KUL is one of the leading universities in Europe, founded in 1425. It boasts a long tradition of ground-breaking research and high-quality education at the Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral levels.

KUL is currently by far the largest university in Belgium in terms of research funding and expenditure (EUR 476 million in 2018), and is a charter member of LERU (League of European Research Universities). KUL is ranked as the 14th European university, while in the Reuters Top 100 of the World’s most innovative institutions, KUL is listed as the first European university, for the fourth year in a row.

KUL conducts fundamental and applied research in all academic disciplines with a clear international orientation. The university’s basic research orientation has always been and will remain fundamental research. At the same time, the university remains vigilantly open to contemporary cultural, economic and industrial realities, as well as to the community’s needs and expectations.

KUL will participate via the Public Governance Institute (PGI). The mission of PGI is to gain knowledge and insight regarding politics, administration and public policies at local, regional, federal, European and international levels. The Institute is one of the most prominent public administration research centres in Europe with a unique combination of frontier fundamental and applied research. It also delivers executive education for civil servants. It has substantial expertise coordinating and participating in EU-funded research projects and consortia, including FP7, Erasmus+, COST, Interreg and H2020, as well as research projects funded by FWO, NWO, Belspo brain+, World Bank, Flemish government, the Flemish Policy Research Centre ‘Innovative Governance’, and consultancies.