Welcome to Leiden University
Will you soon be joining Leiden University? Here you can find all the information you need to get your studies off to a good start.
Joining a bachelor's or master's programme?
Find out what you need to know and arrange by clicking on your faculty or study programme tab.
Following exchange or study-abroad courses?
Find out what you need to know and arrange by clicking on your exchange faculty tab.
Following courses at more than one faculty? For course-specific information, select the relevant exchange faculty (top of the page). For general information, select any of your exchange faculties.
What to arrange before your studies begin
An introduction week is the best way to get to know your new city, student life and your fellow students.
Housing
Make sure that you start early applying for housing or finding housing yourself. On the housing page you can find more information about arranging accommodation.
Warm Welcome Service
Shortly before the start of the first semester, we organise a service where practical matters like residence permit procedures (if applicable), town hall registration, health insurance arrangements, opening a bank account can be arranged all at once! More information is available on the Warm Welcome Service page.
As a student of Leiden University you’ll receive a student account (ULCN account). This gives you access to the university’s systems and work stations. You'll first need to activate your ULCN account.
Your LU card is your university ID card. It gives you access to a range of facilities. Make sure to request your LU card before starting your studies.
Make sure you know where you have to be and when on your first day.
In the Academic Year Calendar Psychology you will find all holiday and exam dates of the academic year 2024-2025.
In the Prospectus you will find all detailed information about the courses you will follow, including the learning objectives, assessment method and literature per subject.
A global overview of all courses you will follow per semester can be found at the webpage about the study programme of the International Bachelor in Psychology.
Through the system MyStudymap you are able to register for courses and exams. We take care of the registration for the lectures, work groups and exams of the first year.
More information about course registration can be found on the page 'Course and exam enrolment'.
Books
You can order the books you need in the first block of courses through our Study Association Labyrint. You can buy English books at a lowest price guarantee compared to other suppliers if you are a member of Labyrint. It is also possible to buy your books elsewhere, but always make sure that the ISBN code matches so that you are sure you are buying the right book. Updated versions of books often appear. Using an older version of a book is at your own risk as the information may not fully match with the matter you are supposed to study.
You can find the books you will need for the first block of academic year 2024-2025 below.
Introduction to Psychology
- Gray, P. & Bjorklund, D.F. (2018). Psychology (8th ed.). New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN-10: 1-319-15051-9. ISBN-13: 978-1-319-15051-8.
History of Psychology
- Literature will be available on Brightspace (online learning environment).
Introduction to Methodology and Statistics
- Leary, M.L. (2012). Introduction to Behavioral Research Methods (6th edition). Boston: Pearson. ISBN 978-1-29202-027-3
- Howell, D.C. (2014/2021). Statistical Methods for Psychology (Leiden edition). Wadsworth: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-4737-8791-9. E-book, can be ordered online via: https://www.cengage.uk/c/custom/9781473787919/
- R (open source software, download for free at www.r-project.org)
- R Studio (open source software, download for free at www.posit.co)
Readers
For some courses you will need readers. These readers are a type of syllabus which provides additional information or exercises for certain courses. The readers will be available online in the online learning environment Brightspace.
We expect you to have access to a laptop when you come to study at Leiden University. If you do not have a laptop, we advise you to purchase a laptop. For certain subjects, such as computer practicals, it may be a requirement to bring your laptop to lectures or work groups.
A Windows laptop or an Apple MacBook with an up-to-date operating system will be sufficient for your studies, as well as a device with Unix. We do not recommend using a Chromebook. A Chromebook can only be used if the student installs the statistical programs R and Rstudio using advanced options.
Operating system:
| Windows |
10 or later versions |
| macOS | 12 or later versions |
| Unix (and Unix-like) |
Ubuntu 20/Debian 11 |
Processor:
Any 64-bit processor is enough. Only very old devices use 32-bit processors.
Storage:
Minimum: 1GB empty storage.
Recommended: At least 10GB empty. A new laptop usually has minimum 128GB.
RAM:
Minimum: 1GB. Recommended: At least 4GB.
4GB is usually the minimum you can find in a new laptop.
Support and advice
In the first year of your bachelor, you will be assigned a student as a mentor and a teacher as a tutor to guide you through your new study and city. You will meet your student mentor and tutor during the first weeks of your studies.
Tutor
Your tutor is a teacher who guides you during the first year in learning important skills. This is the teacher for you and your tutor group for the Academic Skills Tutorial course, which is held throughout the first year.
Mentor
Your mentor is a senior student who guides you through Leiden University, provides advice and can be your first point of contact in the event of study problems or personal circumstances, and to refer you to other persons or bodies if necessary. The student mentor also gives tips and explanations about dealing with studying, exams, the culture of the programme, life in Leiden and the Netherlands and the student experience as a whole.
You can contact the study advisers if you run into problems, such as study delay or for questions about, for example, study planning and exam regulations. There will be an information meeting with your study adviser on 3 September 2024. During the academic year you can make a personal appointment with your study adviser through email.
The Student Services Centre (SSC) of the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is the point of contact for all your practical study questions. You can contact the SSC for questions about: course and exam registration, study results, and other practical, administrative matters.
The SSC can be found on the ground floor at the back of the Central Hall of the Pieter de la Court building.
During your time as a student you will probably face a variety of challenges. Both in terms of studying and personal development, you might need a little help from time to time. Find out how you can boost your wellbeing and who you can turn to for support. Read more about wellbeing
Get to know key facilities
Here, on the student website, you can find a wide range of practical information about your studies.
Select your study programme or exchange faculty
When you first visit the website, you will be asked to select your study programme or exchange faculty to continue.
- By selecting your study programme or exchange faculty, 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.
Tabs: from general to specific
If you have selected your study programme or exchange faculty, you will sometimes 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 for students on your study programme, or for exchange students at this faculty.
Your student card is your proof of registration as a student of Leiden University. The student card is a digital card and can be found in the University Leiden app after activation.
All the details of your studies are recorded in uSis. From your first registration as a student until your graduation.
Brightspace is Leiden University’s online learning environment.
As a student of Leiden University you will be issued with a university email address: uMail. All correspondence from the university will be sent to this address. You can set up your uMail account so that all mails will be forwarded to your own email address.
The indispensable app for Leiden University students. Here you can find all your personal study information in one place. Log in once and access your schedule, results, available computers and university news anytime and anyplace.
Leiden University offers many study places where you can study in peace. One of these study places is the Social and Behavioural Sciences Library, which is located in the Pieter de la Court building. This library has 150 regular study places and 60 computer study places.
You can read more about the library and other study facilities on the website.
MyTimetable & MyStudymap
In Leiden University’s student portal you can organise your studies with ease. From enrolling for courses and exams to checking your schedule and grades.
Read more about MyTimetable & MyStudymap
Get more out of your student days
By joining an association you'll meet lots of people and get more out of student life. As well as student and study associations, there are also a range of social associations in Leiden and The Hague, for example sports, religious or cultural associations.
Study Association Labyrint
Study Association Labyrint is there to help you during your studies. As a member, you receive a discount on summaries, tutoring and all Labyrint activities. This study association also organises various activities: from lectures and congresses to parties and social activities. These activities are a great way to get to know your fellow students and make lifelong friends.
Labyrint has few obligations, so you can decide for yourself how active you become within the association. Will you only become a member for the discounts or will you commit yourself with a small group of fellow students to organise the most fantastic activities? For more information, see the website of Labyrint.
As a student of Leiden University, you have access to a wide range of affordable sports via the University Sport Centre (USC) in Leiden and The Hague.
Make the most of your time as a student and become a member of the Leiden University Fund (LUF). The LUF offers grants for research, internships, study abroad and more. Members are entitled to discount on a wide range of activities such as surfing, stand up paddling and Museum Night. You will also receive invitations for traditional Leiden events and be kept up to date on new subsidies and prizes.
Discover all the opportunities offered by the LUF and maximize your potential.
Participate in a programme committee
The Bachelor's Programme Committee consists of both staff representatives and students and is responsible for the constant process of adjusting and modifying the education programme, for instance, by means of education evaluations, both small-scale and large-scale. The Bachelor's Programme Committee acts as adviser to the Board of Education.
Every year in September the students of the Bachelor's Programme Committee are chosen. You can apply for this committee and play a role in improving the programme.
The International Student Platform (ISP) for students of the International Bachelor in Psychology (IBP) is mainly concerned with educational problems specific for international bachelor's students.
Students of the International Bachelor in Psychology (IBP) who want to have a say in our programme are welcome to the International Student Platform (IBP-ISP).
Contribute to our academic community
You are now a part of our academic community. Here at Leiden University, we pride ourselves on our motto Praesidium Libertatis – bastion of freedom – and cherish the tradition of academic freedom.
What do we expect of you?
A vital component of academic freedom is an open culture in which we can disagree with one another yet still feel safe, a culture that gets us thinking and could even cause us to change our views. This benefits us. And you too have a part to play.