Ghent University was founded in 1817 as the first Flemish-speaking university in Belgium.
Belgium is a biethnic, bilingual country (French and Netherlandish). Moreover, the Belgian capital, Brussels, is also the seat of the European government—which makes the city effectively the capital of Europe. These facts place the University of Ghent near the center of pan-European cultural and social change.
The university has 41,000 students and 9,000 staff members working in 11 faculties with over 120 departments. Each year it brings in an impressive €410 million.
In 2010, Ghent established five multidisciplinary research partnerships. The university runs many research facilities, such as its world-famous Laboratory of Molecular Biology. This lab was the first to demonstrate that genomic DNA can form a physical ring, was the first to complete a gene nucleotide sequence, and has cloned human cytokine genes. It is currently working on a vaccine for influenza.
Given these accomplishments, it is not surprising that the University of Ghent has played a major role in the development of organic chemistry. Additionally, 13 Ghent research groups are affiliated with the Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET) organization.
The school also works side-by-side with the University Hospital of Ghent.
