University of León

The University of León (ULE, Universidad de León) is a public university based in the city of León in Castile and León, Spain, with a second campus in Ponferrada 110 kilometres to the west.莱昂大学（University of León，简称 ULE）是西班牙卡斯蒂利亚-莱昂自治区莱昂市的一所公立大学，并在以西 110 公里的蓬费拉达设有第二个校区。

It was created by Law 29/1979, published in the official state gazette on 30 October 1979, which detached the León centres from the University of Oviedo and grouped them into an independent university.该校依 1979 年 10 月 30 日刊登于国家官方公报的第 29/1979 号法律设立，把原属奥维耶多大学的莱昂各中心剥离出来，组成一所独立大学。

Its Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, descended from an 1852 school, remains its most distinctive unit, and the university enrolled about 12,600 students in 2024-25 while placing in the 1001-1200 band of the QS World University Rankings 2027.其兽医学院源自 1852 年的兽医学校，至今仍是该校最具特色的院系；2024 至 2025 学年在校生约 12,600 人，并在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中位列 1001-1200 区间。

History

• The lineage of the university begins in 1843 with the Normal School of Teachers, the teacher-training seminary of public instruction that later became the Faculty of Education.该校的源流始于 1843 年创办的师范学校，即培养公立学校师资的师范讲习所，后来演变为教育学院。
• Nine years later, in 1852, the Subordinate Veterinary School was established in León, an institution that would eventually become the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and the organisational core of the future university.九年后的 1852 年，莱昂创办了从属兽医学校，这所学校后来升格为兽医学院，并成为未来大学的建制核心。
• No further centres appeared for the rest of the nineteenth century, and the next step came in 1914, when the Elementary School of Commerce opened after repeated lobbying by the León Chamber of Commerce and Industry.整个十九世纪后半叶未再增设新的教学中心，下一步进展出现在 1914 年：在莱昂商会与工业界反复游说下，初等商业学校得以开办。
• In 1943 the Subordinate Veterinary School was raised to the rank of faculty, a change that gave León its first university-level faculty and made the city a plausible candidate for a university of its own.1943 年，从属兽医学校升格为学院，这一变化使莱昂拥有了第一个大学层级的学院，也使该市具备了创办独立大学的现实条件。
• The same year saw the foundation of the School of Mine Overseers and Metallurgical Factories, the ancestor of the Higher Technical School of Mining Engineering that still operates today.同年还创办了矿务与冶金工场监理学校，它正是今日仍在办学的采矿工程学院前身。
• A Biological Sciences section was attached to the veterinary faculty in 1961 under the University of Oviedo, although teaching in the new section did not begin until 1968.1961 年，在奥维耶多大学名下，生物科学部附设于兽医学院，但该部直到 1968 年才正式开课。
• The School of Agricultural Overseers, established in 1963, became the seed of the Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineering, completing the trio of technical schools that León would later incorporate.1963 年设立的农业监理学校后来成为农业与林业工程学院的前身，凑齐了莱昂此后并入大学的三个技术学院。
• Miguel Cordero del Campillo, dean of the veterinary faculty, secured the launch of the biology section in 1968, and the faculty building on what is now Avenida de la Facultad de Veterinaria also housed law classes, the San Raimundo de Peñafort Academy and the student union.兽医学院院长米格尔·科尔德罗·德尔坎皮略促成了生物科学部于 1968 年开课；位于今兽医学院大道的院舍还容纳法学课程、圣拉蒙·德佩尼亚福特学院以及学生工会。
• The General Education Law of 1970 allowed existing university schools to be grouped into new universities, and it gave the León campaign its legal opening.1970 年《普通教育法》允许把现有大学学校整合为新大学，这为莱昂的建校运动提供了法律入口。
• In 1972 the León University College was founded with the sponsorship of the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de León, the savings bank later known as Caja España, teaching philosophy and arts at first and law soon afterwards.1972 年，在莱昂储蓄银行的资助下，莱昂大学学院成立，先开设哲学与文学课程，随后增设法学。
• The biology section became a faculty in 1975 and a vice-chancellorship of the University of Oviedo was created for the León campus in the same year, with Cordero del Campillo appointed to the post.1975 年，生物科学部升格为学院，同年奥维耶多大学为莱昂校区设立副校长一职，由科尔德罗·德尔坎皮略出任。
• Spanish law required three faculties to authorise a university, and León could count veterinary medicine, biology and the university college divisions, so Law 29/1979 finally created the University of León and was published on 30 October 1979 alongside the universities of Alicante, Cádiz and Las Palmas.西班牙法律规定须有三所学院方可设立大学，莱昂已拥有兽医、生物两院以及大学学院的法律与文哲部，于是第 29/1979 号法律最终创设莱昂大学，并于 1979 年 10 月 30 日与阿利坎特、加的斯、拉斯帕尔马斯三校一同公布。
• A management board headed by the veterinary professor J. L. Sotillo Ramos ran the new institution, and the veterinary professor A. Suárez y Suárez became its first rector.由兽医学教授 J. L. 索蒂略·拉莫斯领导的管委会主持新校事务，兽医学教授 A. 苏亚雷斯-苏亚雷斯出任首任校长。
• Cordero del Campillo served as rector from 1984 to 1986 and produced the university's first statutes, approved by royal decree on 29 May 1985.科尔德罗·德尔坎皮略于 1984 至 1986 年任校长，并主持拟定该校首部章程，章程于 1985 年 5 月 29 日经皇家法令批准。
• The old veterinary faculty building in the city centre was renovated as the rectorate and inaugurated on 18 December 1989 in a ceremony attended by nine rectors and by regional, provincial and municipal authorities.市中心的旧兽医学院院舍被改建为校部，并于 1989 年 12 月 18 日举行落成典礼，九位大学校长及自治区、省、市三级官员出席。
• The Ponferrada campus was inaugurated in 1996 around the old hospital of the Camino de Santiago, extending the university into the Bierzo region 110 kilometres west of León.蓬费拉达校区于 1996 年在圣地亚哥朝圣之路上的旧医院周边启用，使大学延伸至莱昂以西 110 公里的别尔索地区。
• A Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences was added through the efforts of the veterinary professor Justino Burgos González, with Fermín San Primitivo Tirados directing its first steps.在兽医学教授胡斯蒂诺·布尔戈斯·冈萨雷斯的推动下，学校增设体育活动与运动科学学院，并由费尔明·圣普里米蒂沃·蒂拉多斯主持其初创。
• International openings followed, including the University of Washington's León Center in the Palacio del Conde Luna and a Confucius Institute established with Xiangtan University in China.此后该校加快国际化布局，包括在卢纳伯爵宫设立华盛顿大学莱昂中心，并与中国湘潭大学合作创办孔子学院。
• León is a member of EURECA-PRO, the European University for Responsible Consumption and Production, an alliance supported through the European Universities Initiative of the European Commission.莱昂大学是「欧洲负责任消费与生产大学」联盟（EURECA-PRO）的成员，该联盟由欧盟委员会的「欧洲大学倡议」支持。
• On 9 May 2024 the professor of business organisation Nuria González Álvarez was elected rector with 56.83 per cent of the vote and took office on 20 May, becoming the first woman to lead the university in its 45-year history and the first to head a public university in Castilla y León.2024 年 5 月 9 日，企业组织学教授努里亚·冈萨雷斯·阿尔瓦雷斯以 56.83% 的得票率当选校长，并于 5 月 20 日就职，成为该校 45 年历史上首位女性校长，也是卡斯蒂利亚-莱昂自治区首位执掌公立大学的女性。
• Later in 2024 the university awarded its first honorary doctorate to a woman, the research scientist Laura María Lechuga, and the new rector publicly pressed the regional government for a degree in medicine and surgery.2024 年下半年，该校把首位女性荣誉博士学位授予科研学者劳拉·玛丽亚·莱丘加；新任校长并公开向自治区政府争取开设医学与外科专业。

Academics

• The university is organised into nine faculties, namely Veterinary Medicine, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Education, Law, Philosophy and Arts, Economics and Business, Labour Sciences, Health Sciences, and Physical Activity and Sports Sciences.该校设有九个学院，分别为兽医学、生物与环境科学、教育、法学、哲学与文学、经济与企业科学、劳动科学、健康科学以及体育活动与运动科学。
• Three higher technical schools complete the academic map, covering industrial, computer and aerospace engineering, mining engineering, and agricultural and forestry engineering.三个高等技术学院补足了学科版图，分别涵盖工业、计算机与航空航天工程，采矿工程，以及农业与林业工程。
• A Doctoral School coordinates the research degrees and the attached University School of Social Work remains affiliated to the institution, bringing the total to fourteen teaching centres across the two campuses.博士学院统筹研究型学位，附属社会工作大学学院仍挂靠该校，两个校区合计共有十四个教学中心。
• In the mid-2020s León offered 39 bachelor's degrees plus five dual-degree pathways, 31 official master's degrees, five inter-university master's degrees, two international master's degrees and 17 doctoral programmes.2020 年代中期，莱昂大学开设 39 个本科学位与 5 个双学位路径、31 个官方硕士、5 个校际硕士、2 个国际硕士以及 17 个博士项目。
• Enrolment in 2024-25 stood at 12,643 students, of whom 8,739 were undergraduates, 488 were master's students and 1,172 were doctoral candidates, taught by 1,287 academic staff and supported by 714 administrative staff.2024 至 2025 学年在校生为 12,643 人，其中本科生 8,739 人、硕士生 488 人、博士生 1,172 人，另有专任教师 1,287 人与行政人员 714 人。
• Founded in 1852 and long regarded as the university's flagship faculty, Veterinary Medicine works with the Veterinary Clinical Hospital of Castile and León, whose catchment covers Asturias, Cantabria, the Basque Country and Castile and León and some 9.5 million head of livestock.兽医学院创办于 1852 年，长期被视为该校的旗舰院系，并与卡斯蒂利亚-莱昂兽医临床医院合作，其服务范围覆盖阿斯图里亚斯、坎塔布里亚、巴斯克与卡斯蒂利亚-莱昂，涉及约 950 万头牲畜。
• The ICT Centre houses the Caléndula supercomputer and offers internships with HP, while the San Isidoro university library serves both campuses.信息技术中心安置了「金盏花」超级计算机，并与惠普合作提供实习岗位；圣伊西多罗大学图书馆则为两个校区服务。
• OpenAlex indexes 23,485 works and 1,047,691 citations for the university, with an h-index of 245 that reflects concentrated strength in veterinary science, food science and ecology.OpenAlex 收录该校 23,485 篇研究成果与 1,047,691 次引用，h 指数为 245，反映出其在兽医学、食品科学与生态学上的集中优势。
• The university operates on an annual budget of about 114.7 million euros and devotes a growing share to competitive research projects and doctoral training.该校年度预算约 1.147 亿欧元，其中用于竞争性科研项目与博士培养的比重逐年上升。
• In the first term of 2025-26 it received more than 250 international students from 29 countries and over a hundred partner universities, with Italy, Mexico and Colombia the largest sources.2025 至 2026 学年第一学期，该校接收来自 29 个国家、百余所伙伴院校的 250 余名国际学生，其中意大利、墨西哥与哥伦比亚人数最多。
• Mobility runs through Erasmus+ KA131, bilateral agreements and the AMICUS programme, and a further 45 students arrived through the Spanish SICUE exchange scheme.学生流动主要经由 Erasmus+ KA131、双边协议与 AMICUS 项目实施，另有 45 名学生通过西班牙 SICUE 交换计划到校。
• The Confucius Institute of the University of León, run with Xiangtan University, teaches Chinese language and culture from premises on Calle Jesús Rubio beside the university language centre.莱昂大学孔子学院与湘潭大学合办，在大学语言中心旁的赫苏斯·鲁维奥街校舍教授汉语与中国文化。
• The University of Washington maintains its León Center in the historic Palacio del Conde Luna, using the city as the base for its Spanish-language and health programmes in Europe.华盛顿大学在十六世纪的卢纳伯爵宫设莱昂中心，以该市为基地开展其在欧洲的西班牙语与健康类项目。
• A long-standing demand for a medical degree has shaped academic planning, and the rector argued in 2024 that the province's ageing population and hospital network justified the new programme.长期以来对医学学位的诉求影响着该校的学科规划，校长在 2024 年表示，该省的人口老龄化与医院网络足以支撑新设这一专业。
• Doctoral training spans arts and humanities, sciences, health sciences, social and legal sciences, and engineering and architecture, and theses may be written in Spanish or English.博士培养覆盖艺术与人文、理学、健康科学、社会与法律科学以及工程与建筑，学位论文可用西班牙语或英语撰写。
• Beyond degrees, the university runs a language centre, summer courses and a lifelong-learning programme aimed at students over 50, alongside its own summer school in Ponferrada.除学位教育外，该校还设语言中心、暑期课程以及面向 50 岁以上学习者的终身学习项目，并在蓬费拉达开办暑期学校。

Campus

• The main campus occupies the Vegazana grounds on the edge of León, land that belonged to the Diocese of León before the savings bank bought it and donated it for the creation of the university college.主校区位于莱昂城郊的韦加萨纳地块，这片土地原属莱昂教区，后由储蓄银行购入并捐赠，用于创办大学学院。
• Because León is a compact city, the campus lies about a twenty-minute walk from the cathedral and the historic centre, and most faculties and the doctoral school are based there.由于莱昂城区紧凑，校区距大教堂与老城步行约二十分钟，多数学院与博士学院均设于此。
• The Ponferrada campus, 110 kilometres west, opened in 1996 around the old pilgrim hospital of the Camino de Santiago and concentrates on nursing, physiotherapy, nutrition, mining and agricultural engineering.蓬费拉达校区位于以西 110 公里，1996 年在圣地亚哥朝圣之路的旧朝圣者医院周边启用，以护理、物理治疗、营养学、采矿与农业工程为主。
• The rectorate occupies the former veterinary faculty building on Avenida de la Facultad de Veterinaria, a complex renovated in the late 1980s that now holds the government pavilion, administrative services and the university guesthouse.校部设于兽医学院大道上的旧兽医学院院舍，这组建筑在 1980 年代末翻修，现容纳校政厅、行政服务与大学招待所。
• The Casa del Estudiante fills much of the same building and provides study rooms open until midnight in examination periods, together with the Ateneo Cultural, the El Albéitar theatre, exhibition halls and workshops.学生之家占据了同一建筑的大半，设有考试期间开放至午夜的自习室，并容纳文化协会、埃尔阿尔贝塔尔剧场、展厅与工作坊。
• A small block known as the 25th Anniversary Building was added to the entrance courtyard, housing administrative offices and the university shop.入口庭院处增建了一座称为「二十五周年楼」的小型建筑，内设行政办公室与大学商店。
• Teaching also spills into the city centre, where the Palacio del Conde Luna hosts the Washington center and the Confucius Institute occupies a building near the language centre.教学活动也延伸至市中心：卢纳伯爵宫安置华盛顿大学中心，孔子学院则使用语言中心附近的一栋建筑。
• The San Isidoro library and the CRAI-ICT building anchor the Vegazana campus, while the veterinary clinical hospital on the same site gives students direct clinical practice.圣伊西多罗图书馆与 CRAI-ICT 大楼构成韦加萨纳校区的核心，同一场地上的兽医临床医院则为学生提供直接的临床实践。
• The smaller Ponferrada site is laid out as a modern campus of some twenty-five years, surrounded by municipal sports facilities and within walking distance of the historic quarter of the Bierzo capital.规模较小的蓬费拉达校区建成约二十五年，呈现代校园格局，四周为市属体育设施，步行可达别尔索地区首府的老城。

Reputation

• León is placed in the 1001-1200 band of the QS World University Rankings 2027, a tied interval rather than a single position.在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中，莱昂大学位列 1001-1200 区间，这是一个并列区间而非单一名次。
• It sits in the 1201-1400 band of the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027.该校在 2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名中处于 1201-1400 区间。
• The 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities list placed it 1,693rd in the world.在 2026 至 2027 年度 US News 全球最佳大学排名中，该校位列全球第 1,693 位。
• It did not enter the main table of the 2026 Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities.该校未进入 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名主榜。
• Its indexed output of 23,485 works and 1,047,691 citations gives it an h-index of 245, the clearest quantitative signal of its research profile at this institutional scale.其被收录的 23,485 篇成果与 1,047,691 次引用带来 245 的 h 指数，在这一办学规模下是科研实力最清晰的量化信号。
• In the 2007 InternetLab ranking of Spanish universities it stood 44th among the hundred institutions assessed, a placing that marked its emergence in national comparisons.在 2007 年西班牙大学 InternetLab 排行榜中，该校在参评的百所院校中名列第 44 位，这一名次标志着它开始进入全国性比较视野。
• Veterinary medicine, food science and technology, agricultural and forestry engineering and biodiversity are its most cited fields, and the veterinary hospital is a reference centre for north-west Spain.兽医学、食品科学与技术、农业与林业工程以及生物多样性是其被引最集中的领域，兽医医院则是西班牙西北部的参照中心。
• Membership of EURECA-PRO places it in a European consortium of universities working on sustainable consumption and production, with joint degrees and shared research infrastructures.加入 EURECA-PRO 使其进入一个聚焦可持续消费与生产的欧洲大学联盟，可开展联合学位与共享科研设施。
• At her investiture in 2024 the rector said the university had improved markedly across the major rankings and had been recognised for the transparency of its governance.校长在 2024 年就职演说中表示，该校在各大排行榜上的位次明显改善，其治理透明度也获得认可。

Student life

• The university has no formally adopted motto, and its Latin seal reads Universitas Legionensis, the Latin name of the institution rather than a device.该校没有正式采用的校训，其拉丁文印章写作 Universitas Legionensis，这一表述是机构的拉丁文名称而非箴言。
• Red and green are the university colours, used on academic dress, sports kit and the banners that line the Vegazana campus during graduation.红色与绿色是该校的校色，用于学位服、运动队服以及毕业季悬挂在韦加萨纳校区的旗帜。
• Student life is bound to León itself, a city of some 120,000 people on the Camino de Santiago with a Gothic cathedral, Gaudí's Casa Botines and a dense concentration of tapas bars.校园生活与莱昂城紧密相连：这座约 12 万人口的朝圣之路名城拥有哥特式大教堂、高迪设计的博蒂内斯之家，以及密集的塔帕斯酒吧街区。
• The Casa del Estudiante acts as the social hub, with study rooms, the El Albéitar theatre and a cultural association that programmes film series, concerts and exhibitions through the academic year.学生之家是社交枢纽，设有自习室、埃尔阿尔贝塔尔剧场，以及一个在学年内策划电影放映、音乐会与展览的文化协会。
• Each September the international office runs a Welcome Week with AEGGE León, pairing incoming students with local sponsors and touring the faculties before classes begin.每年九月，国际处与莱昂外国学生接待协会合办「欢迎周」，为新生配对本地学伴，并在开课前带领他们参观各学院。
• Talent scholarships funded by the university support international students who come for a full degree rather than for a single exchange term.由学校出资的「人才奖学金」资助那些来攻读完整学位而非仅作一学期交换的国际学生。
• Residential capacity is limited, and the Colegio Mayor La Tebaida in Ponferrada is managed on the university's behalf by its general foundation.校内住宿容量有限，蓬费拉达的拉特拜达学生公寓由大学综合基金会代为管理。
• Sport is organised through the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences and university teams that compete in the Spanish university championships, with facilities shared with the city.体育活动由体育活动与运动科学学院及校队组织，参加西班牙大学锦标赛，相关设施与城市共用。
• The university marked its 45th anniversary in 2024, counted from the 1979 founding, and the rector described it as a year of women after the first female rector and the first female honorary doctor were both installed.2024 年，该校迎来以 1979 年建校为起点的四十五周年；在首位女性校长与首位女性荣誉博士相继产生后，校长称这一年为「女性之年」。

Notable people

• J. L. Sotillo Ramos, professor of veterinary medicine, chaired the management board that ran the newly created university in 1979.兽医学教授 J. L. 索蒂略·拉莫斯主持了 1979 年管理新设大学的管委会。
• A. Suárez y Suárez, also a professor of veterinary medicine, was the first rector of the University of León.同为兽医学教授的 A. 苏亚雷斯-苏亚雷斯出任莱昂大学首任校长。
• Miguel Cordero del Campillo (1925-2020) built the biology section in 1968, served as rector from 1984 to 1986, wrote the 1985 statutes and is remembered as the father of Spanish veterinary parasitology.米格尔·科尔德罗·德尔坎皮略（1925 至 2020）于 1968 年促成生物科学部，1984 至 1986 年任校长，主持拟定 1985 年章程，被誉为西班牙兽医寄生虫学之父。
• José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who took his law degree at León in 1982, was prime minister of Spain from 2004 to 2011.何塞·路易斯·罗德里格斯·萨帕特罗 1982 年在莱昂取得法学学位，2004 至 2011 年出任西班牙首相。
• José Antonio Alonso Suárez, a judge before entering politics, graduated in law from León and served as minister of the interior and of defence between 2004 and 2008.何塞·安东尼奥·阿隆索·苏亚雷斯在从政前为法官，毕业于莱昂大学法学院，2004 至 2008 年间先后出任内政大臣与国防大臣。
• Sara García Alonso, who studied biotechnology at León from 2007 to 2012 and completed a master's there in 2013, was selected as a reserve astronaut of the European Space Agency in 2022.萨拉·加西亚·阿隆索 2007 至 2012 年在莱昂攻读生物技术，2013 年在该校完成硕士学业，2022 年入选欧洲空间局预备宇航员。
• Pablo Álvarez Fernández, an aeronautical engineer trained at León, was chosen in November 2022 as a full member of the European Space Agency's astronaut class.巴勃罗·阿尔瓦雷斯·费尔南德斯是在莱昂接受培养的航空工程师，2022 年 11 月当选欧洲空间局宇航员班的正式成员。
• Nuria González Álvarez, professor of business organisation, became rector in May 2024 after four years as vice-rector for academic affairs.企业组织学教授努里亚·冈萨雷斯·阿尔瓦雷斯在担任四年学术事务副校长后，于 2024 年 5 月出任校长。
• Laura María Lechuga, a research professor known for photonic biosensors, received in 2024 the first honorary doctorate the university had awarded to a woman.以光子生物传感器研究著称的科研教授劳拉·玛丽亚·莱丘加于 2024 年获得该校授予女性的首个荣誉博士学位。
• Juan Francisco García Marín, professor of veterinary medicine, was rector from 2020 to 2024 and returned to the veterinary faculty after leaving office.兽医学教授胡安·弗朗西斯科·加西亚·马林于 2020 至 2024 年任校长，卸任后回到兽医学院任教。
• Justino Burgos González, a veterinary professor, promoted the creation of the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences, and Fermín San Primitivo Tirados directed its first years.兽医学教授胡斯蒂诺·布尔戈斯·冈萨雷斯推动了体育活动与运动科学学院的创设，费尔明·圣普里米蒂沃·蒂拉多斯则主持其最初几年。