Vrije Universiteit Brussel

The Vrije Universiteit Brussel, usually shortened to VUB, is a Dutch-speaking public research university in Brussels, Belgium, which emerged from the 1969 split of the Free University of Brussels and today has four campuses in and around the capital.布鲁塞尔自由大学（荷语），通常简称 VUB，是比利时布鲁塞尔的一所荷兰语公立研究型大学，由 1969 年布鲁塞尔自由大学的分裂而来，如今在首都及其周边设有四处校区。

It was founded by the lawyer and liberal politician Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen, who wanted a university independent of both state and church and became independent on 1 October 1969, its precursor having been established in 1834.学校由律师、自由派政治家皮埃尔-泰奥多尔·韦哈根创办，他追求一所独立于国家与教会的大学；其前身创办于 1834 年，而 VUB 本身于 1969 年 10 月 1 日独立。

Its motto Scientia vincere tenebras means "Conquering darkness through science", and its Dutch slogan Redelijk eigenzinnig is rendered as "Reasonably self-willed".校训「Scientia vincere tenebras」意为「以科学战胜黑暗」，其荷兰语口号「Redelijk eigenzinnig」可译为「理性地特立独行」。

History

• When the Belgian state was formed in 1830, three state universities existed at Ghent, Leuven and Liège but none in the new capital, so leading intellectuals such as the study prefect Auguste Baron and the astronomer Adolphe Quetelet planned a private university, which the Belgian Constitution permitted.1830 年比利时建国时，根特、鲁汶与列日已有三所国立大学，而新首都却没有；于是教务长奥古斯特·巴龙、天文学家阿道夫·凯特尔等知识精英筹划创办一所私立大学，比利时宪法对此予以允许。

• In 1834 the Belgian episcopate decided to establish a Catholic university at Mechelen, and, as liberals opposed the move, Baron, a member of the masonic lodge Les Amis Philantropes, persuaded its president Verhaegen to support a rival institution in Brussels.1834 年比利时主教团决定在梅赫伦创办一所天主教大学；自由派对此强烈反对，身为共济会「博爱之友」分会成员的巴龙遂说服分会会长韦哈根支持在布鲁塞尔另办一所大学。

• On 24 June 1834 Verhaegen presented his plan, and after funding was collected among advocates the Université libre de Belgique was inaugurated on 20 November 1834 in the Gothic Room of Brussels Town Hall.1834 年 6 月 24 日，韦哈根提出方案；在律师界筹足经费后，「比利时自由大学」于 1834 年 11 月 20 日在布鲁塞尔市政厅哥特厅正式成立。

• It was renamed the Université libre de Bruxelles in 1836, and the anniversary of 20 November is still commemorated annually by students as Saint Verhaegen, or St V.1836 年学校更名为布鲁塞尔自由大学；11 月 20 日的周年纪念至今仍被学生以「圣韦哈根节」之名每年庆祝。

• Because it received neither subsidies nor government grants, the young university relied on fundraising events and tuition fees, and Verhaegen, later its head, set out its mission to King Leopold I as the principle of free inquiry and academic freedom uninfluenced by any political or religious authority.由于既无补贴也无政府拨款，这所年轻的大学只能依靠募资活动与学费；后来出任校长的韦哈根向国王利奥波德一世阐明其宗旨，即不受任何政治或宗教权威影响的自由探究与学术自由原则。

• In 1842 the university moved to the Granvelle Palace in central Brussels, where it remained until 1928, and it steadily widened the range of subjects it taught.1842 年学校迁入布鲁塞尔市中心的格朗韦勒宫，并一直使用到 1928 年，其间授课科目不断拓展。

• In 1858 the Catholic Church established the Saint-Louis Institute in the city, which subsequently grew into a university in its own right.1858 年天主教会在城中设立圣路易学院，该学院后来发展为一所独立的大学。

• In 1880 the university became one of the first institutions in Belgium to allow female students to study in some of its faculties.1880 年，学校成为比利时最早允许女生进入部分学院就读的院校之一。

• In 1893 it received large grants from the industrialists Ernest Solvay and Alfred Solvay and from the patron Raoul Warocqué in order to open new faculties in Brussels.1893 年，学校获得实业家欧内斯特·索尔维与阿尔弗雷德·索尔维以及赞助人拉乌尔·瓦罗凯的巨额捐款，用以在布鲁塞尔开设新的学院。

• A disagreement over an invitation to the anarchist geographer Élisée Reclus to speak in 1893, pressed by the rector Hector Denis, led liberal and socialist faculty to break away and form the New University of Brussels in 1894, which closed definitively in 1919.1893 年围绕邀请无政府主义地理学家埃利泽·雷克吕演讲的分歧（由校长埃克托尔·德尼推动）促使一批自由派与社会主义教师于 1894 年分裂出去，另创布鲁塞尔新大学，该校于 1919 年彻底停办。

• In 1900 the university's student football selection won the bronze medal at the Summer Olympics after Racing Club de Bruxelles declined to take part.1900 年，在布鲁塞尔赛车俱乐部拒绝参赛后，由学生组成的大学足球队在夏季奥运会上获得铜牌。

• The Institute of Sociology was founded in 1902 and, in 1904, the Solvay School of Commerce, which later gave rise to the Solvay business schools of both the ULB and the VUB.社会学研究所于 1902 年成立；1904 年又创办索尔维商学院，后者后来分别演化出布鲁塞尔自由大学（法语）与 VUB 旗下的索尔维商学院。

• In 1911 the university obtained legal personality under the name Université libre de Bruxelles - Vrije Hogeschool te Brussel.1911 年，学校以「布鲁塞尔自由大学—布鲁塞尔自由高等学堂」之名取得法人资格。

• The German occupation during the First World War led to the suspension of classes for four years from 1914 to 1918, and afterwards the university moved its principal activities to the Solbosch estate in the southern municipality of Elsene, where a purpose-built campus was funded by the Belgian American Educational Foundation.一战期间德国占领使课程自 1914 至 1918 年停摆四年；战后学校将主要活动迁往南部伊克塞尔市的索尔博斯园区，并借比利时美国教育基金会资助建起专门校园。

• During the Second World War the university protested the two anti-Jewish ordinances of 28 October 1940, ceased collaborating when it was asked to accept Flemish professors of the New Order, and was again closed by the German authorities on 25 November 1941.二战期间学校抗议 1940 年 10 月 28 日的两项反犹法令，在被要求聘用亲德的弗拉芒教授时终止合作，并再次于 1941 年 11 月 25 日被德国当局关闭。

• Some of its students joined the Belgian Resistance and set up the sabotage-oriented network Groupe G after the closure.学校关闭后，部分学生加入比利时抵抗运动，并建立起以破坏行动为主的「G 集团」网络。

• Courses were taught exclusively in French until the early twentieth century, and Ghent University became the first Belgian institution to teach exclusively in Dutch in 1930.直到 20 世纪初，课程一直仅以法语授课；1930 年根特大学成为比利时首个完全以荷兰语授课的高等学府。

• Some courses at the Faculty of Law began being taught in both French and Dutch as early as 1935, but it was not until 1963 that all faculties offered their courses in both languages.法学院的部分课程早在 1935 年便开始以法语与荷兰语双语授课，但直到 1963 年所有学院才都提供双语课程。

• Tensions between French-speaking and Dutch-speaking students came to a head in 1968 when the Catholic University of Leuven split along linguistic lines, and on 1 October 1969 the French and Dutch entities of the Free University separated into two sister universities.1968 年天主教鲁汶大学按语言分裂，使法语与荷兰语学生间的紧张达到顶点；1969 年 10 月 1 日，布鲁塞尔自由大学的法语与荷兰语部分分离为两所姊妹大学。

• The split became official with an act of the Belgian Parliament on 28 May 1970, by which the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel and the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles became separate legal, administrative and scientific entities.1970 年 5 月 28 日比利时议会的一项法令使这次分裂正式化，荷语的布鲁塞尔自由大学与法语的布鲁塞尔自由大学自此成为法律、行政与学术上各自独立的实体。

• In 1971 the university settled permanently at the Solbosch site and built its concrete campus in Elsene during the 1970s, at least one building, the Rectoraat designed by Renaat Braem, being heritage-listed.1971 年学校永久落户索尔博斯，并于 20 世纪 70 年代在伊克塞尔建起混凝土校园，其中由雷纳特·布拉姆设计的行政主楼已被列为保护建筑。

• The central Governing Board is currently presided over by Eddy Van Gelder and is advised by the Research Council, the Education Council and the Senate while daily management rests with the rector, Jan Danckaert, and three vice-rectors, Jan Danckaert having succeeded Caroline Pauwels after she resigned in 2022.学校中央管理委员会现由埃迪·范海尔德主持，并由研究委员会、教育委员会与评议会提供咨询，日常管理由校长扬·丹卡尔特与三位副校长负责；丹卡尔特是在卡罗琳·保韦尔斯 2022 年因健康原因辞职后接任的。

Academics

• The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is organised into eight faculties, covering law and criminology, social sciences with the Solvay Business School, psychology and educational sciences, sciences and bio-engineering sciences, medicine and pharmacy, arts and philosophy, engineering, and physical education and physiotherapy.学校设置八个学院，涵盖法律与犯罪学、社会科学与索尔维商学院、心理学与教育科学、理学与生物工程、医学与药学、文学与哲学、工程学，以及体育与理疗。

• The faculties pursue the university's three central missions of education, research and public service across the natural sciences, classics, life sciences, social sciences, humanities and engineering.各学院在自然科学、古典学、生命科学、社会科学、人文学科与工程学等领域，共同承担学校教育、科研与公共服务三大核心使命。

• It offers 128 educational programmes, all taught in Dutch and 59 also in English, and, following the Bologna process, the university awards bachelor's, master's, master-after-master's and doctoral degrees.学校开设 128 个教育项目，全部以荷兰语授课，其中 59 个亦以英语授课；依照博洛尼亚进程，学校授予学士、硕士、硕士后与博士四类学位。

• In the 2024-2025 academic year the university enrolled 24,199 students, an increase of 3.57 per cent over the previous year.2024 至 2025 学年，学校在读学生达 24,199 人，较上一学年增长 3.57%。

• The largest faculty is Social Sciences and Solvay Business School with 6,543 students, followed by Psychology and Educational Sciences with 2,929 and Medicine and Pharmacy with 2,367.规模最大的学院是社会科学与索尔维商学院，有 6,543 名学生；其后是心理学与教育科学学院（2,929 名）以及医学与药学院（2,367 名）。

• Admission to most programmes is not restricted, though a bachelor's degree is required for a master's programme and a master's degree for master-after-master's or doctoral study, and an admission exam is compulsory for the bachelor in medicine.多数项目的入学不受限制，但攻读硕士需具备学士学位，攻读硕士后或博士需具备硕士学位，医学士则必须通过入学考试。

• The academic year is divided into two semesters of thirteen course weeks each, running from October to January and from February to June, with examinations in January and June.学年分为两个学期，各含十三个教学周，分别从 10 月到次年 1 月与从 2 月到 6 月，考试安排在 1 月与 6 月。

• Quality control includes a semesterly evaluation of every course by students, regular assessment by internal panels and external international visitation committees, and accreditation of all programmes by the Nederlands-Vlaamse Accreditatie Organisatie.质量保障包括每学期由学生对每门课程进行评价、由内部评审小组与外部国际评估委员会定期评估，以及由荷语区与荷兰高等教育认证组织对所有项目进行认证。

• Research is carried out by numerous research groups grouped into institutes, and the university runs doctoral schools for its PhD candidates.研究由众多研究小组开展，这些小组分属若干研究所，学校还为博士生设立博士学院。

• VUB research articles are on average more cited than articles by any other university in Flanders.平均而言，VUB 的研究论文被引次数高于法兰德斯地区任何其他大学的论文。

• Funding comes mainly from the Flemish government, which supports the university less generously than other Flemish universities, together with research grants from Belgian and European agencies, scholarships, cooperation with industry and, to a lesser extent, tuition fees.经费主要来自法兰德斯政府（其对 VUB 的资助少于其他法兰德斯大学），此外还有比利时与欧洲机构的研究拨款、奖学金、与产业的合作，以及占比不大的学费。

• On the international level it has concluded institutional collaboration agreements with 38 universities and student exchange agreements with 160 universities.在国际层面，学校已与 38 所大学签订校际合作协议，并与 160 所大学签订学生交换协议。

• It forms the Brussels University Association together with the Erasmushogeschool Brussel, a Dutch-language university college in the city.学校与布鲁塞尔伊拉斯谟应用科学大学（一所荷兰语高等专科学校）共同组成布鲁塞尔大学联盟。

• It also cooperates with Vesalius College, the anglophone institution sharing its campus, the Brussels School of Governance, the University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies and the Royal Military Academy.学校还与共用其校园的英语教学机构维萨留斯学院、布鲁塞尔治理学院、肯特大学布鲁塞尔国际研究学院以及皇家军事学院开展合作。

• The VUB is a member of the UNICA network of universities from the capitals of Europe and of the T.I.M.E. network of European engineering schools.VUB 是欧洲首都大学网络 UNICA 以及欧洲工科院校网络 T.I.M.E. 的成员。

• The Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy works closely with the UZ Brussel university hospital, and all life-science teaching in medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and the biomedical and paramedical sciences is located on the Jette campus.医学与药学院与布鲁塞尔大学医院密切合作，医学、药学、牙医学以及生物医学与辅助医学等生命科学的全部教学都设在耶特校区。

• The Solvay Business School, part of the Faculty of Social Sciences, traces its line to the 1904 Solvay School of Commerce and is one of the oldest management schools in Europe.索尔维商学院隶属于社会科学学院，其源流可追溯到 1904 年的索尔维商学院，是欧洲最古老的管理学院之一。

• The university is managed democratically, with faculty staff, researchers, personnel and students represented and voting in all governing bodies.学校实行民主治理，教师、研究人员、职工与学生均在各治理机构中拥有代表权和表决权。

Campus

• The university operates from four campuses, the Brussels Humanities, Science and Engineering Campus in Elsene, the Brussels Health Campus in Jette, the Brussels Technology Campus in Anderlecht and the Brussels Photonics Campus in Gooik.学校以四处校区运营，即伊克塞尔的布鲁塞尔人文、科学与工程校区，耶特的布鲁塞尔健康校区，安德莱赫特的布鲁塞尔技术校区，以及霍伊克的布鲁塞尔光子学校区。

• Most faculties sit on the Etterbeek campus, actually located at La Plaine on the territory of the neighbouring municipality of Elsene, which consists almost entirely of concrete structures built in the 1970s, and one of them, the Rectoraat designed by Renaat Braem, is heritage-listed.多数学院位于埃特贝克校区，该校区实际坐落在邻近伊克塞尔市的「La Plaine」地带，几乎全部由 20 世纪 70 年代建造的混凝土建筑构成，其中由雷纳特·布拉姆设计的行政主楼已列入保护名录。

• Facilities on the Elsene campus include numerous auditoriums and laboratories, a modern sports centre, a football pitch encircled by a running track, a swimming pool, a subsidised restaurant and the bars 't Complex, Opinio and Pilar.伊克塞尔校区的设施包括众多阶梯教室与实验室、一座现代体育中心、带跑道的足球场、游泳池、有补贴的餐厅，以及 't Complex、Opinio、Pilar 等酒吧。

• The KultuurKaffee was a full-fledged concert venue that gave the university a cultural scene with free concerts and events before it was demolished in 2015 to make space for the new XY construction project.KultuurKaffee 曾是一座设施齐全的演出场地，为学校提供举办免费音乐会与活动的文化空间，后于 2015 年拆除，为新的 XY 建设项目腾地。

• The Jette campus is a fully fledged campus in the vicinity of the University Hospital, UZ Brussel, and hosts all courses and research in the life sciences.耶特校区是设施完备的校区，毗邻布鲁塞尔大学医院，承担生命科学的全部课程与研究。

• The Kaai campus in Anderlecht was established in 2013 and is shared with the Erasmushogeschool Brussel, housing the Industrial Engineering section of the Faculty of Engineering among extensive industrial laboratory facilities, with the Brussels fablab at its centre of activity.安德莱赫特的 Kaai 校区于 2013 年建立，与布鲁塞尔伊拉斯谟应用科学大学共用，在众多工业实验室设施中设有工程学院的工业工程专业，其布鲁塞尔创客实验室（fablab）则是活动中心。

• The Brussels Photonics Campus is located in Gooik and serves the university's photonics research.布鲁塞尔光子学校区位于霍伊克，服务于学校的光子学研究。

• Brussels is home to two universities whose names mean Free University of Brussels in English, the French-speaking ULB and the Dutch-speaking VUB, and neither uses the English translation because it is ambiguous.布鲁塞尔有两所大学的英文名称都可译为「布鲁塞尔自由大学」，即法语区的 ULB 与荷兰语区的 VUB；由于含义易混淆，两校都不使用英文译名。

Reputation

• The Vrije Universiteit Brussel is ranked 295th in the 2027 QS World University Rankings, joint 261st in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 and 364th in the 2026-2027 U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking.布鲁塞尔自由大学（荷语）在 2027 年 QS 世界大学排名中位列第 295，在 2027 年泰晤士高等教育世界大学排名中并列第 261，在 2026 至 2027 年度 US News 全球最佳大学排名中位列第 364。

• In the 2026 Academic Ranking of World Universities it falls in the 201-300 band.在 2026 年软科世界大学学术排名中，学校位于 201 至 300 区间。

• QS places the university in the 101-150 band in its 2025 World University Rankings by Subject.在 QS 2025 年世界大学学科排名中，学校处于 101 至 150 区间。

• According to OpenAlex, VUB researchers have produced 100,578 works that have attracted 8,129,809 citations.据 OpenAlex 统计，VUB 研究人员已产出 100,578 项成果，累计被引用 8,129,809 次。

• The university has awarded honorary doctorates since 1978 and now counts some two hundred honoured people, among them the Nobel laureate in chemistry Ilya Prigogine, the physicists Robert Brout and François Englert, honoured in 2005 before winning the 2013 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the Nobel laureate in literature J.M. Coetzee, honoured in 2025.自 1978 年起学校开始颁授荣誉博士学位，迄今授予约两百位杰出人士，其中包括诺贝尔化学奖得主伊利亚·普里戈金、2005 年获此殊荣并于 2013 年荣获诺贝尔物理学奖的物理学家罗伯特·布劳特与弗朗索瓦·恩格勒，以及 2025 年获得荣誉学位的诺贝尔文学奖得主库切。

• VUB research articles are on average more cited than articles from any other Flemish university.平均而言，VUB 的研究论文被引次数高于法兰德斯地区任何其他大学的论文。

• The university presents itself as an urban engaged university, and its central principles are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the principle of free inquiry, a commitment that it alone among Flemish universities has written into its statutes.学校自称是一所「城市参与型大学」，其核心原则为《世界人权宣言》与自由探究原则；在法兰德斯各大学中，唯有 VUB 将这一承诺写入校章。

• In the QS Sustainability Ranking the university has been placed around 271st worldwide.在 QS 可持续发展排名中，学校位居全球约第 271 位。

Student life

• The university's motto, Scientia vincere tenebras, means "Conquering darkness through science", and its Dutch slogan Redelijk eigenzinnig is rendered into English as "Reasonably self-willed".学校校训「Scientia vincere tenebras」意为「以科学战胜黑暗」，其荷兰语口号「Redelijk eigenzinnig」译成英语即「理性地特立独行」。

• The Brussels Student Government, or BSG, is the umbrella organisation for all other student bodies and defends the students' moral interests, and together with its French-speaking counterpart ACE at the ULB it organises the annual St V memorial.布鲁塞尔学生自治会（BSG）是校内各学生团体的联合机构，维护学生的精神利益，并与布鲁塞尔自由大学（法语）的法语区对应组织 ACE 一同筹办一年一度的圣韦哈根纪念活动。

• Faculty-level student circles known as kringen include groups for arts and philosophy, medicine and pharmacy, engineering, psychology and education, the economic and political faculty, the sciences and law as well as the free-inquiry collective.各学院的学生社团（kringen）包括面向文学与哲学、医学与药学、工程、心理学与教育、经济与政治学院、理学以及法律的学生社团，以及一个倡导自由探究的联合团体。

• These faculty circles carry the acronyms LWK, GK and FK, PK, PPK, KEPS, WK and VRG, alongside the university-wide VUBMUN and the group We Decolonize VUB for ethnic-minority students, and their members wear a klak or penne cap.这些学院社团的缩写分别为 LWK、GK 与 FK、PK、PPK、KEPS、WK 与 VRG，此外还有全校性的 VUBMUN，以及面向少数族裔学生的 We Decolonize VUB；社团成员佩戴名为「klak」或「penne」的学生帽。

• The university also has student organisations for specific regional backgrounds, including Antverpia, Westland, WUK, KBS, Campina, Kinneke Baba, Limburgia, VSKM, Hesbania and Ibérica.学校还设有面向特定地域背景的学生组织，包括安特卫普、西角、西法兰德斯、布鲁塞尔与弗拉芒布拉班特、肯彭、东法兰德斯、林堡、梅赫伦、哈瑟尔特地区以及伊比利亚与拉丁美洲的组织。

• Interest-based organisations include the Society of Weird and Mad People for games, BierKultuur rooted in Belgium's beer culture and the Liberaal Vlaams Studentenverbond for students interested in classic liberalism.以兴趣为纽带的学生组织包括以游戏为主题的学生会、植根于比利时啤酒文化的 BierKultuur，以及面向古典自由主义兴趣学生的弗拉芒自由学生联盟。

• The university has a large international student community, with about a quarter of its students coming from outside Belgium.学校拥有庞大的国际学生群体，约四分之一的学生来自比利时以外。

• The university offers sports facilities on the Elsene campus including a swimming pool, a football pitch with a running track and a sports centre open to students and staff.学校在伊克塞尔校区提供体育设施，包括向师生开放的游泳池、带跑道的足球场与体育中心。

Notable people

• The film director André Delvaux (1926 to 2002), a leading figure of Belgian cinema, was educated at the university.比利时电影界的领军人物、导演安德烈·德尔沃（1926 至 2002 年）曾就读于该校。

• The singer and songwriter Axelle Red, born Fabienne Demal in 1968, studied at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel before turning to music.歌手兼词曲作者阿克塞尔·雷德（本名法比耶娜·德马尔，1968 年生）在转向音乐之前曾就读于 VUB。

• The novelist Jef Geeraerts, born in 1930 and a leading Flemish writer, was an alumnus of the university.弗拉芒重要小说家杰夫·海拉尔茨（1930 年生）是该校校友。

• The painter and writer Erik Pevernagie, born in 1939, studied at the university before establishing an international career.画家兼作家埃里克·佩弗纳吉（1939 年生）曾在学校学习，其后开创了国际性的艺术生涯。

• The singer and television presenter Marcel Vanthilt, born in 1957, is an alumnus of the university.歌手兼电视主持人马塞尔·范蒂尔特（1957 年生）是该校校友。

• The pianist Stéphane Ginsburgh, born in 1969, and the pianist and composer Claude Coppens, born in 1936, both studied at the university.钢琴家斯特凡·金斯堡（1969 年生）与钢琴家兼作曲家克劳德·科庞斯（1936 年生）都曾就读于该校。

• The basketball player Emma Meesseman, a Belgian national team forward who has played in the WNBA, is an alumna of the university.篮球运动员艾玛·梅斯曼是比利时国家队前锋、曾征战 WNBA，也是该校校友。

• The Olympic sailor Sébastien Godefroid, born in 1971, graduated from the university.奥运帆船选手塞巴斯蒂安·戈德弗鲁瓦（1971 年生）毕业于该校。

• The Olympic judoka Dirk Van Tichelt and the professional cyclist Jürgen Roelandts are also alumni of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.奥运柔道选手迪尔克·范蒂赫尔特与职业自行车手于尔根·罗兰茨也是 VUB 的校友。

• The triathlete Kathleen Smet and the television newscaster Danira Boukhriss are further alumni, and the journalist Tim Trachet studied at the university.铁人三项运动员凯瑟琳·斯梅特与电视新闻主播达尼拉·布赫里斯同为校友，记者蒂姆·特拉赫特也曾就读于该校。