Where science and culture meet

In life, you have to make choices, and Leiden chose to profile itself as a knowledge city for conferences. That’s not such an odd option given that it has the oldest university in the Netherlands, a renowned University Medical Centre and the innovative Leiden Bio Science Park, a business park with a cluster of companies and knowledge institutions in the biotechnology sector. “It’s a city where science flourishes, where the most beautiful discoveries have been made that have made the world a little better. And it doesn’t stop at history; Leiden is also focused on the future,” says Daniël op den Buijsch of the Leiden Convention Bureau. [gallery size="large" link="file" columns="2" ids="103607,103603"]

Culture as a location

“The great thing about Leiden is that science and culture meet”, explains Op den Buijsch. “It’s the birth city of Rembrandt van Rijn, one of the most important Dutch artists. If you walk through the city, you come across culture everywhere. You’re literally walking through history.” That Leiden exudes culture is also obvious from the city’s 13 top museums (from Naturalis to Corpus), four of which are national. In 2021, the Naturalis Biodiversity Center was even named the European Museum of the Year. “The great thing about us as a conference city is that those museums also serve as a conference location, so you’re actually surrounded by cultural treasures. For example, the National Museum of Antiquities is a beautiful location near the train station where you can not only imagine yourself in the past but also walk around in it.”

European City of Science

The fact that Leiden is such a great conference city has also been noticed outside the city. In 2022, the ‘Key City’ was the European City of Science and hosted a 365-day-long science festival. Awarded by EuroScience in Strasbourg, the title is associated with Europe’s largest biennial multidisciplinary science conference, the EuroScience Open Forum. “It was truly wonderful to experience all that. The international science press walked around here for two days, and during that time, Leiden was the place to be. Since all the venues are close to each other, everyone was walking through the city. That’s also the beauty here: you don’t have to travel to see something great because almost everything can be arranged in the city”, says Op den Buijsch.

Nineteenth-century concert hall

During the EuroScience Open Forum, the main location was the Stadsgehoorzaal, a magnificent building in the city centre featuring a nineteenth-century concert hall that seats 800 people. Ellen Simons of the Leidse Schouwburg - Stadsgehoorzaal explains what the attraction of these special venues is. “Of course, the Leidse Schouwburg is a magnificent building with much history. We are allowed to organise nice events there a few times a year. There’s a reason why this place is regularly seen in films.’’ The theatre was built two centuries ago to inform residents about the latest city news. The function of sharing knowledge has not really changed. In the main hall, you have the perfect view of the speakers, and there is also enough space for the best breakout sessions you can think of. “Do you know what we often hear? That it’s so wonderful to really be part of the culture of the city. You can walk straight into the beautiful courtyard and into the historic city centre for a pleasant stay.”

The history and future of science

Rijksmuseum Boerhaave is another prime location, explains Linda van Klaveren of the museum. “The history and future of science come together beautifully here. You can learn more about the first scientific discoveries, like the discovery of planets or seeing a whole new microworld, which we’re still building on today. Or take a step into the future and ask pressing questions to today’s scientific press.” The conference hall can accommodate a maximum of 110 people and is suitable for small meetings and large receptions. “We like to show off the wonderful events that we organise at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave. We’re there to unburden and relieve, so that client expectations are always exceeded. We’re very happy that many companies come back to the museum and hold their annual conference or event here.”

Proactive policy

In 2021, Leiden grew into the third-most popular conference city in the Netherlands, in part due to a proactive policy. A special status given the fact that Leiden is in twentieth place in terms of population. To maintain this status, Leiden uses an extensive network of ambassadors, explains Op den Buijsch. “That network has prominent scientists who contribute in two ways: they come up with subjects for a conference and also function as ambassadors in their field, so that more participants attend.”

FAIR Digital Objects Forum

A nice example is the involvement of Dimitris Koureas, who organised the first conference on FAIR Digital Objects, a new standard to increase the reliability of data use. Dimitris ensures that such a conference has scientific content. He knows the prominent people in that world well and which themes are relevant. As a result, such a conference has depth and is not an empty shell. “We advise ambassadors such as Dimitris on all aspects of the conference, such as venues, hotels and a social programme. That’s the perfect partnership”, Op den Buijsch adds.

A compact city

In short, Leiden is the perfect destination for a nice science conference in a city where science and culture meet. Thanks to beautiful places in the city centre, the entire city is actually the venue. “I always hear people being very enthusiastic about the fact that you can walk almost everywhere from the train station. You can immerse yourself in the city. And we’re easy to get to since Schiphol is close by”, ends Daniël op den Buijsch of the Leiden Convention Bureau.