
Post-lockdown ceremonies: corona-proof but festive nonetheless
After the lockdown, it was again possible to receive graduates and guests at the University. In recent weeks, BSc and MSc graduates from various study programmes were festively awarded their diplomas in a special corona-proof setting in the restaurant of the Gorlaeus Lecture Halls building. This resulted in many happy faces and large clouds of liquid nitrogen.
'The signing lane'
In the autumn of 2020, the Faculty of Science transformed the vacant restaurant of the Gorlaeus Lecture Hall building into a location for festive 1.5m graduation ceremonies with space for a plenary ceremony, a 'signing lane' to sign the diplomas and a photo opportunity.
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After their online graduation ceremony earlier this year, MSc Industrial Ecology opted for a festive diploma pick-up in the presence of the education team. -
At MSc ICT in Business, the graduates were called on stage one by one to be addressed by the Examination Board and to sign their diploma. After this they could pose for a festive photo with their newly gotten diploma. -
During their graduation ceremony, the graduates of MSc Computer Science received their diplomas each in turn in the Signing Lane. The audience was able to follow the signing and the photo moment via the live stream. -
General diploma pick-up: a festive pick-up moment was also planned for graduates of various courses who had not been able to pick up their diploma from the administrations office in recent months due to the lockdown. A number of courses also gave their recent graduates the opportunity to collect their diplomas in a festive way instead of waiting until the autumn. -
Normally the spring BSc ceremony of Life Science and Technology takes place in Delft and the autumn ceremony in Leiden, but due to the circumstances they chose to use the set-up in the Lecture Halls building. -
The study advisors of BSc Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences handed out diplomas to their graduates. For those who obtained their diploma at the end of the academic year 2020/2021, an diploma ceremony will be organised in autumn. -
During the BSc Molecular Science and Technology walk-through ceremony, each graduating student and their guests passed the Program Director and study advisor who awarded the diploma, an Examination Board member in whose presence he/she signed their diploma, the festive photo opportunity and, lastly, study association TG, who presented a rose and a drink package.
Getting a diploma: a (very cool) breeze!
In the autumn a loud CO2 cannon was blasted for every graduate, this time Rino provided a quiet and even 'cooler' festive touch: with liquid nitrogen of approx. -196°C, the Rino students created a beautiful cloud around the student to be photographed. This very cool breeze is a nod to the famous Leiden professor Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, who pioneered the liquefaction of gases in the early 20th century with his refrigeration laboratory and who put Leiden on the map as the coolest place on earth.