Young Academy Leiden
Newsletter - November 2026 |
Last month we had an intern productive brainstorm session, and learned a few thing about how the University can better connect to society during the event about Popping the Academic Bubble: Expertise Meets Experience. This month, we are hosting an improv workshop! Unfortunately, our Studium Generale lecture is postponed, keep an eye out for the new date! 
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Improv Workshop: YAL x Flock Theatre
Date: Nov 19 2026, 13.30 - 17.00 hrs
Location: Academy building
Improv is surprisingly relevant to many aspects of our work. It helps us communicate research in a more adaptive way, tailoring messages to different audiences such as funders, general audiences, children, or patients. It is also extremely useful in teaching: improv skills help you navigate those wonderfully unpredictable classroom moments—whether that’s an unexpected (and oddly specific) student question, or a lecture continuing without your carefully prepared slides due to technical issues.
In short: thinking on your feet, staying flexible, and maybe even learning to enjoy unpredictability a little more.
Participation is free, but limited spots are available. Sign up here |
 Popping the Academic Bubble: Expertise Meets Experience: On 8 October, YAL organised the event Popping the Academic Bubble: Expertise Meets Experience. Inspired by Academia in Motion, Anchrit Wille, Quin Blokzijl, Quita Muis and our own Marieke Adriaanse explored how universities can better connect with society.
The key take-home messages:
University knowledge is not “better” knowledge. Bringing different perspectives together can lead to more relevant research questions, better-informed policies and interventions, and greater societal impact.
Meaningful engagement starts with building relationships: Calls and surveys mostly attract academically trained people. We need to put in more effort to reach outside of our bubble. Policies only work if they fit the people they are meant for.The university is part of society.
Internships can help bridge educational divides. Creating more placements for MBO students within universities, while also enabling university students to learn alongside practically trained professionals and gain experience across different educational and professional backgrounds. Such exchanges can challenge assumptions and help bridge divides.
 Universities belong in the middle of society. Popping the academic bubble means recognising that universities are part of society, not separate from it. Universities have an important role in fostering open dialogue and engaging constructively with different perspectives.
Academia in Motion: building on the momentum. The forthcoming Leiden Research Quality Matrix points towards greater recognition of public engagement, societal relevance and collaboration. The next challenge is to build on these achievements and translate that change into lasting improvements in everyday
academic practice and institutional structures.
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De Jonge Academie Slow Science Hike De Jonge Akademie organizes biannual Slow Science Hikes during which academics can meet each other in a relaxed setting. On October 16, the DJA Slow Science Hike took place in and around Leiden, and the Young Academy Leiden joined. We were a diverse group with scholars from various institutions and disciplines, from PhD researcher to full professor. Without a fixed agenda or the usual hierarchies of a meeting room, there was space for curiousity without an outcome. These unhurried conversations are what academic life often lacks. Connections across fields and career stages can spark new ideas, and they also remind us that many of the challenges we face are shared. It was a great opportunity to connect, share experiences, and reflect on academic life. Fittingly, we ended the day with a pancake lunch.
Want to join the next hike? For more information about the DJA Slow Science Hikes, see the webpage.
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In this podcast, we discuss topics, trends and movements that occupy young academics today. We hope this sparks and inspires ongoing conversations on how to make academia a better version of itself. Happy listening! |
| Things that might interest you: |
Supervising Interdisciplinary Thesis Projects Date: 27 November, 13:00 - 15:00 Location: Agora (Social Sciences), Wassenaarseweg 52, Leiden
Join the special interest group Inter- and Transdisciplinary education for a discussion about supervising interdisciplinary bachelor and master thesis projects. This supervision comes with unique challenges: how can you help students navigate disciplinary boundaries and develop interdisciplinary skills? How can you support them in bringing together the expectations and customs of different academic disciplines into one coherent final product?
You can find more information about the event and sign up here |
Can Sleep-Talkers Talk to Each Other?
Wednesday 11 November, 17:00–19:00 | Location to be announced
What stories might emerge when we listen to people talking in their sleep? Join artist and filmmaker Natalia Śliwowska for a workshop exploring dreams, sound and collective storytelling.
Together, we’ll listen to recordings of sleep-talking and use our associations and imagination to explore the characters, situations and unexpected connections they suggest. These shared ideas will become material for a short speculative-fiction film that Natalia is in the process of making.
The workshop is part of a collaboration between ReCNTR, Leiden University’s centre for multimodal and audiovisual research methods, and 1646, an experimental art space in The Hague.
If you’re curious about dreams, sound, psychology or experimental storytelling, we’d love you to join us!
Limited to 15 participants. First come basis!
To sign up: send an email to c.strava@hum.leidenuniv.nl before November 9th at noon.
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 Mijn LU-kaart was kwijt en dat was de schuld van klopgeest Constantijn
A haunted university building and the mysterious disappearance of her LU-Card made Lieke Smits reflect on her professional identity. Read more in her column (in Dutch) |
We like to congratulate all 11 VIDI awardees of Leiden!
Thanja Lamberts: Hidden chemistry in space
 The space between the stars may seem empty, but it hosts a hidden chemistry on tiny dust grains coated with ‘ice’. Recent observations with the James Webb Space Telescope provide detailed insight into the abundance of simple molecules such as water, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in these ices, but how they react under cosmic radiation is poorly understood. This project will use computer simulations to uncover how radiation drives chemical changes in these icy environments, helping us understand how the building blocks of planets, and life, are formed in space.
Anne Urai: Social tipping points: how different ideas about changing social norms can encourage climate action
Climate change demands large-scale behaviour change, and social tipping points
 (sudden shifts in social norms) can play a crucial role. This project will investigate how beliefs in changing social norms affect people’s perceptions and behaviour. Combining computer models, laboratory games and real-world experiments, the researchers will test whether expecting a tipping point makes people quicker to spot trends and join others, in turn triggering social tipping points. |
 YAL congratulates Naomi Truan She acquired Una Europa Seed Funding for her project "Prompting in a Second Language: Sociolinguistic and Contrastive Perspectives on AI Interaction."
To read more about her project, or the other 14 awarded projects click here |
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