Ghent University

Ghent University
Universiteit Gent (Dutch)
Latin: Academia Gandavensis
Motto Audere Sapiens
Motto in English Dare to Think
Established 1817
Type Public
Religious affiliation Pluralistic
Endowment € 410 million [1]
Rector Paul Van Cauwenberge [2]
Admin. staff 7,100 [1]
Students 32,000 [1]
Location Ghent, Flanders, Belgium
Former names State University of Ghent (RUG)
Colours Blue and Yellow         
Affiliations Ghent University Association
Santander Network
Erasmus Student Network
European University Association
Website http://www.ugent.be

Ghent University (Dutch: Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a Dutch-speaking public university located in Ghent, Belgium. It is one of the larger Flemish universities, consisting of 32,000 students and 7,100 staff members. The current rector is Paul Van Cauwenberge.

It was established in 1817 by King William I of the Netherlands. After the Belgian revolution of 1830, it was administered by the newly formed Belgian state. French became the academic language until 1930, when Ghent University became the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium. In 1991, the university was granted major autonomy and changed its name from State University of Ghent (Dutch: Rijksuniversiteit Gent, abbreviated as RUG) to its current name.

Contents

History

The university in Ghent was opened on 9 October 1817, with JC van Rotterdam serving as the first rector. In the first year, it had 190 students and 16 professors. The original four faculties consisted of Humanities (Letters), Law, Medicine and Science, and the language of instruction was Latin. The university was founded by King William I as part of a policy to stem the intellectual and academic lag in the southern part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, later to become Belgium. The university in Liège was founded as part of the same movement.

After peaking at a student population of 414, the number of students declined quickly following the Belgian Revolution. At this time, the faculties of Humanities and Science were broken off of the university, but they were restored five years later, in 1835.

In 1882, Sidonie Verhelst became the first female student at the university.

French became the language of instruction, taking the place of Latin, after the 1830 Revolution. In 1903, the Flemish politician Lodewijk De Raet led a successful campaign to begin instruction in Dutch, and the first courses were begun in 1906. A Flemish Institute (Vlaemsche Hoogeschool) was founded in 1916 but was disestablished due to the ongoing First World War. Cabinet Minister Pierre Nolf put forward a motion in 1923 to fully establish the university as a Dutch-speaking university, and this was realized in 1930. August Vermeylen served as the first rector of the first exclusively Dutch-language university in Belgium.[3]

In the Second World War, the German administration of the university attempted to create a German orientation, removing faculty members and installing loyal activists. However, the university became the focal point for many resistance members as the war progressed.

After the war, the university became a much larger institution, following government policy of democratizing higher education in Flanders during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1953, there were more than 3000 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. The faculty of Politics and Social Sciences is the most recent addition, in 1992.

The university officially changed its name from Rijksuniversiteit Gent (RUG) to Universiteit Gent (UGent) in 1991 following an increased grant of autonomy by the government of the Flemish Community.

On 22 March 2005, Paul Van Cauwenberge succeeded Andreas De Leenheer as rector.

Faculties

Ghent University consists of eleven faculties, composed of more than 130 departments:

Characteristics

In contrast to the Catholic University of Leuven, or the Freethinking Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Ghent University considers itself a pluralist university in a special sense (i.e. not connected to any particular religion or ideology, hence its motto Inter Utrumque or 'In Between Both Extremes').

Rankings

University rankings (overall)
National
ARWU[4] 1
Global
ARWU[5] 89
QS[6] 165
Times[7] 124

Ghent University is consistently ranked among the best universities in Belgium (top 3) and worldwide (top 200). In the 2009 THE–QS World University Rankings (From 2010 two separate rankings will be produced by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS World University Rankings)list of the top 200 universities in the world, Ghent University was ranked in 136th place. In the 2010 QS World University Rankings[8] it was ranked 192nd, whereas the 2011 rankings placed it at 165th.[9] In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings of 2010, it was ranked 124nd. An overview of the last years:

Year Rank (Change)
2005 218
2006 141 ( 77)
2007 124 ( 20)
2008 136 ( 12)
2009 136 ()
2010 192 ( 56)
2011 165 ( 27)

Ghent University was ranked 89th among world universities by the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2011.[10][11] An overview of the last years:

Year Rank (Change)
2003 99
2004 101–152 ()
2005 101–152 ()
2006 102–150 ()
2007 102–150 ()
2008 101–152 ()
2009 101–152 ()
2010 90 ()
2011 89 ()

Ghent was also placed among top 95 universities in the world according to the Russian based Global University Ranking.[12]

The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University.The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and then updated annually, where the University of Ghent is ranked 90th together with another university for the year 2010.

Notable alumni

Notable faculty

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Ghent University at a glance: facts and figures. UGent. Retrieved February, 4 2010
  2. ^ Ghent University central administration – rector. UGent. Retrieved February, 4 2010
  3. ^ A Language Come Back, TIME Magazine, April 28, 1923
  4. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities: National". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2011. http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2011.html. Retrieved August 30, 2011. 
  5. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities: Global". Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. 2011. http://www.shanghairanking.com/ARWU2011.html. Retrieved August 30, 2011. 
  6. ^ "QS World University Rankings". QS Quacquarelli Symonds Limited. 2011. http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011. Retrieved September 30, 2011. 
  7. ^ "Top 400 – The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2011–2012". The Times Higher Education. 2011. http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2011-2012/top-400.html. Retrieved October 6, 2011. 
  8. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2010 Results". http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2010/results. 
  9. ^ http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2011?page=3
  10. ^ http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20110815_117
  11. ^ http://www.arwu.org/ARWU2010.jsp
  12. ^ http://www.globaluniversitiesranking.org/images/banners/top-100(eng).pdf

External links

Dutch-speaking: Universiteit Antwerpen • Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel • Vrije Universiteit Brussel • Universiteit Gent • Universiteit Hasselt • Katholieke Universiteit Leuven + Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Campus Kortrijk

French-speaking: Faculté polytechnique de Mons • Facultés universitaires catholiques de Mons • Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix • Facultés universitaires Saint-Louis • Faculté universitaire des sciences agronomiques de Gembloux • Université catholique de Louvain • Université Libre de Bruxelles • University of Liège • University of Mons-Hainaut

Other recognised academic establishments: ICHEC Brussels Management School • Brussels Faculty for Protestant Theology • Evangelical Theological Faculty

Postgraduate: College of Europe (Bruges) • Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp • Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School

Military: Royal Military Academy

Transgressing universities: transnational University Limburg

Aalborg University · Adam Mickiewicz University · Babeș-Bolyai University · Eindhoven University of Technology · Ghent University · Grenoble Institute of Technology · Joseph Fourier University · Lund University · Malmö University · Minho University · Norwegian University of Science and Technology · Pierre Mendès-France University · Polytechnic University of Valencia · Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León · University of Bari · University of Bayreuth · University of Bergen · University of Cantabria · University of Catania · University of Giessen · University of Gothenburg · University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria · University of Le Havre · University of Leeds · University of Liège · University of Limerick · University of Malta · University of Murcia · University of Osnabrück · University of Patras · University of Pau and Pays de l'Adour · University of Porto · University of Rennes 1 · University of Rennes 2 – Upper Brittany · University of Rouen · University of Southern Denmark · University of Trieste · University of Valladolid · University of Wrocław · Vrije Universiteit