The University of Antwerp ( nl, Universiteit Antwerpen) is a major Belgian

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

located in the city of

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

. The official abbreviation is ''UA'', but ''UAntwerpen'' is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

. The University of Antwerp is characterised by its high standards in education, internationally competitive research and entrepreneurial approach. It was founded in 2003 after the merger of three smaller universities. The University of Antwerp ranks as 143rd globally according to 2022

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

ranking, 223rd according to 2019

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

and between the 201 and 300th place according to the

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...

. The university ranked 7th in the Times Higher Education Ranking for Young Universities (2019) and 18th in the QS University Ranking Top 50 Under 50 (2020). In ten domains the university's research is among the best in the world: Drug Discovery and Development; Ecology and Sustainable Development; Port, Transport and Logistics; Imaging; Infectious Diseases; Materials Characterisation; Neurosciences; Socio-economic Policy and Organisation; Public Policy and Political Science; Urban History and Contemporary Urban Policy. In September 2020, the University of Antwerp chose to start the new academic year with stricter coronavirus measures than those recommended by the government.

History

Origins

The university's roots go back to Sint-Ignatius Handelshogeschool (Saint-Ignatius School for Higher Education in Commerce) founded by the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

(Society of Jesus) in Antwerp in 1852. This was one of the first European business schools to offer formal university degrees. It later opened a Faculty of Literature and Philosophy (including Law) and a Faculty of Political and Social Sciences. It was renamed Universitaire Faculteiten Sint-Ignatius Antwerpen (UFSIA) in the 1960s when the Belgian government granted it university status. In the early 1970s UFSIA joined into a confederation with "Rijksuniversitair Centrum Antwerpen" (RUCA) and "Universitaire Instelling Antwerpen" (UIA), public institutions.

Merger

In 2003 UFSIA, RUCA, and UIA merged into the University of Antwerp to become the first explicitly pluralistic university in Belgium, offering philosophical, ethical, and spiritual discourse and openness towards religion and intercultural dialogue. It soon became the third largest university in

with 20,000 students. In order to face the challenges posed by the internationalization of European education and research, the university is part of the

Antwerp University Association The Antwerp University Association (in ''Dutch'': Associatie Universiteit & Hogescholen Antwerpen or AUHA) is a Belgian association for higher education, with members located primarily in Antwerp. The leading institute is the University of Antwer ...

(AUHA). The Catholic influence that the Jesuits had at UFSIA continues through the Saint Ignatius University Centre (UCSIA), Antwerp, founded in 2003.

Faculties

The University of Antwerp has 30 academic bachelor programmes, 69 master programmes, 20 master-after-master programmes and 22 postgraduates. In addition, there are 26 programmes completely taught in English (1 bachelor, 16 master, 6 master-after-master and 3 postgraduate programmes). All of these programmes are divided into 9 faculties. *Business and Economics *Pharmaceutical, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences *Medicine and Health Sciences *Arts *Design Sciences (including architecture and conservation) *Social Sciences *Law *Applied Engineering Sciences *Science The Institute of Development Policy and Management (IOB) has an autonomous faculty-like UAntwerp status and Antwerp Management School is an autonomous school within the University of Antwerp.

Campuses

The six campuses are located all over the city of Antwerp, from the historic city centre to the green belt to the south of the city. * Stadscampus: Prinsstraat 13, 2000 Antwerpen * Campus Mutsaard: Mutsaardstraat 31, 2000 Antwerpen * Campus Paardenmarkt: Paardenmarkt 92, 2000 Antwerpen * Campus Drie Eiken: Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk (Antwerpen) * Campus Middelheim: Middelheimlaan 1, 2020 Antwerpen * Campus Groenenborger: Groenenborgerlaan 171, 2020 Antwerpen

Academic ranking

In the 2010

the University of Antwerp was ranked 179th overall in the world. On the 2009 THE–QS World University Rankings list (in 2010

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarel ...

and

parted ways to produce separate rankings), University of Antwerp was ranked on a shared 177th place. An overview of the THE-QS World University Rankings up to 2011: Times Higher Education World University Ranking:

Notable alumni

Economics

* Marcia De Wachter (1953–), director of the

National Bank of Belgium The National Bank of Belgium (NBB; nl, Nationale Bank van België, french: Banque nationale de Belgique, german: Belgische Nationalbank) has been the central bank of Belgium since 1850. The National Bank of Belgium was established with 100% p ...

* Patrick Janssens (1956–), politician (Flemish MP, former mayor of Antwerp) * Mimi Lamote (1964–), CEO Mayerline *

Philippe Muyters Philippe Muyters (born 6 December 1961) is a Belgian politician from the Flemish Region and is a member of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA). Muyters was born in Antwerp. From 2000 until 2009 he was the Managing Director of VOKA (Flemish Chamber ...

(1961–), politician (Flemish minister)

History

* Bart De Wever, (1970-), politician (representative, floor leader

New Flemish Alliance The New Flemish Alliance ( nl, Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie, N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist and conservative political party in Belgium. The party was founded in 2001 by the right-leaning fraction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). ...

party and mayor of Antwerp) *

Marie-Rose Morel Marie Rose Louise Constant Morel (26 August 1972 – 8 February 2011) was a Flemish-Belgian politician. She became a member of the Flemish Parliament for the Vlaams Belang in 2004, after leaving the New-Flemish Alliance. In 1994, Morel was ele ...

, politician

Law

Gerolf Annemans Gerolf Emma Jozef Annemans (born 8 November 1958) is a Belgian lawyer, journalist and politician of the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang (VB) and formerly of its predecessor, the Vlaams Blok. He has been a member of the European Parliame ...

(1958–), politician (representative, floor leader

Vlaams Belang , ideology = , predecessor = Vlaams Blok , position = , europarl = Identity and Democracy , european = Identity and Democracy Party , youth_wing = Vlaams Belang Jongeren , colours = ...

party) * Peter Van Den Bossche (1959-), professor and member of the WTO Appellate Body *

Cathy Berx Cathy Hilde Raymond Berx (born 8 January 1969 in Berchem) is a Belgian Christian Democrat politician, jurist and governor of the province of Antwerp. Cathy Berx is married to Johan Meeusen, vice-rector and professor of European Law at the Unive ...

(1969–), jurist and politician (governor of the province of Antwerp) * Jan Grauls (1948–), diplomat (ambassador) * Mieke Offeciers-Van De Wiele (1952–), politician (former minister) * Kris Peeters (1962–), politician (

Minister-President of Flanders The Minister-President of Flanders ( nl, Minister-president van Vlaanderen) is the head of the Flemish Government, which is the executive branch of the Flemish Region and Flemish Community.See the communities, regions and language areas of Bel ...

) *

Herman Portocarero Herman J.P. Portocarero (born 6 January 1952, in Antwerp) is a Belgian writer and diplomat of Portuguese and Spanish ancestry. Diplomat After graduating law school at Antwerp University, Portocarero practiced law at the Antwerp bar. He joined t ...

(1952–), author and diplomat * Matthias Storme (1959–), lawyer and politician * Rudi Thomaes (1952–2018), former CEO of the Federation of Belgian Enterprises *

Bruno Valkeniers Bruno Lodewijk Juliaan Ambrosius Valkeniers (born 13 June 1955) is a Flemish businessman, and since 2008 the party chairman of the political party Vlaams Belang. Before entering active politics, Valkeniers worked in the maritime and port business f ...

, businessman and politician (party leader of Vlaams Belang) * Staf Van Reet, businessman

Medicine

Paul Stoffels Paul, Baron Stoffels (born 8 March 1962 in Turnhout, Belgium) is a Belgian MD, who studied medicine at the University of Hasselt and the University of Antwerp (UA). In addition he studied Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine at the Prince L ...

(1962–), cofounder of

Tibotec Tibotec was a pharmaceutical company with a focus on research and development for the treatment of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C. The company was founded in 1994 and then acquired by Johnson & Johnson and merged into its ...

and

Virco The Virco Manufacturing Corporation, more commonly known as Virco, is an American furniture manufacturer based in Torrance, California which focuses on providing products for educational markets. The principal products of the company include stu ...

Manto Tshabalala-Msimang Mantombazana "Manto" Edmie Tshabalala-Msimang (née Mali; 9 October 1940 – 16 December 2009) was a South African politician. She was Deputy Minister of Justice from 1996 to 1999 and served as Minister of Health from 1999 to 2008 under Preside ...

(1940–2009), South African politician

Linguistics and Literature & Philosophy

* Clara Cleymans (1989–), actress, voice actress and musical theatre singer *

Jan Huyghebaert Jan, Baron Huyghebaert (born 1945) is a Belgian businessman. He was a member of the Coudenberg group, a Belgian federalist think tank. Education He obtained a degree in Philosophy, Language and Literature from the University of Antwerp (Antwerp, ...

(1945–), banker *

Jan Leyers Jan Anna August Leyers (born 16 May 1958 in Wilrijk, Belgium) is a singer, songwriter, and television personality. He was a member of the group Soulsister and later became a solo musician and host of various television series. Music career J ...

(1958–), author, musician and presenter * Hugo Matthysen (1956–), author, musician and presenter *

Bart Peeters Bart August Maria Peeters (born 30 November 1959) is a Belgian singer, musician, television presenter and actor. Biography Early years Peeters studied Germanic philology and drama in Antwerp. There, he met Jan Leyers and Hugo Matthysen, wit ...

(1959–), musician and presenter * Matthias Storme (1959–), lawyer and politician

Political and Social Sciences

Jos Geysels Josephus "Jos" Elisabeth A. M. Geysels (born 20 September 1952 in Turnhout) is a former Belgian (Flemish) politician, and former Representative in the Belgian Chamber for the ecologist party Agalev for which he was party chairman. He resigned ...

, former politician and chairman 11.11.11 * Patrick Janssens (1956–), politician (Flemish MP, mayor of Antwerp) *

Peter Mertens Peter Mertens (born 17 December 1969) is a Belgian politician who has led the Workers' Party of Belgium from 2008 to 2021. He has served as a member of the Chamber of Representatives since 2019, and as a municipal councilor in Antwerp since 2013. ...

(1969–), politician *

Johan Vande Lanotte Johan Cyrille Corneel Vande Lanotte (born 6 July 1955) is a Belgian politician. He is a member of the SP.A, and became its party president on 15 October 2005. He handed down his leadership positions after the SP.A lost in the 2007 general elec ...

(1955–), politician (minister, MP, senator) *

Johan Van Hecke Johan Jozef Marie Clara Van Hecke (born 2 December 1954 in Ghent) is a Belgian politician and Member of the European Parliament for Flanders with the Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe a ...

(1954–), member of the European Parliament * Mieke Vogels (1954–), politician (former minister, Flemish MP)

Sciences

Dries Buytaert Dries Buytaert (born 19 November 1978)Curriculum Vitae
is ...

(1978–), author of

Drupal Drupal () is a free and open-source web content management system (CMS) written in PHP and distributed under the GNU General Public License. Drupal provides an open-source back-end framework for at least 14% of the top 10,000 websites worldwid ...

Didier de Chaffoy de Courcelles Didier R.G.G. de Chaffoy de Courcelles (born 19 November 1952, in Turnhout) is a Belgian scientist and businessman. He was senior vice president of Drug Discovery Europe, and Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research & Development (J&JPRD), a d ...

(1953–), vice-president R&D of

Janssen Pharmaceutica Janssen Pharmaceuticals is a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Beerse, Belgium, and wholly-owned by Johnson & Johnson. It was founded in 1953 by Paul Janssen. In 1961, Janssen Pharmaceuticals was purchased by New Jersey-based American ...

* Peter Piot (1949–), microbiologist, head of

UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ...

* Vincent Timmerman, molecular biologist *

Christine Van Broeckhoven Christine Van Broeckhoven (born 9 April 1953) is a Belgian molecular biologist and professor in Molecular genetics at the University of Antwerp (Antwerp, Belgium). She is also leading the VIB Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Antwe ...

(1953–), scientist and politician *

Anthony Liekens Anthony Liekens (born 12 December 1975) is a Belgian informaticist, biologist, inventor and educator. Life and career Liekens obtained his master's in Computer Science at Vrije Universiteit Brussel in 2000 with extra curricular courses at the U ...

(1975–), informaticists, biologist, inventor and educator

Notable faculty

Marc Bossuyt Marc, Baron Bossuyt (born 9 January 1944 in Ghent) is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and a former judge at the Belgian Constitutional Court. Bossuyt obtained a Dr.iur (LLM) at the University of Ghent in 1968, a ''Cer ...

, law * Rudy Martens, management *

Bence Nanay Bence Nanay is Professor of Philosophy and BOF Research Professor at the University of Antwerp and has worked as a film critic. He is co-director of the Centre for Philosophical Psychology at the University of Antwerp and Senior Research Associate a ...

, philosophy *

, molecular biologist *

Christine Van Den Wyngaert Christine, Baroness Van den Wyngaert (born 2 April 1952) is a Belgian jurist and judge. She served as international and comparative criminal law expert from 2009 to 2018 as a judge on the International Criminal Court. She served in the Trial Div ...

, law * Frank Vandenbroucke, Applied Economics and Social Sciences

Student life

Sports

The University of Antwerp has a long tradition in organizing international student championships. The following FISU, EUSA and IFIUS events have been organized: * 1978: FISU World University Cycling Championship * 1982: FISU World University Cross Country Championship * 1992: FISU World University Chess Championship * 2004: IFIUS World Interuniversity Games * 2006: FISU World University Cycling Championship * 2007: EUSA European University Bridge Championship

Student organisations

At the University of Antwerp there are faculty clubs, regional clubs and political clubs. Faculty bound clubs are governed by VUAS which consists of

Unifac In statistical thermodynamics, the UNIFAC method ( UNIQUAC Functional-group Activity Coefficients)Aage Fredenslund, Russell L. Jones and John M. Prausnitz, "Group-Contribution Estimation of Activity Coefficients in Nonideal Liquid Mixtures", '' ...

and ASK-Stuwer. Political and philosophical clubs are governed by PFK-Antwerpen. The student newspaper is called "Dwars".

References

External links

* * {{authority control

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

2003 establishments in Belgium Educational institutions established in 1852 Education in Antwerp Buildings and structures in Antwerp Organisations based in Antwerp Province 1852 establishments in Belgium Universities and colleges formed by merger in Belgium

History

Origins

Merger

Faculties

Campuses

Academic ranking

Notable alumni

Economics

History

Law

Medicine

Linguistics and Literature & Philosophy

Political and Social Sciences

Sciences

Notable faculty

Student life

Sports

Student organisations

See also

References

External links