Université catholique de Louvain | |
![]() The Sedes Sapientiae, seal of UCLouvain. | |
Latin: Universitas Catholica Lovaniensis | |
Other name | UCLouvain |
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Former name | Université catholique de Belgique |
Motto | Sedes Sapientiae (Latin) |
Motto in English | Seat of Wisdom, Seat of Knowledge |
Type | Private, subsidised by public authorities |
Established | 1834 in Mechelen as Catholic University of Belgium 1970 (split) |
Religious affiliation | Roman Catholicism |
Budget | €220 million (2017)[1] |
Rector | Didier Lambert |
Administrative staff | 6,097 (2021) |
Students | 37,686 (2023-24)[2] |
5,088 | |
Location | |
Campus | Louvain-la-Neuve, with campuses in Brussels (City of Brussels, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert & Saint-Gilles), Mons, Tournai, Charleroi, Namur, Dinant, Yvoir |
Colors | Blue and white |
Nickname | Wolves |
Affiliations | Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities CEMS CESAER CLUSTER Coimbra Group IMCC EMPA TIME |
Mascot | Woulfy |
Website | www.uclouvain.be |
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Data as of 2011[update] |
UCLouvain (or Université catholique de Louvain, French for Catholic University of Louvain, officially in English the University of Louvain)[3] is Belgium's largest French-speaking university. It is located in Louvain-la-Neuve, which was expressly built to house the university, and Brussels, Charleroi, Mons, Tournai and Namur. Since September 2018, the university uses the branding UCLouvain, replacing the acronym UCL, following a merger with Saint-Louis University, Brussels.
The original University of Louvain (Universitas Lovaniensis) was founded at the centre of the historic town of Leuven (or Louvain) in 1425, making it the first university in Belgium and the Low Countries, and abolished by law in 1797. This university was the centre of Baianism, Jansenism[4] and Febronianism in Europe. A new university, the State University of Louvain, was founded in 1817 and abolished by the law in 1835. A new catholic university was founded in Mechlin in 1834, the Catholic University of Mechlin and moved to Leuven in 1835 that is frequently, but controversially, identified as a continuation of the older institution.AB In 1968 the Catholic University of Leuven split into the Dutch-language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, which stayed in Leuven, and the French-language Université catholique de Louvain, which moved to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia, 30 km southeast of Brussels. Since the 15th century, Leuven/Louvain, as it is still often called, has been a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology.