2,098 search results for “alumni in the spotlight” in the Public website
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Alumni in the spotlight
Leiden alumni find work in all kinds of interesting places. We gather the stories of our alumni and publish then regularly in our alumni newsletter and in Leidraad magazine. You can find all their stories on this page. They give a good impression of what life is like for Leiden alumni after they have…
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In the Spotlight - Biology Seminars
This activity is currently not offered. An (online) alternative is being sought.
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Alumni in the Picture
An academic program is only as successful as its graduates
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Which Leiden alumni are in the Dutch House of Representatives?
Of the 150 elected representatives, 24 studied or conducted their PhD research in Leiden. Who are they and which degrees are most popular among these MPs?
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Leiden Alumni in Brussels Event 2025
Alumni event, Brussels
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Alumni in Indonesia: ‘My experience in Leiden inspired me to try to change the situation here’
Alumni and researchers met at two well-attended alumni dinners in Yogyakarta and Jakarta. The alumni reminisced about their time in Leiden and got to see their lecturers once again.
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News & stories
There are thousands of stories to tell about our alumni. How they experienced their student days. Where they ended up and what they still dream about. We provide an overview of Leiden alumni with our newsletters and the alumni magazine Leidraad.
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Alumnus Francis Farrell: 'I experienced some crazy moments on the front line'
Alumnus Francis Farrell (International Studies, 2018) works as a reporter at the Kyiv Independent, where he covers Russia's war against Ukraine. 'I experienced some crazy moments on the front line'
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‘I want to do meaningful, intellectually stimulating work’
‘To be honest, I knew very little about the Netherlands when I arrived in 1998. But studying law in Leiden was a very enriching experience.’ Nathalie van den Berge grew up in a number of different European countries, and now works at a UN office in Tanzania, where she lives with her Dutch husband and…
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Alumnus Marlon Titre: ‘Film is often the start of a conversation’
Marlon Titre (1982) studied at Royal Conservatoire The Hague, did his PhD and studied at Leiden University, earned several other qualifications and is now, among others, Director of Filmhuis The Hague. Who is this multi-talent?
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GP in the Bible Belt: does God play a role in consultations?
Jaïr van Rhenen studied Medicine in Leiden and is now a GP in the largely religious Veenendaal. Before this, he worked as a tropical medicine doctor in Lesotho. ‘If you have the prospect of an afterlife, you often respond differently to illness.’
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Alumnus (90) donates historic house to Leiden University
Alumnus Ruurt Hazewinkel (90) has presented Leiden University with a special gift: a historic house on Leiden’s Rapenburg canal. He handed over the key to Rector Carel Stolker on Monday 25 January.
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Leiden through the eyes of Chuan Zhao
Chuan Zha from China studied International Relations at Leiden University. He comes from Chengdu, a city of more than 14 million inhabitants, but regards the relatively small town Leiden as ‘more cosmopolitan’.
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Alumnus Robert Ietswaart: ‘Machine learning is revolutionising drug discovery’
Robert Ietswaart does research into gene regulation at the famous Harvard Medical School in Boston. He developed an algorithm to better predict whether a candidate medicine is going to produce side effects. He studied mathematics and physics in Leiden, and gained his PhD in computational biology in…
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Volvo Ocean Race winner Carolijn Brouwer has sailing in her blood
Carolijn Brouwer and ambitious are synonymous. That has got her a long way. She was the first woman to be part of the winning team of the Volvo Ocean Race, the toughest of sailing races. 'Would I take part again? Only for a bigger challenge - as skipper, for example.'
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‘In those days you could learn as much as you wanted at university’
Having flirted with Egyptology and Italian, Dieuwertje Kuijpers found her true calling in the Master’s in European Union Studies. She is now a freelance journalist specialising in politics, security and defence. But she is also at home writing columns for ThePostOnline and hard-hitting articles for…
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‘Nature likes a mess’
Wouter Moerland is on a two-year secondment as ecology adviser at the Municipality of Leiden. This biology alumnus talks animatedly about his work. ‘We’re working hard to increase nature’s chances in town.’
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Alumna Gillian King: remedial educationalist and chicklit author
Clinical Child and Adolescent Studies graduate Gillian King has two different jobs. Together with a partner, she runs ‘Het Leerhuis,’ a support centre for children with learning difficulties. But she also writes books, chick lit to be precise. This is how she has made something of a name for herself…
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Law graduate Irina Ghazarian convinces international insurer to change tack
After her law degree, Irina Ghazarian (28) started working at Zurich Insurance PLC, an international insurance company. ‘Why do we outsource cases that are going to court?’ she asked. She is now the first attorney to work there.
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‘It affects me most when children are involved’
It doesn’t take long before Tim van Lit has told us what interests him: problems that shake the nation. This 28-year-old Criminology alumnus heads a team of 25 at Royal Netherlands Marechaussee. Location: Schiphol Airport.
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Alumna Amber Brantsen: ‘Allow yourself to make mistakes’
A glowing first-time mother-to-be with an impressive CV for someone of her age, newsreader Amber Brantsen would seem to lead a charmed life. ‘But I began to resent that image,’ says the Leiden Public Administration alumna. This led her to write the impressive and personal Uit Beeld (Out of the Picture).…
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Only in America: chemist becomes America correspondent
Chemistry, which is what Hans Klis studied in Leiden, is not what one might expect of a general journalist. ‘I’m a late bloomer,’ he says, despite having spent four years as America correspondent and written a book on notorious school shootings by the tender age of 34.
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Tyron Offerman: ‘One straight line from when I was 5 to now’
Tyron Offerman wants to get the most out of life. This 28-year-old computer scientist and business economics graduate has an impressive three jobs: IT strategy consultant, and lecturer and PhD candidate at Leiden University. All his own choice. ‘I do a lot of sports. I have to to be able to keep all…
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‘Banks can improve the position of women in Africa’
Ineke Bussemaker studied Maths at Leiden University and now works as a banker in Tanzania. In an interview in alumni magazine Leidraad she brings those two worlds together and looks back on her time in Leiden.
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Alumnus Sam van Raalte: From psychology to podcast
Alumnus Sam van Raalte followed his passion into freelance journalism.
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IBL Spotlights
During the IBL Spotlights, researchers of our department discuss their newest findings and achievements. After the lectures, you are all invited to the reception on the first floor of the Sylvius building.
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Rutte IV: a fifth of the cabinet studied in Leiden
The new cabinet has finally taken office. Six of its members studied in Leiden, once again making the University a key supplier to the cabinet. Who are these alumni?
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The Leiden Connection - screenwriter Gerard Soeteman looks back
Gerard Soeteman (1936) created a furore as a screenwriter of films that became classics (Dutch films: Turks Fruit, Soldaat van Oranje, de Aanslag), but personally he is much more attached to his critical documentaries for television. He studied Dutch in Leiden. How did that help him?
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From chemistry teacher to founder of outdoor escape room company
Alumnus Vincent Renken studied Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences in Leiden and is now co-founder of an outdoor escape room company. ‘I asked myself: do you want a standard life or an adventure?’
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‘A logical step from medieval literature to fact-checking’
Alumnus Peter Burger – along with his colleague Alexander Pleijter – is the face of fact-checking in the Netherlands. ‘My degree led straight to this.’
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From refugees to expats: Dr Dennis helps them all
Patients who can’t afford medicine. Refugees who need help. Expats who are ill. All alongside research into obesity. Having trained as a doctor, Dennis Mook-Kanamori chose the hard reality of life as a GP together with a job as a researcher at the LUMC.
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Photoinduced processes in dye-sensitized photoanodes under the spotlight: a multiscale in silico investigation
With increasing carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and their detrimental effect on the global climate, modern society needs to push for more renewable energy sources. Storing widely accessible and abundant solar energy in chemical bonds in the form of molecular fuel via artificial photosynthesis…
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Thriller writer Jeroen Windmeijer: books have their own truth
With cultural anthropology alumnus Jeroen Windmeijer, Leiden has added another writer to the fold. Following the success of his religious-historical thrillers, he has been able to call himself a full-time writer since 1 January 2019. ‘Not a true story but still true.’
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Kamran Ullah: ‘I love working at De Telegraaf’
‘People talk at the coffee machine about what’s on the front page of De Telegraaf.’ Kamran Ullah took office as deputy editor-in-chief of De Telegraaf on 1 January this year. Ullah began studying Public Administration at Leiden in 2002.
- Dossiers
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Lucia Langerak: ‘I'm not one to sit on the sidelines’
Lucia Langerak was awarded a Master’s degree in Egyptology with cum laude honours in 2018. Her bachelor’s degree was also with cum laude honours. ‘I’m an exceptional Egyptologist, if only because I’ve never been to Egypt.’ She is now the coordinator of the Access & Support Platform at the University…
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'In an ideal world we would recycle everything'
Merijn Tinga hit the headlines in 2016 as the Plastic Soup Surfer. In force six winds, the Leiden biologist ventured across the English Channel on a hydrofoil kiteboard made from plastic bottles. Interview with this Leiden artist who is fighting the mountain of plastic waste and finding his feet as…
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Alumni
This section contains an overview of our Alumni, the career prospect beyond the PhD and "Alumni in the picture" where we give you a few examples of the careers of some of our alumni after receiving their doctorate degree.
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Voice of the ocean
There are many tributaries to Rosalin Kuiper’s story and they all lead to the sea. The 28-year-old sailor was one of the five-person Team Malizia in the world’s most prestigious sailing competition: the Ocean Race.
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‘The depletion of the Earth’s resources is coming closer every year’
A packaging-free shop, small mobile homes, solar panels on all Leiden's roofs… Jeroen Schrama, alumnus of Public Administration, is a creative world improver. ‘If we really want to save the world, we have to make much more radical choices.’
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Alumnus Anne Speckens opened a mindfulness centre in Nijmegen
Professor of Psychiatry Anne Speckens studied medicine in Leiden and did her psychiatry training there too. She opened the Radboudumc Center for Mindfulness in Nijmegen. What does she do there and how does she look back on her time as a student?
- IBL Spotlight - Ben Wielstra
- IBL Spotlight - Remko Offringa
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Four pressured months trying to solve society’s woes
In the National Think Tank, 20 young academics spend four months mulling over a solution to a societal problem. Two Leiden alumni tell us more.
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In the Spotlight: Marcel Cobussen
Marcel Cobussen is professor of Auditory Culture at ACPA. Recently he has published a report (in Dutch) commissioned by the city government of Leiden (NL) on the sonic redesigning of a public space (the Garenmarkt) in Leiden. He is also one of the founders of The Journal of Sonic Studies, an Open Access…
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Alumni at work
Many Science Based Business students receive their first job offer during or right after their internship.
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Migration policy in the spotlights
From 11 to 21 June 2019 eleven students took part on the Honours summer course Dilemma’s in het migratierecht (Dilemmas in migration law).
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LGBTI+ inclusion in the spotlight
Why should your sexuality or gender identity be relevant at work? This is the question that Jojanneke van der Toorn, Professor by special appointment of LGBT workplace inclusion at Leiden University, addressed in her keynote at the annual Workplace Pride Conference on Friday 23 June 2017 in Brussels…
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Legal knowledge as a tool to improve human rights
Alumna Nadeshda Jayakody (25) from Australia graduated cum laude in Human Rights Law. What did she learn in Leiden that has been most useful? ‘I had to pretend that I already worked for an NGO.’
- IBL Spotlight - Martijn Bezemer and Liselotte Rambonnet