Université libre de Bruxelles

Brussels has two universities whose names mean Free University of Brussels in English: the French-speaking Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) and the Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). Neither uses the English translation, since it is ambiguous.

The ULB comprises three main campuses: the Solbosch/Solbos campus, on the territories of the City of Brussels and Ixelles municipalities in the Brussels-Capital Region, the La Plaine/Het Plein campus in Ixelles, and the Erasme/Erasmus campus in Anderlecht, beside the Erasmus Hospital.

The main and largest campus of the university is the Solbosch, which hosts the administration and general services of the university. It also includes most of the faculties of the humanities, the École polytechnique, the large library of social sciences, and among the museums of the ULB, the Museum of Zoology and Anthropology,^[20] the Allende exhibition room and the Michel de Ghelderode Museum-Library.

The La Plaine campus hosts the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Pharmacy. There are also the Experimentariums of physics and chemistry, the Museum of Medicinal Plants and Pharmacy^[21] and student housing. This site is served by Delta station.

The Erasmus campus houses the Erasmus Hospital and the Pôle Santé, the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Public Health and the Faculty of Motor Sciences. There is also the School of Nursing (with the Haute école libre de Bruxelles – Ilya Prigogine), the Museum of Medicine^[22] and the Museum of Human Anatomy and Embryology.^[23] This site is served by Erasme/Erasmus metro station.

The university also has buildings and activities in the Brussels municipality of Auderghem, and outside of Brussels, in Charleroi on the Aéropole Science Park and Nivelles.

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  The main building on the Solbosch/Solbos campus, located in the City of Brussels close to Ixelles
• 
  Entrance of the Paul-Émile Janson Auditorium on the Solbosch campus
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  The Museum of Medicine on the Erasme/Erasmus campus in Anderlecht

• Institute for European Studies^[24]
• Interfacultary School of Bio-Engineering
• School of Public Health
• High Institute of Physical Education and Kinesiotherapy
• Institute of Work Sciences
• Institute of Statistics and Operational Research
• Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Solvay Brussels School of Economics and Management
• Faculty of Sciences

At the heart of the Free University of Brussels there are at least 2000 PhD students and around 3600 researchers and lecturers who work around different scientific fields and produce cutting-edge research. The projects of these scientists span thematics that concern exact, applied and human sciences and researchers at the heart of the ULB have been awarded numerous international awards and recognitions.

The research carried out at the ULB is financed by different bodies such as the European Research Council, the Walloon Region, the Brussels-Capital Region, the National Fund for Scientific Research, or one of the foundations that are dedicated to research at the ULB; the ULB Foundation or the Erasme Funds. Since the early 2000s, the MAPP project has started studying political party membership evolution through time.

International partnerships include: University of California, Berkeley, University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, Université de Montréal, Waseda University, Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris VI, BeiHang University, Universidade de São Paulo, Université de Lausanne, Université de Genève, University Ouaga I Pr. Joseph Ki-Zerbo, and University of Lubumbashi.^[25]

For pre-1970 notable faculty and alumni, see Free University of Brussels:

• Ilya Prigogine (1917–2003): Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1977
• François Englert (b. 1932): Nobel Prize in Physics in 2013
• Denis Mukwege (b. 1955): Nobel Peace Prize in 2018

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  Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1977)
• 
  François Englert, Nobel Prize in Physics (2013)
• 
  Denis Mukwege, Nobel Peace Prize (2018)

Inspired by US protests on university campuses,^[32] on 7 May 2024, around a hundred students occupied a university building,^[33][34] which they named in honour of Walid Daqqa, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,^[35][36][34] while demanding the release of the leader of the Lebanese Revolutionary Armed Faction, Georges Abdallah, from a French prison.^[37] The same year, Jewish students reported antisemitic and anti-Zionist insults, vandalism of posters against antisemitism, as well as cases of students being violently attacked.^[36][38][39] A passer-by who allegedly declared herself a Zionist was also attacked.^[40] The Simon Wiesenthal Center views this as a trend towards antisemitism in Belgian academic circles.^[41] Critics have accused the protesters of extremism, however, the Coordinating Body for Threat Analysis did not find any "structural or hierarchical link" with extremist groups.^[42]. Notably, French journalist Nora Bussigny wrote in her book Les nouveaux antisémites (The new antisemites) that she "discovered a more structured and persistent radicalisation than at other universities".^[43] In November, a declaration targeting the "Zionists" of Brussels and Europe,^[42] led the Jonathas Institute, a centre for studies and action against antisemitism in Belgium, to file a complaint against the student group, for inciting hatred and violence.^[44]

In August 2025, the Faculty of Law decided to honour the French politician Rima Hassan as a symbolic gesture.^[45][46][47] The Belgian League Against Antisemitism criticised the decision, citing Hassan's controversial comments on the "legitimacy" of the antisemitic massacre,^[48] as did 50 French intellectuals, given that Hassan is facing charges for incitement to terrorism in France.^[45][49] The Minister-President of the French Community, Élisabeth Degryse, also expressed her opposition.^[50] Hassan and ULB students celebrated the decision by chanting in favour of armed conflict: "Long live the armed struggle of the Palestinian people".^[51] In December, the university awarded two ULB researchers, among others, with a Science Dissemination Prize.^[52] The first, François Dubuisson, has portrayed the 7 October attacks as an attempt by Hamas to "break the lines", for which he was criticised by members of the Belgian political class.^[53] The latter, Déborah Brosteaux, has also faced criticism for her pro-Palestinian views.^[54]

In front of the European Parliament, Céline Imart of the French political party The Republicans has requested the European Commission to suspend aid for the university: "Ask the Commission to immediately suspend the funds allocated to this university, until the safety of Jewish students is guaranteed and the values of the Union are once again respected".^[55] Members of the Belgian political party Reformist Movement have also voiced their concerns.^[56] Facing renewed criticism in September,^[57] the rector, Annemie Schaus, denied allegations of antisemitism against the university.^[58] In contrast, university professors have described antisemitism as "rapidly taking hold on ULB campuses since 7 October".^[37] Jewish students have voiced their fear of being targeted, describing the hostility on campuses as "significant".^[59][60] At the Working Group Against Antisemitism of the European Parliament, the Jonathas Institute warned of "an environment in which antisemitism goes largely unchallenged".^[61]

Florida has placed the university on its blacklist for its "boycott" of Israel.^[62][63] Instead of ties with Israeli universities, the university has established ties with the Palestinian Birzeit University, despite its support for Hamas in student elections,^[47] while maintaining its relations with other universities of autocratic regimes.^[64] According to the university, the "suspension" of partnerships and agreements is related to the war in Gaza, as such, the university put forward the allegation of not "complying" to a remark of the International Court of Justice, addressed to Israeli universities.^[65] The Belgian Jewish organisation Forum der Joodse Organisaties criticised what it sees as political moves against the academic and scientific networks, concerning Jews and Israelis.^[66] Other critics have argued that it constitutes a discrimination and a violation of academic principles.^[67] Notably, ULB researcher Eric Muraille claimed that the stance put the ULB and other universities as "political actors, a shift that may reshape how both the public and policymakers perceive academic expertise, while also exposing institutions to political targeting"^[68] while pointing at a practice that "hinders the rational resolution of conflicts and fosters self-censorship, intellectual conformity, and the displacement of disagreement into militant and media-driven power struggles".^[69] At the same time, pro-Palestinian student groups have protested against ties with "Zionist elements",^[70] and some of them against the "Zionist entity".^[71] According to the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, the anti-Zionism by members of the university in their support of Palestinian nationalism or boycott, violated the IHRA definition of antisemitism adopted notably by the Senate.^[64]

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