Founded in 1575, Leiden University is one of Europe’s leading and prestigious international public research universities, established by William of Orange. With the motto of ’Praesidium Libertatis’, tranlasted as Bastion of Freedom, it is known as the first university in the country to practice freedom of belief and religion. Other than that, it holds a leading position in various fields such as natural sciences, life sciences, medicine and astronomy, social and behavioural sciences, the arts, international law, and non-Western languages.
"As a university aiming for excellence in all its research and teaching, Leiden University offers high quality education for their students. There are wide-range of bachelors, master’s, and PhD programmes available in seven faculties; Archaeology, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Governance and Global Affairs, Medicine, Humanities and Law. Six of these faculties are located in the Leiden campus, while the other one is located in The Hague campus. In terms of teaching style, the institution emphasizes on individual learning and small group work, where students will receive personal and interactive classroom experience. All programmes are taught in modest-sized classrooms which allow lecturers to provide personal supervision and ensure that all of their students’ needs are met. In regard to their individual learning system, students will also be doing their own research into topics that are relevant to society nowadays. Since it was established, the university has built a solid reputation and proved by 16 Nobel Prize and 19 Spinoza Prize winners that are all associated with Leiden University. They have the highes accolades awarded in Dutch Science. Moreover, they have been performing well in international rankings as it holds the 102nd rank in QS World University Rankings and the 77th in Times Higher Education Rankings. "