Université de Namur | |
Former seal of the University of Namur
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Type | Private Catholic |
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Established | 1831 |
Rector | Yves Poullet |
Students | 6,623 (in 2015) |
Location | Namur, Belgium |
Website | unamur.be |
Data as of 2015[update] |
The University of Namur or Université de Namur, in Namur (Belgium), is a Jesuit, Catholic private university in the French Community of Belgium. Both teaching and research are carried out in six Faculties or university level schools in the fields of:
The University of Namur is located in Namur, Belgium. The main campus is located at the heart of the city of Namur, capital of Wallonia. The main university campus includes the university building, the six main faculties and the university libraries.
In the spring of 1831, the Society of Jesus reopened a high school in what was earlier the Our-Lady of Peace benedictine abbey, in Namur. The school immediately developed into a college with the support of prominent Namurian families. They put some conditions in order to finance the new project, the most important is teaching other sciences such as philosophy with the liberty of education as proclaimed by the new Belgian Constitution.
Many expansions took place in this period, the number of students increased gradually, new sciences and study programmes were introduced.
A New Belgian law excluded the institution from getting financial support from the government. This pushed the ambitious university to rely on its own sources and funds. Despite this, in 1934, many projects were launched: new building specific to physical and chemical studies, the expansion of Belles-Lettres library, modernization of some laboratories, many new titles were added to the seminars library.
On February 18, 1948, the institution, formerly a college, changed its status to that of a university. This new status resulted in having some (limited and irregular) financial aid from the government.
Starting in 1960, after the introduction of new national financing laws, government aid increased and became regular. Many new projects and programmes came into being, improving the university's national and European visibility.
The university launched many important projects: