A multi-campus university
UCL has 7 campuses: Louvain-la-Neuve, Brussels Woluwe, Mons, Tournai, Brussels Saint-Gilles, Charleroi and Namur (CHU UCL Namur University Hospital).
UCL figures tell the story of its success:
- 1 Nobel Prize: Christian de Duve (Medicine, 1974)
- 21 Prix Francqui (the ‘Belgian’ Nobel)
- 35 European Research Council Grants
- Fourth-ranked comprehensive French-speaking university and first-ranked Belgian French-speaking university. Ranked in the top 1 % of universities worldwide. Specific 2017-18 world university rankings:
- 129th, Times Higher Education (THE)
- 101th to 150th, Shanghai
- 153th, QS
- 5,853 staff
- 30,760 students (as of September 2017), of whom 54.8% are women
- 3,651 classes and 136,402 class hours in 2015-16, 42 bachelor’s programmes, 168 master’s programmes, 23 MOOCs on the edX platform, 180 lifelong learning programmes
- €231 million in 2014 research funding (of which €163 million via external contracts)
- 5,726 UCL accommodation units, the largest student housing stock in Europe
- 2 university hospitals: Saint-Luc University Hospital (Brussels Woluwe) and CHU UCL Namur, with 10,509 employees and 1,925 beds
- 2 science parks and 4 business incubators, 365 companies with 7,106 employees, 75 spin-offs of which 65 are active
The university was founded in 1425 – almost six centuries of rich history. Its current rector is Vincent Blondel.