Utrecht University

Utrecht University
Latin: Universitas Rheno-Traiectina or Universitas Ultraiectina
Motto	Sol Iustitiae Illustra Nos
Motto in English	Sun of Righteousness, shine upon us
Established	1636
Type	Public, general
Endowment	$761 million (2013)
Rector	Bert van der Zwaan
Admin. staff	5,295
Students	29,755
Location	Utrecht, Netherlands
Colours
Website	www.uu.nl

Utrecht University (Dutch: Universiteit Utrecht, formerly Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht) is a university in Utrecht, the Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 30,449 students in 2012, and employed 5,295 faculty and staff. In 2011, 485 PhD degrees were awarded and 7,773 scientific articles were published. The 2013 budget of the university was €761 million.^[1]

The university is rated as the best university in the Netherlands by the Shanghai Ranking of World Universities 2013, and ranked as the 13th best European university and the 52nd best university of the world.

The university's motto is "Sol Iustitiae Illustra Nos," which means "Sun of Justice, shine upon us." This motto was gleaned from a literal Latin Bible translation of Malachi 4:2. (Rutgers University, having a historical connection with Utrecht University, uses a modified version of this motto.) Utrecht University is led by the University Board, consisting of prof. dr. Bert van der Zwaan (Rector Magnificus) and Hans Amman.

History

This section incorporates text translated from the Dutch Wikipedia article

Utrecht University was founded on March 26, 1636. The inaugural speech was given by influential professor of theology Gisbertus Voetius, and Bernardus Schotanus (professor of law and mathematics) was the university's first rector magnificus. Initially, only a few dozen students attended classes at the university. Seven professors worked in four faculties: philosophy, which offered all students an introductory education, and three higher-level faculties (theology, medicine and law).

Utrecht University flourished in the seventeenth century, despite competition with the older universities of Leiden (1575), Franeker (1585) and Groningen (1614) and the schools of Harderwijk (1599; a university since 1648) and Amsterdam (1632). Leiden, in particular, was a strong competitor and made further improvement necessary. A botanical garden was built on the grounds of the present Sonnenborgh Observatory, and three years later the Smeetoren added an astronomical observatory. The university attracted many students from abroad (especially Germany, England and Scotland). They witnessed the intellectual and theological battle the proponents of the new philosophy (René Descartes lived for a few years in Utrecht) fought with the proponents of the strict Reformed theologian Voetius.

In 1806, the French occupants of the Netherlands downgraded Utrecht University to an école secondaire (high school), but after the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1813 it regained its original status. Leiden, Groningen and Utrecht were the three universities (Dutch: hoge scholen) of the new state, and Leiden received the title of eerste hoge school ("first university"). Utrecht played a prominent role in the golden age of Dutch science. Around 1850 the "Utrechtian School" of science was formed with Pieter Harting, Gerardus J. Mulder, Christophorus H. D. Buys Ballot and Franciscus C. Donders among the leading scientists. They introduced the educational laboratory as a practical learning place for their students. The University is represented in the Stichting Academisch Erfgoed, a foundation with the goal of preserving university collections.

Description

Academiegebouw

The university consists of seven faculties:

• Faculty of Humanities
  • Department of Arts & Languages
  • Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
• Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance^[2]
  • Utrecht University School of Economics (USE)
  • Utrecht University School of Law
  • Utrecht University School of Governance (USG)
• Faculty of Geosciences
  • Department of Earth Sciences
  • Department of Physical Geography
  • Department of Environmental Sciences and Innovation Studies
  • Department of Human Geography and Urban Planning
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
• Faculty of Science
  • Department of Biology
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Information and Computing Sciences
  • Department of Mathematics
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
  • Department of Physics and Astronomy

There are three interfaculty units:

• University College / Roosevelt Academy
• Ethics Institute
• IVLOS Institute of Education

• 

  De Uithof (Utrecht University modern campus)

• 

  University College Utrecht

• 

  University College Utrecht

The two large faculties of Humanities and Law are situated in the inner city of Utrecht. The other five faculties and most of the administrative services are located in De Uithof, a campus area on the outskirts of the city. University College is situated in the former Kromhout Kazerne, which used to be a Dutch military base.

• 

  Juridische Bibliotheek (Law Library)

• 

  Student life in Utrecht

• 

  Dom van Utrecht

Public relations

If the old city of Utrecht offers both medieval and contemporary surroundings, the reputation of the university is a growing factor in the decision of its students to enroll. Indeed, prospective students consider the academic excellence of the teaching and the highest research standards more than any other factor. In 2009, 92% of surveyed students said that "Utrecht University has an excellent reputation" against 72% only in 2007.^{[citation needed]} The collaboration between students and academic staff, the excellence in research and the curriculum played a strong role in the decision to apply for 48% of prospective students against 7% in 2007. Compared to previous surveys, the reputation is of growing importance for the choice of the study programme as opposed to the attractiveness of the city.

In September 2007, Utrecht University proposed:

• 46 undergraduate programmes (bachelor), three of which are taught in English (Utrecht University School of Economics, University College Utrecht and Roosevelt Academy).
• 196 graduate programmes (master), of which 89 are taught in English.
• Training programs for teachers (taught in Dutch and English).

In this regard, Utrecht proposes the widest range of English-taught programmes in the Netherlands. Finally, Utrecht reinforces its international status each year. In 2007, the university welcomed 1900 international students from 125 different countries (6.5% of the total student population).

Notable alumni and faculty

Utrecht University

Utrecht University counts a number of distinguished scholars among its alumni and faculty, including 12 Nobel Prize laureates and 13 Spinoza Prize laureates:

• Wim Aantjes (politician)
• Clarence Barlow (composer)
• Lulzim Basha (Mayor of Tirana, Albania)
• Johannes Martin Bijvoet (chemist)
• Nicolaas Bloembergen (physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Arend Jan Boekestijn (historian, politician)
• Els Borst (former Dutch minister of Health)
• Henk J. M. Bos (historian of mathematics)
• James Boswell (author, lawyer)
• Pieter Burmann the Younger (philologist)
• C.H.D. Buys Ballot (meteorologist)
• Michael Clyne (linguist)
• David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, (author, lawyer)
• Peter Debye (physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• René Descartes (philosopher, mathematician)
• Christiaan Eijkman (physician, pathologist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Willem Einthoven (physician, physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Johann Georg Graevius (scholar)
• Louis Grondijs (Byzantologist, war correspondent)
• Gerardus 't Hooft (physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• J. H. van 't Hoff (chemist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Jacobus Kapteyn (astronomer)
• Tjalling Charles Koopmans (mathematician, physicist, economist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Arie A. Kruithof, developed the Kruithof curve, describing the influence of colour temperature on visual perception
• Jan van Leeuwen (Computer Scientist)
• Aristid Lindenmayer (biologist)
• Jack van Lint (mathematician)
• John Henry Livingston (academic, fourth president of Rutgers University)
• Renate Loll (physicist)
• Rudolf Magnus (pharmacologist and physiologist)
• Maung Maung, (7th President of Burma)
• Erik Meijer (computer scientist)
• Marcel Minnaert (astronomer)
• Heiko Oberman (historian)
• Mark Overmars (computer scientist)
• Abraham Pais (physicist, science historian)
• Perizonius (scholar)
• Maarten van Rossem (historian)
• Wilhelm Röntgen (physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Lavoslav Ruzicka (chemist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Johann Jakob Scheuchzer (physician, scientist)
• Jan Hendrik Scholten (theologian)
• Boudewijn Sirks (Roman law specialist)
• J. Slauerhoff (poet, novelist) worked as an assistant at the University's clinic for Dermatology and Venereal Diseases from 1929–1930.
• Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland (statesman)
• Jan Jakob Lodewijk ten Kate (poet)
• Jan Terlouw (politician, novelist)
• Gerard Verschuuren from the former Institute of Human Biology
• Martinus J.G. Veltman (physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
• Frans de Waal (zoologist and ethologist)
• Hugh Williamson (politician)

International rankings

On the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities list, the University of Utrecht was ranked 48th in the world and the highest in the Netherlands. It was among the top 50 universities for six consecutive years starting from 2003. In the 2011 QS World University Rankings,^[5] Utrecht was ranked 80th.

Academic Ranking of World Universities
Year	Rank (Change)
2003	40
2004	39 ( 1)
2005	39 ()
2006	40 ( 1)
2007	42 ( 2)
2008	47 ( 5)
2009	52 ( 5)
2010	50 ( 2)
2011	48 ( 2)
2012	53 ( 5)
2013	52 ( 1)

In 2010 QS World University Rankings^[6] ranked Utrecht University 83rd in the world.

On the 2009 THE–QS World University Rankings, the University of Utrecht was among the top 150 universities for the sixth consecutive year, and among the top 100 universities for the fourth consecutive year.

QS World University Rankings
Year	Rank (Change)
2004	120
2005	120 ()
2006	95 ( 25)
2007	89 ( 6)
2008	67 ( 22)
2009	70 ( 3)
2010	83 ( 13)
2011	80 ( 3)
2012	85 ( 5)

Human Resources & Labor Review, a human competitiveness index & analysis published in Chasecareer Network, ranked the university 50th internationally in 2010 as one of 300 Best World Universities.^[7]

See also

• List of early modern universities in Europe
• Roosevelt Academy International Honors College of Utrecht University located in Middelburg, Zeeland
• University College Utrecht International Honors College of Utrecht University located in Utrecht
• Utrecht Network
• Utrecht School of the Arts
• Utrecht Summer School
• Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU – Hogeschool Utrecht)
• Utrecht School of Law Clinical Programme on Conflict, Human Rights and International Justice
• Codex Boreelianus
• Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, of which Utrecht University Library is a founding member
• Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, a research institute of Utrecht University in the field of molecular Life Sciences

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Universiteit Utrecht.

• Utrecht University homepage
• UCU International Honors College of Utrecht University
• Roosevelt Academy
• USS The official Utrecht University Summer School
• Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae – Catalogue listing all professors who have held chairs at Utrecht University