On 9 February 2026, Leiden University will celebrate its foundation day, its Dies Natalis. The university will be 451 years old and is the oldest university in the Netherlands.

Attend the celebration

The celebration will be held in the Pieterskerk. Everyone is welcome: the Dies Natalies is a celebration for students and staff, but also for the city and the university’s partners.

New Executive Board

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.

Programme

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 address

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 address.

Dies Natalis orations

The Dies Natalis orations focus on technological innovation in science, which drives progress but can also encounter limitations and raise ethical dilemmas.

In his oration, Eelco de Koning, Professor of Diabetology (Faculty of Medicine), will reflect on technological innovation in medicine, particularly the treatment of type 1 diabetes, which inspires new perspectives on healing but also requires patience.

In his oration, Dennis Broeders, Professor of Global Security and Technology (Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs), will reflect on the development of cybertechnology. On the one hand, it is essential to our security; on the other, it is deployed within geopolitical power structures, where human values and technical execution intersect.

Honorary doctorates

Leiden University will this year confer two honorary doctorates on leading scholars in recognition of their exceptional contributions to research, teaching and society at large.

Honorary doctor Safiya Umoja Noble is internationally recognised as a pioneer in the field of digital inequality, algorithmic bias and the societal impact of technology on minority groups.

Eredoctor Catherine Malabou argues that philosophers should be more open to the natural and social sciences, particularly when it comes to the consequences of new information technologies.

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 choir 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. The grand piano will be played by Matt van den Nieuwenhuijzen, alumnus of our Faculty of Science. Almost all singers in the choir are students at Leiden University.

After the official programme, there will be an opportunity until 18:00 hours to meet and raise a glass to the university’s 451st anniversary.

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