Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Brussels, one of the world`s most cosmopolitan cities, in the heart of Europe since 1957, needs a university commensurate with its status. As a multicultural university with one third of students and researchers from abroad, international relations is a daily reality for the ULB. Its outward-looking position with regard to Europe and the world has resulted in a number of agreements, collaborations and special partnerships being set up with some of the world`s top universities. Four Nobel Prizes, one Fields Medal, three Wolf Prizes and two Marie Curie Prizes are further evidence of the University`s longstanding tradition of excellence. The Universite libre de Bruxelles is an active member of the Research Area and is involved in almost 80 projects financed by the 6th and 7th European Framework Programmes. Over the past few years, it has obtained 7 starting Grants from the European Research Area (ERC) as well as 2 Advanced Grant in Artificial Intelligence and Physics. In addition, the University`s Institute for European Studies is recognized as a “Jean Monnet European research centre“ for its work on European integration. The Universite libre de Bruxelles has 13 faculties that cover all the disciplines, closely combining academic input and research. The ULB also has a teaching hospital (the Erasme Hospital), a cancer institute (the Bordet Institute), and an extensive hospital network.
The ULB meets up to its social, societal and scientific responsibilities with great commitment, combining broad based teaching with very high-level research. It offers almost 40 undergraduate programmes and 235 graduate programmes. It also partners 20 Doctoral schools, with almost 1,600 PhD in progress. One of the University’s main aims is to give its students a solid foundation in critical thinking as well as a taste for research, while at the same time catering to the needs of new publics. As a French-speaking university, most of the courses at the Universite libre de Bruxelles are delivered in French. However, a growing number of Master programmes are partly or entirely delivered in English. And the University offers a wide range of French courses, prior to and during the academic year, to help its international students improve their language skills. Since its foundation in 1834, the Universite libre de Bruxelles has been closely involved in the ongoing debate on critical thinking and freedom. This has included outspoken opposition to dictatorships and other nationalist abuses, the promotion of equal opportunities and a raft of other social issues. Based on the principle of free enquiry that postulates independent reasoning and the rejection of all dogma, the University has retained its original ideals as a free institution that is firmly engaged in the defense of democratic and human values. The Universite libre de Bruxelles has always given its students the possibility of playing an active and participatory role in University life and in the evaluation of the teaching they receive. As a result, ULB is one of the few Belgian, or even European universities where students are represented on all decision-making bodies. In the same spirit, a systematic teacher assessment procedure has been in operation for over twenty years, and is based on students’ own assessment of their teachers’ pedagogical abilities.
Foundation year: 1834
Short name: ULB
Type: Public
Students: 26940
Faculty: 750
Faculty/Students Ratio: 36:1
Region: Europe
Location: Brussels
