Founded in 1425, KU Leuven has been a centre of learning for almost six centuries. Today, it is Belgium’s highest-ranked university as well as one of the oldest and most renowned universities in Europe. As a leading European research university and co-founder of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), KU Leuven offers a wide variety of programmes in English. These programmes are supported by high-quality inter disciplinary research carried out at both the university and its internationally acclaimed hospitals. Boasting an outstanding central location in the heart of Europe, KU Leuven offers a truly international experience, high-quality education, world-class research, and cutting-edge innovation. 

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High-quality Education

Excellence in education and excellence in research go hand in hand. KU Leuven’s study programmes are research-based, which ensures that students acquire academic competences while also developing a critical and research-oriented attitude. Flexibility and state-of-the-art technology are integral to each study programme. A KU Leuven degree offers a significant competitive advantage and is highly valued around the world. The ECTS quality label guarantees that all credits obtained at KU Leuven are transparent and fully transferable.

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A Global University

18% of the university’s 56,842 students come from abroad. Together, they represent over 150 countries. KU Leuven is, thus, home to a vibrant community of international students and staff members, spread across its various campuses. The university also works with a select number of top-level partner institutions worldwide, and stimulates purposeful international mobility and intensive research cooperation. It continuously strives to integrate the local and international student and research communities on all its campuses through a variety of programmes and activities. Internationalisation is key in the policy of the university’s board. KU Leuven and its faculties have concluded partnership agreements with a large number of universities and research institutions around the world. These agreements facilitate both student and staff mobility, create and stimulate cooperation in research and education, and enable capacity building and university development cooperation.

World-class Research

As a comprehensive university, KU Leuven pursues curiosity-driven and strategic frontier research, as well as targeted and demand-driven research in an interdisciplinary environment. KU Leuven has a strong record of securing funding from the most competitive research funds, including the prestigious ERC Grants awarded by the European Research Council. KU Leuven is the sixth-ranked university when it comes to the number of projects under the EU Horizon 2020 Programme, only preceded by Cambridge, Oxford, University College London, Copenhagen and Imperial College. The university’s research output consistently ranks among Europe’s best. Since 2014, KU Leuven has acquired 238 projects and around 132 million euros in funding from Horizon 2020.

Cutting-edge innovation and R&D

KU Leuven is a leading institution when it comes to the valorisation of research and innovation. The technology transfer office KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD) was one of the first in Europe. LRD has a long and productive tradition of patenting, licencing, collaborating with the industry, and creating of spin-off companies. KU Leuven is the only non-American university in the Reuters top 5 of the world’s most innovative universities (2017). One of the main reasons for this strong position is the high number of publications,  citations, collaborations with industry and patent filings.