Universiteit Gent | |
 Seal of Ghent University | |
| Latin:Universitas Gandavensis[1] | |
Former names | State University of Ghent |
|---|---|
| Motto | Sapere Aude (Latin) |
Motto in English | Dare to Think/Durf Denken |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1817; 208 years ago (1817) |
| Rector | Petra De Sutter |
Administrative staff | 9,000 |
| Students | +50,000 |
| Location | , |
| Campus | University town |
| Colours | UGent blue &white[2] |
| Affiliations | CESAER EUA The Guild SGroup ENLIGHT 3I University Network 3C Partnership |
| Website | www |
 | |
 | |
Ghent University (Dutch:Universiteit Gent, abbreviated asUGent) is apublicresearch university located inGhent, in theEast Flanders province ofBelgium.
Located inFlanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting of 50,000 students and 9,000 staff members. The university also supports theGhent University Library (including the famousBoekentoren) and theGhent University Hospital, which is one of the biggest hospitals in Belgium. In addition to satellite campuses elsewhere in Flanders and a Global Campus inSongdo, South Korea, Ghent University maintains many inter-university partnerships and programs both inside and outside of Europe.
Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by theDutchKing William I in 1817, when the region was incorporated into theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands after the fall ofFirst French Empire. In that same year, he founded two other universities for the southern provinces as well, alongside Ghent University:University of Liège andState University of Leuven.
After theBelgian revolution of 1830, the newly formed Belgian state began to administer Ghent University. In 1930, UGent became the firstDutch-speaking university in Belgium. Previously,French (and, even earlier, Latin) had been the standard academic language in what wasUniversité de Gand. In 1991, it was granted major autonomy and changed its name accordingly fromState University of Ghent (Dutch:Rijksuniversiteit Gent, abbreviated asRUG) to its current designation.
Ghent was one of the largest and most important cities of Europe in the medieval period.
The university in Ghent was opened on 9 October 1817, with JC van Rotterdam as the firstrector. The foundation of universities in Ghent, Liege, and Leuven that year – by the DutchKing William I – was part of a larger policy to stimulate academic lag across the southern provinces of theUnited Kingdom of the Netherlands (which would later become Belgium).[citation needed] The original four faculties comprised Humanities (Letters), Law, Medicine, and Science, with the language of instruction beingLatin. In the first year, it had 190 students and 16 professors.
In the wake of theBelgian Revolution, of 1830, the number of students declined, having peaked at 414. Although the faculties of humanities and science were dissolved from the university, they were restored five years later, in 1835. At this time, French also became the language of instruction, taking the place of Latin.
Ghent University played a role in the foundation of modern organic chemistry. FriedrichAugust Kekulé unraveled the structure of benzene at Ghent andAdolf von Baeyer (Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer), a student ofAugust Kekulé, made contributions to organic chemistry.[citation needed]
In 1882, Sidonie Verhelst became the first female student at Ghent University, in science and pharmacology.[3]
In 1903, the Flemish politicianLodewijk De Raet led a successful campaign to begin instruction inDutch, and the first courses were begun in 1906.[citation needed]
DuringWorld War I, Ghent University was initially closed due to hostilities and subsequently due to the refusal of the academic staff and the students to resume classes whileBelgium was occupied.Moritz von Bissing, the German Governor-General of occupied Belgium sought to make the territory easier to govern by exploiting the pre-war linguistic division. TheFlamenpolitik ("Policy regarding the Flemish people") was launched in 1916. The occupying German administration set up the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium in Ghent under the nameVlaamsche Hoogeschool (Flemish Institute of Higher Learning). Pejoratively referred to as theVon Bissing University, the Vlaamsche Hoogeschool was founded in 1916 but was disestablished after the war and the University of Ghent resumed its activities with French as the sole medium of instruction. In 1923, Cabinet MinisterPierre Nolf put forward a motion to definitively establish the university as a Dutch-speaking university, and this was realized in 1930.August Vermeylen served as the first rector of a Dutch-language university in Belgium.[4]
In theSecond World War, the German administration of the university attempted to create a German orientation, removing faculty members and installing loyal activists.
In the postwar period, Ghent University became a much larger institution, following the government policy of democratizing higher education in Flanders during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1953, there were more than 3,000 students, and by 1969 more than 11,500.
The number of faculties increased to eleven, starting with Applied Sciences in 1957. It was followed by Economics and Veterinary Medicine in 1968, Psychology and Pedagogy, as well as Bioengineering, in 1969, and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
In the 1960s, there were severalstudent demonstrations at Ghent University, notably around theBlandijn site, which houses the Faculty of Arts & Philosophy.[5] The most severe of demonstrations took place in 1969 in the wake ofMay 1968.
In 1991, the university officially changed its name fromRijksuniversiteit Gent (RUG) toUniversiteit Gent (UGent), following an increased grant of autonomy by the government of theFlemish Community. The faculty ofPolitics andSocial Sciences is the most recent addition, in 1992.
Ghent University had a program founded by Andre Vlerick in 1953, then calledCentre for Productivity Studies and Research. The program later evolved into a separate school calledInstituut Professor Vlerick voor Management. Later in 1999 together withKU Leuven, Ghent University established Vlerick Business School merging the two MBA programs of the universities, naming the newborn instituteVlerick Leuven Gent Management School. In 2006, the school rebranded itself asVlerick Business School.KU Leuven and Ghent University are still the parent institutions of the business school where many of the school's professors teach also in Leuven or Ghent. Nevertheless, UGent still offer MBA programs even after the merger.[6][circular reference]
Ghent University consists of elevenfaculties with over 130 individual departments. In addition, the university maintains theZwijnaarde science park andGreenbridge science park.
Standing on theBlandijnberg, theBoekentoren houses theGhent University Library, which contains nearly 3 million volumes. The university library has joined theGoogle Books Library Project. Among other notable collections, it preservesPapyrus 30, an early manuscript of the Greek New Testament.
The university is also a partner in the development ofDe Krook, the new public library and media center in the center of Ghent that opened in 2017.
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global – Overall | |
| ARWU World[7] | 84 (2023) |
| CWUR World[8] | 118 (2020–21) |
| CWTS World[9] | 75 (2020) |
| QS World[10] | 162 (2026) |
| Reuters World[11] | 98 (2019) |
| THE World[12] | 115 (2024) |
| USNWR Global[13] | =95 (2023) |
| National – Overall | |
| ARWU National[7] | 1 (2023) |
| CWTS National[9] | 2 (2020) |
| CWUR National[8] | 2 (2020–21) |
| QS National[14] | 2 (2024) |
| THE National[12] | 2 (2024) |
| USNWR National[15] | 2 (2023) |
Ghent University consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world, alongside theCatholic University of Leuven. In 2017, it was ranked, globally, 69th by theAcademic Ranking of World Universities (or Shanghai ranking)[16] and 125th byQS World University Rankings.[17] For 2021, Ghent University has been ranked, worldwide, 85th byU.S. News & World Report[18] and 96th byTimes Higher Education.[19] The Faculty of Economics and Business Administration has also been awarded with an internationalAssociation to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) accreditation.
The university maintains many partnerships within Belgium, across Europe, and throughout the world.
Inside Belgium, Ghent University supports theBelgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms and theVlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie.
Within Europe, it is a member of theSantander Network, the Enlight (previously the U4) Network, and the 3i University Network. It also participates in theConference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research. In addition, the university cooperates with numerous universities for theErasmus andErasmus Mundus programs; within the framework of the latter, it heads the International Master of Science in Rural Development and the International Master of Science in Soils and Global Change (IMSOGLO).[20]
Beyond Europe, Ghent University conducts exchange programs on all continents except Antarctica.[21] Frameworks include its campus in South Korea and its 3C Partnership.
Ghent University has been instrumental in the development ofCOinS andUnipept.[citation needed]
._Minister_M._de_Riemaeck%2c_Bestanddeelnr_920-8362.jpg)
.jpg)
|
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)| Repositories and notable holdings |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Science parks | ||
| Associated developments and innovations | ||
| Partner institutions and major collaborations | ||
| Sponsored publications | ||
| Sports and student life | ||
51°02′48″N3°43′41″E / 51.046582°N 3.727918°E /51.046582; 3.727918
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
