In 2019 Leiden University will be 444 years old. This special birthday calls for a special celebration. We will be celebrating this milestone with the residents of Leiden and The Hague.

A faculty like ours is a treasure chest of and for languages, culture, and society. In the coming year, we will be making sure these treasures get extra attention, both internally and externally, during Leiden University’s 444th anniversary.

In 2019 we will organise various activities, for, by and with the inhabitants of Leiden and The Hague. On this page you can find videos of these activities.

This year Leiden University exists for 444 years! This will be celebrated together with the residents of Leiden and The Hague during various activities. One of these is scientists and residents doing research on plastics and psychology together.

Visitors to Leiden's City Hall and the University Library can visit the 444 Years of Leiden University exhibition from 25 January.

In 2019 Leiden University was 444 years old. This special birthday called for a special celebration. We celebrated this milestone with the residents of Leiden and The Hague. In, with and for these two cities.

Leiden University is 444 years old this year! And we have big plans to celebrate this special birthday in 2019 - together with the people of Leiden and The Hague.

Leiden University is 444 years old, and to celebrate 220 cyclists took to the saddle on 11 May and followed the new 44.4 km route around Leiden, The Hague and the surrounding area.

Leiden University celebrates its 444th anniversary in 2019, and a special age requires a special logo. The logo for the celebration was designed by Clara Lezla, a student at the Royal Academy of Art The Hague.

Alex Brandsen and Wouter Verschoof-van der Vaart, PhD candidates in the Digital Archaeology research group and the Data Science Research Programme, have been awarded a 444 grant by Young Academy Leiden. They are going to use it to hold a session in Oxford on improving collaboration between researchers…

With Dies Natalis (Foundation Day) approaching, our year-long 444th birthday celebrations are coming to an end. We ran numerous activities, from a manhunt to an exhibition, and all our doctoral defences were given a 444 twist. A peek behind the scenes at the creatives and makers who helped make our…

'Hey look! There's Rembrandt! And isn't that Einstein?' Over 200 children took part in the 444 Manhunt through the centre of Leiden on Saturday 29 June. They were looking for famous figures from the history of the University and the city: from Princess Beatrix to Von Siebold and from Roman goddess Minerva…

A lesson about aerodynamics from Vice-Rector Hester Bijl, about child rights by UNICEF professor Ton Liefaard, or about muscles by LUMC professor Annemieke Aartsma-Rus. The University treated school children to guest lectures by professors to celebrate its 444th birthday.

Leiden University celebrated the Relief of Leiden with the 3 October University. This year the University also took part in the festive parade, to promote 444.

At this year's Leiden Canal Run (Singelloop) on 5 April, €4.44 per runner will go to charity instead of the usual €4. This is because Leiden University is donating the symbolic sum of 44 cents for each runner who enters the race.

On 3 October, Leiden University joined in big style with the annual celebration of The Relief of Leiden. Over 130 professors, staff members, students and children took part in the traditional Grand Parade through the centre of Leiden.

Archaeologist Roos van Oosten is studying Leiden's medieval cesspits. And on the basis of her work she reaches a surprising conclusion: the Middle Ages were no means as filthy as you might think.

On Saturday 9 February 2019 we celebrated the International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2019 in Leiden! View the photos of this festive day, with contributions from Robbert Dijkgraaf and Ewine van Dishoeck, and numerous fascinating workshops and exciting experiments.

‘Hey, look! There’s Rembrandt van Rijn! And isn’t that Princess Beatrix?’ Keep your eyes peeled during the 444 manhunt on 29 June and you may just bump into a host of celebrities from the past and the present.

Campus The Hague welcomed a group of young professionals in honor of the celebration of 444 years of Leiden University.

A respectable 5,023 runners took part in the Leiden Canal Run on Friday 5 April. They raised the sum of €22,302 for various Leiden charities.

Local broadcaster Omroep West recently joined one of the University’s Summer Tours. These exclusive tours give you a peek behind the scenes at the Academy Building, P.J. Veth Building and Bibliotheca Thysiana: buildings with a long, rich history.

Get on your bike… or your tandem, unicycle, electric bike, tricycle, penny-farthing, rickshaw or road bike! We’re going on a bike trip!

At the Faculty of Humanities, we study languages, cultures, civilisations and their connection to each other. This knowledge is relevant to society and we gladly share it with the world around us.

This year, Leiden University celebrates its 444th birthday – and when you’re giving a party, you need great music! Neuropsychologist Rebecca Schaefer agrees. She has been fascinated by music since she was a child, and now she studies how music can make us happy, give us energy or calm us down.

Leiden University turned 444 this year, and we are celebrating this milestone with the residents of the two cities in which we have a presence: Leiden and The Hague. An exhibition about the University and its connections with the city opens in the Atrium of City Hall in The Hague on 2 September.

Saskia Bruines, alderman for Education, Knowledge Economy and International Affairs in The Hague, and Erwin Muller, Chair of Campus The Hague, opened an exhibition about 20 years of Campus The Hague on 4 September. The exhibition in the Atrium of City Hall in The Hague focuses on the links between the…

This summer, everyone from Leiden locals to day trippers and tourists can take a guided tour of the prettiest University buildings in the centre of Leiden. Our exclusive Summer Tours offer a glimpse behind the scenes at the Academy Building, the P.J. Veth building and Bibliotheca Thysiana: buildings…

How many species of butterfly are living in my garden? Do I recognise the Leiden dialect? What is the air quality like in my area? Do you have a question about something that affects you, your neighbours or the whole city of Leiden or The Hague? Residents and scientists have until 15 March 2019 to send…

It was a unique meeting at the Academy Building on 10 April. Around 200 local entrepreneurs came to a networking event hosted by Leiden City Centre Management and Leiden University.

A film and quiz at the Old Observatory, a film whose ending you decide or a political satire in The Hague. These are some of the options at Science & Cinema, the 444 edition, a special programme during LIFF, the Leiden International Film Festival.

Any questions about the 444 celebrations? Please get in touch!

You can't have missed it: Leiden University celebrated its 444th anniversary in 2019 with a year-long programme of activities for the people of Leiden and The Hague. The Dies Natalis on 7 February 2020 marks the end of this special year. High time to look back at what we did!

Looking for a great day out during the Christmas holidays? The University’s Rembrandt Route in Leiden is a fun and educational activity for both young and old. This special outdoor exhibition takes in seven University buildings, and there’s a treasure hunt for children [in Dutch]. Get your free English…

Leiden University opened its doors on Leiden Museum Night, with a whole host of things to see and do at the Academy Building, Hortus botanicus and Old Observatory. Take a look at the photos and see.

The Leiden Science Run 2019 has raised a record sum of 12,135 euros for refugee student foundation UAF. No less than 101 teams – also a record – and the sponsors CORPUS and Janssen Biologics raised the amount.

The proceeds of the Leiden University Science Run on 28 September will go to Scholars at Risk, a section of the UAF that assists refugee scholars. One such scholar is Leiden PhD candidate Lety Elvir Lazo from Honduras.

An overview of all 444 activities. We hope you were there, or heard about them.

Are you mad about board games? Then we’ve got good news for you: we’ve developed our very own University game, HORA EST! It’s a fun way to learn more about the University. Get your family and friends together for an evening of fun and games!

If you've only just come to live in the Netherlands, life can at times be both exciting and difficult. To help you feel at home more quickly, a Feel at Home Fair is being organised in city hall, The Hague on 3 February. Leiden University will be present at the fair. It's a good opportunity to attend…

The Next444 project focuses on the future of interdisciplinary research at Leiden University.

Leiden University will be taking part in the 3 October parade. Are you coming to watch?

Not a straight road in sight, but instead a route through buildings, alleyways and gardens that aren't usually open to the public. As in previous years, the KLM Urban Trail took the entrants to the prettiest spots in The Hague. And this year, it took them right through our Wijnhaven building.

Leiden University turned 444 this year, and we are celebrating this milestone with the residents of the two cities in which we have a presence: Leiden and The Hague. Mayor Pauline Krikke explains what 20 years of Campus The Hague means to her city.

Leiden University will be 444 years old this year and is still very much alive and kicking. But how can we humans grow old healthily? Hanno Pijl at LUMC is the grand master of lifestyle medicine. He explains how we can all benefit from a sensible - but still enjoyable - lifestyle.

A previously unknown document about Rembrandt’s student years in Leiden has been found in the archive of Leiden University. The document, which is being kept at the University Library, proves that Rembrandt studied at Leiden University for longer than has always been assumed.

On a wintry Wednesday evening, big issues were the topic of conversation at Grand Café de Burcht. Young Academy Leiden (YAL) was holding a round table: Next444. Now the 444th anniversary of Leiden University is over, it’s time to look once again to the future. What issues will we be facing over the…

From how litter spreads to which languages are spoken in Leiden and The Hague: over 50 interesting, surprising, complex and entertaining questions were sent in for the Citizen Science Project to mark our 444th anniversary.

A group of patients were given a guided tour of the larger than life Rembrandt canvases on University buildings around the Rapenburg canal. This was with the help of students from Present, a volunteer organisation, who pushed their wheelchairs over the bumpy cobblestones. The canvases are on show until…

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.