 Seal of the VUB | |
| Latin:Universitas Bruxellensis[a][1] | |
| Motto | Scientia vincere tenebras (Latin) |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Conquering darkness through science |
| Type | Independent (partly state-funded) |
| Established | 28 May 1970; 55 years ago (1970-05-28) |
| President | Karsten De Clerck |
| Rector | Jan Danckaert[2] |
Administrative staff | 3,257 (2017) |
| Students | 19,245 (2020)[3] |
| Address | Pleinlaan 2, 1050Elsene ,,Belgium |
| Campus | Elsene,Jette,Anderlecht andGooik |
| Follows | Free University of Brussels |
| Colours | |
| Affiliations | University Association Brussels,UNICA,T.I.M.E. |
| Website | www.vub.be/en |
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TheVrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch,pronounced[ˈvrɛiəʔynivɛrsiˈtɛidˈbrʏsəl]ⓘ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviatedVUB) is a Dutch- and English-speakingresearch university inBrussels, Belgium.[b] It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engineering Campus (inElsene), Brussels Health Campus (inJette), Brussels Technology Campus (inAnderlecht) and Brussels Photonics Campus (inGooik).[6]
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel was formed in 1970 by the splitting of theFree University of Brussels[c], which was founded in 1834 by the lawyer andliberal politicianPierre-Théodore Verhaegen. The founder aimed to establish a university independent from state and church, whereacademic freedom would prevail.[7] This is still reflected in the university'smottoScientia vincere tenebras, or "Conquering darkness through science", and in its more recent sloganRedelijk eigenzinnig, or "Reasonably self-willed". Accordingly, the university ispluralistic – it is open to all students on the basis of equality regardless of their ideological, political, cultural or social background – and it is managed using democratic structures, which means that all members – from students to faculty – participate in the decision-making processes.[d]
One of the leading Belgian universities open to Europe and the world. The university's research articles are on average more cited than articles by any otherFlemish university.[9] The university is organised into 8faculties that accomplish the three central missions of the university: education, research, andservice to the community. The faculties cover a broad range of fields of knowledge including thenatural sciences,classics, life sciences,social sciences,humanities, and engineering. The university provides bachelor, master, and doctoral education to about 8,000 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate students.[10]
The history of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is closely linked with that of Belgium itself. When theBelgian State was formed in 1830 by nine breakaway provinces from theKingdom of the Netherlands, three state universities existed in the cities ofGhent,Leuven andLiège, but none in the new capital, Brussels. Since the government was reluctant to fund another state university, a group of leadingintellectuals in the fields of arts, science, and education — amongst whom the study prefect of the Royal Athenaeum of Brussels,Auguste Baron, as well as the astronomer and mathematicianAdolphe Quetelet — planned to create aprivate university, which was permitted under theBelgian Constitution.[11][7]
In 1834, the Belgianepiscopate decided to establish aCatholic university inMechelen with the aim of regaining the influence of the Catholic Church on the academic scene in Belgium, and the government had the intent to close theuniversity at Leuven and donate the buildings to the Catholic institution.[12] The country'sliberals strongly opposed to this decision, and furthered their ideas for a university in Brussels as a counterbalance to the Catholic institution. At the same time, Auguste Baron had just become a member of thefreemasonic lodgeLes Amis Philantropes. Baron was able to convincePierre-Théodore Verhaegen, the president of the lodge, to support the idea for a new university. On 24 June 1834, Verhaegen presented his plan to establish a free university.[7]
After sufficient funding was collected among advocates, theUniversité libre de Belgique ("Free University of Belgium") was inaugurated on 20 November 1834, in the Gothic Room ofBrussels Town Hall. The date of its establishment is still commemorated annually, by students of its successor institutions, as a holiday calledSaint Verhaegen (often shortened toSt V) for Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen.[13] In 1836, the university was renamed theUniversité libre de Bruxelles ("Free University of Brussels").[11]
After its establishment, the Free University faced difficult times, since it received nosubsidies or grants from the government; yearly fundraising events and tuition fees provided the only financial means. Verhaegen, who became a professor and later head of the new university, gave it a mission statement which he summarised in a speech to KingLeopold I: "the principle offree inquiry and academic freedom uninfluenced by any political or religious authority."[7] In 1858, the Catholic Church established theSaint-Louis Institute in the city, which subsequently expanded into a university in its own right.
The Free University grew significantly over the following decades. In 1842, it moved to theGranvelle Palace, which it occupied until 1928. It expanded the number of subjects taught and, in 1880, became one of the first institutions in Belgium to allow female students to study in some faculties. In 1893, it received large grants fromErnest andAlfred Solvay as well asRaoul Warocqué to open new faculties in Brussels. A disagreement over an invitation to theanarchist geographerÉlisée Reclus to speak at the university in 1893 from the rectorHector Denis led to some of the liberal and socialist faculty splitting away from the Free University to form theNew University of Brussels (Université nouvelle de Bruxelles) in 1894. However, the institution failed to displace the Free University and closed definitively in 1919.[14]
In1900, the Free University'sfootball team won the bronze medal at theSummer Olympics. AfterRacing Club de Bruxelles declined to participate, a student selection with players from the university was sent by the Federation.[15][16] The team was enforced with a few non-students.[17] The Institute of Sociology was founded in 1902, then in 1904 the Solvay School of Commerce, which would later become theSolvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (part of ULB) and VUB Solvay Business School (part of VUB). In 1911, the university obtained itslegal personality under the nameUniversité libre de Bruxelles - Vrije Hogeschool te Brussel.[18]
TheGerman occupation duringWorld War I led to the suspension of classes for four years in 1914–1918. In the aftermath of the war, the Free University moved its principal activities to theSolbosch/Solbos in the southern municipality ofElsene, and a purpose-built university campus was created, funded by theBelgian American Educational Foundation.
DuringWorld War II, the university was again closed by the German authorities on 25 November 1941 during thesecond occupation. Students from the university were involved in theBelgian Resistance, notably establishing the sabotage-orientated networkGroupe G.
Courses at the Free University were taught exclusively in French until the early 20th century. After Belgian independence, French was widely accepted as the language of thebourgeoisie andupper classes and was the only medium in law andacademia. As theFlemish Movement gained prominence among the Dutch-speaking majority in Flanders over the late 19th century, the lack of provision for Dutch speakers in higher education became a major source of political contention. Ghent University became the first institution in 1930 to teach exclusively in Dutch.
Some courses at the Free University's Faculty of Law began being taught in both French and Dutch as early as 1935. Nevertheless, it was not until 1963 that all faculties offered their courses in both languages.[19] Tensions between French- and Dutch-speaking students in the country came to a head in 1968 when theCatholic University of Leuvensplit along linguistic lines, becoming the first of several national institutions to do so.[20]
On 1 October 1969, the French and Dutch entities of the Free University separated into two distinct sister universities. This splitting became official with the act of 28 May 1970, of theBelgian Parliament, by which the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and the French-speakingUniversité libre de Bruxelles (ULB) officially became two separate legal, administrative and scientific entities.[21][22]
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is an independent institution. The members of all its governing entities are elected by the entire academic community – includingfaculty staff, researchers, personnel, and students.[8] This system guarantees the democratic process of decision-making and the independence from state and outside organisations. Nevertheless, the university receives significant funding from the Flemish government, although less than otherFlemish universities. Other important funding sources are grants for research projects (mostly from Belgian and European funding agencies), scholarships of academic members, revenues from cooperation with industry, andtuition fees to a lesser extent.
The main organisational structure of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is its division intofaculties:[23]
These faculties benefit a wideautonomy over how they structure their educational programmes and research efforts, although their decisions need to comply with the university's statutes and must be approved by the central administration.
Thecentral administration is formed by the Governing Board, which is currently presided by Eddy Van Gelder. It decides the university's long-term vision and must approve all decisions made by the faculties. The Governing Board is supported by three advising bodies: the Research Council, the Education Council, and the Senate. These bodies provide advice to the Governing Board on all issues regarding research, education, and the academic excellence of faculty staff, and may also propose changes to the university's strategy. The daily management of the university is the responsibility of theRector and three Vice-Rectors.
As of 2022, the rector of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel isJan Danckaert,[24] who succeededCaroline Pauwels (1964-2022), who resigned in 2022 for health reasons.[25]
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel offerscourses in a large variety of modern disciplines: law, economics,social sciences, management,psychology,physical sciences,life sciences,medical sciences,pharmaceutical sciences,humanities, engineering,physical education. About 22,000 students follow one of its128 educational programmes.[26] All programmes are taught in Dutch, but 59 are also taught in English. In agreement with theBologna process, the university has implemented the so-called bachelor-master system. It therefore issues four types ofdegrees: bachelor's, master's, master after master's, anddoctoral degrees.
Admission to the programmes is generally not restricted; anyone can subscribe to the programme of his/her choice. However, prerequisite degrees may be mandatory for advanced programmes, e.g., a bachelor's degree is required to subscribe to a master's programme, and a master's degree is required to subscribe to a master after master's or doctoral programme. An exception to this is the admission exam to the bachelor in medicine, which is required following ruling of the Flemish government. Tuition fees are low, and even decreased or eliminated for some students with less financial means.
Theacademic year is divided into two semesters, each spanning thirteen course weeks: the first semester lasts from October to January, the second semester from February to June. Students takeexams in January and June. Apart from the Christmas and Easter holidays (both lasting two weeks) that are normally used to prepare for the exams, students are free the week between both semesters and during the summer vacations from July to September.
The university has implemented severalquality control schemes in order to preserve the high quality of its educational programmes. Each semester, all studentsevaluate the courses they have followed. All programmes are also regularly assessed by internal panels and by external international visitation committees. Furthermore, all programmes are accredited by theNederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatie Organisatie, an independent accreditation organisation charged with theaccreditation of higher education programmes in bothFlanders and theNetherlands.[27]
| University rankings | |
|---|---|
| Global – Overall | |
| ARWU World[28] | 301–400 (2023) |
| CWUR World[29] | 359 (2020-21) |
| CWTS World[30] | 412 (2020) |
| QS World[31] | =294 (2026) |
| THE World[32] | 201–250 (2024) |
| USNWR Global[33] | =292 (2023) |
The university is included in major world university rankings such asTimes Higher Education World University Rankings,QS World University Rankings andAcademic Ranking of World Universities.
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel considers itself an open-minded and tolerant university.[34] Its central principles are theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights and in particular the principle offree inquiry for the progress of humanity. The latter includes the dismissal of any argument of authority and the right of free opinion.[8] The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is the only Flemish university that has incorporated such principle in its statutes. The principle of free inquiry is often described by a quotation of the Frenchmathematician and philosopherHenri Poincaré:
Thinking must never submit itself,
neither to a dogma,
nor to a party,
nor to a passion,
nor to an interest,
nor to a preconceived idea,
nor to anything whatsoever,
except to the facts themselves,
because for it to submit to anything else would be the end of its existence.
This principle is also reflected in the university'smottoScientia vincere tenebras, orConquering darkness through science, and in its seal. The seal of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel displays a beggar's wallet and joined hands on the orange-white-blue (the colours of thePrince of Orange)escutcheon in theemblem, referring to the struggle of the ProtestantGeuzen and thePrince of Orange against the oppressive Spanish rule and theInquisition in the sixteenth century.
Another basic principle of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel – also incorporated in the university's statutes – is that the institution must be managed according to the model of democracy.[8] Practically, this means that all members of the academic community —faculty staff, researchers, personnel, and students – are represented in all governing bodies. In this way, the university ensures that everyone has a voice in its decision-making processes and participates in its management. This principle must also guarantee the independence of the university and the academic freedom.
inGooik.
The Vrije Universiteit Brussel cooperates with several institutions of higher education. They are:
Worldwide, on the international level the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has concluded institutional collaboration agreements with 38 universities all over the world, and student exchange agreements with 160 universities.
The BSG is the umbrella organisation for all other student organizations and acts as the defender of the moral interests of the students. Together with their French-speaking counterparts ACE at theULB, they organise the annualSt V memorial.
These are some of the student organizations at the VUB:
Members of these organizations(except VUBMUN) wear aklak (Dutch) orpenne (French).
Furthermore, the VUB has student organizations for students with a specific regional background. They are: Antverpia (Antwerp), Westland (Westhoek), WUK (West Flanders), KBS (Brussels andFlemish Brabant), Campina (Campine), Kinneke Baba (East Flanders), Limburgia (Limburg), VSKM (Mechelen), Hesbania (Haspengouw) and Ibérica (Latin America and Iberian peninsula). There are also several organizations for specific majors within a faculty, such as Infogroep (computer science), Biotecho (bio-engineering), bru:tecture (previously Pantheon) (architecture) and Promeco, Inisol and Business Club (economics). Last but not least there are organizations centered around a common interest, such as the Society of Weird And Mad People (SWAMP, for all kinds of games), BierKultuur (based on the rich beer culture in Belgium) andLiberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond (LVSV, students interested in classic liberalism).
Notable recipients of honorary doctorates (doctorhonoris causa) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel include:
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50°49′21″N4°23′45″E / 50.82242°N 4.39573°E /50.82242; 4.39573
