History student Mitchell Wiegand Bruss is taking part in the water council elections. Whereas until recently he had no idea what the governing body stands for, he now wants to create awareness among other students about the political body.

Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, gave a guest lecture to first-year law students at Leiden University. He spoke about democracy, the war in Ukraine and the role of the Netherlands.

Turkish and Syrian students met Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl to discuss how the university can support students who have been affected by the earthquake.

Social

Jesper van Loon, a second-year Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences student, is a fully fledged entrepreneur. He was still a minor when he and his school friend Max started their own business, BLIJLES Bollenstreek, which has now expanded to the Midden-Holland and Haarlemmermeer areas. ‘This is what I want, but…

Almost 3,000 students from the Faculty of Humanities completed the National Student Survey (NSE) in the spring of 2022. With a response rate of 38%, the Faculty scored slightly above the national average.

Organisation

Just like last academic year, students from Leiden University will get the chance to gain practical experience at KPN. In cooperation with the telecom company, two Impact Challenges are being offered, around the theme 'building bridges'.

Social

Anne Kremers (1989) still has to complete her thesis in Art History, but she is already director of a museum. After following an internship at Villa Mondriaan, in September 2013 she took over the position of the oldest museum director of the Netherlands, becoming in the process the youngest museum director…

This academic year 49 promising international students will start their master’s degree here thanks to a Leiden University Excellence Scholarship (LExS). The students, all from outside the EU, were welcomed in a special ceremony on 5 September. Who are they?

The results of the 2022 University elections are out. The student section of the University Council will be different from how it has been in the past two years. Unlike last year, the student parties that stood for election did not all win a seat.

A shadow cabinet has just been formed. This one consists of students from all the Dutch universities. They will be keeping politicians on their toes in the coming year, and want to show that progress cannot be made without academic research and teaching. Master’s student Zeineb Romdhane is Minister…

Cooperation is the solution to international problems, demonstrated the final seminar of the Master Honours Class ‘Smart Regional Integration’ – even when it is sometimes easier said than done. “You can see the students struggle with that.”

The interdisciplinary AI & Society minor of Leiden University brings together students and lecturers from a wide range of disciplines. Together they look at the impact of AI on society. Students are enthusiastic about this merging of worlds.

Master’s students in the Honours Class ‘Leiden, City of Refugees?’ were asked to contemplate the concept of ‘the other’ from both an academic and an artistic perspective. The result was the exhibition ‘The Invitation’ which was presented at Stadsbauhaus on 4 June.

Education, Research, Social

Education

Mahatma Gandhi’s quote “Be the change you wish to see in this world” was taken quite literally by some of our BA International Studies students, as they set up their own NGO, Positive Debt, in cooperation with students from Kyambogo University in Uganda. The NGO helps single mothers in Uganda with m…

Every year in February, ninety students who love making music come together in Someren, a town in the Dutch province of North Brabant. Through rehearsals and festivities over ten days, they transform into the latest version of the Dutch Student Orchestra (NSO), which then performs concerts in the Netherlands…

Three Leiden students will be sharing their knowledge of history while playing video games. The livestreams are part of the ‘Streaming the Past’ project and will be available on the popular streaming platform Twitch. The first livestream will be on Thursday 20 May.

Organisation

Organisation

It was not until 1878 that the first female students enrolled at Leiden University, but the discussion on whether women were suited to study was by no means over. 8 March is International Women's Day. BBC correspondente Kim Ghattas will deliver a lecture on 6 March on the struggle by Arabic women for…

In the academic year 2018 - 2019, the Faculty of Humanities established the Educational Innovation Programme. In this way, the faculty wants to realise the ambitions from the educational vision of Leiden University in education. How is the programme currently doing? We talked to project manager Sanne…

Education, Research, Social

Leiden’s ‘Learning with the City | On Location’ knowledge store opened its digital doors in Leiden-Noord on 8 February. This is where students, residents and professionals can work together on social issues.

Bram Geurds (20) is fascinated by politics. When he was 12, a political debate on TV caught his attention. And he decided he wanted to be mayor one day. Unsurprisingly, Bram is studying political science and is politically active. It might seem like he’s on course to become a professional politician.…

Study information

Good food. This is an important topic in the interview with Chair Ruben Venema and Activities Director Martine Feteris from the Leiden Vegan Student Association, which was launched in May. An interview rounded off with an extra helping of recipes.

Dirk Uittenbogaard, a student on the Delft-Leiden Master’s in Industrial Ecology, has won a gold medal for rowing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Uittenbogaard took gold in the men’s quadruple sculls, together with Abe Wiersma, Tone Wieten and Koen Metsemakers.

Eline van Slijpe wrote her Master of Philosophy thesis on intergenerational justice: does the current generation have obligations towards future generations? With this thesis she won the biannual J.C. Baak Prize.

Natalia Sobrino-Saeb has attended the Nobel Peace Prize award ceremony in Oslo. She was awarded this honour after winning the essay competition of the Nobel Ignitor Fellowship, a programme that seeks to inspire young changemakers around the world – for change can be made by all of us: “You never know…

During your studies you will probably stay in rented accommodation. But how can you find suitable accommodation? And what should you do if you have housing problems or issues with your landlord? Find out where you can turn for advice. And learn about the assistance available in DUWO international student…

When Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, normal life there came to a halt. To ensure that affected students and researchers can continue their studies and work, professor Ellen Rutten (UvA) and assistant professor Dorine Schellens (Leiden) set up an international mentor network.

Conference

The number of students enrolled at Leiden University remained stable this year. As at other Dutch universities, the growth in recent years seems to have levelled off. Leiden University is also following the national trend in terms of intake at the bachelor’s and master’s levels. The number of international…

Social

Student well-being is an enormously broad subject. Students and researchers can gain inspiration and exchange knowledge at the online EUniWell symposium ‘Good Practices on Student Well-Being’ on 30 September and 1 October. We take a look at the forthcoming symposium with co-organiser Jasper Bitter:…

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also had dramatic consequences for Ukrainian students at Leiden University. Besides their intense concern about the fate of family and friends, they also face major financial problems. This also applies to Russian students who can no longer access their bank accounts.…

Many people have fled to the Netherlands since the outbreak of war in Ukraine, including students. But even before this war, students with refugee backgrounds were eager to study at Leiden University. How does the University help young people from various backgrounds find their way around the Dutch…

In June 2020, Caring Universities researched the mental health and resilience of students. This was repeated again in January 2021. The results of this second investigation show that more students are reporting psychological issues such as stress and mood swings than during the first investigation.

Touring the campus, meeting current students and taking part in an interactive seminar in the Lipsius building. After 1,5 years of online events due to the corona pandemic, a live Student for a Day took place again on Friday 24 September.

The Indonesian Student Association in the Netherlands, ‘Perhimpunan Pelajar Indonesia Belanda’, has teamed up with the Indonesian embassy in The Hague and Historia.ID magazine to create an exhibition to mark the association’s 100th anniversary. The student association, which was founded in Leiden, played…