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The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Dutch for Catholic University of Leuven, but usually not translated into English) ((:katoˈlikə univɛrsiˈtɛit ˈløːvə(n)), ), also known as KU Leuven〔According to the university's style guidelines, the name of the university should not be translated in publications. See () 〕 or University of Leuven, is a Dutch-speaking university in Leuven, Flanders, Belgium. The University of Leuven was founded at the centre of the historic town of Leuven in 1425, making it Belgium's first university. After being closed in 1797 during the Napoleonic period, the ''Catholic'' University of Leuven was "re-founded" in 1834, and is frequently, but controversially, identified as a continuation of the older institution. In 1968 the Catholic University of Leuven split into the Dutch-language Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and the French-language Université catholique de Louvain, which moved to Louvain-la-Neuve in Wallonia. Since the fifteenth century, ''Louvain'', as it is still often called, has been a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology. It is considered the oldest Catholic university still in existence. With 55,484 students in 2014–2015, the KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries. In addition to its primary campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk ('KULAK'), Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver and in Belgium's capital Brussels. The university now also offers several programs in English. As of 2015-2016 academic year, KU Leuven ranks as 35th globally according to ''Times Higher Education'', 82nd according to ''QS World University Rankings'' and 90th according to the ''Academic Ranking of World Universities''. KU Leuven is consistently considered to be within the top 100 universities of the world and in contention with Ghent University as the best Belgian university. ==General description== The KU Leuven is a strongly research-oriented university. Among its many accolades is to be reckoned among the top universities of Europe. In the 2015-2016 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES) university ranking, the KU Leuven was ranked 35th in the world and 12th in Europe, making it the highest ranked university from the low countries (The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg) in either category.〔 Its current 2015-2016 QS World University Ranking position is 82nd.〔 KU Leuven Law School currently ranks 26th in the world. In the 2014-2015 Academic Year, 55,484 students were attending classes at the 15 faculties of the KU Leuven, 9,930 of whom were foreign students, many of whom were able to follow courses offered in English.〔http://www.kuleuven.be/prodstudinfo/50000050/dash.html〕 Most courses, however, are taught in Dutch. The KU Leuven is a member of the Coimbra Group (a network of leading European universities) as well as of the LERU Group (League of European Research Universities). Since November 2014, KU Leuven's Faculty of Economics and Business is accredited by European Quality Improvement System, which is a leading accreditation system specializing in higher education institutions of management and business administration. Since August 2013, the university has been led by Rik Torfs who replaced former rector Mark Waer. The Belgian archbishop, André-Joseph Léonard is the current ''Grand Chancellor'' and a member of the university board. The KU Leuven is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, under her traditional attribute as 'Seat of Wisdom', and organizes an annual celebration on 2 February in her honour. On that day, the university also awards its honorary doctorates. The seal used by the university shows the medieval statue of the Sedes Sapientiae, Leuven, in a vesica piscis shape. Despite its Catholic origin, the university welcomes students from different faith communities. In Flanders, the KU Leuven has a Catholic origin, whereas the University of Ghent and the University of Antwerp are officially neutral on issues of religious/philosophical orientation, and the Free University of Brussels is Freethinking.〔The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (explicitly subscribes ) to a principle of Freethought enunciated by Henri Poincaré〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Katholieke Universiteit Leuven」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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