Impressions
DIES NATALIS The time has come! The student procession is ready to celebrate our 443rd Dies Natalis.
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CELEBRATIONS
3 OCTOBER The University is a key player in the Relief of Leiden. Our scholars give mini lectures during the 3 October University, and students and staff join in the parade this year. In 2019 we will be celebrating our 444th birthday with the residents of Leiden and The Hague.
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CITY PHOTOGRAPHERS What does everyday life look like through the eyes of young anthropologists? This year, the Leiden City Photographer Foundation appointed not one but seven photographers, all from Cultural Anthropology. Every week local newspaper Leidsch Dagblad features images of the city taken by these budding anthropologists.
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LEIDEN
WALL FORMULAE The faster you travel, the smaller all stationary objects around you seem to be. Master’s students developed an audio tour that takes in the six wall formulae in Leiden’s historic city centre. The tour explains each formula and gives some information about its inventor. Download the free app from izi TRAVEL.
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POP-UP LECTURES A mini lecture among the stalls at the market in The Hague about our addiction to sugar and in a residential care centre about the ageing brain. Scientists give pop-up lectures at surprising places in The Hague and share their knowledge with the public.
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THE HAGUE
URBAN STUDIES By 2050, no less than 70 percent of the world’s population will live in a city. How do we keep these metropolises liveable? This is the theme of Urban Studies, the new English-language bachelor’s programme in The Hague.
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QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS Freelancing on Bali or a permanent job? Starting a family now, or going travelling first? Thirty-year-olds have a lot to think about. Young alumni come in droves to the Academy Building for the lecture on the quarter-life crisis given by psychologist Nienke Wijnants.
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ALUMNI
IN OVO Discovering whether a chick is male or female while it is still in the egg could prevent the premature death of 45 million male chicks in the Netherlands each year. Leiden biotech company In Ovo, founded by Leiden alumni Wouter Bruins (left) and Wil Stutterheim (right), has received an investment of several million euros to further develop its unique testing method.
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PRIME MINISTER From political confessions to life lessons from his own student days: Prime Minister Mark Rutte, an alumnus of Leiden University, candidly answers questions from Leiden Law students.
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POLITICS
CITY COUNCIL Fifteen new members of Leiden City Council take a look behind the scenes in a brand-new lab at the Gorlaeus Building and meet scientists from different disciplines. The University is keen to foster cooperation with the cities where it is located, Leiden and The Hague.
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MAX HAVELAAR PUBLIC SPEAKING COMPETITION What is the recipe for a successful speech? At the annual Max Havelaar Competition, high school pupils give a speech before a jury and receive advice from linguists. This is one of the ways the University helps young people with an interest in public speaking to further develop their talent.
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YOUNG TALENT
IGEM Thirteen creative Leiden students take part in iGEM, the world’s largest biology competition. Their mission: to find a solution for the growing resistance to antibiotics. The Leiden student team finishes this global competition with several gold medals.
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HYDROPHONE The noise underwater is immense. Even at the deepest point in the Atlantic Ocean you can still hear the sound of boats, biologist Hans Slabbekoorn warns. He uses special underwater microphones to study the effect of all that noise on the communication of fish and other creatures.
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NATURE
GHOST FUNGUS In daylight, the ghost fungus looks like a simple mushroom, but when it is dark, something magical happens: the fungus, which grows in Leiden’s Hortus Botanicus, starts to glow a mysterious green colour. This colour is the result of light produced by micro-organisms in the fungus. Why the fungus emits light is one of nature’s puzzles, says Rogier van Vugt, head of the greenhouse.
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SOLAR PANELS A record to be proud of: 1,242 solar panels have been installed on the roof of the Gorlaeus Lecture Hall, the saucer-shaped building of the Faculty of Science. Gorlaeus now has the largest solar roof in Leiden. There are also plans to place solar panels on five more University buildings.
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CONSTRUCTION
BEEHIVE Our students in The Hague now have their own brand-new student centre in the heart of the city: Beehive. Just like a real hive, it is buzzing with the many students who congregate there. Beehive is also home to student organisations, study areas and sports facilities.
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HEALTHY UNIVERSITIES Sweets or vegetables: what do you reach for when you have an energy dip? Students talk about healthy eating to passers-by at the market in The Hague. Leiden University is the first university in the Netherlands to join the international network of Healthy Universities. Lifestyle workshops also encourage our students and staff to live healthier lives.
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SUSTAINABILITY
SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION SYMPOSIUM How can we make our consumption more sustainable and reduce University waste? The enthusiastic students at the Leiden University Green Office organise all kinds of activities that help make the University more sustainable. As a first step, visitors to a symposium receive a sustainable bamboo toothbrush.
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LGBT+ NETWORK A university where everyone can feel at home. This is the aim of the new LGBT+ Network. The network is a place where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersexual and queer employees and students can exchange experiences and give advice on creating an even more inclusive University community.
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DIVERSITY
PORTRAITS OF WOMEN PROFESSORS A remarkable transformation of the Senate Room: 14 female professors take their place in the University’s classic portrait gallery. Before this, the collection of portraits of 118 professors included only one woman: Sophia Antoniadis. The Executive Board felt it was high time for a change.
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FIELDWORK Found! Archaeology student Antonio Kamerling finds this part of a horse’s bridle in Hungary on an excavation site containing remains from the Bronze Age. Our archaeology students participate in excavations all over the world, and regularly make unusual finds.
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IN PRACTICE ONLINE CONSULTATION Skyping your doctor in the LUMC. Twelve-year-old Sophie thinks that’s a great idea. She is gluten intolerant and Skype is a good way of quickly asking her doctor for advice.
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EDUCATION FESTIVAL The Education Festival is an opportunity for teachers and students to share their best practices and visions on education. Communitydriven projects and innovative technology enrich our education. All the ideas and ambitions of the visitors are brought together in a colourful work of art. (Photo below).
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EDUCATION
LAB BUDDY Lab experiments can be daunting. Lecturers Marjo de Graauw (left), Janine Geerling (centre) and Erik Danen (right) design Lab Buddy, a digital laboratory tool that lets students design their experiments in advance. This kind of educational innovation prepares students better for the practical environment.
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CHINA Unexpected visit: during his visit to the Netherlands, the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang talks to Rector Carel Stolker and various PhD students at the Leiden Hortus Botanicus. The People’s Republic of China is an important country for the University: we have partnerships with some 20 Chinese universities.
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INTERNATIONAL
OWL The whole world comes together in Leiden. More than 1,300 international students from all over the world get to know the city, the University and each other during the Orientation Week Leiden (OWL). From traditional Dutch games to a music festival: an unforgettable start to your studies.
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LANGUAGE RESEARCH The Papuan Abui language, spoken on the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia, is losing ground to Indonesian. Linguist George Saad is investigating this change by showing local people films and getting them to talk in Abui about what they see.
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LANGUAGE
JAN WOLKERS RisquĂŠ letters, frank diaries, family photos and much more. Leiden University Libraries, together with Museum De Lakenhal, is donated the artistic legacy of Dutch writer and artist Jan Wolkers (1925-2007). It was his wish for the collection to be held in Leiden.
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FLUORESCENCE It is a first in Europe: doctors at LUMC use fluorescence when removing a lung tumour. Before surgery, the patient is administered a fluorescent substance that lights up tumour cells green. This makes it easier to identify and remove malignant tissue.
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MEDICINE
GROWING A KIDNEY Leiden and Australian researchers are developing a mini kidney that will grow into an almost mature version of the organ within a few weeks. This is a promising step towards producing kidney tissue from human stem cells. The kidney can then develop further after transplantation.
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NIGHT OF DISCOVERIES Pop-up lectures on ground-breaking science, performances in a fairytale Hortus, intriguing art installations on the canal and illusionist and Leiden alumnus Victor Mids who does his best to hoodwink the audience. The Night of Discoveries in Leiden’s city centre offers a seductive mix of science, theatre, music and art.
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HANDS-ON SCIENCE
SCIENCE FAMILY DAY Making glitter gel, smelling and feeling unusual plants or building molecules. On the first Leiden Science Family Day, visitors young and old get to do some hands-on science. A programme full of experiments and demonstrations gives them a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes at the Faculty.
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WELCOME
INTRODUCTION A flying start to both your acadamic career and your social life. This is what the introduction weeks for first-year students in Leiden and The Hague are all about. The students get to know one another, the University, the student associations and all that the two cities have to offer.
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SEE YOU SOON
GRADUATION Students of International Studies celebrate their graduation with a festive degree ceremony. Leiden University is keen to maintain relations with its alumni. One of the ways it does this is by promoting the personal and professional development of alumni.
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200 YEARS OF ARCHAEOLOGY Greek statues, Bronze Age weapons, Roman bowls and much more. These artefacts were collected or excavated personally by Leiden archaeologists and can be seen in the National Museum of Antiquities. Academic archaeological research and the museum have both been in existence for 200 years and there has been close cooperation between them ever since.
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MUSEUMS
MUSEUM OBJECTS Real or fake? Children believe that both dinosaur fossils and replicas belong in a museum, but they appreciate the real objects more. This is the result of research by Leiden University and Naturalis Biodiversity Center.
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SCIENCE RUN ‘Refugees often have to run for their lives. In Leiden we are running to raise money to educate them.’ These are the words of Lesage Munyemana, Leiden biology student and originally a refugee from Congo, in his appeal to sponsor teams taking part in the Leiden Science Run. Together, the runners raise over 10,000 euros.
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IN MOTION
HERITAGE ON THE MOVE How do Nepalese exiles celebrate in England? What are North Korean monuments doing in Zimbabwe? In LeidenGlobal’s travelling exhibition ‘Heritage on the Move’, Leiden researchers talk about the impact of migration on cultural heritage. This influence can be seen in the Kaha di òrgel, for instance, a musical instrument that plays an important role in the culture of Aruba, Bonaire en Curaçao.
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SPINOZA PRIZE Leiden psychologist Carsten de Dreu is awarded a Spinoza Prize, the highest scientific accolade in the Netherlands. He will use the prize money of 2.5 million euros to further his innovative research on group dynamics.
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PRIZE WINNERS
KAVLI PRIZE A proud Ewine van Dishoeck, Professor of Molecular Astrophysics, is presented with the prestigious Kavli Prize by Norwegian King Harald V. She is awarded the prize for her pioneering research on how stars and planets are formed. ‘Our field is now in the Champions League of Astronomy,’ says Van Dishoeck.
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MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGY His research would make a great film: maritime archaeologist Martijn Manders is raising the treasures of the Dutch East India Company ship De Rooswijk. The ship sank off the English coast in 1740 with 30 crates of silver bars and an enormous quantity of smuggled coins on board.
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WATER
REPAIRING THE DUNES For our drinking water alone, dunes are invaluable. Leiden biologists have been called in to help protect the dunes. Dean of the Faculty of Science Geert de Snoo and Dunea ecologist Harrie van der Hagen symbolically open the new TERRA dunes research platform.
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CLEVERINGA LECTURE Human trafficking is rife in the Netherlands but is often hidden, warns Cleveringa Professor Corinne Dettmeijer. In her speech she calls on people to be alert and to act against injustice. Until 2018, Dettmeijer was the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking and Sexual Violence against Children.
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HISTORY
SQUATTING APP This building that was once inhabited by squatters is not in Amsterdam but in the Breestraat in Leiden. Leiden also has a history of squatting, and the people involved can sometimes be surprising, such as the elderly and families. Students and teachers from the History programme and Journalism & New Media share their research in the ‘Squatting in Leiden’ app.
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OPEN DAY Will it be History, Law or Psychology? Thousands of students and their parents visit the Open Day to get a better idea of the study programmes and the city. Interested students can also take part in experience days and attend lectures from the study programme they are considering.
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PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS MASTER’S DAY At the Master’s Day more than 3,000 visitors explore the options for the next phase of their studies. Which of the more than 80 master’s programmes will it be? Study advisers, master’s students and alumni help the students choose the right programme.
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SRON With the SRON space research institute set to move to Leiden in 2021, the region is developing into a major space cluster. SRON aims to cooperate more intensively in the field of science and technology with Leiden University, Delft University of Technology and nearby partners such as ESTEC in Noordwijk. Vice-Rector Hester Bijl (right) receives the space research partners for the signing of the partnership agreement.
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UNIVERSE
WEEKEND OF SCIENCE The adolescent brain, the wonderful world of the Universe or the power of art: with enthusiastic narrators, almost every subject becomes fascinating. Leiden Professor of Psychology Eveline Crone (middle), astronaut AndrÊ Kuipers (right) and artist Daan Roosegaarde (left) are the ambassadors of this year’s Weekend of Science.
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PIETER DE LA COURT In 2018 there were public lectures and the unveiling of a commemorative sign to mark the 400th birth year of Pieter de la Court (1618-1685), after whom the faculty building of Social and Behavioural Sciences is named. De la Court studied in Leiden, laying the foundation for both political and economic science. The new plaque is unveiled by outgoing Faculty Dean Hanna Swaab (left) and Mayor Henri Lenferink (right).
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CAMPAIGNERS
NATO How can NATO respond to the changing world in which we live? NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg (centre) discusses this issue with students at Campus The Hague, in the presence of Rector Carel Stolker (left). This inspiring event is presided over by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Leiden professor and former Secretary-General of NATO (right).
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CAMPAIGNERS UNIVERSE ALUMNI TECHNOLOGY WELCOME THE HAGUE TAAL WATER PROSPECTIVE STUDE DIVERSITY CONSTRUCTION HANDS-ON SCIE INNOVATION CELEBRATIONS IN MOTION HISTORIE GEZONDHEID INTERNATIONAAL ERFGOED MEEDOEN DUURZABOUW YOUNG TALENT NATURE SCIENCE POLITICS SUSTAINABILITY EDUCATION MEDICINE INTERNATIONAAL IN PRACTICE WATER THE LANGUAGE DIVERSITY HISTORY SEE YOU SOON Would you like to know more?
You can find the stories behind the photos at: www.universiteitleiden.nl/impressions
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In 2019 Leiden University celebrates its 444th anniversary: www.universiteitleiden.nl/444