North East Asia
Leiden University has a long tradition of Asian language education. Chinese, Japanese and Korean partners are essential in providing a practical side of learning education.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean partners are essential in providing a practical side of learning education. Our bachelor and master programmes in Asian studies, unique in the Netherlands, cannot happen without maintaining excellent connections in North East Asia.
Chinese, Japanese and Korean Universities are also valued partners for research activities. As these universities are inherently strong on both fundamental and applied sciences, they make impactful partners in research projects with a global outreach.
These types of collaborations as well as new opportunities on a continent with a strong academic focus and world-leading universities, make North East Asia a pillar in our global engagement policy.
Originally, we focused on collaboration with China. This is why we have strong partnerships with academic institutions in that country. Universities as Peking University, Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University or China University of Political Science and Law offer opportunities to faculty and students. The long-term collaboration with the China Scholarship Council allows bright PhD-students to work in Leiden or The Hague, bringing international excellence to our campuses.
Recently, we have widened our scope to enhance research collaboration with partners in Japan and the Republic of Korea and we are working to deepen the partnerships with the academic institutions that have been close colleagues over the years, like Yonsei University, Seoul National University, Tokyo University and Nagasaki University. For example, the Leiden-Tokyo collaboration has resulted in the Owada Chair, an a rotating chair that also brings together PhD-candidates around current international law and politics.