Ghent University (Dutch: Universiteit Gent, abbreviated as UGent) is a public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium.
Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, 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.
Contents
History
Foundation in the 19th century
Ghent was one of the largest and most important cities of Europe in the medieval period.
The university in Ghent was opened on 9 October 1817, with JC van Rotterdam as the first rector. The foundation of universities in Ghent, Liege, and Leuven that year – by the Dutch King William I – was part of a larger policy to stimulate academic lag across the southern provinces of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (which would later become Belgium). The original four faculties comprised Humanities (Letters), Law, Medicine, and Science, with the language of instruction being Latin. In the first year, it had 190 students and 16 professors.
In the wake of the Belgian Revolution, of 1830, the number of students declined, having peaked at 414. Although the faculties of humanities and science were dissolved from the university, they were restored five years later, in 1835. At this time, French also became the language of instruction, taking the place of Latin.
Ghent University played a role in the foundation of modern organic chemistry. Friedrich August Kekulé unraveled the structure of benzene at Ghent and Adolf von Baeyer (Johann Friedrich Wilhelm Adolf von Baeyer), a student of August Kekulé, made contributions to organic chemistry.
In 1882, Sidonie Verhelst became the first female student at Ghent University, in science and pharmacology.
Developments in the 20th century
In 1903, the Flemish politician Lodewijk De Raet led a successful campaign to begin instruction in Dutch, and the first courses were begun in 1906.
During World War I, Ghent University was initially closed due to hostilities and subsequently due to the refusal of the academic staff and the students to resume classes while Belgium was occupied. Moritz von Bissing, the German Governor-General of occupied Belgium sought to make the territory easier to govern by exploiting the pre-war linguistic division. The Flamenpolitik ("Policy regarding the Flemish people") was launched in 1916. The occupying German administration set up the first Dutch-speaking university in Belgium in Ghent under the name Vlaamsche Hoogeschool (Flemish Institute of Higher Learning). Pejoratively referred to as the Von Bissing University, the Vlaamsche Hoogeschool was founded in 1916 but was disestablished after the war and the University of Ghent resumed its activities with French as the sole medium of instruction. In 1923, Cabinet Minister Pierre Nolf put forward a motion to definitively establish the university as a Dutch-speaking university, and this was realized in 1930. August Vermeylen served as the first rector of a Dutch-language university in Belgium.In the Second World War, the German administration of the university attempted to create a German orientation, removing faculty members and installing loyal activists.
In the postwar period, Ghent University became a much larger institution, following the government policy of democratizing higher education in Flanders during the 1950s and 1960s. By 1953, there were more than 3,000 students, and by 1969 more than 11,500.
The number of faculties increased to eleven, starting with Applied Sciences in 1957. It was followed by Economics and Veterinary Medicine in 1968, Psychology and Pedagogy, as well as Bioengineering, in 1969, and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
In the 1960s, there were several student demonstrations at Ghent University, notably around the Blandijn site, which houses the Faculty of Arts & Philosophy. The most severe of demonstrations took place in 1969 in the wake of May 1968.
Since the end of the Cold War
In 1991, the university officially changed its name from Rijksuniversiteit Gent (RUG) to Universiteit Gent (UGent), following an increased grant of autonomy by the government of the Flemish Community. The faculty of Politics and Social Sciences is the most recent addition, in 1992.
Ghent University had a program founded by Andre Vlerick in 1953, then called Centre for Productivity Studies and Research. The program later evolved into a separate school called Instituut Professor Vlerick voor Management. Later in 1999 together with KU Leuven, Ghent University established Vlerick Business School merging the two MBA programs of the universities, naming the newborn institute Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School. In 2006, the school rebranded itself as Vlerick Business School. KU Leuven and Ghent University are still the parent institutions of the business school where many of the school's professors teach also in Leuven or Ghent. Nevertheless, UGent still offer MBA programs even after the merger.
Ghent University has been instrumental in the development of COinS and Unipept.
Academic profile
Organisation and structure
Ghent University consists of eleven faculties with over 130 individual departments. In addition, the university maintains the Zwijnaarde science park and Greenbridge science park.
Library
Standing on the Blandijnberg, the Boekentoren houses the Ghent University Library, which contains nearly 3 million volumes. The university library has joined the Google Books Library Project. Among other notable collections, it preserves Papyrus 30, an early manuscript of the Greek New Testament.
The university is also a partner in the development of De Krook, the new public library and media center in the center of Ghent that opened in 2017.
Reputation & rankings
Ghent University consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world, alongside the Catholic University of Leuven. In the Academic Ranking of World Universities, it is the top-ranked Belgian university. In the Global University Ranking and the Ranking of World Universities, Ghent University ranks second.
In 2017, it was ranked, globally, 69th by the Academic Ranking of World Universities (or Shanghai ranking) and 125th by QS World University Rankings. For 2021, Ghent University has been ranked, worldwide, 85th by U.S. News & World Report and 96th by Times Higher Education.
International networks
The university maintains many partnerships within Belgium, across Europe, and throughout the world.
Inside Belgium, Ghent University supports the Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms and the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie.
Within Europe, it is a member of the Santander Network, the Enlight (previously the U4) Network, and the 3i University Network. It also participates in the Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research. In addition, the university cooperates with numerous universities for the Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus programs; within the framework of the latter, it heads the International Master of Science in Rural Development and the International Master of Science in Soils and Global Change (IMSOGLO).
Beyond Europe, Ghent University conducts exchange programs on all continents except Antarctica. Frameworks include its campus in South Korea and its 3C Partnership.
Controversies
Gaza War
In 2024, a group of students organized an occupation of a university building, committed acts of vandalism, and justified their action by claiming that their activism is framed as a climate change issue: "free Palestine is a climate justice issue".
The university subsequently severed ties with Israeli universities on the ground of alleged international law issues. The allegations were described as "superficial and hasty, sloppy work" by critics, who suggested that the university has ideological issues and a lack of interest in academic freedom.
Long after the Gaza ceasefire, the new rector, former left-wing politician Petra De Sutter, expressed her willingness to position the university along a line of criticism of Israel, but deplores the adverse consequences of politicisation on partnerships and fundings. In consequences, the university decided to take political siding by offering an Honorary Doctorate to Francesca Albanese for her activism against Israel, which was criticized as "institutional activism" by some professors. A situation of association with antisemitism according to some politicians, to Jewish organizations and to the Combat Antisemitism Movement. In reaction, Israel's Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli urged Jewish students to leave the university as he claim that antisemitism is being "normalized" and "actively encouraged".
In 2026, masking their faces, Palestinian nationalist protesters confronted the Belgian police, causing slight injuries to two police officers, while justifying vandalism as a legitimate intimidation. Rector Petra De Sutter declared: "The safety of students and staff is paramount. We want to be caring towards all Ghent University staff, but firm regarding wrongdoing".
Abuse of Power
In 2022, the VRT, the Flemish broadcaster, released an exposé on systemic abusive of power in Flemish universities, which featured cases from Ghent University. This included a lack of meaningful disciplinary action against professors.
In 2025, the VRT released another exposé, this time on transgressive behaviour in Flemish universities, ranging from sexual harassment to financial fraud. It reported that, in the previous 10 years, only 3 out of 45 disciplinary procedures for toxic behaviour resulted in removal of professors. One of those three included a Ghent professor, who – after years of controversy – was removed only the week before the documentary aired.
Scientific racism
In 2026, postdoctoral researcher and scientific racism advocate Nathan Cofnas was suspended as part of a preliminary disciplinary investigation following the death of University of Cambridge sociologist Jason Arday.
People
Notable faculty
S.N. Balagangadhara (born 1952), comparative science of cultures
Nathan Cofnas (born 1987), philosopher
Jan De Maeseneer (born 1952), medicine, family medicine
Georges De Moor (born 1953), medicine, medical informatics
George de Hevesy (1885–1966), Nobel Prize winner, Chemistry
Victor D'Hondt (1841–1901), lawyer and jurist, known for D'Hondt method
Walter Fiers (1931–2019), molecular biologist
August Kekulé (1829–1896), chemist
Corneille Heymans (1892–1968), physiologist (Nobel Prize winner)
Richard Hoogenboom (born 1978), polymer chemistry
François Laurent (1810–1887), historian and jurisconsult
Joseph Plateau (1801–1883), physicist
Xavier Saelens (born 1965), biotechnology
Jeff Schell (1935–2003), biotech pioneer
Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961), physicist (Nobel Prize winner), visiting scholar
Johan Rudolf Thorbecke (1798–1872), statesman
Jean Van Houtte, former prime minister of Belgium