Université libre de Bruxelles

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Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox university

The Template:Lang (French, Template:IPA; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has three campuses: the Solbosch/Solbos campus (in the City of Brussels and Ixelles), the La Plaine/Het Plein campus (in Ixelles) and the Erasme/Erasmus campus (in Anderlecht).

The Université libre de Bruxelles was formed in 1969 by the splitting of the Free University of Brussels,Template:Efn which was founded in 1834 by the lawyer and liberal politician Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen. The founder aimed to establish a university independent from state and church, where academic freedom would prevail.<ref name="Witte1996">Template:Cite book</ref> This is still reflected in the university's motto Template:Lang, or "Conquering darkness through science".

The ULB now has about 24,200 students, 33% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Name

Brussels has two universities whose names mean Free University of Brussels in English: the French-speaking Template:Lang (ULB) and the Dutch-speaking Template:Lang (VUB). Neither uses the English translation, since it is ambiguous.

History

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Establishment of a university in Brussels

Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen, founder of the Free University of Brussels

The history of the Template:Lang is closely linked with that of Belgium itself. When the Belgian State was formed in 1830 by nine breakaway provinces from the Kingdom of the Netherlands, three state universities existed in the cities of Ghent, Leuven and Liège, but none in the new capital, Brussels. Since the government was reluctant to fund another state university, a group of leading intellectuals 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 mathematician Adolphe Quetelet — planned to create a private university, which was permitted under the Belgian Constitution.<ref name="hist">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Witte1996" />

In 1834, the Belgian episcopate decided to establish a Catholic university in Mechelen 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 the university at Leuven and donate the buildings to the Catholic institution.<ref name="Lamberts1990">Template:Cite book</ref> The country's liberals 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 the freemasonic lodge Les Amis Philantropes. Baron was able to convince Pierre-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.<ref name="Witte1996" />

After sufficient funding was collected among advocates, the Université libre de Belgique ("Free University of Belgium") was inaugurated on 20 November 1834, in the Gothic Room of Brussels Town Hall. The date of its establishment is still commemorated annually, by students of its successor institutions, as a holiday called Saint Verhaegen (often shortened to St V) for Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 1836, the university was renamed the Université libre de Bruxelles ("Free University of Brussels").<ref name="hist" />

After its establishment, the Free University faced difficult times, since it received no subsidies 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 King Leopold I: "the principle of free inquiry and academic freedom uninfluenced by any political or religious authority."<ref name="Witte1996"/> In 1858, the Catholic Church established the Saint-Louis Institute in the city, which subsequently expanded into a university in its own right.

Growth, internal tensions and move

The Free University, then housed in the Granvelle Palace, Template:Circa

The Free University grew significantly over the following decades. In 1842, it moved to the Granvelle 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 from Ernest and Alfred Solvay as well as Raoul Warocqué to open new faculties in Brussels. A disagreement over an invitation to the anarchist geographer Élisée Reclus to speak at the university in 1893 from the rector Hector Denis led to some of the liberal and socialist faculty splitting away from the Free University to form the New University of Brussels (Université nouvelle de Bruxelles) in 1894. However, the institution failed to displace the Free University and closed definitively in 1919.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

In 1900, the Free University's football team won the bronze medal at the Summer Olympics. After Racing Club de Bruxelles declined to participate, a student selection with players from the university was sent by the Federation.<ref>Great Britain's first home Olympic football adventure by Jon Carter, ESPN, 26 Jun 2012</ref><ref name=brown>Before the World Cup: Who were football's earliest world champions? by Paul Brown on Medium Sports, 6 Jun 2018</ref> The team was enforced with a few non-students.<ref name=rsssf>Games of the II. Olympiad - Football Tournament by Søren Elbech and Karel Stokkermans on the RSSSF</ref> The Institute of Sociology was founded in 1902, then in 1904 the Solvay School of Commerce, which would later become the Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management (part of ULB) and VUB Solvay Business School (part of VUB). In 1911, the university obtained its legal personality under the name Template:Lang - Vrije Hogeschool te Brussel.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

The university's football team that won the bronze medal at the 1900 Olympic Games

The German occupation during World 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 the Solbosch/Solbos in the southern municipality of Ixelles, and a purpose-built university campus was created, funded by the Belgian American Educational Foundation.

During World War II, the university was again closed by the German authorities on 25 November 1941 during the second occupation. Students from the university were involved in the Belgian Resistance, notably establishing the sabotage-orientated network Groupe G.

Splitting of the university

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 the bourgeoisie and upper classes and was the only medium in law and academia. As the Flemish 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.<ref name="HistoryVrijeUniversiteitBrussel">Template:Cite web</ref> Tensions between French- and Dutch-speaking students in the country came to a head in 1968 when the Catholic University of Leuven split along linguistic lines, becoming the first of several national institutions to do so.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

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 the Belgian Parliament, by which the French-speaking Template:Lang (ULB) and the Dutch-speaking Template:Lang (VUB) officially became two separate legal, administrative and scientific entities.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Law28May1970">Template:Cite web</ref>

Campuses

The ULB comprises three main campuses: the Solbosch/Solbos campus, on the territories of the City of Brussels and Ixelles municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region, the La Plaine/Het Plein campus in Ixelles, and the Erasme/Erasmus campus in Anderlecht, beside the Erasmus Hospital.

The main and largest campus of the university is the Solbosch, which hosts the administration and general services of the university. It also includes most of the faculties of the humanities, the École polytechnique, the large library of social sciences, and among the museums of the ULB, the Museum of Zoology and Anthropology,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the Allende exhibition room and the Michel de Ghelderode Museum-Library.

The La Plaine campus hosts the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Pharmacy. There are also the Experimentariums of physics and chemistry, the Museum of Medicinal Plants and Pharmacy<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and student housing. This site is served by Delta station.

The Erasmus campus houses the Erasmus Hospital and the Pôle Santé, the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Public Health and the Faculty of Motor Sciences. There is also the School of Nursing (with the Haute école libre de Bruxelles – Ilya Prigogine), the Museum of Medicine<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and the Museum of Human Anatomy and Embryology.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This site is served by Erasme/Erasmus metro station.

The university also has buildings and activities in the Brussels municipality of Auderghem, and outside of Brussels, in Charleroi on the Aéropole Science Park and Nivelles.

Faculties and institutes

Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management

International Partnerships

University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Université de Montréal, Waseda University, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, BeiHang University, Universidade de São Paulo, Université de Lausanne, Université de Genève, University Ouaga I Pr. Joseph Ki-Zerbo, University of Lubumbashi<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Faculty or Institute Bachelor's degrees Master's degrees Complementary master's degrees
Faculty of Architecture Architecture Architecture
Faculty of Philosophy and Letters Template:Ubl Template:Ubl African Languages and Cultures
Pedagogy in Higher Education
Language Sciences
Art History and Archaeology Art History and Archaeology (1 or 2 years)
Art History and Archaeology: Musicology Art History and Archaeology: Musicology (1 or 2 years)
French and Roman Languages and Literature Cultural Management
History Ethics
Information and Communication French and Roman Languages and Literature (1 or 2 years)
Modern Languages and Literature French and Roman Languages and Literature: French Foreign Language
Template:Ubl History (1 or 2 years)
Philosophy Information and Communication (1 or 2 years)
Religious and Secular Studies Information and Communication Sciences and Technologies
Linguistics
Modern Languages and Literature (1 or 2 years)
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Multilingual Communication
Performing Arts
Philosophy (1 or 2 years)
Religious and Secular Studies
Faculty of Law and Criminological Science Law Criminology Economic Law
Law International Law
Notaries
Public and Administrative Law
Social Law
Tax Law
Faculty of Psychological Science, and of Education Psychology and Educational Sciences Educational Sciences Pedagogy in Higher Education
Psychology and Educational Sciences: Speech Therapy Psychology Psychoanalytic Theories
Speech Therapy Risk Management and Well-being at Work
Template:Ubl Biology Actuarial Science Nanotechnology
Chemistry Biochemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology
Computer Sciences Bioengineering: Agricultural Sciences
Engineering: Bioengineering Bioengineering: Chemistry and Bio-industries
Geography Bioengineering: Environmental Sciences and Technologies
Geology Bioinformatics and Modeling
Mathematics Biology (1 year)
Physics Chemistry (1 or 2 years)
Sciences (Polyvalent first year) Computer Sciences (1 or 2 years)
Environmental Sciences and Management (1 or 2 years)
Geography (1 or 2 years)
Geology (1 or 2 years)
Mathematics (1 or 2 years)
Organismal Biology and Ecology
Physics (1 or 2 years)
Statistics
Tourism Sciences and Management (1 or 2 years)
Faculty of Applied Sciences/Polytechnic School Engineering: Bioengineering Bioengineering: Agricultural Sciences Conservation and Restoration of Immovable Cultural Heritage
Engineering: Civil Bioengineering: Chemistry and Bio-industries Nanotechnology
Engineering: Civil Architect Bioengineering: Environmental Sciences and Technologies Nuclear Engineering
Civil Engineering: Architectural Transportation Management
Civil Engineering: Biomedical Urban and Regional Planning
Civil Engineering: Chemistry and Material Science
Civil Engineering: Computer
Civil Engineering: Constructions
Civil Engineering: Electrical
Civil Engineering: Electro-mechanical
Civil Engineering: Mechanical
Civil Engineering: Physicist
Faculty of Medicine Biomedical Sciences Biomedical Sciences
Dentistry Dentistry
Medicine Medicine
Veterinary Medicine
Institute of Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences Biomedical Sciences Clinical Biology (for pharmacists)
Pharmaceutical Sciences Hospital Pharmacy
Industrial Pharmacy
Faculty of Social and Political Sciences Human and Social Science Anthropology
Political Science Human Resources Management
Sociology and Anthropology Political Science (1 or 2 years)
Political Science: International Relations
Population and Development
Public Administration
Sociology
Sociology and Anthropology (1 year)
Work Science (1 or 2 years)
Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management Business Engineering Business Engineering Industrial Management and Technology
Economics Economics (1 or 2 years) Microfinance
Institute of European Studies European Studies European Law
Interdisciplinary Analysis of European Construction

Research

At the heart of the Free University of Brussels there are at least 2000 PhD students and around 3600 researchers and lecturers who work around different scientific fields and produce cutting-edge research.

The projects of these scientists span thematics that concern exact, applied and human sciences and researchers at the heart of the ULB have been awarded numerous international awards and recognitions.

The research carried out at the ULB is financed by different bodies such as the European Research Council, the Walloon Region, the Brussels Capital Region, the National Fund for Scientific Research, or one of the foundations that are dedicated to research at the ULB; the ULB Foundation or the Erasme Funds.

Since the early 2000s, the MAPP project has started studying political party membership evolution through the time.

Rankings

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Notable people

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Charles Michel, Belgian Prime Minister (2014–2019) and President of the European Council
Amélie Nothomb, Belgian Francophone novelist

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Nobel Prize Winners

For pre-1970 notable faculty and alumni, see Free University of Brussels:

Controversy

Inspired by the US protests on university campuses,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> on 7 May 2024, around a hundred students occupied a building of the university, which they named in honour of Walid Daqqa, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, while demanding the release of the leader of the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Faction, Georges Abdallah, from a prison in France.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the events, Jewish students reported antisemitic and anti-Zionist insults, vandalism of posters against anti-Semitism and cases of students being violently attacked. A passer-by who allegedly declared herself a Zionist was also the victim of an attack. The Simon Wiesenthal Center sees this as a trend towards antisemitism in Belgian academic circles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

90 of them were subsequently arrested.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some right-wing commentators have explained the events as a result of extremist groups influence on students,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as a result of "propaganda",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as a result of "incitement to terrorism",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> as a result of "Muslim communitarianism"<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> or as a result of "complicity with Islamist anti-Semitism".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, the Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis did not find any "structural or hierarchical link" with extremist groups.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This led the Jonathas Institute, a center for studies and action against antisemitism in Belgium, to file a complaint against the student group, for a declaration allegedly inciting against "Zionists".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2025, the Faculty of Law decided to honor the French politician Rima Hassan as a symbolic gesture. The Belgian League Against Antisemitism criticized the decision citing her controversial comments on the "legitimacy" of the anti-Semitic massacre,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> while 50 French intellectuals criticized the decision, as Hassan is facing charges for incitement to terrorism in France.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Minister-President of the French Community Élisabeth Degryse also expressed her opposition.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In front of the European Parliament, Céline Imart of the French political party The Republicans has requested the European Commission to suspend aid for the university: "Ask the Commission to immediately suspend the funds allocated to this university, until the safety of Jewish students is guaranteed and the values of the Union are once again respected".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In September 2025, facing renewed criticism,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the rector denied allegations of antisemitism against the university.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In contrast, professors of the university have described antisemitism has "rapidly taking hold on ULB campuses since 7 October 2023".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Jewish students have voiced their fear of being targeted for their Zionism<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and have described the hostility on campuses as "significant".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> At the Working Group Against Antisemitism of the European Parliament, the Jonathas Institute warned of "an environment in which antisemitism goes largely unchallenged".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In October 2025, Florida placed the university on its blacklist for its "boycott" of Israel.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Instead of ties with Israeli universities, the university established ties with the Palestinian Birzeit University, despite its support for Hamas in student elections.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

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Notes and references

Footnotes

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Citations

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Further reading

  • Despy, A., 150 ans de L'ULB. Université libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, 1984
  • Noel, F., 1894. Université libre de Bruxelles en crise, Brussels, 1994

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