KU Leuven

KU Leuven is a Dutch-language research university in Leuven, Belgium. It traces its founding to 1425 as the old University of Leuven; after the linguistic split of 1968 it continued as the Flemish Catholic university, while Université catholique de Louvain moved to Louvain-la-Neuve. It is a comprehensive university with a historic town campus and a large teaching hospital, not a technical institute.

More than a dozen faculties cover theology, law, medicine, engineering science, science, arts, psychology, and economics and business, among others. University Hospitals Leuven (UZ Leuven) and associated biomedical institutes are the main sites for clinical and life-science graduate work. Engineering students often work with research laboratories in Flanders on electronics, materials, and energy.

KU Leuven enrolls about 60,000 students, including a large cohort of international master's students from Europe, Asia, and Africa. It is among Europe's larger universities by headcount. Historical figures associated with Leuven include anatomist Andreas Vesalius; modern alumni include former European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and scientists and officials from the Flemish faculties.

Graduate education follows the Bologna structure: taught master's degrees, many in English, and the doctorate through doctoral schools with a supervisor and committee. The academic year runs in two semesters. Doctoral candidates are typically employed on research contracts. Leuven is a compact university town east of Brussels, and graduate students use both the historic center and the hospital campus on the city's edge.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, KU Leuven lists 18 graduate programs across 14 subjects, all of them master's programs, with the widest choice in biology, physics and statistics. KU Leuven holds rank 80 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.