run 2025. On Saturday 21 June, the Leiden Bio Science Park turned bright orange as enthusiastic runners completed 4.5 kilometres to support research for vulnerable children.

Today, ESA’s Gaia mission releases its new treasure trove of data about our home galaxy. Astronomers, led by the Leiden astronomer Anthony Brown, describe strange ‘starquakes’, stellar DNA, asymmetric motions and other fascinating insights in this most detailed Milky Way survey to date.

Jasper Knoester is the dean of the Faculty of Science. Normally Jasper looks back on a day in his life, but in the last newsletter of the year he does it a little differently....

Staff from Leiden University are starting the Dutch universities’ staggered strike against the government cuts on 10 March. Follow the strike in this liveblog.

LECTURE

The University Council meeting on 2 June was largely dominated by the demonstration, occupation and policing in The Hague last month.

Should we cut our ties with Israel or maintain them? The event ‘A university conversation on Israel/Palestine’ on 1 July revealed the depth of feeling about the conflict, with students and staff grappling with academic values and moral dilemmas.

Debate

Exhibition

An impressive 22 research projects by Leiden researchers have been awarded Veni funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO).

Conference, D&I Event

The three parties currently forming a government – D66, CDA and VVD – have presented a new coalition agreement, in which they announce their intention to reverse the substantial funding cuts to higher education. This is encouraging news, although many uncertainties remain. The Executive Board will closely…