The Jagiellonian University is the oldest higher education institution in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. It was founded on 12 May 1364 by the Polish king Casimir the Great. The Jubilee year 2014 marked the 650th anniversary of this remarkable event.
Since its very beginning, the Jagiellonian University has been an international institution. Poles, Ruthenians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Czechs, the Swiss, the English, the Dutch, the French the Spanish, Italians.
Freie Universität Berlin was founded in 1948 by professors and students, in response to the persecution faced by students who took a critical eye of the system at Universität Unter den Linden, at that time located in the Soviet sector of the divided city. The idea of founding a free university found widespread support in the international community, including financial support. This outpouring of aid helped pave the way for Freie Universität to become a university with an outstanding international reputation. The principles of freedom and internationality have guided the university’s development ever since. Since the university’s founding, in December 1948, the academic ethos of Freie Universität Berlin has always been defined by three values: truth, justice, and freedom.
Established in 1088, the University of Bologna is the oldest university in the western world, founded by students for students, when masters of grammar, rhetoric and logic began to devote themselves to law. Its earliest recorded scholar was a man named Irnerius, who catalogued Roman legal materials. Other early students included 12th century Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, and astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Other notable alumni include the poet Dante and former Italian Prime Minister, Romano Prodi. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, a woman named Bettisia Gozzadini reputedly taught at the university, attracting crowds that were so big her lessons had to be held in the city’s public squares. Today, with a community of more than 85,000 students, the university is among the largest in Italy, offering 200 degree programmes and two-year specialised courses across 33 departments and 11 schools. It is a multi-campus institution with sites across northern Italy in Cesena, Forli, Ravenna and Rimini, as well as Bologna. It has an overseas campus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which offers interdisciplinary programmes. Sport is a big part of student life at the university with physical activity considered an integral part of education. The university also encourages its students to take up internships in sectors spanning industry, commerce, public institutions and professional firms, and runs a job placement service for graduates that supports their entry into the job market. Bologna itself is Italy’s seventh most populous city, where the university’s students make-up nearly a third of the population. It is one of the less expensive Italian cities for students to live in, where cinemas and theatres are discounted for students and many of Bologna’s museums are free to access. The university is also home to several libraries, including the Bologna University Library, which houses major collections of antique and modern books, as well as conservation and historical and scientific research facilities.
KU Leuven is an autonomous university. It was founded in 1425. It was born of and has grown within the Catholic tradition. From its Christian view of the world and the human, KU Leuven endeavours to be a place for open discussion of social, philosophical and ethical issues and a critical centre of reflection in and for the Catholic community.
KU Leuven offers its students an academic education based on high-level research, with the aim of preparing them to assume their social responsibilities.
KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied research. It is strongly inter- and multidisciplinary in focus and strives for international excellence. To this end, KU Leuven works together actively with its research partners at home and abroad.
KU Leuven encourages personal initiative and critical reflection in a culture of idea exchange, cooperation, solidarity and academic freedom. It pursues a proactive diversity policy for its students and staff.
KU Leuven aims to actively participate in public and cultural debate and in the advancement of a knowledge-based society. It puts its expertise to the service of society, with particular consideration for its most vulnerable members.
From a basis of social responsibility and scientific expertise, KU Leuven provides high-quality, comprehensive health care, including specialized tertiary care, in its University Hospitals. In doing so it strives toward optimum accessibility and respect for all patients.
KU Leuven carries out its academic activities at various campuses, research parks and hospital facilities in close cooperation with the members of the KU Leuven Association and with its hospital partners.
Considered to be one of the oldest universities in the world, the Complutense University of Madrid has roots that date back to the 13th century, when Sancho IV of Castile granted a license to establish what was formerly known as a ‘General School of Study’ in the city of Alcalá. The original Ciudad Universitaria campus was founded in 1927 with the goal of merging education, science and culture. Nowadays, the highly competitive university is home to over 86,000 students and is spread across the whole of the Ciudad Universitaria area of Madrid. As the largest university in Spain, it also has institutions in the neighbouring city of Pozuelo de Alarcón. Courses in the university are divided into a number of science faculties including media and communication science, teaching and learning science, and computer science. It also contains a faculty of Art and programmes in geography and veterinary medicine. Additionally, the university comprises specialist schools that focus on medicine and legal studies. It offers summer courses in the world heritage site of San Lorenzo del Escorial and boasts a number of study abroad programmes with universities located in Paris, Prague, Slovakia and the US. Alongside its own newspaper and radio station, the university houses over 100 recreational societies and several competitive sports teams. It is also one of Madrid’s leading venues for film premieres and all major Spanish film productions are screened in front of an audience of Complutense students. The university’s alumni includes many famous historians, philosophers, poets and Prime Ministers. Its graduates are given ‘lifelong training’ that furnishes them with professional skills allied to their chosen fields of work and alongside their academic studies.
University website
Founded in 1253 (Sorbonne) and located in the centre of Paris (Latin Quarter), Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne is one of the oldest universities in the world. The policy of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne is to conduct excellent interdisciplinary research and learning. It is organized around 3 main scientific areas: Economics and Management, Humanities, and Law and Political Sciences. Research performed at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne is renowned on both a national and international level. On a teaching level, Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne offers degrees taught partially in English, double degrees with international partners and off-campus training sessions. 43,000 students are enrolled in 10 teaching and research departments and 4 institutes, 20% of which are international students. As a result of the university’s close and long-standing ties with many foreign universities (400 partners all over the world) and membership in international networks, the internationalization of teaching and research is continuously growing and strengthening. The overall goal is to provide researchers and students with a unique opportunity to interact with a broad and global network.
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582, is the sixth oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city of Edinburgh, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university. The university played an important role in leading Edinburgh to its reputation as a chief intellectual centre during the Age of Enlightenment, and helped give the city the nickname of the Athens of the North.
University of Edinburgh is ranked 18th in the world by the 2019 World University Rankings. It is ranked as the 6th best university in Europe by the U.S. News' Best Global Universities Ranking.