Leiden University

About Us

Leiden University was founded in 1575 and is one of the leading international research universities in Europe. The University has seven faculties and a campus in both Leiden and The Hague. Our motto is Praesidium Libertatis – Bastion of Freedom.

We distinguish five broad clusters of science areas and one overarching research theme.

Vision

The core of Leiden University’s vision is to train students to become academic professionals and engaged, responsible citizens. Once they have graduated, out students will then be able to make a contribution to resolving the challenges currently facing society – both within and outside academia.

This calls for teaching that is both strongly driven and clearly fed by research: teaching that promotes intensive and active learning on the part of students, stimulates the development of academic and professional skills and offers flexibility for individual learning paths.  At Leiden University we give talented people the room to develop, we offer supervision to students who need it, and we educate our international and diverse student population to become academics who are ready for the job market of tomorrow.

The core of our vision on teaching Learning@LeidenUniversity is research-driven teaching in an international and diverse learning environment, in which students are encouraged to develop an active and ambitious attitude. This vision on teaching and learning was formulated in 2017 and is the basis for our current teaching as well as an agenda for teaching innovation for the coming years.

Quality and integrity

Leiden University stands for high quality research. Integrity and reliability in the way we conduct research are core beliefs in Leiden.

The research at Leiden University must be beyond doubt. We therefore expect our scientists to adhere to the codes that apply to ethical scientific practice. It is important that it is clear to everyone whether, and if so, which positions our academic staff hold in addition to their appointment as a researcher at Leiden University.

The quality of our research can be seen, among other things, from the results of the evaluations external committees carry out at our research institutes. Rankings also provide a picture of the quality of our research.

Responsible science also means that animal testing, which unfortunately is unavoidable in certain cases, is carried out in the most careful and humane way possible. We therefore fully comply with the rules and want to communicate clearly about this subject.

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