On 4 May, Leiden University remembered the victims of the Second World War from our university community. Alumni, students and present and former staff of the University came together for this Hour of Remembrance.

During the ‘Hour of Remembrance’ on 4 May, the University community remembers its students and staff who were killed in the Second World War. It also looks at freedom and oppression today. Three questions for Sara Polak, chair of the Hour of Remembrance committee.

Lecture

The University has national holidays and compulsory closures. National holidays are not deducted from your vacation hours, whereas compulsory closures are.

For a 38-hour week you have 232 vacation hours per year. If you make use of the flexible hours option, you will have more or fewer vacation hours. If you work part-time, your vacation credit is proportionate to your contracted hours. If you are in salary scale 11 or above, you may choose to conclude…

Is aggression always bad? PhD research by psychologist Simone Dobbelaar shows that it is not. In fact, children who occasionally fiercely defend themselves and stand up for their peers often feel better mentally.

At many university locations the health, safety and environment tasks are coordinated by the General Services Department (UFB). You can contact your health and safety coordinator (HSE coordinator) for advice and information on working conditions. In most cases, the HSE coordinator also acts as prevention…

The annual commemoration of the nation’s war dead on Dam Square and at Waalsdorpervlakte, the Dutch apologies for historical slavery and the Cleveringa Lecture itself: our relationship with history is often ritualistic, Cleveringa Professor Frank van Vree will say in his inaugural lecture on 27 Nove…

Organisation

In July, the unions and universities reached a definitive CAO agreement (Collective Labour Agreement), with commitments on higher pay, more permanent contracts and a more inclusive leave scheme. Colleagues from the HR department and the FNV union explain how the agreement was reached, what we can expect…

Young Leiden researchers Alisa van de Haar and Marleen Kunneman have received a KNAW Early Career Award. The prize, awarded annually for outstanding achievements, consists of 15,000 euros and a unique work of art.

Science, Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC)

The person who cried out at Dam Square on Remembrance Day in 2010. For Michiel van der Wolf this marked the rise of a new phenomenon: that of ‘confused people’. Because since that Remembrance Day, the number of reports of ‘confused people’ in the Netherlands has increased rapidly in the statistics.…

Frank van Vree, Emeritus Professor of War, Conflict and Memory Studies at the University of Amsterdam (UVA), is the new Cleveringa Professor at Leiden University this year.

Many traces of the city's slavery history can be found in Leiden but the public isn't always aware of them. The initiators of 'Mapping Slavery in Leiden' want to change this with guided tours and street markers. Representatives of the University and other Leiden institutions will be giving the first…

It is crucial that Leiden University reflects on its colonial history. These were the words of Cleveringa Professor Gert Oostindie in his inaugural lecture on 24 November. ‘As a university community, we must dare to hold up a mirror to ourselves and, where possible and necessary, also take concrete…

Personal development

Course