The Una Europa Student Congress is an annual event bringing together students from all our 11 partner institutions to discuss topics and themes relevant to our student communities. Attendees have the opportunity to connect with their classmates across Europe while participating in critical thinking and creative problem-solving.

Each year a different Una Europa university hosts the Student Congress, adding their own flavour to the programme with cultural and social events reflecting their diverse yet shared student experience.

Universiteit Leiden was the first university to be established in the Netherlands, in 1575, and is one of the leading international research universities in Europe.

The university’s motto is praesidium libertatis – bastion of freedom. One famous example of this commitment to freedom is the speech delivered by Professor Rudolph Cleveringa in 1940, in which he protested the threatened dismissal of his Jewish colleagues. Universiteit Leiden celebrates this courageous act every year in the form of the Cleveringa lecture. It is freedom that unites us even today.

Alongside Leiden, the university has a second hometown: The Hague. As a city of peace, justice and security and as a metropolitan area, The Hague provides plenty of opportunity for research and teaching. It is the political and administrative heart of the Netherlands, home to many international organisations and to nearly a quarter of our 34,000 students.

The Hague will be the main base for the Una Europa Student Congress in 2026, but of course all delegates will also visit Leiden. A short train ride connects the two cities.