KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)[5][a] is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries.
Book celebrating the 25 anniversary of the founding of the Catholic University of Louvain, November 3, 1859.Pope Gregory XVI (1765-1846)
In addition to its main campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Genk, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, and in Belgium's capital Brussels.[6] KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries and the largest Dutch-language university in the world. In 2021–22, more than 65,000 students were enrolled, with 21% being international students.[7] Its primary language of instruction is Dutch, although several programs are taught in English, particularly graduate and postgraduate degrees.[8][9]
KU Leuven previously only accepted baptized Catholics,[when?] but is now open to students from different faiths or life-stances.[10][11]
While nowadays only the acronymic name KU Leuven is used, the university's legal name is Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, officially Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven,[b] which translates in English as Catholic University of Leuven.[a] However, the acronymic name is not translated in official communications, like its similarly named French-language sister university Université catholique de Louvain (UCLouvain).
The universities in Leuven
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The town of Leuven has been the seat of four universities, with the first one established in 1425. Since then, the organisation was abolished and founded again multiple times.
After the French Revolution, the university was formally integrated into the French Republic when the Holy Roman Emperor, Francis I, ceded then Austrian Netherlands to France by the Treaty of Campo Formio[14] signed on 17 October 1797. A law dating to 1793, which mandated that all universities in France be closed, came into effect.[15] The old University of Leuven was abolished by decree of the Département of the Dyle on October 25, 1797.[16]
The Catholic University of Leuven was founded in 1834 in Mechelen[17] by the bishops of Belgium, after an official Papal Brief of Pope Gregory XVI. This new Catholic university stayed only briefly in Mechelen, as the bishops already moved the university headquarters to Leuven on 1 December 1835, where it took the name Catholic University of Leuven. This occurred after the closure of the State university of Leuven in 1835, where many professors of the old University of Leuven had taught. KU Leuven is generally (but controversially) identified as a continuation of the older institution; controversy lays in the fact that this link to the old University cannot be maintained from a purely juridical perspective[18] as the old University was suppressed under French rule.[c] In its statutes, KU Leuven officially declares against the rulings of the Court of Cassation[19] and the Cour d'Appel, to be the continuation of the Studium Generale Lovaniense established in 1425,[20] and together with UCLouvain it sets out to celebrate its 600th anniversary in 2025.[21] The original establishment during medieval times and subsequent re-foundation at a later period represents a fate shared by the University of Leuven (KU Leuven) with several other well-known European universities that experienced the upheavals of revolutionary times. In 1920, the Catholic University of Leuven for the first time admitted female students,[22] lagging some 40 years behind the Belgian universities of Brussels, Liège and Ghent.[23]
Present-day university
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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. KU Leuven's first rector after the split was Pieter De Somer.
In 1972, the university 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.[24]
The university's electronic learning environment, TOLEDO, which started in September 2001, was gradually developed into the central electronic learning environment at the KUL. 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.[25] As of 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.
Even though the university is financially independent from the Catholic Church, representatives from the Catholic Archdiocese of Mechelen–Brussels sit on the Board of Trustees, and are yielded chairmanship powers and veto powers in certain decisions.[26]
In December 2011, the university changed its official name to KU Leuven in all official communications and branding.[27][28] While its legal name remains to be Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, the university uses its short name or acronym, KU Leuven, in all communications, including academic research publications.[5] The long name is only used in legally binding documents such as contracts and only on the first instance, according to university's communication guidelines. According to its then rector, the change is intended as a way to emphasize its history of freedom of academic inquiry and its independence from the Church, without erasure of its Catholic heritage.[27]
KU Leuven hosts the world's largest bananagenebank, the Bioversity InternationalMusa 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.[29]
In 2018, a student of African origin, Sanda Dia, died during a cruel hazing ritual to enter the Reuzegom fraternity.[30] The perpetrators, whose parents mostly belong to the upper class,[31] are being prosecuted, but were so far only lightly sanctioned by the university authorities.[32][33] As a consequence of these events, which attracted international media coverage,[34] the institution received criticism as to how it handled the matter. In 2023 18 students were fined 400 Euros and community service for their involvement in the death and the degrading treatment.[35]
Historically, the Catholic University of Leuven has been a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology. The university 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 neo-Gothic seal created in 1909 and used by the university shows the medieval statue Our Lady of Leuven in a vesica piscis shape. The version used by KU Leuven dates from the 1990s and features the date 1425 in Times New Roman.
Campus
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Students study in learning center AGORA at KU Leuven.
KU Leuven's main campus is in Leuven where school faculties, libraries, institutes, residence halls, the university hospital UZ Leuven, and other facilities are interspersed throughout the city proper, as well as just outside its ring road in Heverlee borough.[36] Its intercultural meeting center Pangaea is located in the city center. The University Sports Centre is located in Heverlee, including Univ-Fit gym. In addition, the UNESCO World Heritage SiteGroot Begijnhof, a historic beguinage in the south of city, is owned by the university and functions as one of its many residence halls.
Public transport within the city is primarily served by the De Lijn bus system. Leuven is a main hub in Belgium's and nearby country's train network. Leuven station is located in the northeast edge of the city.
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.[37] Notable divisions of the university include the Institute of Philosophy and the Rega Institute for Medical Research.
The students of the university are gathered together in the student's council Studentenraad KU Leuven.[38]
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.[39] The following libraries are found at its Leuven campus:[40]
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
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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.
KU Leuven publishes Jura Falconis, a student-edited law review of the Faculty of Law. It was founded by a group of students from the Law Faculty of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven who, in 1964, conceived the idea of producing their own law journal grafted on the famous American law reviews.
Every year, Jura Falconis organizes the Jura Falconis Prijs, an award for the best legal dissertation. Students at Flemish faculties of law submit their dissertations, which are judged by a panel of professors of law, including a judge of the Belgian Court of Cassation.
According to QS World University Rankings by Subject in 2019, KU Leuven ranked within the world's top 50 universities in the following fields: Sports-related Subjects (11), Theology (14), Dentistry (17), Classics and Ancient History (22), Library and Information Management (23), Psychology (24), Statistics and Operational Research (26), Mechanical Engineering (30), Philosophy (31), Geography (34), Pharmacy & Pharmacology (35), Education and Training (36), Law (37), Social Policy and Administration (39), Development Studies (43), Materials sciences (45), Chemical Engineering (46), Politics (49), Sociology (50), Life Sciences and Medicine (56), Social Sciences and Management (60), Arts and Humanities (61), Engineering and Technology (61). Also according to QS, many other KU Leuven programs rank within the top 100 in the world, including Linguistics, English Language and Literature, History, Anatomy and Physiology, Architecture, Anthropology, Computer Science and Information System, Biological Sciences, Civil and Structural Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Business and Management Studies, Mathematics, Economics and Econometrics, Chemistry, Accounting and Finance .[56]
Year
World university ranking
European university ranking
World reputation ranking
2011
86 (QS 21) | 119 (THE)
35 (QS 14) | 37 (THE)
2012
68 (QS 18) | 67 (THE 52)
24 (QS 11) | 17 (THE 20)
81-90 (THE)
2013
82 (QS 14) | 58 (THE 9)
31 (QS 7) | 13 (THE 4)
81-90 (THE )
2014
77 (QS 5) | 61 (THE 3)
29 (QS 2) | 17 (THE 4)
71-80 (THE )
2015
82 (QS 5) | 55 (THE 6) | 96 (ARWU )
31 (QS 2) | 13 (THE 4) | 32 (ARWU )
71-80 (THE )
2016
82 (QS ) | 35 (THE 20) | 90 (ARWU 6)
31 (QS ) | 12 (THE 1) | 32 (ARWU )
51-60 (THE )
2017
79 (QS 3) | 40 (THE 5) | 93 (ARWU 3)
26 (QS 5) | 12 (THE ) | 32 (ARWU )
51-60 (THE )
2018
71(QS 8) | 47 (THE 7) | 90 (ARWU 3)
21 (QS 5) | 14 (THE 2) | 31 (ARWU 1)
71-80 (THE )
2019
48 (THE 1) | 86 (ARWU 4)
15 (THE ) | 28 (ARWU 3)
51-60 (THE )
Rectors
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On 20 May 2025, Severine Vermeire was elected as the first female rector of KU Leuven in the university's history, winning with 51.9 % of the votes in the university's electoral college.[57] Her election marked a historic milestone for the institution, which was previously only been led by male rectors.
1860 : Souvenir du XXVe anniversaire de la fondation de l'Université catholique: Novembre 1859, Louvain, typographie Vanlinthout et Cie, 1860 Souvenir du XXVe anniversaire de la fondation de l'Université catholique: Novembre 1859.
^ abAccording to the university's style guidelines (in Dutch), KU Leuven is the university's name in all languages. However, according to the university's legal sheet,[5] the university's legal name by the law of 28 May 1970 issuing legal personality to the institution is Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven, which is used in the university's own official publications, with a variant Katholieke Universiteit Leuven according to the Flemish Community of Belgium.
^The Old University of Leuven (1425–1797) is the oldest university in the low countries, and the Catholic University of Leuven (1834) is generally, yet 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".[18] See also: History of the Old University of Leuven.
References
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^Anderson, Peter John (1907). Record of the Celebration of the Quatercentenary of the University of Aberdeen: From 25th to 28th September, 1906. Aberdeen, United Kingdom: Aberdeen University Press (University of Aberdeen). ISBN 9781363625079. {{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^"Jaarverslag KU Leuven 2024 – Resultatenrekening" (PDF) (in Dutch). KU Leuven. May 2025. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
^"Religion and Philosophical Diversity at KU Leuven". www.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
^"Religion in Leuven". www.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
^Nicolaus Vernulaeus, Academia Lovaniensis, Louvain, chez Petrus Sassenus, édition de 1667, p. 1 : Primus Academiae Conditor fuit Ioannes Quartus, Lotharingiae, Brabantiae, et Limburgiae Dux, Marchio Sacri Imperii, Hannoniae, Hollandiae, Zelandiae Comes, et Dominus Frisiae, Religionis et optimarum Artium Princeps amantissimus. Movit illum miseratio imprimis primariae in Brabantia Urbis Lovanii, quae intestinis afflicta seditionibus, dilapsisque in Angliam et aliò mercimoniis, ac diminuto Civium artificumque numero vacua pene facta erat, ut iterum instauraretur frequentareturque. En : Emiel Lamberts and Jan Roegiers, Leuven University, Louvain, 1990, p. 21 : « The foundation of Louvain was the work of both ducal and municipal authorities. John IV, the Duke of Brabant, encouraged by two of his councillors, Engelbert van Nassau and Edmund van Dynter, strongly favoured the establishment of a higher centre of Learning in his dukedom ». Édouard Van Even, Louvain dans le passé et le présent, pp. 551-552: « C'est à Jean IV que les historiens ont attribué la gloire de cette fondation. ....Or, dans les comptes, nous avons constaté que l'université fut érigée par l'édilité louvaniste et que Jean IV n'a pas fait beaucoup plus que de permettre à son secrétaire d'adresser une supplique à la cour de Rome et de placeter les bulles d'érection ».
^Édouard Van Even, Louvain dans le passé et le présent, p. 552: « On avait également besoin du concours de l'écolâtre du chapitre de Saint-Pierre, maître Guillaume Neve, alors le chef de l'instruction à Louvain. Dans le principe, ce fonctionnaire se montra hostile au projet. C'était, sans doute, affaire d'intérêt personnel. Quoi qu'il en soit, la ville se vit obligée de recourir à l'intervention d'un prêtre, appelé Rutger Reppen, pour conquérir l'écolátre à sa cause. Cet ecclésiastique dut rencontrer chez le fonctionnaire du chapitre une résistance sérieuse ».
^Jules Delhaize, La domination française en Belgique, Brussels, 1909, tome III, p. 171 : « Les articles 3 et 4 du traité de Campo-Formio consacrèrent enfin, au point de vue international, la réunion de la Belgique à la France. Voici ces articles. Art. 3 - Sa Majesté l'Empereur, Roi de Hongrie et de Bohême, renonce pour elle et ses successeurs en faveur de la République française, à tous ses droits et titres sur les ci-devant provinces belgiques, connues sous le nom de Pays-Bas autrichiens. La République française possédera ces pays à perpétuité, en toute souveraineté et propriété, et avec tous les biens territoriaux qui en dépendent»
^The law of 15 September 1793 had decreed the suppression of all the colleges and universities in France, but the universities remain de facto until the new law of 7 ventôse year III (25 February 1795) creating the Écoles centrales. In accordance with this law the University of Louvain was abolished by Decree of the Departement of the Dijle. Louis Trénard, De Douai à Lille, une université et son histoire, Presses Universitaires du Septentrion, 1978, p.37 note 6.
^Jan Roegiers et al., Leuven University, Leuven, Leuven University Press, 1990, p. 31: "With the Law of 3 Brumaire of Year IV, which reorganized higher education in the French Republic, there was no place for the University of Louvain, and it was abolished by Decree of the Departement of the Dijle on 25 october (1797)".
^Souvenir du XXVe anniversaire de la fondation de l'Université catholique : Novembre 1859, Louvain, typographie Vanlinthout et Cie, 1860 : "Inaugurée à Malines, le 4 novembre 1834, l'Université catholique a célébré à Louvain, le jeudi 3 novembre 1859, sa vingt-cinquième année d'existence"Souvenir du XXVe anniversaire de la fondation de l'Université catholique: Novembre 1859.
^ abRuling 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.
^Table générale alphabétique et chronologique de la Pasicrisie belge contenant la jurisprudence du Royaume de 1814 à 1850, Bruxelles, 1855, p. 585, colonne 1, alinéa 2. Voir également : Bulletin usuel des lois et arrêtés, 1861, p. 166 : « L'université catholique de Louvain ne peut être considérée comme continuant l'ancienne université de Louvain; et lorsqu'un acte de fondation a désigné pour collateur un professeur de cette ancienne université, il y a lieu d'y pourvoir par le gouvernement ».
Cet arrêt approuvant l'arrêt motivé de la cour d'appel du 28 juillet 1844 : La Belgique judiciaire, 28 juillet 1844 No. 69, p. 1. Cour d’Appel de Bruxelles. Deuxième chambre : « L'université libre de Louvain ne représente pas légalement l’antique université de cette ville. Attendu que cette université, instituée par une bulle papale, de concert avec l'autorité souveraine, formait un corps reconnu dans l'État, ayant différentes attributions, dont plusieurs même lui étaient déléguées par le pouvoir civil; Attendu que ce corps a été supprimé par les lois de la république française; Attendu que l'université existant actuellement à Louvain ne peut être considérée comme continuant celle qui existait en 1457, ces deux établissements ayant un caractère bien distinct, puisque l'université actuelle, non reconnue comme personne civile, n'est qu'un établissement tout à fait privé, résultat de la liberté d'enseignement, en dehors de toute action du pouvoir et sans autorité dans l'État ».
^"KU Leuven Statutes". Algemene en ondersteunende diensten. 21 December 2023 [original version published in 2 April 2020, modified twice since].
^"History". www.kuleuven.be. Retrieved Oct 4, 2020.
^Blogt, KU Leuven (2014-04-30). "De eerste vrouw in Leuven". KU Leuven blogt (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-12-28.
^Meesters, Lore; Desmet, Emma (2021-03-08). "Honderd jaar vrouwelijke studenten aan KU Leuven". www.veto.be (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2022-12-28.
^ ab"KU Leuven drops "Catholic" from its name". Flanders Today. 14 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
^"Leuven University changes its name". VRT. 26 December 2011. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
^"Belgian support for innovative agricultural research". Alexander De Croo. 12 September 2017.
^Sanda Dia al eerder slachtoffer van racisme bij Reuzegom Het Laatste Nieuws, 30 August 2020
^Antwerp governor's son was member of student club involved in fatal hazing The Brussels Times, 08 August 2020
^Studentengroepen eisen sterk signaal KU Leuven voor leden Reuzegom De Morgen, 6 August 2020
^KU Leuven staff want tougher punishment for students involved in deadly hazing The Brussels Times, 04 August 2020
^A Black Belgian Student Saw a White Fraternity as His Ticket. It Was His Death The New York Times, 4 October 2020
^"Sanda Dia: Belgium reckons with verdict over black student's hazing death". BBC News. 2023-06-02. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
^"Green Energy Breakthrough Thanks to KU Leuven Scientists". www.kuleuven.be.
^ abHeremans, Gino; Trompoukis, Christos (2017). "Vapor-fed solar hydrogen production exceeding 15% efficiency using earth abundant catalysts and anion exchange membrane". Sustainable Energy & Fuels. 1 (10): 2061–2065. doi:10.1039/C7SE00373K. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
^
"Green Energy Breakthrough Thanks to KU Leuven Scientists". www.kuleuven.be. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
^ ab
Gallucci, Maria (2019-03-13). "Solar Panel Splits Water to Produce Hydrogen". IEEE Spectrum. IEEE. Retrieved 2020-11-09. A research team in Belgium says its prototype panel can produce 250 liters of hydrogen gas per day
^Members KU Leuven Association. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
^ abc"Academic Ranking of World Universities 2023". Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. Retrieved 17 July 2024.
