Utrecht University (Dutch: Universiteit Utrecht, formerly Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht) is a university in Utrecht, the Netherlands. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands and one of the largest in Europe. Established March 26, 1636, it had an enrollment of 30,449 students in 2012, and employed 5,295 faculty and staff. In 2011, 485 PhD degrees were awarded and 7,773 scientific articles were published. The 2013 budget of the university was EUR765 million.
The university is rated as the best university in the Netherlands by the Shanghai Ranking of World Universities 2013, and ranked as the 13th best European university and the 52nd best university of the world.
The university's motto is "Sol Iustitiae Illustra Nos," which means "Sun of Justice, shine upon us." This motto was gleaned from a literal Latin Bible translation of Malachi 4:2. (Rutgers University, having a historical connection with Utrecht University, uses a modified version of this motto.) Utrecht University is led by the University Board, consisting of prof. dr. Bert van der Zwaan (Rector Magnificus) and Hans Amman.
§History
Utrecht University was founded on March 26, 1636. The influential professor of theology Gisbertus Voetius delivered the inaugural speech, and Bernardus Schotanus (professor of law and mathematics) became the university's first rector magnificus. Initially, only a few dozen students attended classes at the university. Seven professors worked in four faculties: philosophy, which offered all students an introductory education, and three higher-level faculties (theology, medicine and law).
Utrecht University flourished in the seventeenth century, despite competition with the older universities of Leiden (1575), Franeker (1585) and Groningen (1614) and the schools of Harderwijk (1599; a university from 1648) and Amsterdam (1632). Leiden, in particular, proved a strong competitor and made further improvement necessary. A botanical garden was built on the grounds of the present Sonnenborgh Observatory, and three years later the Smeetoren added an astronomical observatory. The university attracted many students from abroad (especially from Germany, England and Scotland). They witnessed the intellectual and theological battle the proponents of the new philosophy (René Descartes lived for a few years in Utrecht) fought with the proponents of the strict Reformed theologian Voetius.
In 1806 the French occupying authorities of the Netherlands downgraded Utrecht University to an école secondaire (high school), but after the establishment of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in 1813 it regained its former status. Leiden, Groningen and Utrecht were the three universities (Dutch: hoge scholen) of the new state, and Leiden received the title of eerste hoge school ("first university").
Utrecht played a prominent role in the golden age of Dutch science. Around 1850 the "Utrechtian School" of science formed, with Pieter Harting, Gerardus J. Mulder, Christophorus H. D. Buys Ballot and Franciscus C. Donders among the leading scientists. They introduced the educational laboratory (onderwijslaboratorium) as a practical learning place for their students. The University is represented in the Stichting Academisch Erfgoed, a foundation with the goal of preserving university collections.
§Description
The university consists of seven faculties:
- Faculty of Humanities
- Department of Arts & Languages
- Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
- Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences
- Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance
- Utrecht University School of Economics (USE)
- Utrecht University School of Law
- Utrecht University School of Governance (USG)
- Faculty of Geosciences
- Department of Earth Sciences
- Department of Physical Geography
- Department of Innovation, Environmental and Energy Sciences
- Department of Human Geography and Urban Planning
- Faculty of Medicine
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
- Faculty of Science
- Department of Biology
- Department of Chemistry
- Department of Information and Computing Sciences
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
- Department of Physics and Astronomy
There are three interfaculty units:
- University College Utrecht / University College Roosevelt
- Ethics Institute
- IVLOS Institute of Education
The two large faculties of Humanities and Law are situated in the inner city of Utrecht. The other five faculties and most of the administrative services are located in De Uithof, a campus area on the outskirts of the city. University College is situated in the former Kromhout Kazerne, which used to be a Dutch military base.
§Notable alumni and faculty
Utrecht University counts a number of distinguished scholars among its alumni and faculty, including 12 Nobel Prize laureates and 13 Spinoza Prize laureates.
§International rankings
On the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities list, the University of Utrecht was ranked 48th in the world and the highest in the Netherlands. It was among the top 50 universities for six consecutive years starting from 2003. In the 2011 QS World University Rankings, Utrecht was ranked 80th.
In 2010 QS World University Rankings ranked Utrecht University 83rd in the world.
On the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings, the University of Utrecht was among the top 150 universities for the sixth consecutive year, and among the top 100 universities for the fourth consecutive year.
Human Resources & Labor Review, a human competitiveness index & analysis published in Chasecareer Network, ranked the university 50th internationally in 2010 as one of 300 Best World Universities.
§See also
- List of early modern universities in Europe
- Roosevelt Academy International Honors College of Utrecht University located in Middelburg, Zeeland
- University College Utrecht International Honors College of Utrecht University located in Utrecht
- Utrecht Network
- Utrecht School of the Arts
- Utrecht Summer School
- Utrecht University of Applied Sciences (HU - Hogeschool Utrecht)
- Utrecht School of Law Clinical Programme on Conflict, Human Rights and International Justice
- Codex Boreelianus
- Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association, of which Utrecht University Library is a founding member
- Bijvoet Center for Biomolecular Research, a research institute of Utrecht University in the field of molecular Life Sciences
§References
§External links
- Utrecht University homepage
- Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae - Catalogue listing all professors who have held chairs at Utrecht University
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