Leiden Indonesia in Cairo
To increase the visibility of the Leiden University’s offices abroad, the institute directors convened in Cairo, Egypt, early April 2026 at the Netherlands-Flemish Institute (NVIC).
The Office of Leiden University in Indonesia was represented by Deputy Director/Academic Coordinator Zweta Manggarani for this string of strategic discussions. She presented an overview of all activities conducted by the Office of Leiden University in Indonesia, KITLV-Jakarta, and the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre in Indonesia.
The Jakarta, Rabat, Istanbul, Nairobi, and Cairo institutes presentations of their profiles and subsequent discussions was attended by Leiden’s president Luc Sels. The constructive exchanges highlighted the similarities and differences between the institutes and the strategic position of these offices in creating more synergy by connecting educational and research activities and by involving local networks was explored.
This did not come without challenges. The hurdles of organizing joint academic programs outside the Netherlands for Leiden students were recognized. Central coordination to overcome administrative issues will be necessary to ensure successful delivery of new educational collaborations between the institutes.
Leiden University manages several institutes abroad who all have different governance structures but also similarities in activities. They are the Netherlands-Flemish Institute in Cairo (NVIC) which is part of the NWIB (The Netherlands Scientific Institutes Abroad), the Office of Leiden University in Indonesia/KITLV-Jakarta (part of the Leiden University Libraries). Managed by the Faculty of Humanities are the Netherlands Institute Turkey (NIT), and the Netherlands Institute Morocco in Rabat (NIMAR). Last but not least is the NUVONI Research Centre which is represented by the African Studies Centre. All institutes might have different profiles, functions, activities, and structures but all focus on research and education in local settings which provides the opportunity to increase mutual synergy to benefit not only Leiden students and researchers, but also local partners.
The meetings in Cairo coincided with the festive 55th anniversary of NVIC and President Luc Sels and Leiden delegates took the opportunity to combine this with visits to several Cairo based institutions and universities to strengthen already existing ties and to explore new venues of collaboration.