Support De Leidsche Flesch and celebrate 100 years of science
Did you know that Albert Einstein conducted research at Leiden University? Or that the first capacitor – a now indispensable technology – was invented here, in the form of a Leyden jar (Leidsche Flesch). And that from 1908 the Kamerlingh Onnes building was known as the coldest point on earth because the eponymous physicist liquefied helium here by cooling it to -272.20 °C?
Besides Einstein, famous scientists like Niels Bohr, Willebrord Snellius and Paul Ehrenfest carried out research in Leiden. But even today, both our programmes and our research rank highly in the Netherlands and the whole scientific world.
Time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of our study association for physics, astronomy, mathematics and computer science!
Why do we need your contribution?
We want to introduce as many people as possible, young and old, to all that is unique about science. With the donations received so far, we have already been able to hold an exhibition about the Fibonacci sequence in nature during Museum Night and add background information from our degree programmes to the exhibitions at Museum Boerhaave. And we have already raised enough funds to unveil the wall formula for De Leidsche Flesch in style. A huge thanks to all our donors for this.
Our third goal is to hold a free interactive symposium for children from Leiden and the surrounding area. This symposium is planned for Sunday 26 March and is aimed at children in years 6 to 8 of primary school. It will consist of an afternoon full of interactive sessions on mathematics, physics, astronomy and computer science. We hope to spark the children’s interest in the exact sciences and inspire them to study science when they are older.
With this crowdfunding campaign we want people to experience how unique the exact sciences are in Leiden – and what they have already achieved. We need money to realise our plans.
Please join us, so we can achieve the following goals:
- € 500: exhibition on mathematics in nature during Museum Night 2022.
- € 750: additions to exhibitions at Museum Boerhaave.
- € 1000: unveiling of capacitor wall formula.
- € 3000: holding a free symposium for children from Leiden and the surrounding area.
- > € 3000: hiring materials for experiments and tests that the children can perform themselves.
Donate to De Leidsche Flesch’s special anniversary
In exchange for your donation, you can receive several rewards. To see what these rewards are, take a look at the right side of the page. These rewards can be stacked, so a donation of €19.23 for example, will earn you both a goodie and an honourable mention on the website.
To find out more about our initiatives, see all milestones in the menu at the top.
Exclusive experience!
The donors who sponsor the most will receive a gift in the shape of an exclusive experience! They can suggest a subject and we will find a professor to give a lecture on this. We will also arrange a meet and greet with said professor before or after the lecture. The lecture itself will be open to students, staff and alumni too.
Only the biggest donors can earn this unique gift. If you are one of them, we’ll contact you at the end of the sponsorship campaign.
Thank you for your support!
Who are we?
We are the Lustrum committee of De Leidsche Flesch, a study association for mathematics, computer science, physics and astronomy at Leiden University. In the 2022-2023 academic year, we are celebrating our 100th anniversary and we want to express not only what a friendly association it is but also how much scientific value it has.
The Lustrum committee consists of five students and one alumnus from different backgrounds, who have volunteered to fill the year with various activities: from a party on a boat to a science symposium, from additions to exhibitions to a festival. For more information about us see defles.ch/lustrum.
Do you have any questions about our crowdfunding or the lustrum in general? Feel free to contact us!
You can reach us at lustrum@deleidscheflesch.nl.
Children's symposium
Youth are the future: there’s a lot of truth to this adage. In honour of our centenary, we want to spark the enthusiasm of children from Leiden and the surrounding area for our programmes. On Sunday 26 March 2023, we will be holding a free afternoon for all children, from years 6 to 8 at primary school in particular, with interactive presentations, games and tests.
The location hasn’t yet been finalised, but we are hoping it will be one of Leiden University’s fantastic buildings. We have the Old Observatory in mind, which would mean we could also include a tour of the Observatory and the Hortus botanicus.
The lectures will be given by our own students. Students from the Master’s in Science Communication and Society are particularly involved in developing the talks. Through ICLON – Leiden University’s teacher training programme – the event will be promoted to as many schools in the province of Zuid-Holland as possible.
We hope that the money raised will cover the costs of the venue. If we can crowdfund €3000, this will get us a long way. If we raise extra funds on top of that, we will use these to hire equipment so the children can do their own experiments and tests. At the end of the day, we want to give the children a goodie bag to take home with relevant mementoes, such as yoyos, a spinning top, booklets and so on.
Donate now and we'll keep you posted!
Museum Night
There is a lot of knowledge within our degree programmes that is a good match with Leiden’s museums, but currently there is no way to share that knowledge. On Museum Night on 28 May 2022, we therefore collaborated with several museums to provide supplementary information for their collections.
We put on an exhibition on mathematics in nature at the Hortus botanicus during Museum Night, for example. There are lots of mathematical patterns in nature, but where do they come from? The exhibition was mainly about the Fibonacci sequence and we developed it ourselves with the aid of crowdfunding.
If you missed our exhibition on Museum Night, you’ll find an interesting series of videos on YouTube about the link between the Fibonacci sequence and nature.
We also collaborated with Museum Boerhaave. This consisted of providing additional information about objects in their exhibitions. We explained how these objects are seen from our scientific perspective. The pieces included a QR code that led to further information on our site about the object. The crowdfunding enabled us to hire a professional translator to translate the texts into English and thus reach the widest possible audience.
The objects, texts and tour can be found at https://www.deleidscheflesch.nl/sites/lustrum/100/museum/museum/.
Wall formula
Murals of various scientific formulas can be found on the walls of Leiden. These are the initiative of researchers from Leiden University’s Institute of Physics. The last formula in the series will share our association’s name. A Leyden Jar (Leidsche Flesch) is the world’s very first capacitor, an object that can store electricity. A mural will therefore be created in the centre of Leiden showing the formula of this capacitor. This will be added to the existing collection of wall formulas on muurformules.nl and will be used during tourist walks and by schools to tell this part of Leiden’s history.
We are keeping the location of the formula to ourselves for now, but hope to unveil the formula to the city in the 2022 – 2023 academic year. As this formula completes the Leiden Wall Formulas project, we want the unveiling to capture the attention. Our focus will be on the residents of Leiden and the local media. Your donation will help provide the resources needed to draw the biggest possible crowd as possible to the unveiling.
Donate now and we'll keep you posted!
- € 500: mounting an exhibition on mathematics in nature during Museum Night 2022
- € 750: supplementing exhibits at Museum Boerhaave
- € 1000: unveiling the capacitor wall formula
- € 3000: holding a free symposium for children from Leiden and the surrounding area.
- > € 3000: hiring materials for experiments and tests that the children can perform themselves.
1 & 2. Museum Night 2022
There is a lot of knowledge within our degree programmes that is a good match with Leiden’s museums, but currently there is no way to share that knowledge. On Museum Night on 28 May 2022, we therefore collaborated with several museums to provide supplementary information for their collections.
We put on an exhibition on mathematics in nature at the Hortus botanicus during Museum Night, for example. There are lots of mathematical patterns in nature, but where do they come from? The exhibition was mainly about the Fibonacci sequence and we developed it ourselves with the aid of crowdfunding.
If you missed our exhibition on Museum Night, you’ll find an interesting series of videos on YouTube about the link between the Fibonacci sequence and nature.
We also collaborated with Museum Boerhaave. This consisted of providing additional information about objects in their exhibitions. We explained how these objects are seen from our scientific perspective. The pieces included a QR code that led to further information on our site about the object. The crowdfunding enabled us to hire a professional translator to translate the texts into English and thus reach the widest possible audience.
The objects, texts and tour can be found at https://www.deleidscheflesch.nl/sites/lustrum/100/museum/museum/.
3. Wall formula
Murals of various scientific formulas can be found on the walls of Leiden. These are the initiative of researchers from Leiden University’s Institute of Physics. The last formula in the series will share our association’s name. A Leyden Jar (Leidsche Flesch) is the world’s very first capacitor, an object that can store electricity. A mural will therefore be created in the centre of Leiden showing the formula of this capacitor. This will be added to the existing collection of wall formulas on muurformules.nl and will be used during tourist walks and by schools to tell this part of Leiden’s history.
We are keeping the location of the formula to ourselves for now, but hope to unveil the formula to the city in the 2022 – 2023 academic year. As this formula completes the Leiden Wall Formulas project, we want the unveiling to capture the attention. Our focus will be on the residents of Leiden and the local media. Your donation will help provide the resources needed to draw the biggest possible crowd as possible to the unveiling.
Donate now and we’ll keep you updated!
4 & 5. Children's symposium
Youth are the future: there’s a lot of truth to this adage. In honour of our centenary, we want to spark the enthusiasm of children from Leiden and the surrounding area for our programmes. On Sunday 26 March 2023, we will be holding a free afternoon for all children, from years 6 to 8 at primary school in particular, with interactive presentations, games and tests.
The location hasn’t yet been finalised, but we are hoping it will be one of Leiden University’s fantastic buildings. We have the Old Observatory in mind, which would mean we could also include a tour of the Observatory and the Hortus botanicus.
The lectures will be given by our own students. Students from the Master’s in Science Communication and Society are particularly involved in developing the talks. Through ICLON – Leiden University’s teacher training programme – the event will be promoted to as many schools in the province of Zuid-Holland as possible.
We hope that the money raised will cover the costs of the venue. If we can crowdfund €3000, this will get us a long way. If we raise extra funds on top of that, we will use these to hire equipment so the children can do their own experiments and tests. At the end of the day, we want to give the children a goodie bag to take home with relevant mementoes, such as yoyos, a spinning top, booklets and so on.
