Honours Academy
About the Honours Academy
The Honours Academy of Leiden University organises outside-the-box education in which students and teachers from all faculties further develop themselves. In doing so, we help them, the university, and society move forward.
Mission of the Honours Academy
As a joint initiative of the seven faculties, the Honours Academy is the place where students experiment with different forms of education outside their regular courses. Through honours education, they become versatile professionals – and, above all, learn to collaborate with people from diverse backgrounds.
As such, we educate future academics to work together on innovative solutions for complex societal challenges, now and in the future.
Honours education also serves as a testing ground for educational innovation. Lecturers get the opportunity to experiment and refine their teaching methods. The lessons learned in honours education are transferred into regular education, stimulating educational innovation throughout Leiden University.
Outside-the-box education: what does that look like?
In the testing ground of honours education, students go beyond the beaten track in various ways.
Honours education is small-scale and gives students and lecturers the space to innovate and experiment with different teaching methods, assessment formats (e.g. podcasts, practical assignments), themes (interdisciplinary topics), and skills (e.g. design thinking, negotiation).
Honours education is interdisciplinary. Students from different programmes learn from and with each other. Through participating in diverse courses, they gain new perspectives and learn to collaborate across disciplinary boundaries.
In programmes with TU Delft and Erasmus University, students from all three universities work together on solutions to challenges in the field of sustainability and the space sector. Many honours programmes are open to students from each other's universities, as well.
Honours education prepares students for life after university and seeks to connect with society. In various programmes, students step outside the university walls to tackle a practical problem for or with external partners.
Curious to see which honours programmes embody these points? Take a look at the overview of our programmes.
How honours education is organised
The Honours Academy organises, facilitates, and coordinates honours education at Leiden University. As an overarching body, the Honours Academy ensures the cohesion and quality of the various honours programmes (vwo, bachelor, master).
Honours education is organised in cooperation with the faculties. Each faculty has an Honours Representative that advises the Honours Academy. Faculties take care of organising the Honours College, a 30 EC programme for bachelor's students, the contents of which they design themselves. Finally, faculties encourage their teachers to experiment in the Honours Academy’s testing ground and support them in this process.
Want to learn more about the Honours Academy? Have a look below or explore our annual report (in Dutch) to see what honours education looks like in practice.
The Honours Academy Board consists of the dean, the director of education, the operational director and a student member, the assessor. The assessor represents the interests of all honours students within the Honours Academy Board.
The Honours Council advises the Honours Academy Board on the strategic direction of honours education on issues that transcend individual honours programmes or faculties. The council is composed of the seven Honours Representatives from the faculties.
The Board of Examiners determines whether a student meets the conditions set by the Honours Academy’s Education Regulations for their specific honours programme. Under certain conditions, students can submit requests to the Examination Board.
- The Joint Regulation is the founding document of the Honours Academy. It lays the formal groundwork for the organisation by the faculties and the Executive Board of Leiden University.
- The Honours Academy Regulations cover matters such as the Honours Academy Board, the organisation, and the educational processes.
- The Course Regulations outline the provisions for honours education (vwo, bachelor, master) at Leiden University.
- The Rules and Guidelines of the Honours Academy Examination Board explain the board’s procedures and the options for submitting requests.