The university welcomes 33,500 students in seven locations in Brussels and Wallonia. Its main campus is in the pedestrianised city of Louvain-la-Neuve. Our university offers courses in all disciplines, from bachelor’s degree to doctoral degree level, as well as many lifelong learning programmes. It is also a pioneer in the creation of massive open online courses (MOOCs), and the first French-speaking university in Europe to offer online courses on the edX platform (36 courses available in 2021).
Education and research
With a Nobel Prize, 21 Prix Francqui (the ‘Belgian Nobel’) and many other honours, UCLouvain offers an education fuelled by solid research. The university’s drive to innovate is clear: €273 million in annual research investment, 356 projects funded by European framework programmes (as of 2021) and close relationships with the commercial world, particularly with the 275 companies in the university’s two science parks. Meanwhile, UCLouvain’s research development efforts are currently responsible for 66 active spin-offs.
Open to the world
Since its creation, UCLouvain has not only been open to the world; it has reached out to the world and invited it in: 22% of its staff and 19% of its student body is international. This openness is also reflected in its many exchange partnerships with universities worldwide, active participation in international networks and long-held tradition of cooperation with developing countries.
Top-ranked Belgian francophone university
Placing 158th in the 2022 Times Higher Education ranking of the world’s universities, UCLouvain is ranked first among Belgian francophone universities. It is also one of Europe’s most well established universities, having been founded in 1425. Erasmus, Gerardus Mercator and Andreas Vesalius are among the greats to have graced its halls; it’s where Georges Lemaître formulated his Big Bang theory and Christian de Duve conducted research that won him the 1974 Nobel Prize in Medicine.