We collect the stories of our donors and publish them in, among other things, the LUF newsletter and the alumni magazine Leidraad. All interviews can be found on this page. They paint a picture of the diversity in background of our donors and the different motivations for becoming a donor.

Retired Major General Rob Nypels (88) has donated a sizeable sum to the Nypels-Tans PTSD Fund that he himself established – one of the ‘named funds’ at the Leiden University Fund – to promote interdisciplinary research into psychotraumatology. The main aim is to research the effect of new treatments and thus improve the care for veterans and members of the armed forces.

The Joskind Fund was signed in the Academy Building on Monday 22 May. The fund focuses on food production and biodiversity. Erna Barèl and Bas Reichert, the founders of the Base Clear biotech firm, are also the founders of the fund. Both studied biology at Leiden University and wanted to remain in the discipline, but as entrepreneurs rather than academics. Experience during internships had shown them that there was a demand for expertise in DNA analysis. This was how BaseClear began.

Behind each named fund is a special story, but it is not often that, having already set up two very personal funds, a donor chooses to make a third contribution to Leiden’s research. In the Faculty Club Dining Room, donor and alumnus Hans van der Valk signed the agreement establishing the ‘Lingling Wiyadharma Fund for the Practice of the Natural Sciences’.

How do you ensure that people who have had a stroke get the right therapy at the right time? This is the question researcher Jorit Meesters wants to answer. The aim? For more patients to be able to use their arms and hands again after a stroke.

From a stunning building right in the city centre, Leiden psychologists conduct research into financial behaviour. They share their knowledge widely because the aim is to improve people’s financial literacy and to reduce inequality. This is all possible thanks to a generous donation.

Riet Groenen was able to spend almost a year in Fiji for her thesis research on fertility and family planning thanks to donations from funds. Her studies, research experience and focus earned her a job at the United Nations. Groenen dedicated her career to women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights, and to ending violence against women.