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Hall of Fame 2025

In 2025, many of our students and staff won fantastic prizes and secured important research grants. This is our traditional review of these successes as the end of one year marks the beginning of another.

Prizes and grants are awarded to individual researchers, lecturers and students as well as to teams. What all of these awards have in common is that they are the result of teamwork – behind every award-winner is a team. We are proud of these joint successes.

Below is a selection of our students and staff members’ awards, appointments and achievements. For a more detailed list by faculty, see the right-hand side of this page.

Most prestigious national awards

NWO Spinoza Prize

Judith Pollmann
International grants, prizes and awards

European grants and awards

ERC Advanced Grant

  • Bleda Düring - Faculty of Archaeology
  • Andrea Evers - Institute of Psychology
  • Bart Roep - LUMC
  • Diana Suhardiman - Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology

ERC Starting Grant

  • Nathalie Brusgaard - Faculty of Archaeology
  • Alisa van de Haar - Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Rajagopal Murugan - LUMC

ERC Synergy Grant 

  • Frans Theuws - Faculty of Archaeology

ERC Consolidator Grant

  • Paul van Trigt - Institute for History
  • Peter Webb - Institute for Area Studies

ERC Proof of Concept Grant

  • Jean-Louis van Gelder - Institute of Education and Child Studies
  • Roxanne Kieltyka - Leiden Institute of Chemistry 
  • Daniël Pijnappels - LUMC
  • Hermen Overkleeft - Leiden Institute of Chemistry 
  • Sebastian Pomplun - Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research
National grants, prizes and awards

Dutch Research Council (NWO) grants

Veni

  • Tanja Ahlin - Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology
  • Niels van den Berg - LUMC
  • Leindert Boogaard - Leiden Observatory
  • Stan van der Burght - Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
  • Qinyu Chen - Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
  • Mariateresa Coppola - LUMC
  • Thomas van Essen - LUMC
  • Ellis van Etten - LUMC
  • Tanja Hendriks - African Studies Centre Leiden
  • Guadalupe Cañas Herrera - Leiden Observatory
  • Dirk van der Hoeven - Mathematical Institute
  • Rik Joosen - Instituut of Public Administration
  • Maaike van der Lee - LUMC
  • Verena Meyer - Institute for Area Studies
  • Martijn Nagtegaal - LUMC
  • Larissa Schulte Nordholt - Institute For History
  • Anna-Luna Post - Institute for History
  • Jana Volaric - Leiden Institute of Chemistry

Vidi

  • Lotte Fikkers - Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Eduard Fosch Villaronga - Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law
  • Nan van Geloven - LUMC
  • Alisa van de Haar - Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Bas Hensen - Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Lydiane Hirschler - LUMC
  • Krista Milne - Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Rik Mom - Leiden Institute of Chemistry
  • Evert van Nieuwenburg - LIACS & Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Sara Petrollino - Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
  • Joost Vermaat - LUMC
  • Matus Rybak - SRON, Leiden Observatory
  • Hilde Wermink - Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology
  • Annie Yang - LUMC

Vici

  • Hermen Jan Hupkes - Mathematical Institute
  • Amanda Henry - Faculty of Archaeology
  • Willemijn Waal - Institute for Area Studies
  • Lenneke Alink - Pedagogical Sciences

NWO Dutch Research Agenda

  • Diego Garlaschelli - Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Wolfgang Löffler - Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Yamila Miguel - Leiden Observatory
  • Evert van Nieuwenburg - Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Kat Stewart - Institute of Environmental Sciences
  • Jan Kolen - Faculty of Archaeology

High Tech Systems and Materials Programme

  • Joost Batenburg - Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
  • Thijs van Osch - LUMC

NWO SGW Open Competition M

  • Laurens van Apeldoorn and Elody Hutten - Institute of Tax Law and Economics
  • Raymond Fagel - Institute for History
  • Esther van Ginneken - Institute of Criminal Law and Criminology
  • Michiel van Groesen - Institute for History
  • Anne Meuwese and Francien Dechesne - Institute for the Interdisciplinary Study of the Law

NWO SGW Open Competition XS

  • Jelena Belic - Institute of Political Science
  • Tom Theuns - Institute of Political Science
  • Lucien van Beek - Centre for Linguistics
  • Nathalie Brusgaard - Faculty of Archaeology
  • Krista Milne - Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Isaac Scarborough - Institute for History
  • Ramon Arens - LUMC
  • Marta Artola Perez de Azanza - Leiden Institute of Chemistry
  • Jasper Demandt - LUMC
  • Stephan Hacker - Leiden Institute of Chemistry
  • Dane Marijan - Leiden Institute of Chemistry
  • Paula Niewold - LUMC
  • Marcel Tijsterman - LUMC
  • Henri Versteeg - LUMC
  • Han de Winde - Institute of Biology Leiden
  • Rachel Plak - Education and child studies

NWO Open Competition ENW-M

NWO Open Competition ENW-XS

  • Joachim van Guyse - Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research
  • Konstantinos Migkas - Leiden Observatory
  • Julia Villalva - Leiden Institute of Chemistry
  • Ben van Werkhoven - Leiden Institute of Advanced Computer Science
  • Agustin Enciso Martinez  - LUMC
  • Christian Tudorache - Institute for Biology Leiden
  • Madeline Kavanagh - Leiden Institute of Chemistry
  • Janneke Dekker - LUMC
  • Margo Dona - Institute for Biology Leiden
  • Martina Huber - Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Sandra Irmisch - Institute for Biology Leiden
  • Frank Staal - LUMC
  • Alexandru-Ionut Babeanu - Leiden Institute of Physics
  • Joan Enrique Romero - Leiden Institute of Chemistry

National prizes

University appointments and other awards

Special university appointments

  • Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl received an honorary degree from the University of Birmingham on Friday 12 December.
  • Chair of the Leiden University Fund (LUF) Aletta Stas-Bax was awarded the University Medal at her farewell dinner with the LUF Board.
Special appointments

Six new members of Young Academy Leiden

  • Sheila Varadan - Institute of Private Law / Department of Child Law and Health Law
  • Indira Day - Leiden University Graduate School of Teaching
  • Sara de Wit - African Studies Centre Leiden
  • Elizabeth Buimer - Forensic Family and Youth Care Studies
  • Lieke Smits - Centre for the Arts in Society
  • Martijn Nagtegaal - LUMC

New members of KHMW

  • Petra Sijpesteijn - Leiden University Centre for the Study of Islam and Society
  • Vanessa Mak - Institute of Private Law
  • Mariska Kret - Cognitive Psychology
  • Miranda van Eck - Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research

New member of the Royal Netherlands Academ of Art and Sciences (KNAW)

  • Joop Schaye
University teaching prizes and grants

Comenius Grants

Comenius Teaching Fellow Grant

  • Marjo de Graauw - Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR)
  • Malte Riemann - Institute of Security and Global Affairs

Teaching prizes

LUS Teaching Prize

  • Arjan Louwen - Faculty of Archaeology
Arjan Louwen covers his mouth with his hands and laughs. Those next to him in the row applaud.
Arjan Louwen (second from left) hears that he has won the Leiden Teaching Prize
Leiden University Fund (LUF) research grants and prizes
A smiling Katharina Natter with two smiling men with a large bunch of flowers.
Katharina Natter (midden) was awarded the Gratama Science Prize 2025. Next to her are runners-up Gerlov van Engelenhoven (links) and Sebastiaan Haffert.
Student prizes and awards
A group of people holding certificates and a bunch of flowers
The Leidse University Thesis Prize and Schild-de Groen Research Prize are awarded.
Honorary doctorate from Leiden University

On the university’s 450th anniversary on 8 February honorary doctorates were awarded to Kelly Chibale (professor of crganic chemistry), Bonnie Honig (political philosopher) and Eliot Higgins (research journalist). 

A group of people in gowns on a stage.
The honorary doctors (wearing a blue sash). Kelly Chibale, Bonnie Honig and Eliot Higgins (l-r).
Koninklijke onderscheidingen
  • Former lecturer Wim Timmermans appointed Knight in the Order of Orange-Nassau. 
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