Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL)

On Tuesday 13 March, as part of the state visit to Canada, UCL and the University of Ottawa signed a dual degree agreement in multilingual communication. On the same day, the two universities organized a research seminar on language learning.
On 13 March, King Philippe opened a research seminar on multilingualism at the University of Ottawa. The seminar, which UCL coordinated in collaboration with UOttawa, was an opportunity for various university teams from Belgium and Canada – two countries with a long tradition of multilingualism – to present recent research results on immersion education. On behalf of UCL, Professors Arnaud Szmalec and Philippe Hiligsmann presented the first results of a five-year ARC (collective research initiative) project carried out in collaboration with UNamur immersion in English and Dutch in French-speaking Belgian education. In French-speaking Belgium, the number of schools that use immersion is continuously increasing. In 2015-2016, 191 primary schools and 100 secondary schools offered an immersion program to some 32,000 students in the Federation Wallonia-Brussels. The researchers were interested in the effectiveness of this program for second language acquisition and the level of learning of general subjects in a language other than the mother tongue. The seminar also allowed Professor Bertrand Hamaide, Vice-Rector for Education and International Relations at Université Saint-Louis, to present a study on success in multilingual programs, one of his university’s areas of strength.
Following the seminar, UCL and UOttawa signed an agreement concerning a dual degree in multilingual communication. In concrete terms, this will enable five UCL students and five UOttawa students to benefit from a one-year exchange at the other institution to experience Belgian-style or Canadian-style multilingualism. The agreement will boost student mobility between Belgium and Canada, which is already very dynamic: in 2016-2017, 160 UCL students made an exchange trip to Canada and UCL welcomed 88 Canadian students. This year Canada became the top exchange destination for UCL students.
Since its founding in 1425, UCL has both reached out to the world and invited it in. Through student exchanges, hosting international professors and researchers, interuniversity partnerships, participation in European and global networks, and a long tradition of cooperation in international development, UCL has exerted influence throughout the world for nearly 600 years.
UCL wants to enable anyone who desires an education to pursue one of the highest possible quality. Whether fresh out of secondary school or in mid-career, students can acquire skills and expertise conducive to personal and professional development. Course quality is ensured by closely tying innovation in teaching to developing programs and maintaining their cutting edge.
UCL is a stabilizing force in an uncertain world. It prioritizes universal access to high-quality education and makes innovation the governing principle of its activities, teaching as much as in research. It creates synergies between its involvement in regional development and its international influence, enabling them to fuel each other. Its research reveals the complexity and provides perspective in a world that emphasizes the here and now.
In June 2015, university authorities approved ‘Louvain 2020’, a strategic plan to guide UCL to the end of the decade. Designed with input from throughout the university, the plan addresses several areas, including high-quality course offerings, improving the university’s ranking as a research institution, reinforcing internationalization, intensifying regional cooperation, developing the ‘digital university,’ and promoting universal equality.
UCL wants to enable anyone who desires an education to pursue one of the highest possible quality. Whether fresh out of secondary school or in mid-career, students can acquire skills and expertise conducive to personal and professional development. Course quality is ensured by closely tying innovation in teaching to developing programs and maintaining their cutting edge.
As a research university, UCL assumes its place in an international community based on recognizing the excellence of its contributions to development and knowledge dissemination. UCL favors an environment conducive to scientific creativity, the commercial development of findings, and a balance between research and teaching.
Leveraging its regional foothold (seven sites and two university hospitals in the French Community of Belgium), world-class research and educational capabilities, dynamic alumni network, formidable spin-off creation capacity, science parks, incubators, and international development cooperation projects, UCL contributes to the development of a society that ensures the well-being of all its members.
UCL is a stabilizing force in an uncertain world. It prioritizes universal access to high-quality education and makes innovation the governing principle of its activities, teaching as much as in research. It creates synergies between its involvement in regional development and its international influence, enabling them to fuel each other. Its research reveals the complexity and provides perspective in a world that emphasizes the here and now.
In June 2015, university authorities approved ‘Louvain 2020’, a strategic plan to guide UCL to the end of the decade. Designed with input from throughout the university, the plan addresses several areas, including high-quality course offerings, improving the university’s ranking as a research institution, reinforcing internationalization, intensifying regional cooperation, developing the ‘digital university,’ and promoting universal equality.
The values on which UCL’s vision is based are openness to others and differences, solidarity, freedom, and respect. Faculty enjoy academic freedom enshrined in the constitution, specifically, freedom of thought in the pursuit of truth arrived scientifically and free from the undue influence of current trends. UCL is a cosmopolitan and intellectual human space whose diversity stimulates encounters between people of different backgrounds and with the world itself in the spirit of rational discussion and mutual enrichment. Its Christian tradition is a living heritage, a driving force of an authentic pluralism that benefits and respects all people regardless of their beliefs.