Utrecht University (UU; , formerly ''Rijksuniversiteit Utrecht'') is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

in Utrecht, Netherlands. Established , it is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands. In 2023, it had an enrollment of 39,769 students, and employed 8,929 faculty members and staff. More than 400

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

degrees were awarded and 7,765 scientific articles were published. The university's 2023 budget was €2.8 billion, consisting of €1.157 billion for the university (income from work commissioned by third parties is 319 million euros) and €1.643 billion for the University Medical Center Utrecht. The university's interdisciplinary research targets life sciences, pathways to sustainability, dynamics of youth, and institutions for open societies. Utrecht University is led by the University Board, consisting of Wilco Hazeleger (

Rector Magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world, the rector is often the most senior official in a u ...

), Anton Pijpers (chair), Margot van der Starre (Vice Chair) and Niels Vreeswijk (Student Assessor). Close ties are harboured with other institutions internationally through its membership in the

Coimbra Group The Coimbra Group (CG) is an international association of 40 universities in Europe. It was established in 1985. It works for the benefit of its members by promoting "internationalization, academic collaboration, excellence in learning and rese ...

(CG), the League of European Research Universities (LERU), the

Utrecht Network The Utrecht Network is a network of European universities. Founded in 1987, the network promotes the internationalisation of tertiary education through summer schools, student and staff exchanges and joint degrees. It is operated by the Universit ...

and the

European University Association The European University Association (EUA) represents more than 800 institutions of higher education in 48 countries, providing them with a forum for cooperation and the exchange of information on higher education and research policies. Members of ...

(EUA).

History

Utrecht University was founded on 26 March 1636. It has its roots in the Illustrious School of Utrecht, which founded two years earlier in 1634 before being elevated to the status of university in 1636. The influential professor of theology

Gisbertus Voetius Gisbertus Voetius ( Latinized version of the Dutch name Gijsbert Voet ; 3 March 1589 – 1 November 1676) was a Dutch Calvinist theologian, pastor, and professor. Life He was born at Heusden, in the Dutch Republic, studied at Leiden, and in 16 ...

delivered the inaugural speech, and Bernardus Schotanus (professor of law and mathematics) became the university's first

rector magnificus A rector (Latin for 'ruler') is a senior official in an educational institution, and can refer to an official in either a university or a secondary school. Outside the English-speaking world, the rector is often the most senior official in a u ...

Anna Maria van Schurman Anna Maria van Schurman (November 5, 1607 – May 4, 1678) was a Dutch people, Dutch painter, engraver, poet, classical scholar, philosopher, and Feminism, feminist writer who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of fem ...

, who became the university's first female student, was invited to write a Latin poem for the inauguration. 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, and contributed significantly to the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands which roughly lasted from 1588, when the Dutch Republic was established, to 1672, when the '' Rampjaar'' occurred. During this period, Dutch trade, scientific development ...

, despite competition with the older universities, such as

Leiden Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...

(1575) and

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

(1614). Leiden, in particular, proved a strong competitor and made further improvement necessary; a rivalry that persists to this day. A

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

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 fought between proponents of the new philosophy (

René Descartes René Descartes ( , ; ; 31 March 1596 – 11 February 1650) was a French philosopher, scientist, and mathematician, widely considered a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and Modern science, science. Mathematics was paramou ...

lived for a few years in Utrecht) and proponents of the strict Reformed theologian Voetius. They also witnessed the teachings of renowned Dutch jurist, Johannes Voet, a university alumnus and professor of law, whose works remain highly authoritative in modern

Roman-Dutch law Roman-Dutch law ( Dutch: ''Rooms-Hollands recht'', Afrikaans: ''Romeins-Hollandse reg'') is an uncodified, scholarship-driven, and judge-made legal system based on Roman law as applied in the Netherlands in the 17th and 18th centuries. As such, ...

In 1806, the French occupying authorities of the Netherlands downgraded Utrecht University to an ''école secondaire'' (high school), but after the establishment of the

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed from 1815 to 1839. The United Netherlands was created in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars through the fusion of territories t ...

in 1813 it regained its former status. Leiden,

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

, Groningen, Utrecht and

Ghent Ghent ( ; ; historically known as ''Gaunt'' in English) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the Provinces of Belgium, province ...

were the five universities () of the new state. Two of the universities (Leuven and Ghent) became part of the new Belgian state after their respective provinces separated from the

in 1830. As a result, Utrecht University remained one of only three Dutch universities. During the French occupation, King Louis Napoleon ordered the construction of a palace in the centre of Utrecht, which eventually became the University Library City Centre. Utrecht University 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 Donders among the leading scientists. They introduced the educational laboratory (''onderwijslaboratorium'') as a practical learning place for their students. The National Veterinary School ( Dutch: ''Rijks Veeartsenijschool'') became Utrecht University's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 1918. As the university grew, the academic buildings in the historic city centre were unable to meet the university's increasing need for space. Therefore, starting from the 1960s, a significant part of the university moved to the De Uithof campus, which occupies the easternmost part of the city and is located south of

De Bilt De Bilt () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality and town in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht, Netherlands. It had a population of in . De Bilt houses the headquarters of the Royal Netherland ...

. However, the university continued to retain its academic buildings and presence in the historic city centre. The university is represented in the '' Stichting Academisch Erfgoed'', a foundation with the goal of preserving the university's heritage and collections.

Organisation

The university consists of seven faculties, which offer 58 undergraduate degree programmes and over 150 graduate programmes. There are also three interfaculty units: * University College Utrecht * University College Roosevelt *Centre for Education and Learning (COLUU)

Campus

The two large faculties of Humanities and Law & Governance are situated in the inner city of Utrecht. The other five faculties and most of the administrative services are located in Utrecht Science Park De Uithof, a campus area on the outskirts of the city. University College Utrecht, along with the Utrecht School of Economics, are situated in the former Kromhout Kazerne, which used to be a Dutch military base. University College Roosevelt is located off-campus in the city of Middelburg in the south-west of the Netherlands. Image:De_Uithof_(nouveau_campus_de_l'Université_d'Utrecht).JPG , Utrecht Science Park Image:UtrechtUCgebouw.jpg , University College Image:Minnaertgebouw3.jpg, Minnaert Building Image:Juridische_Bibliotheek_(Bibliothèque_de_Droit_et_d'Economie).JPG, Juridische Bibliotheek (former law library) Image:Vie_étudiante_à_Utrecht.JPG , Student life, Neude square, Utrecht city centre Image:FortHoofddijk01.jpg , Utrecht University Botanic Gardens Image:David-de-Wied-gebouw_Leuvenlaan-4_De-Uithof_Utrecht_Nederland.JPG , David de Wied building

International rankings

In the 2024

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 ...

(ARWU), the University of Utrecht was ranked 55th globally, the highest in the Netherlands but down from 40th in 2003. Top subjects include public administration (2nd), water resources (10th), and pharmacy (10th). Other notable rankings are in Earth sciences (11th), veterinary sciences (16th), psychology (16th), oceanography (17th), law (29th), education (38th), environmental science and engineering: (41st), geography: (42th), atmospheric science: (45th), public health: (45th), biological sciences (51-75), clinical medicine (51-75), medical technology (51-75), economics (51-75), physics (76-100), ecology (76-100), biotechnology (76-100), chemistry (101-150), biomedical engineering (101-150), statistics (101-150). In the 2024 U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities Ranking, Utrecht University was ranked 46th in the world. Its top-performing subjects included microbiology (6th), geosciences (14th), meteorology and atmospheric sciences (15th), surgery (18th), infectious diseases (21st), public health (21st), education and educational research (22nd), psychiatry/psychology (22nd), pharmacology and toxicology (25th), plant and animal science (28th), radiology, nuclear medicine, and medical imaging (31st), cardiac and cardiovascular systems (42nd), water resources (45th), marine biology (46th), environment/ecology (46th), cell biology (48th), immunology (53rd), and biology and biochemistry (60th). In the 2023

Times Higher Education World University Rankings The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'', often referred to as the THE Rankings, is the annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symon ...

, the university was ranked 66th. Best-ranked subjects were education (24th), psychology (26th), medicine and dentistry (67th), biological sciences (63rd), veterinary sciences (63rd), physical sciences (59th), and law (36th). In the 2025

QS World University Rankings The ''QS World University Rankings'' is a portfolio of comparative college and university rankings compiled by Quacquarelli Symonds, a higher education analytics firm. Its first and earliest edition was published in collaboration with '' Times ...

by subject, the rankings are as follows: veterinary science (8th), geophysics (17th), geology (19th), public administration (22nd), geography (22nd), Earth & marine sciences (27th), psychology (30th), pharmacy & pharmacology (44th), life sciences and medicine (48th), environmental sciences (48th), education (51st), biological sciences (61st), medicine (64th), law (73rd), natural sciences (84th), nursing (51-100), development studies (51-100), chemistry (133rd), computer science (142nd), economics and econometrics (143rd), statistics and operational research (101-150), and chemical engineering (101-150). In 2024 the analytics company Clarivate ranked Utrecht University 44th in the world and 7th in Europe, with 29 highly cited researchers in the top 1% by citations for their field(s) and publication year in the Web of Science over the past decade. Utrecht University was also mentioned in the BlueSky Ranking Of University Rankings 2022/23 published by Matt Symonds, co-founder of QS. BlueSky Ranking Of University Rankings considers the aggregation of the performance of schools across four major rankings: AWRU, QS,

THE ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

, and USNWR. In this ranking, Utrecht University was placed 60th worldwide, 18th in Europe, and 1st in the Netherlands.

Affiliations

Utrecht University is a member of: * the

(CG), * League of European Research Universities (LERU), * the

, * the

(EUA), * the International Association of Universities (IAU) * the McDonnell International Scholars Academy (MISA). Utrecht University operates strategic international partnership with

KU Leuven KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries. In addition to its mai ...

University College London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public university, public research university in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. Established in 1963 as a federation of three university college, collegesChung Chi College, New Asia Coll ...

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

Notable alumni and faculty

Utrecht University counts a number of distinguished scholars among its

alumni Alumni (: alumnus () or alumna ()) are former students or graduates of a school, college, or university. The feminine plural alumnae is sometimes used for groups of women, and alums (: alum) or alumns (: alumn) as gender-neutral alternatives. Th ...

and faculty, including 12

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

, 1

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

, 2

Wolf Prize The Wolf Prize is an international award granted in Israel, that has been presented most years since 1978 to living scientists and artists for "achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people ... irrespective of natio ...

, 2

National Medal of Science The National Medal of Science is an honor bestowed by the President of the United States to individuals in science and engineering who have made important contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of behavioral science, behavior ...

, 21 Spinoza Prize and 3 Stevin Prize laureates. The university counts several heads of state and government amongst its graduates, including: 4 members of Dutch royal house, 6 Prime Ministers of the Netherlands, 6 foreign heads of state or government, and 35 Ministers of the Cabinet of the Netherlands. Utrecht University alumni have won a total of 13 gold Olympic medals.

References

External links

*
Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae
– Catalogue listing all professors who have held chairs at Utrecht University
Utrecht University datasets
{{Authority control Universities in the Netherlands Educational institutions established in the 1630s 1636 establishments in the Dutch Republic Buildings and structures in Utrecht (city) Education in Utrecht (city) Education in the Dutch Republic