From four professors to 250 researchers: celebrating 30 years of LIACS
computer science
What started in 1996 as a small institute with a handful of staff and students has grown into one of the largest institutes within Leiden University's Faculty of Science. As LIACS celebrates its 30th anniversary, two long-standing members reflect on its remarkable journey.
Google did not exist yet, Windows 95 was the hot new thing and the internet was only beginning to enter everyday life. When Professor Thomas Bäck joined LIACS on 1 September 1996, the institute couldn’t look more different from today. ‘We were tiny,’ he recalls. ‘There were only a few professors, a small number of students, and everyone knew everyone.’
Professor Todor Stefanov, who arrived as a PhD candidate in 2000, remembers an equally intimate atmosphere. ‘All the PhD students could sit around a single table.’ Back then, there were only a few international PhD candidates, Stefanov recalls. Today, LIACS recruits researchers and students from around the world and has established itself as an internationally recognized research institute.
‘Modern AI was unimaginable’
In those early years, computer science at Leiden University was still establishing itself as an independent discipline. Research focused on areas such as theoretical computer science, data science and computer systems. Artificial intelligence was far from the mainstream. ‘Nobody imagined what AI would become,’ says Stefanov.
Since then, LIACS has broadened its research portfolio, from theory, algorithms, high performance computing, software engineering and imaging to artificial intelligence, machine learning, cybersecurity, quantum computing, data science, and human-AI interaction. Bäck, whose own work began in evolutionary computation, witnessed the arrival of data-driven research in the early 2000s and later the rise of modern AI. ‘Today we work with large language models, generative AI and many other advanced technologies that simply would not have been imaginable 30 years ago.’
LIACS in numbers
| 1996 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Students | ca. 120 | ca. 1300 |
| Academic staff (excluding PhD) | 26 | 110+ |
| Support staff | 5 | 43 |
| PhD students | 15 | 140+ |
| Nationalities | 5 | 20+ |
| Programmes (not minors) | 1 | 5 |
Rapidly growing computer science institute
The institute's growth was equally visible in education. Student numbers increased dramatically, and the institute introduced new bachelor's and master's programmes. The new programmes adapt to emerging developments, for example through the new Computer Science and High-Teach master’s specialisations. Students regularly participate in the cutting-edge research of the institute. ‘Some students co-author scientific papers and present their work at international conferences, which is a wonderful experience for them and their supervisors,’ says Bäck.
LIACS has maintained its open and accessible culture, despite growing to more than 250 staff members and PhD candidates, repeatedly outgrowing its accommodation.
more than 250 staff members and PhD candidates, repeatedly outgrowing its accommodation. LIACS started in the Snellius building but quickly needed additional space as the institute expanded. After a period in which staff were spread across several locations, LIACS moved into the new Gorlaeus building. Yet growth continues: just a few years later, and space is once again becoming scarce.
Perhaps most importantly, LIACS has built an international reputation through its people. ‘The most valuable resource of a university is its people,’ says Stefanov. ‘Visibility comes through researchers and their work.’ Bäck points, for example, to researchers who organise international conferences in Leiden, secure major European research grants, and regularly appear in the media to explain developments in AI.
‘Visibility comes through researchers and their work.’
‘It still feels like a very special place to work’
What will computer science as a field and LIACS as an institute look like in another 30 years? Neither professor is willing to predict that future. ‘The pace of change is simply too fast’, Bäck says. Yet both are confident that LIACS will continue to evolve alongside scientific and societal developments.
For Bäck, the secret to LIACS' success is simple: ‘It's a place where people feel appreciated, where collaboration comes naturally, and where ideas are encouraged. That’s why, after all these years, to me it still feels like a very special place to work.’
Header image: A photograph of LIACS from the 1990s. Back row, from left to right: Rokesh Jankie, Maarten Lamers, Maurits Out, Michiel van Wezel. Middle row, from left to right: Jeroen Eggermont, Marcello Bonsangue, Giorgio Busatto and Jeannette de Graaf. Front row, from left to right: Marloes van der Nat, Joost Kok, Henk Goeman.