Please refer to our frequently asked questions below!
General
The HOP is for everyone who will start their bachelors or masters at Leiden University in The Hague in September 2022. The week is for both Dutch and international students. Participation includes all activities organised by the HOP board, as well as all lunches on the physical programme days.
Of course! Under 18s still get access to all the events during the HOPweek, but will will have restricted access to certain things like alcohol in accordance with local laws.
We recommend that you participate in The HOP because this week is organized for you to get to know The Hague , your study and its student life. Orientation Week Leiden is for all international students (bachelor’s and master’s), but is based in Leiden. Of course you are more than welcome to participate in both introduction weeks!
The HOP is for all students starting at Leiden University in The Hague. Both Dutch and international students are welcome. EL CID caters more to Dutch students of Leiden University in Leiden. OWL is for all international students (bachelor and master), but is based in Leiden.
No, not at all! We will make sure that you are in a group with other international students and that your guides have a sufficient level of English. All the events and activities organized will be in English.
Please note that the HOPweek is the only introduction week officially affiliated with Leiden University in The Hague. As such, our programme takes into account factors that other introduction weeks might not. The HOPweek is specifically catered to allow the best start to your student life at Leiden University and The Hague. It will give you the best opportunity to meet people from your study programme, new student organisations, etc. While you are free to join other introduction weeks as well, please note that each introduction week has its own costs and intensive programme.
Registration
It is no problem to join HOPweek on a later day during the week, however, please notify our commissioner participants Johanna Philipp by sending an email to participants@hop.leidenuniv.nl. Please also note that we are not able to offer you a refund for the days you have missed when arriving later.
You should email Commissioner Participants Johanna Philipp (participants@hop.leidenuniv.nl). If your application ID is not correct, do not worry about it, but double check whether all the other information is correct.
Yes, you are more than welcome to join! We will make sure that you are in a group together with master students.
You can cancel your registration by emailing Commissioner Participants Johanna Philipp: participants@hop.leidenuniv.nl.
Please note that there are no refunds possible unless you will not be attending Leiden University at all and you cancelled before the closing of the online deadline.
As no refunds will be issued, we advise you to sign up if you are sure you can attend: you fulfilled your Academic requirements, flights are available and you have secured a place to stay during the HOP.
Other serious/personal emergencies resulting in cancelling can be conveyed to us by email and may be taken into consideration.
Keep in mind that the process of getting a refund takes a while, so you will not have your money back immediately.
Practical issues
Yes, just let us know when you register for the week! We will make sure that you are in a group with guides that know how to deal with your disability. In addition, you can decide for yourself in which activity you participate or not. It is, however, important to let your guides know so that they know where you are. If you have any questions, you can contact Commissioner Johanna Philipp at participants@hop.leidenuniv.nl.
Yes! It is important to let us know when you are registering for the week so that we can take it into account when organising the meals. We will try as much as we can to accommodate your allergy or diabetes. In the case we are not able to, we will find an appropriate solution. If you have any questions, you can contact Commissioner Johanna Philipp at participants@hop.leidenuniv.nl.
Yes, everyone has the freedom to practice their religion during the week. It is important, however, to let your guide know in case you cannot participate in certain activities. If you like us to know in advance or if we need to take into account special wishes, you can let us know in your registration for the week or you can contact Commissioner Johanna Philipp at participants@hop.leidenuniv.nl.
For parents
Yes! The HOPweek is for everyone who will start their studies at Leiden University in The Hague in September 2023. We will not serve alcohol to participants under the age of 18.
For general questions, you can contact us by email at info@hop.leidenuniv.nl. If you have more specific questions, we recommend you to contact the person responsible. The individual email addresses can be found on the contact page.
During the week, we serve beer and wine as well as a variety of non-alcoholic beverages. Also, we will not serve alcohol to participants under the age of 18 and we will check all identity cards when serving alcohol. In addition, we do not tolerate any drug use.
Volunteers
You can choose between becoming a mentor or a crew member. As a mentor, you will be responsible for your own group of first-year students together with a fellow student. As a crew member, your tasks will be very diverse and your hours will be flexible. You can decide for yourself how many shifts you do and with which activity you help.
The registration of new mentors and crew will open in March and is closing on 25th May. If you are interested, send us an email to hopmentors@gmail.com.
If you want to be a crew member contact volunteers@leidenuniv.nl.
As a mentor, we expect you to be available every day during The HOPweek (21-25 August 2023). As a crew, we expect you to be available during certain activities. In addition, there is a mandatory preparation day for mentors and crew members before the start of the week.
Warm Welcome Service
We recommend you plan your arrival in The Netherlands taking this into account It will help you settle in quickly and support you with all the necessary (practical) arrangements for your stay in The Netherlands. If you arrive later, please know that you will have to arrange these matters yourself. If you have any questions about this warm welcome service check out their website for the latest information.
Note: this is a University service, it is not organized by HOP or OWL
Partnering Opportunities
Yes! You can find more information on the Contact page. You can also contact our Commissioner Partners & External Relations Rohan Sharma directly at partners@hop.leidenuniv.nl.
Privacy
The Hague Orientation Programme (hereafter referred to as the HOP), organiser of the official introduction programme of Leiden University in The Hague, is deemed responsible for the processing of personal data as mentioned in this privacy statement. This privacy statement pertains to participants and all (paid and unpaid) volunteers active during the Leiden University HOPweek.
The Privacy Statement of The Hague Orientation Programme can be found on this page.
Sustainability
We encourage the participants to use their bikes or public transportation to arrive at the HOPweek venues.
For the logistics of the week, we only use one van – for the rest, we use a bakfiets (bike with a trailer).
The participants can get free drinks for collecting a certain amount of waste.
Also, we communicated with the people living at the HOP venues to let them know a large amount people would be coming to their neighborhood.
We encourage the participants to limit and separate waste. Additionally, we were seeking minimal waste produced by the organization. That’s why our magazine is completely online so that nothing had to be printed (saving some 30 000 pages). Also, the bags that the participants get are reusable and they can keep using them during their studies and beyond.
In our registration, the vegetarian option was default – this way, we reduced the amount of meat consumed during the week. In general, the meals come with less packaging than usual.
Also, we teamed up with green organizations in The Hague to provide activities such as the recycling challenge, solar chargers, and other surprises!
COVID-19
During HOP we will follow the government rules. If needed, we will adjust the programme to conform to those rules. We are working together in this with university, municipality and public health care organization GGD.
We will put extra attention into hygiene and provide free face masks, hand gel and rapid tests at our HOP Office in the Beehive (Turfmarkt 104, The Hague).
What does this mean for you as a participant or volunteer:
• Wash/disinfect your hands regularly
• Cough and sneeze into your elbow
Wearing a facemask is not mandatory, but everyone is free to wear one if it makes you feel more comfortable. They are available at the HOP office in the Beehive.
Do you get complaints during the week or just before? Do a self-test as soon as possible.
Self-tests are available at the HOP office in the Beehive (Turfmarkt 104, The Hague).
• If you’ve tested negative; great! Then you can continue with HOP week.
• If you’ve tested positive: That would be really disappointing but it means you will not be able to join or continue joining HOPweek. Please make your way home as soon as possible as you need to quarantine for 10 days. Please contact the Coordination Team to inform us. We will answer any question you have and help you if needed, at info@hop.leidenuniv.nl or +31 070 800 9981.
