KU Leuven

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For the pre-1968 university, see Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968). For the present-day French-speaking university, see Université catholique de Louvain.
KU Leuven
Seal of the University of Leuven
Latin: Universitas Lovaniensis
Motto Sedes Sapientiae (Latin)
Motto in English
 Seat of Wisdom
or Seat of Knowledge
Type Independent/Free catholic university
Established 1425 (original university), 1834,C 1970
Endowment € 950 million
Chairman Herman baron Daems
Chancellor Mgr. Jozef De Kesel
Rector Luc Sels
Administrative staff
 11,534
Students 58,045 (2017-18)
4,272
Location Leuven, Belgium
50°52′41″N 4°42′00″E / 50.878°N 4.700°E / 50.878; 4.700Coordinates: 50°52′41″N 4°42′00″E / 50.878°N 4.700°E / 50.878; 4.700
Campus Main (urban/university town) campus in Leuven and satellite campuses in Aalst, Antwerp, Bruges, Brussels, Diepenbeek, Geel, Ghent, Kortrijk, Ostend and Sint-Katelijne-Waver
Colors Blue and white          
Affiliations CLUSTER
Coimbra Group
EUA, LERU
CESAER
EQUIS
EASN
VIU
Mascot Fons Sapientiae
Website www.kuleuven.be
Data as of 2014

The Katholieke Universiteit LeuvenA (in English: Catholic University of LeuvenB), abbreviated KU Leuven, is a research university in the Dutch-speaking town of Leuven in Flanders, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in the sciences, engineering, humanities, medicine, law, and social sciences[1].

In addition to its main campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, and in Belgium's capital Brussels.[2] KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries. In 2017-18, more than 58,000 students were enrolled. Its primary language of instruction is Dutch, although several programs are taught in English, particularly graduate degrees.[3]

KU Leuven consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world. As of 2016-2017, It ranks 40th globally according to Times Higher Education,[4] 79th according to QS World University Rankings,[5] and 93rd according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.[6] According to Thomson Reuters, in 2016, 2017 and 2018, KU Leuven researchers have filed more patents than any other university in Europe; its patents are also the most cited by external academics. As such, KU Leuven was ranked first in the publication's annual list of Europe's most innovative universities for those three years.[7] A number of its programs rank within the top 100 in the world according to QS World University Rankings by Subject. It is the highest-ranked university from the Low Countries.[4]

The old University of Leuven was founded at the center of the historic town of Leuven in 1425, making it Belgium's first university. After being closed in 1797 during the Napoleonic period, the Catholic University of Leuven was "re-founded" in 1834, and is frequently, but controversially, identified as a continuation of the older institution.C In 1968, the Catholic University of Leuven split into the Dutch-language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-language Université catholique de Louvain, which moved to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia. Historically, KU Leuven has been a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology. It is considered the oldest extant Catholic university. Although Catholic in heritage, it operates independently from the Church. KU Leuven is open to students from different faiths.

Background and History[edit]

Kasteel van Arenberg, purchased by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven's predecessor in 1921.
For the history of the pre-1970 university see Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968).

In 1968, tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities led to the splitting of the bilingual Catholic University of Leuven into two "sister" universities, with the Dutch-language university becoming a fully functioning independent institution in Leuven in 1970, and the Université catholique de Louvain departing to a newly built greenfield campus site in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Pieter De Somer became the first rector of the KU Leuven.

In 1972, the KU Leuven set up a separate entity Leuven Research & Development (LRD) to support industrial and commercial applications of university research. It has led to numerous spin-offs, such as the technology company Metris, and manages tens of millions of euros in investments and venture capital.

The university's electronic learning environment, TOLEDO, which started in September 2001, was gradually developed into the central electronic learning environment at the KU Leuven. The word is an acronym for TOetsen en LEren Doeltreffend Ondersteunen (English: "effectively supporting testing and learning"). It is the collective name for a number of commercial software programs and tools, such as Blackboard. The project offers the Question Mark Perception assignment software to all institution members and has implemented the Ariadne KPS to reuse digital learning objects inside the Blackboard environment.

On 11 July 2002, the KU Leuven became the dominant institution in the "KU Leuven Association" (see below).

KU Leuven is a member of the Coimbra Group (a network of leading European universities) as well as of the LERU Group (League of European Research Universities). Since November 2014, KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business is accredited by European Quality Improvement System, which is a leading accreditation system specializing in higher education institutions of management and business administration.[8]

Since August 2017, the university has been led by Luc Sels who replaced former rector Rik Torfs. The Belgian archbishop, André-Joseph Léonard is the current Grand Chancellor and a member of the university board.

KU Leuven is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, under her traditional attribute as "Seat of Wisdom", and organizes an annual celebration on 2 February in her honour. On that day, the university also awards its honorary doctorates. The seal used by the university shows the medieval statue Our Lady of Leuven in a vesica piscis shape.

In the academic year of 2012-2013, the university held Erasmus contracts with 434 European establishments. It also had 22 central bilateral agreements in 8 countries: the United States, China, South Africa, Japan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Vietnam, Poland, and the Netherlands. The vast majority of international EU students came from the Netherlands, while most non-EU ones come from China.

KU Leuven hosts the world's largest banana genebank, the Bioversity International Musa Germplasm Transit Centre, that celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017 and was visited by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation, Alexander De Croo[9].

Organization and Academics[edit]

Academics at KU Leuven is organized into three groups, each with its own faculties, departments, and schools offering programs up to doctoral level. While most courses are taught in Dutch, many are offered in English, particularly the graduate programs.[10]

Biomedical Sciences Group

  • Department of Cardiovascular Sciences
  • Department of Oral Health Sciences
  • Department of Pharmaceutical and Pharmacological Sciences
  • Department of Human Genetics
  • Department of Imaging and Pathology
  • Department of Kinesiology
  • Department of Microbiology and Immunology
  • Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine
  • Department of Neurosciences
  • Department of Oncology
  • Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine
  • Department of Rehabilitation Sciences
  • Department of Development and Regeneration
  • Department of Public Health and Primary Care

Humanities and Social Sciences Group

  • Institute of Philosophy
  • Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies
  • Faculty of Canon Law
  • Faculty of Law
  • Faculty of Economics and Business
  • Faculty of Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Arts
  • Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Science, Engineering and Technology Group

  • Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences
  • Department of Architecture
  • Department of Biology
  • Department of Biosystems
  • Department of Civil Engineering
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Chemical Engineering
  • Department of Computer Science
  • Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT)
  • Department of Materials Engineering
  • Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy
  • Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Department of Mathematics

Libraries[edit]

Artes - Ladeuze Library

KU Leuven has 24 libraries and learning centers across its 12 campuses, containing millions of books and other media. Its theology library alone hold 1.3 million volumes, including works dating from the 15th century.[11] The following libraries are found at its Leuven campus:[12]

  • 2Bergen - Biomedical Library
  • 2Bergen - Campuslibrary Arenberg (exact sciences, engineering sciences, industrial engineering sciences, bio-engineering sciences, architecture and kinesiology and rehabilitation sciences)
  • Artes - Ladeuze & Erasmushuis (Humanities & Social Sciences Group and the Faculty of Arts)
  • Library of Psychology and Educational Sciences
  • Law Library
  • Library of Social Sciences
  • Library of the Institute of Philosophy
  • AGORA Learning Centre
  • EBIB Learning Centre
  • MATRIX (music and audio recordings library)
  • Maurits Sabbe Library (Library of the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies)

University Hospital[edit]

Universitair ziekenhuis Leuven (UZ Leuven) is the teaching hospital associated with the KU Leuven. Its most well known and largest campus is Gasthuisberg, which also houses the faculty of pharmaceutical sciences and most of the faculty of medicine.

Organisations[edit]

Students attending a conference at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

Notable divisions of the university include the Higher Institute of Philosophy and the Rega Institute for Medical Research.

The university is a member of the Flanders Interuniversity Institute of Biotechnology. The Interuniversity Microelectronics Centre is a spin-off company of the university.

The students of the university are gathered together in the student's council Studentenraad KU Leuven[13]. They have representatives in most meetings at the university, including the Board of Directors. It was separated from LOKO (nl) in 2012-2013 when the different locations outside of Leuven became part of the university. LOKO remained the overarching student organisation for all students in the city of Leuven.

KU Leuven joined the Venice International University on October 29, 2016.[14]

Since July 2002, thirteen higher education institutes have formed the KU Leuven Association. The members are:[15]

Rankings[edit]

University rankings
Global
ARWU World[16] 90
Times World[17] 47

In 2016, the Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven as the world's 93rd best university,[6] while the Times Higher Education ranked KU Leuven 40th best university[4] and QS World University Rankings ranked KU Leuven 79th overall in the world.[5] KU Leuven ranked first in Thomson Reuters' list of Europe's most innovative universities in 2016 and 2017.[18]

According to QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2017, KU Leuven ranked within the world's top 50 universities in the following fields: Architecture (44), Philosophy (30), Theology (9), Anatomy & Physiology (46), Pharmacy & Pharmacology (29), Psychology (46), Geography (44), Development Studies (40), and Law (40), and Dentistry (9). It also ranks within the top 100 for all QS engineering categories, except minerals engineering. Also according to QS, KU Leuven's Linguistics, Medicine, Biology, Chemistry, Materials Science, Mathematics, Finance, Statistics, Anthropology, Communication, Economics, Education, Politics, Social Policy, Sociology, and Sports Science programs rank within the top 100.[19]

Year World university ranking European university ranking World reputation ranking
2010 86 (QS Decrease 21) | 119 (THE) 35 (QS Decrease 14) | 37 (THE)
2011 68 (QS Increase 18) | 67 (THE Increase 52) 24 (QS Increase 11) | 17 (THE Increase 20) 81-90 (THE)
2012 82 (QS Decrease 14) | 58 (THE Increase 9) 31 (QS Decrease 7) | 13 (THE Increase 4) 81-90 (THE Steady)
2013 77 (QS Increase 5) | 61 (THE Decrease 3) 29 (QS Increase 2) | 17 (THE Decrease 4) 71-80 (THE Increase)
2014 82 (QS Decrease 5) | 55 (THE Increase 6) | 96 (ARWU Increase) 31 (QS Decrease 2) | 13 (THE Increase 4) | 32 (ARWU Increase) 71-80 (THE Steady)
2015 82 (QS Steady) | 35 (THE Increase 20) | 90 (ARWU Increase 6) 31 (QS Steady) | 12 (THE Increase 1) | 32 (ARWU Steady) 51-60 (THE Increase)
2016 79 (QS Increase 3) | 40 (THE Decrease 5) | 93 (ARWU Decrease 3) 26 (QS Increase 5) | 12 (THE Steady) | 32 (ARWU Steady) 51-60 (THE Steady)
2017 71(QS Increase 8) | 47 (THE Decrease 7) | 90 (ARWU Increase 3) 21 (QS Increase 5) | 14 (THE Decrease 2) | 31 (ARWU Increase 1) 71-80 (THE Decrease)

Rectors[edit]

# Name Began office Ended office Studies Vice-rector
1 Pieter De Somer 1968 1985 Medicine
2 Roger Dillemans (nl) 1985 1995 Law
3 André Oosterlinck (nl) 1995 2005 Engineering
4 Marc Vervenne 2005 2009 Theology Mark Waer
5 Mark Waer 2009 2013 Medicine
6 Rik Torfs 2013 2017 Canon Law
7 Luc Sels (nl) 2017 Economics

Notable alumni[edit]

For pre-1970 alumni see Catholic University of Leuven (1834–1968)#Notable alumni

Honorary doctorates[edit]

Notable recipients of honorary doctorates at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven include:

See also[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

A.^ Dutch pronunciation: [katoˈlikə ʔynivɛrsiˈtɛit ˈløːvə(n)], About this sound listen (help·info)
B.^ According to the university's style guidelines, both KU Leuven and Catholic University of Leuven are used in English. [1] (in Dutch)
C.^ The Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) is the oldest university in the low countries, and the Catholic University of Leuven (1834) is sometimes, controversially, identified as a continuation of it. In the mid-1800s, Belgium's highest court, the Court of Cassation, ruled that the 1834 "Catholic University of Leuven" was a different institution created under a different charter and thus cannot be regarded as continuing the 1425 "University of Leuven".[21] See also: History of the Old University of Leuven.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "About KU Leuven". www.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2018-04-26. 
  2. ^ "Studeren aan de KU Leuven, ook buiten Leuven – KU Leuven". Kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2015-10-18. 
  3. ^ "International programmes". Kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2014-03-28. 
  4. ^ a b c "The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016". 
  5. ^ a b "QS World Universities Ranking 2015-2016". 
  6. ^ a b "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015". 
  7. ^ Ewalt, By David. "Europe's Most Innovative Universities – 2018". U.S. Retrieved 2018-04-26. 
  8. ^ "EFMD EQUIS Accreditation for KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business". 
  9. ^ "Belgian support for innovative agricultural research". 
  10. ^ "Aantal studenten". 
  11. ^ "... that our library has more than 1.3 million volumes?". Retrieved 2017-05-08. 
  12. ^ "KU Leuven libraries". bib.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2017-05-08. 
  13. ^ "Studentenraad KU Leuven". Retrieved 14 July 2018. 
  14. ^ "KU Leuven New Member of VIU – international". www.kuleuven.be (in Dutch). Retrieved 2017-01-20. 
  15. ^ Members KU Leuven Association. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
  16. ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities 2017
  17. ^ THE World University Rankings 2018
  18. ^ Reuters - Europe's Most Innovative Universities
  19. ^ "QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017". Top Universities. Retrieved 2017-05-11. 
  20. ^ https://www.kuleuven.be/english/news/2016/ku-leuven-and-ugent-to-confer-joint-honorary-doctorate-on-angela-merkel
  21. ^ Ruling of the Cour de Cassation of Belgium of 26 November 1846: "The Catholic University of Leuven can not be regarded as continuing the old University of Leuven", in, Table générale alphabétique et chronologique de la Pasicrisie Belge contenant la jurisprudence du Royaume de 1814 à 1850, Brussels, 1855, p. 585, column 1, alinea 2. See also: Bulletin Usuel des Lois et Arrêtés, 1861, p. 166.

External links[edit]

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