No procession of professors, just a handful of people in the church and snowdrifts outside Leiden’s Pieterskerk: 8 February 2021 was no ordinary Dies Natalis. Carel Stolker transferred the rectorate to Hester Bijl, and Annetje Ottow became the new President of the Executive Board. With an honorary doctorate…

On this page you will find an overview of awards and prizes granted to our staff and students in 2025, as well as special appointments at Leiden University and other institutions.

We are proud to publish our Annual Report for 2024-2025. Here you can read about everything LUGO achieved in this academic year, ranging from activities, events, workshops to field trips, excursions and institutional changes.

University ceremony

The opening of the Academic Year 2024-2025 took place on Monday 2 September 2024 in the Pieterskerk church.

The Kroese-Duijsters Symposia aim to provide researchers from different fields and different career stages to meet in an informal setting, to stimulate discussions and to start new collaborations. The Kroese-Duijsters Symposia started in 2022 and we are pleased to invite you to the 4th Kroese-Duijsters…

Every year around 8 February, Leiden University, the oldest university in the Netherlands, is celebrating its birthday. Why does the King still receive a telegram on the day of the Dies Natalis? 4 questions on the origins of Leiden University and its traditions for celebrating its foundation day.

What, and especially who has formed the city The Hague? Wim Willems, professor Social History and director of the Modern Urban Studies (MUS) Institute, writes about it in his series of historical and autobiographic books about The Hague.

With the University Council elections approaching, the Leiden University Green Office (LUGO), with the support of LU's Central Sustainability Team and the D&I Office, contacted all seven candidate parties to inform our community about their views on sustainability and diversity. We asked each party…

Leiden University will award two honorary doctorates at its Dies Natalis on 9 February 2026. They will go to internet studies scholar Safiya Umoja Noble and philosopher Catherine Malabou.

From ransomware to Citrix traffic jams: over the past few months Dutch organisations were regularly brought to a standstill by serious cyber attacks. We can only face these threats by standing as one, and universities and government should take the lead. These are the words of Leiden professors Bibi…

Wim Willems and Hanneke Verbeek were awarded with the Die Haghe Prize of 2016 for their book ‘Hier woonden wij. Hoe een stad zijn Joodse verleden herontdekt’ (English: ‘This is where we lived. How a city re-discovers its Jewish past.’) It is an exciting book about the rise and fall of the Jewish community…

The Digital Humanities and Cultural Analytics minor will be offered in the 2026 academic year, and replaces the 2025/2026 Digital Humanities and AI Minor.

The 2025 Dutch Parliamentary Study is a comprehensive survey of views and experiences of members of the Senate and House of Representatives. This survey, conducted by Leiden University’s Institute of Political Science, is part of a long and rich tradition of parliamentary surveys in the Netherlands.…

Join-in courses zijn MA-cursussen over middeleeuwse onderwerpen gegeven binnen vastgestelde MA-programma's van de zes deelnemende universiteiten van de Onderzoekschool. Op aanvraag zijn deze vakken toegankelijk voor studenten van andere (Nederlandse) universiteiten. De cursusbelasting en het aantal…

Researchers Esther Captain, Gert Oostindie and Valika Smeulders have won the Die Haghe Prize 2024. They were awarded the prize for their book The colonial and slavery past of Hofstad The Hague.

The recent rise in global migration movements and the simultaneous attempts to prevent migrations to the Global North in general and Europe in particular have produced numerous images and narratives that try to record and convey these events and their actors.

Is my cap on straight? Where in the cortège will I be walking? These are some of the questions asked by professors joining the Dies Natalis procession for the first time.

The Joint Research Day (JRD25) returns for its third edition — a 15-hour programme dedicated to artistic research across the Royal Academy of Art (KABK), the Royal Conservatoire (KC), and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts (ACPA).

Each year a staggering 18 billion chickens, turkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, and cows either die or are killed without making it onto someone's plate. Environmental scientists Juliane Klaura, Laura Scherer, and Gerard Breeman were the first to calculate this number on a global scale. 'Reducing these numbers…

Botanisch filosoof Norbert Peeters vertelt over hoe mensen omgaan met planten in het algemeen, en met onkruid in het bijzonder.

Wie de Nederlandse taal spreekt, heeft betere kansen op de arbeidsmarkt. Investeer daarom in taalles van migranten, is de boodschap van wetenschapper Giacomo Boffi.

Portraits of six Leiden professors for whom 8 February 2016 was the first time that they took part in the procession of Leiden professors at the Dies Natalis.

At the Dies Natalis Willem Otterspeer, Professor Emeritus of University History, presented the fourth and final volume of Groepsportret met Dame, his series on the history of Leiden University. De 'Strategie van de Aanpassing' covers the period 1876-1975. Otterspeer talked about his book in a podcast…

On 8 February 2016, Dr Jennifer Tour Chayes, Director of Microsoft Research in Boston and New York, will be presented with a Leiden honorary doctorate by Frank den Hollander, Professor of Probability Theory and Statistical Physics.

Over 1,200 children from junior schools in Leiden and The Hague were taught by a real professor on the university's anniversary.

American anthropologist Rosemary Joyce will be awarded an honorary doctorate from Leiden University on its Dies Natalis on 8 February. Joyce has delivered important new insights into the ancient Mayan cultures of Central America.

The celebration of Leiden's Dies Natalis on Monday 9 February in the Pieterskerk was extra special this year and was attended by many prominent guests. This was the kick-off of the special 88th Lustrum (five-year) celebrations in 2015.

Below you will find a collection of books, other than those in the BLRN book series, to which members of BLRN have contributed.

A school lesson by a professor, for instance about the history of Africa, the climate or research and healthcare. A hundred Leiden professors told primary school children about their work in the Meet the Professor project.

Carel Stolker, former Rector Magnificus and President of the Executive Board of Leiden University, has been made an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau for his services to the city and University. Mayor Henri Lenferink awarded the royal honour to Stolker at the University’s Dies Natalis on 8 February…

Maarten Feteris, the former president of the Court of Appeal and an alumnus of Leiden University, composed the piece ‘Intermezzo’ to mark the transfer of the rectorate during the Dies Natalis on 8 February 2021.

‘Praesidium Libertatis is a daily responsibility.’ These were the words of Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker on 8 February during the 443rd Dies Natalis of Leiden University. The University needs to pay continuous attention to open debate if it wants to remain a bastion of freedom.

Leiden University will confer an honorary doctorate on astrophysicist Sara Seager for her work on exoplanets.

Als nieuwe hoogleraar Ontwikkelingspsychologie pleit Anna van Duijvenvoorde voor meer samenwerking in de wetenschap. Daarom moedigt ze jonge onderzoekers zich aan te melden bij een netwerk. ‘Het biedt je een bredere blik op de wetenschappelijke wereld.’

Digitale medische technologie kan een belangrijke bijdrage leveren aan betaalbare zorg en het oplossen van het tekort aan zorgpersoneel. Maar hoe weet je of een innovatie daadwerkelijk waarde toevoegt aan het zorgsysteem?

30 October 2021 – 4 December 2021 SPACE, Liège (BE)