KATHOLIEKE UNIVERSITEIT LEUVEN

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Dutch pronunciation: [katoˈlikə univɛrsiˈtɛit ˈløːvə(n)], About this sound listen (help·info); Dutch for Catholic University of Leuven, but usually not translated into English), also known as KU Leuven or University of Leuven, is a Dutch-speaking university in Leuven, Flanders, Belgium.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven was founded at the centre 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.A 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. Since the fifteenth century, Louvain, as it is still often called, has been a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology. It is considered the oldest Catholic university still in existence.

With 55,484 students in 2014–2015, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven  is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries. In addition to its primary campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk ('KULAK'), Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver and in Belgium's capital Brussels.The university now also offers several programs in English.

As of 2015-2016 academic year, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven ranks as 35th globally according to Times Higher Education,82nd according to QS World University Rankings and 90th according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.KU Leuven is consistently considered to be within the top 100 universities of the world and in contention with Ghent University as the best Belgian university.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven is a strongly research-oriented university. Among its many accolades is to be reckoned among the top universities of Europe. In the 2015-2016 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) university ranking, the KU Leuven was ranked 35th in the world and 12th in Europe, making it the highest ranked university from the low countries (The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) in either category.[5] Its current 2015-2016 QS World University Ranking position is 82nd.[6] KU Leuven Institute of Philosophy current ranks 24th in the world.

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Law School currently ranks 26th in the world.

In the 2014-2015 Academic Year, 55,484 students were attending classes at the 15 faculties of the KU Leuven, 9,930 of whom were foreign students, many of whom were able to follow courses offered in English.[10] Most courses, however, are taught in Dutch. The Katholieke Universiteit 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.

Since August 2013, the university has been led by Rik Torfs who replaced former rector Mark Waer. The Belgian archbishop, André-Joseph Léonard is the current Grand Chancellor and a member of the university board.

The Katholieke Universiteit 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 of the Sedes Sapientiae, Leuven, in a vesica piscis shape. Despite its Catholic origin, the university welcomes students from different faith communities.

In Flanders, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven  has a Catholic origin, whereas the University of Ghent and the University of Antwerp are officially neutral on issues of religious/philosophical orientation, and the Free University of Brussels is Freethinking.

History

Kasteel van Arenberg, part of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

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 Katholieke Universiteit 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.

On 11 July 2002, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven  became the dominant institution in the "KU Leuven Association.

When the university was split, those books that could not be divided otherwise (e.g. according to the wishes of the benefactors who donated them) were divided as follows: those with an odd-numbered shelfmark stayed in Katholieke Universiteit Leuven , while the even-numbered ones moved to Louvain-la-Neuve. This gave rise to the widespread myth that every other volume was separated - splitting up runs of journals and volumes of encyclopedias - but since such series each had a single shelfmark this was never in fact the case. The Central Library alone now owns about 1,300,000 works.