How has evolution shaped our curiosity? And how does that curiosity ensure that we now have the technological ability to discover whether we are alone in the universe? This was all covered during the celebration of Leiden University’s 449th Dies Natalis.

The importance of science communication and cross-boundary collaboration, and the ‘mantra’ of diminishing social cohesion in society: these all came up at Leiden University’s 448th Dies Natalis. A panel discussion including Leiden’s mayor Lenferink, music and two honorary doctorates completed the special…

An extra-long cortège, three honorary doctorates, a quiz about 450 years of university history, a Dies Natalis rap and a call to defend academic freedom: these all featured in Leiden University’s 450th Dies Natalis celebration and the official start of its jubilee year.

Leiden University Libraries (UBL) works together with authors and publishers regularly and supports publication of books about the collections. Publications can be obtained from bookshops or publishers. You can also order publications via email (plaatsing@library.leidenuniv.nl). Please give the following…

CDS staff cooperate with colleagues from Leiden and other universities and libraries in giving training sessions, workshops, and presentations. They have (co)authored a diverse set of publications dealing with Digital Scholarship.

More people seeking asylum, overcrowded asylum accommodation and asylum procedures that take years because of a lack of capacity. The current government wants to declare an asylum crisis but what is that exactly and can they just do that?

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for South and Southeast Asian Studies.

Throughout the coming year, all attention in Leiden will be on Asia. This special year, featuring numerous Asian events, conferences, exhibitions and concerts, celebrates the new Asian Library at Leiden University. Come and read, watch, listen, taste or dance Bollywood style.

Beatrice Gründler, professor of Arabic Language and Literature at the Freie Universität Berlin, will receive an honorary doctorate in Oriental Manuscript Studies from Leiden University.

This subject guide is a work in progress, aimed to provide access to relevant academic works and online resources on Palestine and Israel, as well as, documentaries, films, and literature to familiarize yourself with the complexities of the conflict.

The UBL holds seven collections recognised by UNESCO as documents of universal value and exceptional significance to the world. Six are included in UNESCO's International World Heritage list of documents or Memory of the World Register, one in the Dutch UNESCO register.

From academic freedom to security and medical breakthroughs: during Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis, the speakers reflected on the role of universities in a world of social and geopolitical tensions.

Leiden University is celebrating its 450th anniversary in 2025 with a feast for the eyes, ears and spirit. The anniversary year opens with an extra special Dies Natalis on 7 February. Highlights includes an alumni festival, three exhibitions and a canal concert.

Leiden University celebrated its 444th anniversary with a historical procession on 8 February. It celebrated this year’s Dies Natalis in time-honoured fashion with a ceremony in the Pieterskerk, but broke with tradition by sending professors out to primary schools.

Leiden University is awarding an honorary doctorate to virologist Marc van Ranst. Van Ranst has been one of the main advisers of the Belgian government during the Covid pandemic. German Arabist Beatrice Gründler will also receive an honorary doctorate for her work in the field of Oriental Manuscript…

The Executive Board has decided that Leiden University will endorse Open Access.

‘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.

The programme for the Leiden Asia Year in 2017 is now available. Rector Carel Stolker launched the new website leidenasiayear.nl at the opening of the Academic Year of Leiden University on 5 September.

The exhibition ‘Sanskrit – Across Asia and Beyond’ tells the story of Sanskrit’s more than 3,000-year-long existence. It displays manuscripts and objects from Leiden University Library, complemented with objects from the Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen. The exhibition runs from May 18 to August…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Art & Art History

Antariksa (Indonesia) is a researcher and co-founding member of KUNCI Cultural Studies Center, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. He is the 2017 laureate of Global South(s) du Collège d'études mondiales/Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme fellowship, Paris, and currently Associate Fellow of the Institute of…

From mid-September two exhibitions with maps from the collections of Leiden University Libraries are on view. Mapping Asia opens in the National Museum of Ethnology and Mapping Japan in Japanmuseum SieboldHuis. The exhibitions are organised in the context of Leiden Asia Year and the symposium 'Mapping…

Historian Peter Frankopan has been appointed Visiting Scaliger professor at Leiden University for 2017. The holder of this chair is affiliated both to the Scaliger Institute of Leiden University Libraries and to the Faculty of Humanities. Former holders of the chair include Anthony Grafton (Princeton…

Researchers of Leiden University (excl. LUMC) are collectively using the Leiden Repository to make their publications Open Access available. They have, thereby, shown 75% Open Access publication of peer-reviewed articles to be an attainable goal for the 2017 and 2018 years. This has greatly increased…

2017 was the Leiden Asia Year. Leiden has had connections with Asia and built up extensive knowledge of the continent over many centuries. This Leiden-Asia link has been in the spotlight for the past year.

In his leaving interview, Martijn Ridderbos doesn’t have to think long when asked what he is most proud of. ‘Bringing people together; creating things together. Reducing the gap between researchers and the staff who support them because the latter are essential. We’ve achieved that and the seeds have…

The universities in the Netherlands and Oxford University Press (OUP) have been unable to able to reach a new agreement for access to academic journals.

As of 2017 the Vera Gottschalk-Frank Foundation has invoked an Arminius Fellowship at the Scaliger Institute. The Foundation supports the promotion of research into all holdings relating to the Remonstrants in the Special Collections of Leiden University Libraries.

As of 2017 the Wouter Swets Foundation has invoked a Wouter Swets Fellowship at the Scaliger Institute. The Foundation supports the promotion of research into the holdings relating to the musical tradition from the Balkans and Turkey to Central Asia in the Special Collections of Leiden University Li…

The Asian Library holds the largest collection on Indonesia worldwide, and some of the foremost collections on South and Southeast Asia, China, Japan and Korea.

The American Chemical Society’s Publications Division (ACS) and VSNU, in its role representing Dutch universities and participating research institutions, have reached an agreement whereby open access publishing arrangements will be a part of the subscription licensing contract between the US-based…

On 21st June 2017, Yury Uraksin, First Secretary of the Russian Embassy in the Netherlands, presented the Illustrated Chronicles of Ivan the Terrible also known as the “Tsar Book” to Leiden University.

European research infrastructures must become more sustainable in order to make the most of their scientific potential and thus increase European competitiveness, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) states in a report.

On 31 January 2020, the United Kingdom officially left the European Union. New regulations, agreed upon by both parties took effect on 1 January 2021. What impact did Brexit have politically? Do British and European citizens now have different opinions of one another? And why did the Brits want to leave…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Philosophy

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Urban Studies

Overview of reference works, journals and website for research in Gender and Women’s studies of Japan

Welcome to the Sub-guide for North Korea. This Sub-guide is designed for students looking to locate, access and use a wide variety of scholarly and non-scholarly sources which are either (1) published or produced in North Korea or (2) about North Korea. This Sub-guide is a part of the General Subject…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites in western languages for research in Comparative Philosophy

The La Galigo manuscript at Leiden University Libraries (UBL) has been digitized. The manuscript, which was inscribed in 2011 on UNESCO's ‘Memory of the World’ Register, is now freely available online and can be used for teaching and research. La Galigo is the world's longest epic, written in the Buginese…

The exhibition 'A Buddha in the Backyard: Asia as a Source of Inspiration' shows how we surround ourselves with elements from Asian cultures and gives a glimpse into the rich Asia collections of Leiden University. The exhibition runs from January 26 to May 9 and is on display in the exhibition hall…