UCLouvain

UCLouvain

Université catholique de Louvain
The Sedes Sapientiae, seal of UCLouvain.
Latin: Universitas Catholica Lovaniensis
Other name	UCLouvain
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]
Doctoral students	5,088
Location	Belgium
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
Data as of 2011[update]

UCLouvain (Université catholique de Louvain. also known as the Catholic University of Louvain, the English translation of its French name, and the University of Louvain, its official English name)^[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.