University ceremony
Opening of the academic year
- Date
- Monday 2 September 2024
- Time
- Explanation
- The live stream starts at 14:45 hrs.
- Address
- Pieterskerk
Kloksteeg 16
2311 SL Leiden
The celebration marking the opening of the new academic year will focus on the role that science can (and perhaps should) play in shaping the gamut of policy from the local to the global.
This question will be considered from many different perspectives: from both the purveyors (academics and students) and the consumers (public bodies) of science.
The keynote speech will be given by Prof. Corien Prins, Chair of The Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy, the advisory body that builds bridges between academia and government.
Attend
Click the button below to register. You will receive a digital ticket as soon as your registration has been processed.
The ceremony starts with the entrance of the processions of students and board members. The programme proper starts at 15:00 hrs. and is expected to conclude by 16:45 hrs.
Opening speech
By Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board.
Keynote speech
Taking science to policy; a lot is at stake
By Corien Prins, Chair of the Scientific Council for Government Policy.
Music
By the Leiden Student Madrigal Choir and ‘Sempre Crescendo’ Orchestra.
Bearers of science
Video interview with Leiden scientists:
- Valérie Pattyn, Associate Professor at the Institute of Public Administration, and Director of the Bachelor in Public Administration.
- Rogier Creemers, lecturer in Modern Chinese Studies and leading researcher in the NWO Vidi-project: The Smart State: Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and the Law in China.
- Martijn Manders, Professor by Special Appointment of Underwater Archaeology and Maritime Heritage Management.
How do Leiden students contribute?
Rector magnificus Hester Bijl in converstation with students Lianne Harmsen (Governance of Sustainability), Niels Groeneweg (Political Science) and Hannah Saberi (Criminology).
Presentation of the University Medal
By Hester Bijl to Willem Otterspeer, emeritus Professor of University History.
Beneficiaries of science
Video interview with representatives of public bodies:
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Frederik Zevenbergen, member the Provincial Executive Board of Zuid-Holland.
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Sandra Pellegrom, civil servant, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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Leonard Geluk, Chair of the Association of Netherlands Municipalities.
Music
By the Leiden Student Madrigal Choir and ‘Sempre Crescendo’ Orchestra.
Presentation of the LUS Teaching Prize
By Birte van der Heide, faculty member of the Leiden University Student Platform.
Presentation of the Mr. K.J. Cath-prijs
By Martijn Ridderbos, Vice-chairman of the Executive Board.
Closing remarks
By Annetje Ottow.
Drinks reception
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Annetje Ottow is President of the Leiden University Executive Board and Professor of Public Economic Law at the Faculty of Law.
Follwoing her studies at Leiden University and Queen Mary College in London, Ottow worked in the legal profession for 16 years, first at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and later as a partner at Houthoff Buruma and obtained her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2006.
In 2007, Ottow was appointed Professor of Public Economic Law at Utrecht University, where she served as Dean of the Faculty of Law, Economics, Governance and Organisation from 2014 to 2018, and as Vice President of the Executive Board from 2018 to 2021.
At Leiden University her portfolio includes strategy, alliances, external and international relations, communication, dignity and respect, diversity and inclusion and Sustainability.
She is also the contact person for the Leiden inner city campus and its development.
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Corien Prins is Professor of Law and Information Technology at Tilburg University. She studied Slavic Language and Literature (kandidaats) and law (kandidaats and doctoraal) at Leiden University, where she also obtained her PhD under Prof. Hans Franken and Dr. S. Levitsky of Columbia University.
In April 2017, Prins was appointed the first female chair of the Scientific Council for Government Policy (WRR). She is also a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences (KNAW) and the Selection Advisory Committee for the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. She specialises in law and regulation of technology (ICT, digitalisation, artificial intelligence), privacy, cybersecurity, government information policy and electronic government.
In 2023, Prins received a Stevin Prize, not only for her contributions to the development of law, technology and information technology, but also for policymaking in that area.
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Hester Bijl is Professor of Numerical Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute of the Faculty of Science. She is also a member of the TNO Supervisory Board and a commissioner for the Impuls Zeeland regional development agency. Bijl is also a member of the Leiden Bio Science Park board.
Hester Bijl studied Applied Mathematics at Delft University of Technology, where she also obtained a PhD in numerical mathematics in 1999. She also obtained a Master's degree in English Language and Literature from Leiden University. For her research on applications of numerical fluid dynamics in aerospace and wind energy technology, she received, among other things, person grants from NWO. She was a member of the first cohort of the KNAW Young Academy and also served on its board. Between 1999 and 2003, she was a visiting researcher at NASA Langley Research Center on several occasions.
Before coming to Leiden in 2016, where she was appointed Vice-Rector Magnificus, Bijl spent 17 years at Delft University of Technology’s Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, where she eventually held the position of Dean.
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Martijn Ridderbos RC studied business economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and took the postgraduate controller course at VU University Amsterdam. After seven years at Moret Ernst & Young Consultancy, he was appointed Vice-President at Capgemini in 2001, where he managed an advisory group in the field of education, work and income. In 2008, he founded his own consulting firm.
Ridderbos became Concern Director of Finances at the Public Prosecution Office (Openbaar Ministerie, OM) in 2013, a post which, from 2015, he combined with the position as General Director of the Service Centre of the OM. Here, his portfolio included finance, IT and facilities management.
Between 2011 and 2017, Ridderbos was a lecturer in Public Management at Utrecht University, teaching the executive master’s Management van Publieke Vraagstukken (Management of Public Administration) and the masterclass in Leiderschap in Cultuur (Leadership in Culture), among others.
As Vice-Chairman of the Executive Board of Leiden University, his portfolio includes finance , real estate, ICT and research infrastructure, HRM and security at the university. He is also the point of contact for the development of Campus The Hague.
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Prof. Willem Otterspeer is a historian, writer and emeritus Professor of University History at Leiden University.
Otterspeer writes on subjects including the history of ideas and intellectual institutions. In 1992, he obtained his doctorate (cum laude) for his thesis De wiekslag van uw Geest about Leiden University in the 19th century.
As a professor, he took on the task of writing a comprehensive historiography of the first four centuries of Leiden University. This project was completed in 2021 with the publication of the fourth volume of the Group Portrait with Lady series. In addition, as a university historian, he acted as an adviser to the Leiden University Executive Board on the university’s history, its identity and its future. Since retiring in 2016, Otterspeer has remained very active and in 2019 he published Het Horzelnest, a book about Leiden University during the Second World War.
He has also published biographies of, among others, the philosopher G.J.P.J. Bolland, the historian Johan Huizinga and the author Willem Frederik Hermans. Otterspeer has received a number of awards for his work, including the Dr. Wijnaendts Francken Prize and the Eureka Prize for science communication.
The three nominees for the LUS Teaching Prize were all put forward by their students. Members of the LUS attended a lectures and made a shortlist of three finalists. The LUS paid particular attention to teaching innovation, interaction with students and the lecturers’ ability to continuously improve their teaching. The winner will receive the award from Birte van der Heide, faculty member of the Leiden University Student Platform.
The nominees
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Marcus de Ruiter is Professor of Clinical and Experimental Anotomy at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).
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Sepideh Saadat works in addiction psychiatry and teaches clinical courses.
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Pieter Slaman is the university historian, with the support of the A.E. Cohen Foundation. He also specialises in the history of education.
Van Hagerbeer organ
The first organ to be installed in what is now the Pieterskerk church dates from 1446 and was probably built by Jacob van Biltsteyn from Kampen. In 1639, the instrument was restored by father and son Van Hagerbeer. To this day, about 100 pipes from the original organ are part of the Van Hagerbeer organ, ranking them among the oldest playable organ pipes in the world.
Jan Verschuren, organist
The Van Hagerbeer organ is played by Jan Verschuren, who studied the organ at the Leuven and Utrecht conservatoires. He has given organ recitals throughout Europe. Verschuren succeeded Folkert Grondsma as the organist incumbent at the Hartebrugkerk in Leiden and is also the university organist for Leiden University and the Eindhoven University of Technology. In 2002, he was decorated by the Société Académique des Arts-Sciences-Lettres in Paris for his contributions to promoting French organ music. During the opening of the academic year on 2 September, Verschuren will be accompanied by Bert Crama to operate the stops.
Leiden Student Madrigal Choir and ‘Sempre Crescendo’ Orchestra
The Leiden Student Choir and Sempre Crescendo Orchestra (SC), one of the oldest and best-known sub associations of Minerva Student Association and one of the oldest student music associations in the Netherlands was founded in The Hague in 1828 – allegedly at Gymnasium Haganum. It’s members soon decided to continue their music in Leiden because most of them would be moving there for their studies. SC has almost 100 active members and is led by professional conductors. In addition to joint rehearsals, many members play in smaller settings such as the madrigal choir.
Works to be performed
- My true love hath my heart, John Rutter
- It was a lover and his lass, John Rutter
- When Daisies Pied, John Rutter
- Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy, Andrews Sisters
Members of the Madrigal Choir
Soprano
- Lisette Verhoeven
- Hester Verhoeven
- Maria Nieuwenhuizen
Mezzo-soprano
- Sophia Mons
- Sterre Schols
- Myrthe Hoekema
- Merel Bruins
Alto
- Ida Hobma
- Ludmila Wilhelm
- Judith Dijkzeul
Piano accompaniment
Paul Horjus
Albert Jan de Boer, conductor
De Boer (1992) started singing at the age of seven and sang in the Roder Jongenskoor until 2016 and was its répétiteur until 2018. He started learning the piano at the Centrum voor de Kunsten in Sneek in 2000 studied music theory and piano with Rein Ferwerda from 2007. In 2011, he started training as a music teacher at Prins Claus Conservatoroire in Groningen, where he completed his piano studies (cum laude) with Anastasia Goldberg. In addition to conducting the S.M.G. ‘Sempre Crescendo’ choirs, De Boer also leads other choirs, such as Heerenakkoord in Sneek.