Connecting worlds, enhancing research and teaching, and providing innovative solutions to complex social issues: that is the idea behind interdisciplinary research. In that respect, a huge amount happened at Leiden University in 2023.

Work balance has been a hot topic at the faculty for several years. A smart approach to lectures can help reduce workload. Three (senior) university lecturers share their tips.

Career development, Communication

Personal development

Education

Three Humanities lecturers received the Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO) this year. Lecturer Hossam Ahmed is one of them. What does he think makes for good education?

Several Dutch universities have said they do not want foreign student numbers to grow any more in some of their degree programmes. They are reaching maximum capacity. We are also alert to this in Leiden, but I see many positive aspects to the intake of international students.

Research

Leiden University continued to reduce its carbon footprint in 2021 by being more careful with natural resources and making structural reductions to its energy consumption. This is what it says in the Sustainability Report 2021.

Four students of the Faculty of Archaeology investigated how the current and past inhabitants of the Dutch province of South Holland deal with water. Their findings now feature in an exhibition that can now be visited in the Van Steenis building’s Reuvenshal.

Leiden University’s digital study environment is being expanded to include the Leiden student portal: a single place where students can find all the information they need to organise their studies.

Didactics

The new VIS grant has been awarded to four projects from the Faculty of Humanities. In a Virtual International Cooperation Project (VIS), Dutch and foreign students work together remotely on a project that links local issues to an international perspective.

Tirza Smits and Rianne Weber (Education and Child Studies) developed a Brightspace course where lecturers can see and experience Brightspace as students do. The goal: to inspire lecturers to try more new things. "So much more can be done with Brightspace than you think. We'd like to show that."

Gianne Derks is the MI’s new scientific director from 1 May. She has worked abroad longer than in the Netherlands and, after more than 27 years in Surrey, she dreams in English. Who is this new director and who or what managed to entice her to make the move to Leiden?

Leiden University wants to attract the best academics. What requirements does it set for new academic staff members? What requirements must you meet for a career in academia? Read more about our career policy for academic staff.

A new course is often challenging enough for students. But in addition to the new subject matter, they also face all kinds of additional challenges: how do I write a report, how do I find reliable sources, or how do I pitch a research proposal? The e-learning skills platform offers an online learning…

Nerve pain is one of the most common side effects of chemotherapy. It is therefore one of the biggest reasons for cancer patients to stop treatment early. Darcy Reynolds worked on new drug candidates against this pain during her bachelor's thesis. She developed a new series of molecules that increase…

It goes without saying that recruiting new bachelor’s students is important to our university. Our recruitment efforts are focused both on schools and on the pupils themselves.

Archaeologist David Fontijn was nominated for the University Teaching Prize. His students nominated him for this award for his innovative ways of online teaching. In the corona-year 2020-2021 he gave a new course and experimented with the way he taught. ‘It clearly appealed to the students, so we are…

Are you a senior lecturer and do you play an active role in the university’s educational development and innovation? If so, you are eligible for the Senior Teaching Qualification (SKO). This qualification shows that you possess strong didactic and educational skills and that you contribute to the development…

See your Faculty’s tab for more information on what we expect of you as a lecturer, before, during and after tests and examinations, and when supervising students in writing their thesis.

Study information, Graduate School

Study information, Graduate School

In its ruling this week, The Hague Court of Appeal made short work of how the Dutch Border Police allow the colour of a person’s skin to be taken into account when selecting people to check. According to Maartje van der Woude, this ruling reaches far beyond the border police. ‘This is a problem for…

The ‘Engagement with Society’ ambition is closely linked to the ‘Employability Enhancement’ and ‘Skills’ ambitions. Introducing students to social issues often gives them immediate insight into the job market they will enter. And working on social issues gives them the opportunity to develop skills…

What is it like to participate in the Erasmus+ grant programme as a Master's student from Ukraine? Yevhenii Radchenko did an eight-month internship at Leiden University in 2018. Soon after, he returned as a PhD candidate. 'You have little to lose, but a lot to gain.'

Assessment design is essential for measuring student progress and providing feedback that reinforces their learning.

Education

What effect do trends in the art world have on the formation of museum collections? University lecturer Martin Berger wants to answer that question in his research within the Museums, Collections and Society project, which asks ethical questions about the origin of collections.

Filmavond + lezing

It’s about much more than learning how to write a readable piece or give a presentation that doesn’t send the audience to sleep. The intensive Science Communication Summer School gives young scientists the chance to really make contact with the public.

Hippo is the University’s content management system (CMS).

Mental fitness is more than physical health alone. An equally important aspect in our general well-being is mental fitness. Mental fitness refers to fitness of the mind.

'In Leiden, I can continue on the path towards my dream: having my own pharmacy,' says Duaa Abbas. She studied pharmaceutics in Syria and worked in a pharmacy there for a year and a half. After having to flee the country, she ended up in the Netherlands. Thanks to the help of the Foundation for Refugee…

From 12 to 16 April the joint Career Services of the faculties present on Campus The Hague organised the Online Campus The Hague Career Event. Around 600 students signed up! Every day of the week, they could join presentations, webinars and workshops presented by alumni, professionals and Career advisors,…

For first-year bachelor’s students, it is a well-known phenomenon: student mentors. These older students help newcomers on their way in small groups. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this year the choice was made to set up a mentor programme for new master's students as well. We talked to three student…

Research

Brightspace will fully replace Blackboard in academic year 2020-2021. Following evaluations of students and lecturers’ first impressions of Brightspace, the project team now plans to make this digital learning environment more user-friendly.

Education is more than just knowledge transfer: students also develop numerous important skills. But which skills are addressed in which courses? And how can we help students train these skills? The Science Skills team is actively engaging with teachers to answer these questions for all courses. Want…

During the digital education seminar 'Reflections on 2020 and new perspectives for 2021', we will discuss our achievements in online & blended education. There will be a diverse selection of workshops relevant for anyone involved in education. Senior university lecturer Jan Sleutels will be giving a…

Active learning is one of the ambitions mentioned in the University’s educational vision (Learning@LeidenUniversity).

Course, Course

The tools below are available within our faculty for use in teaching.

If you want easy answers to governance questions, you might as well abolish democracy, says Dr. Carola Schoor. A democracy should challenge and raise questions. For a balanced and just rule of law, a 'rule of law compass' is needed.

In the course of your PhD you make agreements with your supervisor(s) concerning your personal development and the supervision you receive. No later than three months after the start of your appointment, these agreements should be recorded in a Training and Supervision Plan. External PhD candidates…

In large numbers, lecturers from the History study programme responded to the call to share tips for online and hybrid education. Everyone can now take a look at these tips on the university website, says chair of education Kim Beerden.

The newly established Leiden Jewish Studies Association aims to bring together Leiden scholars working on Judaism. The first annual conference will take place in Leiden on 6 and 7 December. Leiden professors and co-organisers of the LJSA Sarah Cramsey and Jürgen Zangenberg talk about their plans.

Towards the end of February, three Leiden University buildings will be assessed for their accessibility to people with a disability. The assessment will be carried out by Ongehinderd, a social enterprise committed to making the Netherlands more accessible. Its founder and director, Gerard de Nooij,…