Ghent University

Ghent University

Universiteit Gent
Arms of Ghent University
Latin: Academia Gandavensis
Former names	State University of Ghent
Motto	Sapere Aude (Latin)
Motto in English	Dare to Think/Durf Denken
Type	Public
Established	1817; 207 years ago (1817)
Rector	Rik Van de Walle
Administrative staff	9,000
Students	+50,000
Location	Ghent , Belgium
Campus	University town
Colours	UGent blue & white[1]
Affiliations	CESAER EUA The Guild SGroup ENLIGHT 3I University Network 3C Partnership
Website	www.ugent.be

Ghent University (Dutch: Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, Belgium.

Located in Flanders, Ghent University is one of the largest Belgian universities, consisting of 50,000 students and 9,000 staff members. The university also supports the Ghent University Library (including the famous Boekentoren) and the Ghent University Hospital, which is one of the biggest hospitals in Belgium. In addition to satellite campuses elsewhere in Flanders and a Global Campus in Songdo, South Korea, Ghent University maintains many inter-university partnerships and programs both inside and outside of Europe.

Established before the state of Belgium itself, the university was founded by the Dutch King William I in 1817, when the region was incorporated into the United Kingdom of the Netherlands after the fall of First French Empire. In that same year, he founded two other universities for the southern provinces as well, alongside Ghent University: University of Liège and State University of Leuven.

After the Belgian revolution of 1830, the newly formed Belgian state began to administer Ghent University. In 1930, UGent became the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium. Previously, French (and, even earlier, Latin) had been the standard academic language in what was Université de Gand. In 1991, it was granted major autonomy and changed its name accordingly from State University of Ghent (Dutch: Rijksuniversiteit Gent, abbreviated as RUG) to its current designation.