University ceremony
Dies Natalis
- Date
- Monday 9 February 2026
- Time
- Explanation
- Afterwards, there will be a reception until 18:00.
- Address
- Pieterskerk church
Pieterskerkhof 1A
Leiden
During Leiden University’s 451st Dies Natalis, you will have the opportunity to meet the members of the new Executive Board. Alongside Timo Kos, who assumed the role of Vice President last March, our new President, Luc Sels, and our new Rector Magnificus, Sarah de Rijcke, will introduce themselves.
The programme includes, among others:
Opening
By Luc Sels, President of Leiden University’s Executive Board since November 2025. Sels served as Rector at KU Leuven in Belgium for nine years. He is Professor of Strategic HRM and the Future of Work at Leiden Law School.
Transfer of rectorship and Dies Natalis oration
A highlight of the Dies Natalis will be the formal transfer of the rectorship to Professor Sarah de Rijcke. In the presence of the academic community, she will be invested with the rector’s chain of office and will deliver her inaugural Dies Natalis oration.
Dies orations
By Eelco de Koning, Professor of Diabetology (Faculty of Medicine/LUMC), and Dennis Broeders, Professor of Global Security and Technology (Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs)
Conferral of honorary doctorates
To scholars Safiya Umoja Noble and Catherine Malabou
Music
S.M.G. ‘Sempre Crescendo’, which is celebrating its 195th jubilee and ranks among the oldest student music ensembles in the world, will present a madrigal and a mixed choir led by conductor Albert Jan de Boer. Soloist Martzen Groenveld is an alumnus of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences.
After the official part, there will be an opportunity to meet and raise a glass until 18:00.
Attending
Please fill in the registration form if you wish to attend the Dies Natalis:
Registration form