Radboud University Nijmegen

Radboud University Nijmegen
Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
Latin: Universitatis Radbodianae Noviomagensis
Motto	In Dei nomine feliciter
Motto in English	Happily in God's name
Established	17 October 1923
Type	private (publicly funded)
Affiliation	Roman Catholic[1][2]
Rector	Th.L.M. Engelen
Academic staff	1,577[3]
Students	19,137[3]
Location	Nijmegen, Netherlands
Campus	Urban
Colors	Red      White
Affiliations	IRUN EUA FIUC/FUCE (IFCU)
Website	www.ru.nl/english

Radboud University Nijmegen (Dutch: Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, formerly Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen) is a public university with a strong focus on research located in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Established since 17-10-1923 and situated in the oldest city of the Netherlands, it has seven faculties and enrolls over 19,130 students. Radboud was internationally ranked by QS World University Rankings,^[4] and placed at 136th.

History

Heyendaal castle (now serving as the Faculty Club of the university) is of old the center of Heyendaal estate, where later on most Radboud University buildings have been established.

The first Nijmegen University was founded in 1655 and terminated around 1680. The Radboud University Nijmegen was established in 1923 as the Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen, or Catholic University of Nijmegen, and started out with 27 professors and 189 students. The university was founded because the Roman Catholic community wanted its own university. At the time, Roman Catholics in the Netherlands were disadvantaged and occupied almost no higher posts in government. After fierce competition with the cities of Den Bosch, Tilburg, The Hague and Maastricht, Nijmegen was chosen as the city to house the university. The subsequent Second World War hit the university hard. Many prominent members were lost, among them professors Robert Regout and Titus Brandsma. They were deported to Dachau concentration camp. In 1943, rector Hermesdorf refused to cooperate with the Germans. On 22 February 1944, the university lost many buildings in a bombardment. Classes resumed in March 1945. Since then, student numbers rose steadily from 3,000 in 1960 to 15,000 in 1980.

In 2004, the university changed its name to Radboud University Nijmegen, after Saint Radboud, a bishop who lived around 900.^[5]

Campus

The university's medical department is linked to the St Radboud University Medical Center, a large teaching hospital located on the Heyendaal campus along with the other university buildings such as the Huygensgebouw which contains the Natural Sciences. The Erasmus Tower and the Erasmusgebouw which contain the Faculty of Arts are situated at the south end of the campus next to the sports centre (USC). Recent building projects included new on-campus residence halls, the sports centre and several science buildings. The new Grotiusgebouw is recently built and will offer more room to the Faculty of Law. The university campus is located next to Heyendaal train station. Frequent shuttle buses connect the university to Nijmegen Central Station and the city centre.

Radboud University is noted for its green campus, often listed among the most attractive in the Netherlands.^[6]

Academics

Education

Contemporary Radboud University buildings

Radboud University Nijmegen has seven faculties and enrols over 19.130 students in 111 study programs (37 bachelor's and 74 master's programs).^[7]

As of September 2013, the university offers 36 international master’s programs taught in English and several more taught in Dutch. There are two bachelor's programs taught fully in English: International Economics & Business and International Business Administration. All other bachelors are in Dutch, although most of the required literature is in English. Some exams, papers and even classes may be in English as well, despite the programs being Dutch-taught. All master’s programs have been internationally accredited by the Accreditation Organization of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO).

International Master's programs

All English-taught Master’s programmes are research-based programmes. They are taught within the Faculties of Arts, Law, Social Sciences, Medical Sciences, Sciences and Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, besides the Interfaculty Research school and the Nijmegen School of Management.^[8]

(Master's in italic are specialisations)

Research

Radboud University Nijmegen is home to several research institutions, including the Institute for Management Research, NanoLab Nijmegen, Nijmegen Institute for Cognition and Information and the F.C. Donders Centre for Cognitive Neuroimaging. Faculty members Anne Cutler (1999), Henk Barendregt (2002), Peter Hagoort (2005), and Theo Rasing (2008) won the Spinozapremie. Visiting professor Sir Andre Geim and former Ph.D. student Sir Konstantin Novoselov were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics.

University ranking

The QS World University Rankings ranked the university 138th in the world in 2011.^[9] The university scored 45th in a 2012 ranking of European research universities.^{[nb 1]}

Radboud Excellence Initiative

The Radboud Excellence Initiative was created with the dual purposes of attracting talents from every academic field to Radboud University while strengthening international bonds between universities worldwide. The initiative is a joint enterprise of both Radboud University and Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center. It provides two routes by which a researcher may come to Radboud University. Promising researchers who have completed their doctorate between two and twelve years at the point of nomination may be nominated for a fellowship whereas those researchers who are more established in their discipline may be nominated for a professorship.^[14]

Once selected, fellows may come to Radboud University to undertake research for a maximum of two years. Professors may come to Radboud University for a maximum period of six months.^[15]

Coat of arms

The coat of arms was designed at the time of the founding of the university by the goldsmith workshop of the Brom family in Utrecht. The lower part is the coat of arms of the Catholic Church in the Netherlands. The dove is the symbol of the Holy Spirit. The shield is surmounted by the crown of Charlemagne. Underneath is the motto "In Dei Nomine Feliciter."^[16]

Notable alumni

O'42 (after its address Oranjesingel 42) of old has played a significant role in history of Radboud University, and more in special of social and administrative aspects of studying there.

• Dries van Agt, 1955 (LLM), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• Louis Beel, 1928 (LLM), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• Jo Cals, 1940 (LLM), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• Wim Crusio, 1984 (PhD), neurobehavioural geneticist
• Jos Engelen, 1973, physicist
• Thom de Graaf, 1981 (LLM), former mayor of Nijmegen
• Agnes Kant, 1989 (MSc), 1997 (PhD), former leader of the Socialist Party
• Jos van der Lans, 1981 (MA), former member of the House of Representatives
• Gerd Leers, 1976 (MSc), former mayor of Maastricht, former Minister for Immigration and Asylum Affairs
• Victor Marijnen, 1941 (LLM), former Prime Minister of the Netherlands
• Hans van Mierlo, 1960 (LLM), former Minister of Foreign Affairs
• Sir Konstantin Novoselov (PhD), awarded 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics
• Louis Reijtenbagh, 1975, Chief Executive Officer of The Plaza Group
• Rita Verdonk, 1983 (MA), former Minister for Immigration and Asylum Affairs, former member of the House of Representatives

Notable faculty

• Hans van Abeelen, first Dutch behaviour geneticist
• Titus Brandsma, co-founder, Nazi opponent killed in Dachau concentration camp
• Catharina Halkes, first feminist theologian to be a professor in the Netherlands
• Renate Loll, physicist
• Jos van der Meer, professor of general internal medicine
• Ieke Moerdijk, mathematician
• Kees Versteegh, professor emeritus of Middle Eastern studies, also alumnus
• Jan van der Watt, expert in Johannine literature, General editor of Review of Biblical Literature

See also

• Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, a University of Applied Sciences located in Nijmegen and Arnhem.
• List of early modern universities in Europe

Notes

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Radboud University Nijmegen.

• Official website