On 14 January 2019, Shermarke Hassan boarded a plane to Milan. This young PhD candidate was going to spend the next three months doing research at the ‘Angelo Bianchi Bonomi Hemophilia and Thrombosis Centre,’ one of the world’s biggest research and treatment centres for haemophilia, a rare condition that affects the blood’s ability to clot.

A signing ceremony took place in the Academy Building on Thursday 11 December to confirm a new endowment to the Leporis Fund, a named LUF fund. This celebrated a special moment in the continued legacy of Ruurt Hazewinkel, an alumnus and ardent advocate of research and teaching.

The Leiden University Fund (LUF) Committee for Academic Expenditure (CWB) has an annual project grant round in March for teaching and research projects up to € 35,000. This year a second round was held in September.

Why do innocent people sometimes spend years in prison? EUREX is a registry of miscarriages of justice in Europe that ultimately led to exonerations. The aim is to prevent such mistakes being made in future. One of the initiators is Leiden legal psychologist Linda Geven.

The Leiden University Fund (LUF) has spent the past year working on a special partnership centred on an ambitious project in the Dutch Caribbean. Together with the Kinderpostzegels children’s charity, CEDE ARUBA and Leiden University researchers, the LUF applied for National Postcode Lottery funding.

The first Leiden Empowerment Fund (LEF) grants were awarded on 25 June. With the LEF, the Leiden University Fund (LUF) is helping first-generation researchers take the next step in their academic career.

The Committee for Academic Expenditure (CWB) of the Leiden University Fund (LUF) awards grants for research and teaching projects, ranging from € 2,600 tot € 35,000.

Since criticising the war in Ukraine, Russian author and cardiologist Maxim Osipov has fled Russia. He has won various literary prizes in Russia and his work has had a very positive reception in the Netherlands and the rest of Europe. This September, he will be Leiden University’s writer in residence and teach a course on Russian literature for a year. He will receive assistance from the Leiden University Fund’s Scholars at Risk Fund.