Study support

Would you like to work with the Special Collections during your studies?

The standard loan period for items borrowed at Leiden University Libraries (UBL) is 3 weeks.

What is possible and what is allowed?

Need a resource the library does not own?

We hope library users are happy using Leiden University Libraries' services. If this is not the case, please let us know. We love to receive suggestions, comments and ideas on how we can improve services, and try to learn from complaints. Choose one of the following options to submit your feedback:…

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Molecular Science & Technology

The Western manuscript, archival and letter collections consist of books and documents written in Latin, Greek and Cyrillic script.

We have inspiring study places at all our locations. Some 2300 in total. Whether you want to work alone or in a group or need a computer, you will find the perfect spot in the library. Some study places have to be booked first.

The library holds an extensive collection of books, journals, and other materials to support your studies.

Searching for relevant scholarly information can be a challenge. These tutorials can help you navigating the catalogue and other databases.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has introduced itself into everyone's lives. Naturally, Leiden University Libraries also has to address the development of AI. In this subject guide, we will give a short introduction to (Gen)AI and its effects on the university library. This subject guide has also been…

Overview of databases en websites for research in the Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences

Publishing and sharing information has become more accessible. How can you judge whether or not a publication or an internet site is trustworthy? Here you will find some useful leads to help you judge information.

Overview of databases, reference works and websites for research in Life Science & Technology

Our current projects using new digital methods and techniques.

Would you like to have your monograph published Open Access? This is becoming ever so attractive. Authors and publishers are increasingly discovering that online publication stimulates higher sales numbers of paper books.

How do you pick a topic and research question for your thesis or paper? And is your schedule realistic? Check out the tutorials and resources below.

Everyone working with research data will, at some point, come across the acronym of FAIR, which stands for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable.

Check whether you may incorporate journal articles in readers (via ReaderOnline) or place these articles on Brightspace, without having to pay costs via the Easy Access Agreement (also referred to as Reader Agreement).

Knowing where scientific information can be found and how to use it is of great importance for getting through university. In collaboration with teachers, UBL guides students in information literacy skills: from assessing information to searching in the Special Collections and citation management.

A guide for finding Korean newspapers, magazines, live TV broadcasts and audiovisual materials.

The Centre for Digital Scholarship offers training on research data management (RDM). Topics include Data Management Plans, FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data, and publishing and archiving data.

Dick Schoof kan ook wel de buurman van de Haagse faculteit worden genoemd. Vooral vanuit zijn rol bij de NCTV werkte hij veel samen met de Universiteit Leiden en hielp hij onderwijs en onderzoek vooruit, vertelt hoogleraar Terrorisme en Contraterrorisme Edwin Bakker. ‘Voor een kritische vriend was altijd…

With its FestivOWL theme, Orientation Week Leiden (OWL) promises to be one big festival for new international students in Leiden.

Spatial technology such as virtual reality can help patients who have difficulty with spatial cognition, for instance if they keep on losing their way. In her inaugural lecture, neuropsychologist Ineke van der Ham will talk about the importance of avatars, the patient experience and room for innovat…

Looking for a book? Materials within the Leiden University Libraries (UBL) collection are (mostly) arranged according to the Library of Congress Classification.

As soon as your thesis has been approved, you will be asked to upload your final version to the Student Repository. The Repository is an online archive for Leiden University theses. You can send all questions regarding your upload to the repository to your Education administration office.

Thousands of first-year students and hundreds of mentors kicked off the EL CID on Monday morning. This year for the first time, the introduction week of Leiden University and Leiden University of Applied Sciences was also open for students of Regional Training Centre mboRijnland and the Leiden Instrument…

Over hundreds of thousands of years, our region witnessed the comings and goings of various types of hominin. This depended on the temperature as ice ages alternated with warmer periods. In ‘De eerste mensen in de Lage Landen’ (‘The First Humans in the Low Countries’) Leiden archaeologists Yannick Raczynski-Henk…

LEGO creations, a clothesline of visions and a journey into the past and the future: just some of the highlights of Uni-vision day, where creatives developed their vision of the future of study.

Ever since its foundation, Leiden University has turned its gaze outwards to other cultures, languages and forms of academic practice. It is only natural, therefore, that we as a university have four institutes abroad: the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV-KNAW)…

The webpage Diversity & Inclusion for the Faculty of Law is live. On this page, you will find everything about the faculty activities and plans in the field of diversity and inclusion.

Since the UBL introduced a new and improved service for requesting course reserves last summer, many lecturers have used the new service. Today, the UBL processed the hundredth application of a course reserve for Casper de Jonge, university lecturer in Greek Language and Culture at the Faculty of Humanities,…

This Subject Guide is designed to support students of International Studies with writing their BA thesis and research papers. This guide focuses on the research process, and suggests effective ways to: 1. find a topic and formulate a good research question; 2. search, find and evaluate literature; 3.…

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.

Use LUCRIS and Scholarly Publications to share, promote, and store your publications.

There are several excellent options for teachers and researchers to engage students and other audiences with primary sources. Either by requesting items from the Special Collections for use during lectures or by integrating our educational resources into your lesson plans.

On a sunny Lammermarkt, thousands of new students gathered to kick off their student life in Leiden at the 56th edition of EL CID.

The collections of Leiden University Libraries (UBL) not only hold academic material, but also many novels, collections of poetry, non-fiction works and even cookbooks. Is there still some space on your summer reading list? Take a look at the list below and borrow your book through the UBL.

The people behind the Leiden University Libraries aim to maintain the level of their services to clients as much as possible. They are making thankful use of internet, but not everything can be put online.

Historians recently started preliminary research on Leiden University’s role in colonialism and historical slavery. Our knowledge about this is too limited and fragmented. They are looking with fresh eyes at Leiden’s archives and collections. An interview with historians Alicia Schrikker and Ligia G…

What do you think about our libraries, the (digital) collections, services and the library staff? The Leiden University Libraries (UBL) would like to know!

This Subject Guide is designed to support students of Japan studies at Leiden University in their research process. For every step of the research process, this guide introduces a number of tips and recommended resources. You can find several sub-guides and contacts in the 'quick links' in the tab on…

There are differing opinions about healthcare for transgender young people. Lieke Vrouenraets investigated the ethical dilemmas.

Does medicine make patients feel better or worse? We are getting better at predicting this from people’s DNA profiles, says Professor Jesse Swen. ‘It never fails to fascinate me how one DNA base pair can have such a huge effect on treatment with medication and the outcome.’