Welcome to the website of the University Foundation

Auditorium or banquet room in different sizes
The complete progam of our club activities
Discover our Twinning Partners around the world

The University Foundation is the meeting place

for all academics in Belgium,
for academics and members of civil society,
for academics in Belgium, foreign academics and members of international organizations.

The various initiatives of the University Foundation are described on this website. For some parts of the website that are not relevant for international visitors there is no English version.

New Year 2023

The University Foundation wishes all its members and friends a happy and healthy 2023.

Our embers and partners were invited to our New Year's reception on Thursday, January 26, 2023 at 5:30 p.m. During this reception, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Academy, an exchange of views was organized on the question: "Does the Academy still have a role in the 21st century? If so, which one? – " Mr. Karel VELLE (KVAB - Koninklijke Vlaamse Academie van België voor Wetenschappen en Kunsten) and Mr. Michel WILLEM (ARB - Académie royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux-Arts de Belgique) gave their thoughts on this question. The conversation was moderated by Mrs. Dominique WILLEMS.

The Club at your service ...

The Club is at your service after the vacation : restaurant, meeting rooms, hotel and activities...

For reservations at the restaurant, please contact restaurant@universityfoundation.be.

As to the hotel and the meeting rooms, please contact club.fu.us@universityfoundation.be.Read more

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Club activities of the University Foundation

The University Foundation regularly organizes academic activities and cultural activities for its members and other interested parties: lunch debates, evening lectures, visits to art exhibitions, music performances in Bozar, opera in La Monnaie... Most of these activities are organized in French and Dutch, sometimes, but rarely, only in French or only in Dutch. Therefore they are not explicitly mentioned on the English version of the website. The interested reader is refererred to the French and the Dutch versions of the website for further information.Read more

Fernand Collin Prize 2022 awarded

In an official ceremony at the University Foundation on 5 December 2022, the Fernand Collin Prize for Law was awarded to Dr. Janek Tomasz NOWAK for his doctoral thesis "Ambtshalve toepassing van EU-recht door de Belgische burgerlijke rechter". The laureate obtained his Ph. D. from the KU Leuven in 2021. The thesis was supervised by Prof. dr. Piet Van Nuffel and Prof. dr. Benoît Allemeersch.Read more

First "Fernand Collin Prize for Law" for English-language research works

Since 1962, a Fernand Collin Prize for Law has been awarded for scientific works carried out in Flemish universities, first every ten years, and later, from 1982, every two years, as a tribute to Fernand Collin (1897-1990), president of the Kredietbank from 1938 to 1973 and also professor at the Catholic University of Leuven. The administrative organization for the submission of applications and for the work of the jury is taken care of by the University Foundation.

This prestigious prize was reserved for works in Dutch. Since more and more scientific works in the universities in Flanders are written in English, it was decided to organize, in addition to the biennial Fernand Collin Prize for Dutch-language research works (in even years), a biennial Prize for English-language works (in odd years). ) for doctoral works or other research works in legal sciences, realized in the universities in Flanders. This Fernand Collin Prize for English language research works is organized for the first time in 2023.

Applications for the first "Fernand Collin Prize" for English-language works were invited before January 15, 2023. All information, the announcement poster, and the regulations are available on the website using this link.Read more

Re-Bel activity

The latest activity of Re-Bel on "Simplified Belgium reconsidered" took place on Wednesday 23 November from 5 to 7 pm.

Maxime FONTAINE et Manon PIERROT present the main conclusions of their study on the financial implications of the Belgian state structure. Sven GATZ and Paul MAGNETTE give their reaction.

Béatrice DELVAUX (Le Soir) & Karel VERHOEVEN (De Standaard). moderate the debate.

This activity was organized in a hybrid format, both live and on line.

More information on the Re-Bel website.Read more

New twinning partners

The University Foundation has two new twinning partners : the « Koninklijke Industrieele Groote Club » in Amsterdam and the « Grémio Literário » in Lissabon.

Is politics part of the universities’ job?

This edition of the Ethical Forum was dedicated to Caroline Pauwels (honorary rector VUB) who passed away on August 5, 2022.
The Ethical Forum 2022 took place on Thursday, December 1, 2022 from 2 to 6 pm, at the University Foundation.
For a description of the subject and the programme,the reader is referred to the EF 2022 website.Read more

Causerie "Entrepreneurship and MIT"

Tuesday 15 March 2022: As one of the activities organized by the University Foundation in which members talk about a recently published book about their scientific expertise, we are organizing a talk with Jean-Jacques Degroof about his book: From the Basement to the dome. How MIT's Unique Culture Created a Thriving Entrepreneurial Community (MIT Press, 2021).The speaker will be introducd by Prof. Sophie Manigart (UGent and Vlerick Business School).

Due to the topic, the activity will take place in English.

Causerie followed by a reception.

Participation 15 € per person.Registration form. Register and pay before 12 March.

For more information click "Read more".Read more

Speakers' Corner

In 2022 the University Foundation starts a series of panel debates In its new “Speakers' Corner” series, which will give the floor to British speakers on EU and UK-EU affairs. It is organized in collaboration with the Trans European Policy Studies Association (TEPSA). The first activity in this series takes place on Wednesday 23 March 2022 at 6 pm, and will deal with “WHAT THE PAST TELLS US ABOUT THE FUTURE: UK - EU RELATIONS”. The panel consists of Sir Stephen Wall, Dr Martin Westlake and Mr. Didier Seeuws. Moderator: Mr Jim Cloos.

For more information click "Read more".