Leiden University’s vision on teaching and learning expresses where our emphasis lies in teaching students and which new and existing requirements we apply to our curriculum and learning environment. This vision offers a long-term perspective for developing education and marks the start of a process…

Self-directed learning is more suitable for intermediate and advanced language learners than for beginners.

University Leiden encourages its employees to use and develop their talents. We do this by supporting you in your career and in your personal and professional development. We try to ensure that you get the opportunity to realise your full potential.

According to Nivja de Jong, second language acquisition is 'the most fascinating subject in linguistics'. As a recently appointed professor of Second Language Acquisition and Pedagogy, she studies the question of how best to teach people a new language.

If students are to develop their talents, they will need an inclusive learning environment where they feel at home and can share their experiences and opinions. This teaching guide helps teaching staff in their ambitions to foster students’ development at our university, regardless of their backgrou…

Contrary to what one might expect, societal actors influence China’s foreign policy. PhD candidate Sabine Mokry investigated how Chinese academics and think tanks impact the authoritarian leadership’s views on what constitutes the country’s national interest in the international arena. On 14 November…

The world’s attention will shift to China as the Communist Party is set to hold its five-yearly congress beginning on 16 October. We talk to Senior University Lecturer Florian Schneider about how its leader Xi Jinping is expected to cement his place as the country’s most powerful leader since Mao Ze…

Course, Workshop

Honduras recently severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan after 82 years. In doing so, the country is following the trend of other Central American countries that have turned their backs on the Asian island in recent years. Why are these countries making this choice now and what does it mean for Taiwan's…

For two decades, language experts were certain that babies were able to learn language rules from as young as the age of seven months. However, recent research carried out by a consortium of four Dutch baby labs led by researchers from Leiden cast doubts on this certainty. We spoke to researchers Andreea…

Brightspace is the heart of the University’s digital learning environment. Lecturers can use Brightspace to support a lecture or course with digital resources. They can post assignments, lecture slides and literature in the same place and keep them up to date, giving students access to all their teaching…

China is actively attempting to silence critical voices about the country, including in the Netherlands. This is the main conclusion of a report on Chinese interference and intimidation within the Dutch media landscape. The media are often not well prepared for this.

A new study reveals how ancient Chinese farmers managed soil fertility and water resources over thousands of years. By analyzing carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in millet crops, the research provides long-term isotopic evidence of farmland management practices in the Guanzhong Basin—the political…

Many humanities graduates find work in digital heritage, but a good pedagogical model to match education is lacking. University lecturers Karin de Wild and Peter Verhaar want to change this with a Comenius grant.

Professor of Modern China Florian Schneider researches what people do with technology and what technology does with people. Social media, for example. And then mainly in China.

What is writing? And what looks like writing, but isn’t? The Pseudo or Don’t pop-up exhibition explores the boundaries of scripts. The exhibition will run at Oude UB from 9 to 26 October.

Last week Annemarie Montulet and several of our colleagues attended an online fair in China to talk to Chinese PhD candidates. ‘I had some very good discussions with potential candidates. It gives me a lot of energy to do my utmost to find a suitable research position for them in Leiden.’ We have a…

While teaching, it is important to provide an inclusive, activating learning environment for students. In this section you will find some faculty guidelines to create a good learning environment for you and for students.

PhD defence