Leuven
is one of Europe's ancient university towns with many old beautiful
buildings. The town hall, the famous Beguinage (Begijnhof), the
churches, cloisters and colleges stand silent witness to the rich
history of Leuven and make it the interesting place it is.
Leuven began to develop as an important trading centre within the
Duchy of Brabant, around the 11th-12th century. Its original town
wall, churches, monasteries, and abbeys were built at this time.
The university was founded, and the main market square, with its
fine Gothic town hall, was laid out in the 15th century. The town
still owes much of its character to the numerous university college
buildings dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, many of which
were renovated in the 18th century.
Leuven has now developed into a well-equipped, modern, town with
a thriving economy based on service industry and a good balance
of both old and new buildings. These combine to offer a well-designed
infrastructure suiting the demands of today’s modern town,
as well as a rich tradition.
Catholic University of Leuven
The Katholieke
Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven) has been a centre of learning
for almost six centuries. Founded in 1425 by Pope Martin V, K.U.Leuven
bears the honour of being the oldest Catholic university in the
world still in existence and the oldest university in the Low Countries.
The University is located in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking northern
part of Belgium. With the Dutch language's steady rise to renewed
prominence, the university was eventually split in 1968 into two
new universities. The French-speaking Université
Catholique de Louvain (UCL) moved to the newly built campus
in Louvain-la-Neuve. The Dutch-speaking Katholieke Universiteit
Leuven remained in the historic town of Leuven. K.U.Leuven currently
hosts around 29,000 students, more than 10% of whom are international
students (from 102 nations).
AFI Leuven Research Center
During the past 65 years many students were trained by the Institute
in Actuarial Science. Just recently, the research group in Actuarial
Science joined forces with the research groups in Accountancy and
Finance. The AFI
Department of Accountancy, Finance and Insurance
was born. In cooperation with the Faculty of Science, the Master
in Actuarial Science is reshaped into a Master
of Science in Financial and Actuarial Engineering.
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