KU Leuven (or Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Belgium. It conducts teaching, research, and services in computer science, engineering, natural sciences, theology, humanities, medicine, law, canon law, business, and social sciences.
In addition to its main campus in Leuven, it has satellite campuses in Kortrijk, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Ostend, Geel, Diepenbeek, Aalst, Sint-Katelijne-Waver, and in Belgium's capital Brussels.KU Leuven is the largest university in Belgium and the Low Countries. In 2017–18, more than 58,000 students were enrolled. Its primary language of instruction is Dutch, although several programs are taught in English, particularly graduate and postgraduate degrees.
KU Leuven consistently ranks among the top 100 universities in the world by major ranking tables. As of 2021, it ranks 42nd in the Times Higher Education rankings, 70th according QS World University Rankings, 87th according to the Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities.For four consecutive years starting in 2016, Thomson Reuters ranked KU Leuven as Europe's most innovative university,with its researchers having filed more patents than any other university in Europe; its patents are also the most cited by external academics.
