Education, ICT

Leiden University is currently working on the new Gorlaeus Building, a sustainable modern building for the Faculty of Science. To make room for the phase 2A construction work, a plane tree of over 20 metres in height was moved on 17 December. The tree has been conserved. Its new home will be on the…

It may look a little weird: you spot a person pressing their nose to a tree, clipboard at the ready. That is our PhD student Tim Claerhout, who is carrying out fieldwork!

To check whether the classroom scanners are secure, a ‘pen test’ was performed in the Lipsius building on Monday 28 March. This involved switching on the person counters for a day so that ethical hackers could try to gain access to the system.

Tijdens de Dies Natalis worden elk jaar de Leidse Universitaire Scriptieprijzen uitgereikt. Elke faculteit selecteert hiervoor haar beste scriptie. De beste scriptie van FGGA is geschreven door Leah Beekhuizen met de titel: ‘De lusten of lasten van radicale collega-belangenbehartigers’

Eight early-career researchers from around the world have been awarded a 51 Pegasi b Fellowship – a prestigious opportunity for astronomers. Julia Santos, a PhD candidate at Leiden Observatory, is one of them. We asked her four questions about this remarkable fellowship.

The Durham Declaration was presented at the Climate Symposium marking the Coimbra Group’s 40th anniversary on 26 March. Leiden University is proud to be one of the first signatories of this declaration.

The Duurzame Jonge 100 (Sustainable Young 100) is an annual election for young entrepreneurs, young professionals and students who show that a sustainable future is possible. The 100 most inspiring people in the field of sustainability are chosen from all participants and appear on the list. This year,…

Nerve pain is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. It is therefore one of the biggest reasons for cancer patients to stop treatment early. Darcy Reynolds worked on new drug candidates against this pain during her bachelor's thesis. She developed a new series of molecules that increase…

When professors become emeriti, it usually does not mean they stop working. The Centre for Linguistics (LUCL) will therefore soon have a first: a symposium is going to be organised where all the speakers are emeriti professors. 'Science will always be part of you are.'

Starting September 2024, Amanda Henry has started a new role as Professor by Special Appointment on the Evolution of the Human Diet at Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden. She will use this position to draw closer ties between the Faculty of Archaeology and Naturalis, and explore means for public…

Researchers from Leiden and Indonesia work together on a range of projects on topics such as disappearing languages and cultures, the role of Islam, circular economy, biodiversity and medicine. They also work on projects to improve legal education and make Dutch sources and Indonesian heritage accessible…

These are turbulent times at Dutch universities. We have all seen what has been and is still happening at various campuses in the country. Protests, demonstrations, occupations. Situations and scenes that deeply affect us all.

Last Friday the global Antibiotics Awareness Week begun: an entire week dedicated to antibiotic use. Antibiotics researchers from the LACDR therefore set out to tell primary school pupils about their research. Through role-playing, pupils were drawn into the world of antibiotics: 'Can the teacher not…

Staff from eLaw – Center for Law and Digital Technologies contributed to the ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (FAccT), held in Athens from 25 to 27 June 2025. The ACM FAccT conference is one of the world’s leading venues for interdisciplinary research on responsible and ethical…

The Academic Language Centre is organising an introduction to Ukrainian with the Russian Studies/Russian and Eurasian Studies programmes. This six-part course is meant primarily for people who are in contact with refugees from Ukraine.

The Rein Dool painting depicting board members of Leiden University will be moving soon to the Reception Room in the Academy Building, where more people will be able to see it.

When we hear the word ‘bird house’, do we process it as a whole or does our brain see it as ‘bird’ and ‘house’? PhD student Jiaqi Wang explored this for speakers of Mandarin Chinese.

Leiden Child Law Department at Leiden University in the Netherlands formally entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Child Policy Forum (ACPF)

Mohammad Bin Khidzer recently joined the Institute for History as a Postdoc, as part of Fenneke Sysling's ERC Starting Grant project COMET: Human Subject Research and Medical Ethics in Colonial Southeast Asia. Below he introduces himself.

The Schoof cabinet has presented its budget. As expected, higher education is facing severe cuts. In the coming period, the Executive Board will regularly look at the consequences of what it deems an irresponsible policy.

Since 1 November 2025, Prof. Dr. Luc Sels has been the new president of Leiden University's Executive Board. In a message to our university he introduces himself and shares his first impressions.

Dr Mark Leiser, Assistant Professor at eLaw, and Wen-Ting Yang, former Law And Digital technologies student, won the Best Paper award at BILETA, the United Kingdom’s largest tech and legal education conference.

Organisation

How do you get fit after these challenging times? How do you actively start a healthy lifestyle? Healthy University Leiden would like to address these topics during the upcoming from #COVID to #GOFIT Week, which will take place from 21 to 25 June 2021.

The Leiden University team representing the International Institute of Air and Space Law (IIASL) won the World Finals of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition that took place in Paris on 20 September 2022.

The second quantum revolution is in full swing, bringing all kinds of new technologies to within reach, and offering many opportunities as well as challenges. Leiden and Delft decided to join forces.

‘It truly is a plan by and for us all,’ said Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board, at the Dies Natalis celebration on 8 February. Leiden Law School was also actively involved developing in the strategic plan.

Food security is increasingly under pressure due to rising inequality, climate change, and armed conflict. From 28 October, Leiden University College (LUC) in The Hague offers a seven-week course

De Declaration of equity helpt studieverenigingen op het gebied van diversiteit en inclusie.

At the end of 2020 researcher/lecturer Erwin Dijkstra joined the editorial team of academic journal Handicap & Recht (Disability & Law), published by Boom Juridisch. The December issue also includes an article he wrote.

Last month (February 5-8 2024), the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados, hosted a workshop entitled ‘Caribbean World Heritage Sites in the light of today’s global challenges: the case of Historic Bridgetown and Its Garrison’.

If you missed the annual LUCDH Winter School Week of Digital Humanities workshops and Pilot Project Symposium (27 – 31 January 2025) this time around, you’ll have a chance to take part next year. Save the dates for the last week of January 2026!

End Fossil, Open Leiden and Students for Palestine incorrectly claim that a meeting will be held with the Executive Board on Friday 11 April. This statement is to correct these claims and clarify the situation.

Dr Maikel Kuijpers, a staff member at the Faculty of Archaeology and a guest researcher at the Centre for Environmental Sciences (CML), is participating in an exploratory interdisciplinary study on the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Made possible by a Seed Fund of the Leiden University Global…

New research sheds light on how university lecturers make critical deliberate decisions about their teaching in an era of rapid change, revealing the complex ways educators shape and navigate their professional practices amid mounting pressures.

A fresh semester means a fresh faculty calendar. There is plenty to do at the faculty again in the coming months. Five interesting activities are listed below.

Arnold Tukker has been appointed as distinguished visiting professor at Nanjing University in the field of industrial ecology.

A 5 million euros grant from the Dutch Research Agenda allows Anouk de Koning and co-applicants Femke Kaulingfreks and Maartje van der Woude to study social interventions in eight Dutch cities in an innovative and interdisciplinary way.

Leiden University is going to partner with the Asian Development Bank, a bank committed to regional development. President of the Executive Board Annetje Ottow signed a memorandum of understanding on this unique partnership in Manila on 27 April.

The Humanities Campus will take further shape in 2024, with the completion of the South Cluster in February and a whole series of moves that will then take place in the spring and summer. A few highlights of the upcoming moves are described below.

As of 1 January, Wouter Kalf has been appointed Education Director at the Institute for Philosophy.

Wouter Weeda has been appointed Scientific Director of the Institute of Psychology by the Board of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences. He will start on 1 December 2025 for a period of three years, succeeding Hanneke Hulst.

Hwæt! You've heard of the adventures of the mighty Beowulf. You've heard of the brave folk standing beside him, and the awe-inspiring foes standing against him. But where their legend still lives, their tale ended long ago... Let us begin a new saga, let us find new heroes, weave a new story - by the…

The third edition of the Krijn Rietveld Memorial Innovation Award was won by Anne Dirkson, former LIACS PhD student. During her PhD she researched the automatic collection of patient experiences from online forums. ‘With this work, Anne has shown how the exchange of knowledge between medical professionals,…

Social impact is becoming increasingly important for researchers. On Thursday, Nov. 17, the Faculty of Humanities is organizing Engaging Humanities - Exploring Impact: a day all about impact.

Anne Marieke van der Wal-Rémy recently joined the Institute for History as a lecturer in International Relations. She introduces herself.

Leiden psychologists receive an Outreach Grant from the Young Academy Leiden (YAL) to talk about facts and fables in their field of research. Marieke Bos, Lara Wierenga, Marit Ruitenberg and Sanne Willems will receive up to €1000 to realise their project.

Professor Eefje Cuppen is per 1 oktober de nieuwe directeur van het Rathenau Instituut.