Profile Faculty of Science
'Excellence in Science Research and Education' remains our mission statement for the coming years, in line with the new strategy of Leiden University 2010-2014, 'Inspiration and Growth'.
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The Faculty of Science is a first-class research faculty with an excellent position in the basic disciplines of science.
As part of the cutbacks in recent years (6.8 M € in 2009 - 2011) and the implementation of the Sectorplans Physics and Chemistry the following profile and concentration on core tasks have been accomplished:Profiling Leiden
A number of selected research areas and programmes of the faculty is unique in Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam (LDE). For example, biology, biopharmaceuticals, chemistry and astronomy are part of the profiling of Leiden and of great importance to science faculty to be attractive.Cooperation with TU Delft
The faculty offers a number of BSc courses along with TU Delft:
• Life Science and Technology
• Molecular Science and Technology
• MathematicsIn research we also cooperate with the TU Delft. Successful examples of national character are:
• Casimir Research School
• Nano-Imaging under Industrial Conditions (NIMIC)
• BioScience Delft Leiden (BSDL)
• Medical DeltaCooperation with the LUMC
With the LUMC we cooperate in the following areas:
• Bioinformatics
• Drug development and image processing
• Cell Observatory
• Netherlands Centre for Electron Nano Copy (NeCEN)
This expertise and infrastructure are vital for the Bio Science Park.Faculty priorities
The faculty also has a number of unique and leading approaches:Astronomy
• The Observatory is the only Dutch institution in the worldwide top-5 of it’s discipline
• 2 Spinoza Prize winners
• 2 Advanced ERC grantsPhysics
• 2 Spinoza Prize winners
• Advanced 3 ERC grantsMathematics
• Excellent research review
• Spinoza prize winner
• Advanced ERC grantRecently the Dutch Research School for Astronomy (NOVA) and the national mathematics cluster (DIAMANT) were assessed as exemplary.
Our core values are:
- Scientific impacts
- Technological innovation
- Relevance for society.
- Education
BSc programmes
BSc minors
BSc honourscollege
Double bachelor (in Dutch)
- Multidisciplinary research
We encourage multidisciplinary research. Our weekly meeting called ‘This week’s Discoveries’ brings together all researchers. Each year, our staff and students select the ‘Discoverer of the Year’ of the faculty. All Master’s and PhD programmes are coordinated by the Leiden University Graduate School of Science.
Institutes
Hortus botanicus (botanical garden)
Institute of Biology Leiden
Institute of Environmental Sciences
Leiden Amsterdam Center for Drug Research
Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
Leiden Institute of Chemistry
Leiden Institute of Physics
Leiden Observatory
Lorentz Center
National Herbarium Nederland
Mathematical Institute
- Research profiles
Leiden University has eleven profiling areas of research. These cross the traditional boundaries between disciplines and faculties. Our research institutes participate in two of these research profiles.
Bioscience: the science base of health (Science, LUMC)
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC)
- Institute Biology Leiden (IBL)
- Leiden Institute of Physics (LION)
- Leiden Amsterdam Centre for Drug Research (LACDR)Fundamentals of science (Science)
- Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science (LIACS)
- Mathematical Institute (MI)
- Leiden Observatory (Sterrewacht)
- Leiden Institute of Physics (LION)
- Leiden Institute of Chemistry (LIC)The consistency and strength of the profile areas will be strengthened by establishing a number of centers or platforms within the Faculty. Besides the Cell Observatory (which serves as an example) we will create such centers in the area of medicinal chemistry, microbiology and cosmology.
- Strategic Cooperation
The coming years, the faculty will focus more on establishing strategic partnerships with other organisations in both academic and social context.
Universities are increasingly expected to make choices in science policy, clustered in larger scientific relationships in which universities, research institutions and government and industry participate. Moreover, cooperation in larger cohesive relationships is critical to successfully obtaining external research funding.Regional cooperation
We intensify our cooperation with the LUMC in the context of the strategic partnership between the Universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam. Regional cooperation contributes to the assessment of research effort and an efficient research infrastructure at the three universities.Medical Delta
In this initiative the universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam join forces. In the coming period, this will be professionalised in cooperation with the cities Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam, the province of Zuid-Holland, the Leiden Bio Science Park and Science Port Holland. It is our ambition to become the most innovative cluster of life science and medical technology provider in the Netherlands, through integration of:
• Technology
• Medical-biological expertise
• Entrepreneurship
• Government policyThe faculty is contributing to the fundamental knowledge in the following areas :
• Molecular Technoloy
• Imaging and Drug Delivery
• Design and DevelopmentThis strategy provides a solid basis for the involvement of faculty in the Medical Delta and allows to contribute to health-TIES, a Region of Knowledge (RoK) in Health and Life Science, of wich Medical Delta is a partner. The purpose of the faculty is to use Health TIES to participate in a Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) in Life Science and Health and to contribute to the creation of a new innovation chain: from education to economic impact; for example, in drug development.
