Buddhism, Tibetan languages and Indian philosophy
Faculty of Humanities/Arts
The study of Buddhism is primarily conducted at Leiden University. The Leiden chair in Buddhology, Indian philosophy and Tibetan was established in 1956. It was held in succession by Jan Willem de Jong, David Seyfort Ruegg, Tilmann Vetter and since 2007 by Jonathan Silk. The chair is presently part of the section India and Tibet of the School of Asian Studies, Leiden Institute for Area Studies.
At the Faculty of Theology of other Dutch universities, some scholars taught or still teach Buddhism and/or Pali, the language of the Buddhist canon. For them, see South Asia religious and philosophical studies.
The study of Tibetan languages and cultures is unique to Leiden. In addition to Leiden, Indian philosophy was taught in Utrecht as well, where George Chemparathy held a chair in Indian philosophy from 1980 to 1990.
Leiden University: Kern Institute: Buddhology, Indian philosophy and Tibetan
| 1956-1965 | J.W. de Jong (professor in Tibetan and Buddhist studies) |
| 1967-1972 | D. Seyfort Ruegg (professor in Buddhology, Indian philosophy and Tibetan) |
| 1974-2000 | T.E. Vetter (professor in Buddhology, Indian philosophy and Tibetan) |
| ? -1993 | Ronald Poelmeijer (lecturer in Tibetan and Mongolian languages and cultures) |
| 1996-present | Peter Verhagen (university lecturer and other positions for Indic religious history, in particular later Buddhism and Tibetan language and literature) |
| 2000-2002 | A. Forsten (substitute lecturer Buddhology and Indian philosophy) |
| 2007-present | J.A. Silk (professor in the study of Buddhism) |
| 2010–2015 | H.W.A. Blezer (associate professor Buddhist studies). |
| 2015- | Berthe Jansen (Numata professor in Buddhist of Buddhist studies, August, 2015 – 30 June, 2016) |
Utrecht University: Indological Department: Indian philosophy
| 1959-1961 | J.A.B. van Buitenen (associate professor in Indian philosophy) | |
| 1962-1974 | Tilmann Vetter (associate professor in Indian philosophy) | |
| 1963-1990 | G. Chemparathy (lecturer and, from 1980 onwards, professor in Indian philosophy) | |