University ceremony
Opening of the academic year
- Date
- Monday 2 September 2024
- Time
- Explanation
- De livestream start om 14:45 uur
- 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 (governing 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 below button 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. The programme proper starts at 15:00 hrs and is expected to be concluded by 16:45 hrs.
Opening speech
By Annetje Ottow, President of the Executive Board.
Keynote speech
Taking science to policy, there is a lot at stake
By Corien Prins, chair of the Scientific Council for Government Policy.
Music
By the Madrigal of the Leiden Student Choir and Orchestra ‘Sempre Crescendo’.
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 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 governing bodies:
-
Albert van der Horst, Chief Science Officer, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
-
Frederik Zevenbergen, member the Provincial Executive Board of Zuid-Holland.
-
Sandra Pellegrom, civil servant Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
-
Leonard Geluk, Chair Vereniging Nederlandse Gemeenten.
Music
By the Madrigal of the Leiden Student Choir and Orchestra ‘Sempre Crescendo’.
Awarding of the LUS Teaching Prize
By Yesim Benli, chair 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
-
Annetje Ottow is President of the Executive Board of Leiden University and professor of Public Economic Law at the Faculty of Law.
After her studies at Leiden University and Queen Mary College in London, she 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. Here, 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, Social safety, Diversity and inclusion and Sustainability.
She is also the contact person for the (development of the) Leiden inner city campus
-
Corien Prins is professor of Law and Information Technology at Tilburg University. She studied Slavic Language and Literature (candidate) and law (candidate and doctoral) 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 Public Prosecution Service. Her specialisations are in the field of law and regulation of technology (ICT, digitalization, 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 and (information) technology, but also for policymaking in that area.
-
Hester Bijl is professor of Numerical Mathematics at the Mathematical Institute of the Faculty of Science. She is also a member of the Supervisory Board of TNO and commissioner of Impuls Zeeland, the Regional Development Agency. Bijl is also a board member of the Leiden Bio Science Park.
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-oriented grants from NWO. She was a member of the first cohort of the Young Academy of the KNAW and also served on its board. From 1999 to 2003, she was a visiting researcher at NASA Langley Research Center for several periods.
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.
-
Martijn Ridderbos RC studied business economics at Erasmus University Rotterdam and 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 he, from 2015, 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 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 (physical) security at the university. He is also the point of contact for the development of Campus The Hague. -
Yesim BenliYesim Benli, chair of the Leiden University Student Platform, studies Student MA Military Strategic Studies & MSc Crisis and Security Management.
-
Prof.dr. Willem Otterspeer is a historian and writer. He is emeritus professor of University History at Leiden University.
Otterspeer writes, among other things, about the history of ideas and about intellectual institutions. In 1992 he obtained his doctorate cum laude for his thesis De wiekslag van uw Geest about Leiden University in the nineteenth 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 also fulfilled an advisory role to the Executive Board of Leiden University on the university’s history, its identity and its way forward. After his retirement in 2016, Otterspeer remained very active and in 2019 he published Het Horzelnest, a book about Leiden University during the Second World War.
He also published biographies of, among others, the philosopher G.J.P.J. Bolland, the historian Johan Huizinga and the author Willem Frederik Hermans. Otterspeer 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 number of lectures and made a shortlist with three finalists. The LUS paid particular attention to teaching innovation, interaction with students and the lecturer's ability to continuously improve his or her teaching. The winner will receive the award from Yesim Benli, chair of the Leiden University Student Platform.
The nominees
-
Marcus de Ruiter is professor of Clinical and Experimental Anotomy at the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC).
-
Sepideh Saadat works in addiction psychiatry and teaches clinical courses.
-
Pieter Slaman is Leiden University's university historian, with support of the A.E. Cohen Foundation. He is also a specialist in the history of education.
Van Hagerbeer organ
The first organ to be installed in what is now called 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 sounding organ pipes in the world.
Jan Verschuren, organist
The Van Hagerbeer organ is played by Jan Verschuren, who studied organ at the conservatories of Leuven and Utrecht. Organ recitals have taken him throughout Europe. Verschuren succeeded Folkert Grondsma as the organist incumbent at the Hartebrugkerk in Leiden and he is also the university organist for Leiden University and the Technical University Eindhoven. 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 handle the various sets of stops.
Madrigal of the Leiden Student Choir and Orchestra ‘Sempre Crescendo’
The Leiden Student Choir and Orchestra Sempre Crescendo (SC), one of the oldest and best-known sub associations of Student Association Minerva 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, where most of them would move to for their studies. It has almost 100 active members and it is led by professional conductors. In addition to joint rehearsals, many members play in smaller settings such as in the madrigal.
Albert Jan de Boer, conductor
De Boer (1992) started singing at the age of 7. Until 2016 he was part of the Roder Jongenskoor as a singer and, until 2018, also as singing teacher and repetitor. In 2000 he started his piano studies at the Centrum voor de Kunsten in Sneek. From 2007, he studied music theory and piano with Rein Ferwerda. In 2011 he started his training as Music Teacher at the Prins Claus Conservatorium in Groningen, where he completed his piano studies cum laude with Anastasia Goldberg. In addition to conducting the choirs of the S.M.G. ‘Sempre Crescendo’, Albert Jan de Boer also leads other choirs, such as the Heerenakkoord in Sneek.