High school students explore Faculty of Science at first online Open Days ever
For the first time since the establishment of Leiden University, the Open Days took place online. On Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October high school students visited 'our Faculty' on the newly designed online platform of the University. Through study programme presentations, an information market, video calls and 1-on-1 chats with students and staff, they got to know our eight bachelor's programmes in detail.
No Pieterskerk
It was a massive blow: a physical Open Day, including the annual information market in the Leiden Pieterskerk, was not possible because of Covid-19. 'Since the summer, an enormous amount of effort has been made by the programmes and our communications department to create a high quality, online alternative for our information and recruitment activities,' says vice-dean Bart de Smit. And it turned out to be a popular alternative: over 13,000 high school students visited the Open Days from home, compared to 9,000 last year.
De Smit: 'I think the online platform looks great, and although we like to receive the students in our buildings, the advantages of online are clear immediately: all the information is now much more accessible. Besides, we wouldn't have been able to physically handle these visitor numbers. Thanks to the great joint efforts of teachers, students, and support staff, we can make sure that the students who have to take their final exams in this difficult year still end up in the right place within our University. And this week we will continue with the Online Masterweek!'
Dean Michiel Kreutzer twittered about the Open Days:
Chatting and video calling
Prospective students could orientate themselves on the online platform in two ways: through the presentations of the study programmes and the information market. The presentations were broadcasted live from professional studios in the Pieter de la Court Building. During the 30-minute presentations, students and staff gave a comprehensive picture of a study programme, such as which subjects the programme consists of, what the job prospects are and which of the five Faculty study associations the programme belongs to. The information market was not only packed with digital leaflets, students could also make video calls with the study programmes or chat with a student, although the latter was sometimes difficult due to technical problems. Finally, there was even a 360-degree tour of our Faculty.
Pictures
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Students are chatting with high school students -
Behind the scenes at the presentation of Biology -
Students are chatting with high school students -
The hosts are ready for the live-broadcast of Mathematics -
A student testing the video connection -
This student is ready to talk to high school students! -
A student video calling with a prospective student -
All equipment is carefully disinfected
Pictures: Monique Shaw