• Make sure that your home computer, mobile phone and tablet are updated and have good security software. Find out how. 
• Use a trusted and secure (wifi) network.
• Be alert for phishing and fake emails. If you receive an unexpected email or an email from an unfamiliar sender, do not click on any links, open any attachments or enter any details. The university will never ask you for your passwords by email. If you think you have received a phishing email, report it in the helpdesk portal.
• Use OneDrive to save and share files safely.
• Close the browser completely after having been logged in. Do not save your passwords in your browser.

To log into many university systems you now need to use Multi-factor authentication (MFA). This means that as well as entering your username and password, you also need to confirm your identity via an additional method.

Leiden University uses 2 sorts of MFA:

• For Office 365, i.e. all services for which you have to log in with your university Microsoft account (ULCN-username@vuw.leidenuniv.nl), for example Word, OneDrive and Teams.
• For ULCN, i.e. all applications for which you have to log in with your ULCN account (student account).

In the student portal you can organise your studies with ease, from course planning to viewing your grades.

MyStudymap

You can enrol via MyStudymap. In this system you can also plan your enrolments in advance. This means you can plan everything in your own time, then submit all your course enrolments in one go at the start of the enrolment period. Read more about course and exam enrolment via MyStudymap.

MyTimetable

In MyTimetable you can find your personal timetable and an overview of all your study activities.

The essential app for all Leiden University students. Here you can find all your study information in one place. Log in once and access your timetable, grades, PC availability and the latest news, anytime and anywhere.

• Download the iOS app
• Download the Android app

Let us know what you think

Have you spotted something that needs improvement? Or do you have other suggestions? Help us to optimise the app by letting us know. You can use the feedback button in the app, or send a mail to appdevelopment@sea.leidenuniv.nl.

Leiden University’s student website gives you quick and easy access to all the information you need about your study programme.

Select your study programme

When you first visit the website, you will be asked to select your study programme to continue. 

• By selecting your study programme, you can access information that is specific to your particular programme and faculty.
• By visiting the site as a guest, you can only access general, university-wide information.  

The website will remember your selection. This means you won’t have to make a selection next time you log in from the same device.

On the homepage

Searching for information

Can’t find the information you are looking for on the homepage? Take a look in the full menu by clicking on the menu icon at the top-left of your screen. Or use the search bar at the top of the page.

Tabs: from general to specific to you

If you have selected your study programme, you will sometime see more than one tab on a page:

• The tab on the left contains general information.
• The tab in the middle contains information from your faculty.
• The tab on the right contains information from your study programme.

Questions or comments?

We would like to hear what you think of the student website. Can you find information easily? Is there room for improvement? Let us know. Send your questions or comment to: communicatie@sea.leidenuniv.nl.

Kaltura Live Room

Lecturers use Kaltura Live Room principally for interactive online education. If this isn't possible, they may instead decide to use Zoom.

Zoom

Zoom is a video conferencing app for meetings of up to 300 people. Lecturers can give online education via Zoom. As a student, you can also make use of Zoom for online meetings. 

Getting started with Zoom

• Go to universiteitleiden.zoom.us
• Choose 'Sign in with SSO'
• Under organisation name, enter 'universiteitleiden'
• Log in with your ULCN account

Support

The Zoom Help Center can help you out and answer your questions by way of video tutorials, quick-start guides, FAQs, free training courses and webinars.

Security and privacy

As a student of Leiden University you can make use of the paid educational-version of Zoom for free. This means you can use Zoom in a secure way. 

• Only students and staff have access via their ULCN-accounts. This means that certain privacy settings are compulsory. 
• Zoom uses encryption and only servers in the EU are used to facilitate meetings.
• Zoom is not used for classes during which personal information or confidential research data will be discussed. 

Objection

Would you rather not use Zoom? Ask your lecturer for an alternative. If you can't reach a solution with your lecturer, contact your study adviser. If this doesn't resolve the issue, get in touch with Leiden University's data protection officer via fg@bb.leidenuniv.nl.

Guidelines and tips

Tips to make sure the applications work well: 

• Only put your camera on when strictly necessary.
• Close other browsers and applications. 
• When possible, use internet via a cable rather than Wi-Fi.
• If you use Wi-Fi, sit close to the router. If necessary, ask housemates to limit their use of internet applications such as Netflix when you are online. 
• Re-start your computer regularly to free-up temporary memory. 
• If needed, invest in extra memory for your computer.

Secure use of IT facilities

Take a look at the guidelines and tips for secure use of IT facilities.

Privacy and recorded lectures

• Some of your lecturers may wish to record online lectures so that students can re-watch them later. Before doing so, your lecturer will ask your permission and let you know the purpose of the recording, how and to whom it will be made available and how it will be stored. If you do not wish to be visible in the recording, make sure your camera is switched off.
• Note that the unauthorised photographing, recording, use or distribution of materials from online classes is prohibited.

Code of conduct

Take a look at the Code of Conduct Remote Teaching. Here you can find the rules and guidelines for both students and lecturers with respect to online education.  

Other education applications for use at home

Several applications that were previously only available via the university network can now be used at home. Find out which applications are available and how you can access them.

Safely working together online

With Microsoft Teams you can remotely work together with fellow students. Teams is best suited for use with small groups. You can use Teams for:

• Video calling
• Audio calling
• Online chat
• Sharing, editing and storing documents

Do not use Teams to make recordings or to store sensitive documents or data. Teams is also not a suitable tool for long-term file storage. Instead use other options such as OneDrive.

Getting started with Teams

Microsoft also offers several Teams training videos.

As a student, you can use Office 365 ProPlus and OneDrive cloud storage free of charge. These services allow you to work on multiple computers and mobile devices, using programmes such as Word, Powerpoint, Excel and OneNote, and to safely store and share up to 1024 GB of files in the cloud. Read more and install Office 365 and OneDrive

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
To log into Office 365 you need to use Multi-factor authentication (MFA). This means that as well as entering your username and password, you also need to confirm your identity via the Microsoft Authenticator app. Read more and install MFA

There are student workstations located within many university buildings, at which you can log-in using your account. Check the current availability of workstations online.

Leiden University Wi-Fi networks

Your ULCN account (student or staff) gives you access to two Wi-Fi networks: Leiden University and eduroam.

• The Leiden University Wireless Access network (LUWA) is intended for temporary access to wireless internet. Data that you send via the LUWA network are not encrypted. Furthermore, you need to log in to this network again every five days.​
• The eduroam network is safer, as all data is encrypted. You also do not need to log in every five days. Moreover, eduroam allows you to access Wi-Fi in almost all universities and universities of applied sciences in the Netherlands, Europe and further afield. Choose your device from the table below to open the corresponding manual.

  Device
  iPhone or iPad
  Android mobile or tablet
  Macbook or iMac
  Windows PC
  Linux

PLEASE NOTE: different username
With eduroam you use your regular ULCN user name - i.e. your student number - followed by @leidenuniv.nl (this may look like an email address but it is not). With the addition @leidenuniv.nl you can automatically connect to eduroam from numerous educational institutions worldwide. Example: if your ULCN name is 's1234567', use 's1234567@leidenuniv.nl' as your identity/user name.  

Using public Wi-Fi networks

When using public Wi-Fi networks, for example in a train or café, your personal data is often not secure. eduVPN offers protection against prying eyes and enables you to securely access protected services from outside Leiden University's network.

Read more and download eduVPN. 

All the details of your studies are recorded in uSis. From your first registration as a student of Leiden University up until your graduation. If you have questions about uSis please consult the FAQ or send an email to our uSis web editors.

uSis on your phone or tablet

You can use uSis on your mobile device by downloading the Leiden University app.

Petitions

If you want to request a change to your academic requirements you can submit a petition via uSis. For example if you want to be exempted from certain academic requirements, have study credits earned abroad recognised as part of your Leiden studies, or receive a different amount of credits for part of your curriculum. For more information see Exemptions and Petitions.

Students at Leiden University work with the online learning environment Brightspace.

Login

You can log in using your student account (ULCN). Please note: if you have only just received your student account, you may have to wait 24 hours before you can log in.

• Log in to Brightspace
• More information and support

Quick access via the app

Tip: always have quick access to Brightspace directly from the Leiden University app. 

Problems logging into uMail? Follow these steps

Between now and early October, student mailboxes are being migrated to a new online environment. This changes the log-in process. Follow these steps to log into uMail.

What is uMail?

As a Leiden University student, you will receive a uMail address. You can log-in and access your mailbox using your account. All correspondence from the university is sent via uMail.

Email forwarding

You can set up your uMail account so that emails are forwarded to your own email address. 

Note that certain conditions apply: 

• You are responsible for correctly setting up the forwarding of your uMail. 
• If your mailbox is full, emails will not be forwarded. Empty your mailbox on time. 
• Leiden University maintains the right to cancel a mail-forward if this leads to problems in the university email system. 
• Leiden University is responsible for forwarding emails, but is not responsible for the receipt of emails by the email address provided. 

If you have set up email forwarding, you can still send emails from your uMail account. 

Installing on your own device

Find our how to install uMail on your own computer, telephone or tablet.

If you use your own laptop to log into the wi-fi network, make sure to keep your anti-virus software up to date and download the latest (security) updates for your operating system. You can download fee anti-virus software, for example MS Security Essentials and Avira Anti Virus. Or why not purchase affordable anti-virus software via SURFspot?

Students of all Dutch universities can purchase affordable software, such as Adobe, anti-virus software, MindManager and SPSS, via SURFspot. You can also purchase hardware, subscriptions for magazines and newspapers, and internet services. To do so log into Surfspot, select Leiden University, then enter your student account log-in details.

What are web lectures?
A web lecture is a recording of a lecture, which is later published online for viewing. If a PowerPoint or Prezi presentation has been used, this can also be viewed. You can adjust the playback speed and use a search function which is linked by keywords to the presentation.  

Supplement, not replacement
You should consider web lectures as a supplement to your lecture, not a replacement. If you do not attend the lecture, you will miss out on the interaction with your lecturer and fellow students and won’t have the opportunity to ask questions.

On top of that, there is no guarantee that the web lecture will be made available online, for the following reasons:

• Web lectures are only offered if the lecturer agrees and if the technology allows. If a lecture is to be recorded, you will be informed just before the lecture.
• Technical issues can arise, meaning a planned web lecture cannot be published online.
• You cannot assume that a web lecture will be published immediately after the lecture. The publication moment depends on the lecturer’s methodology and can vary from a couple of days or weeks, till just prior to your exam.
• Web lectures are a complimentary service and not an entitlement.

Studying effectively with web lectures
To benefit from web lectures it is therefore essential that you use them as a supplement to your participation in lectures. How can you make effective use of web lectures?:

• Make sure that you attend the lecture and play an active role; ask questions and discuss the material with your fellow students. This is important, as dealing with information in a variety of ways can help you to retain it better.
• To retain information well, it is also essential that you study the materials on time, frequently, and spread out over the time available to you. Try to utilise web lectures in this way. For example, you can view a web lecture from a previous session just prior to attending your next lecture or, if the online publication date allows, just before your exam.
• Actively study during the web lecture: for example, take notes, make a summary, or complete the practise assignments. This is far more effective than simply watching the web lecture.

Where can I find web lectures?
Web lectures are generally placed on the course page on Brightspace. If you can’t find them, ask your lecturer for assistance.