Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 20, 2026

League of European Research Universities

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is a consortium of leading European research universities, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium.

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League of European Research Universities
Formation2002 (2002)
TypeEducation and research
HeadquartersLeuven, Belgium
Region served
Europe
Members24
Secretary-General
Kurt Deketelaere
Websitewww.leru.org

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is a consortium of leading European research universities, headquartered in Leuven, Belgium.

History and overview

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) is an association of research-intensive universities, founded in 2002 as a partnership among twelve multi-faculty research universities. In 2024 the number of its members expanded to 24, as the latest addition, ETH Zurich joined the alliance on 1 January 2024. The purpose of the League is to influence academic policies in Europe and to develop best practice through mutual exchange of experience. LERU regularly publishes a variety of papers and reports which make high-level policy statements, provide analyses and make recommendations for policymakers, universities, researchers and other stakeholders.

LERU is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. Kurt Deketelaere is the current Secretary-General.1 Linda Doyle is the current chair.

Membership

The Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, one of the 12 founding members of the LERU, voluntarily left the group in March 2011.2 The 24 member universities3 as of 2026 are:

LERU Members
Country Universities
 Belgium KU Leuven[1]
 Denmark University of Copenhagen[6]
 Finland University of Helsinki[2][4]
 France Sorbonne University[3]
Paris-Saclay University[3]
University of Strasbourg[4]
 Germany University of Freiburg[3]
Heidelberg University[1]
LMU Munich
 Ireland Trinity College Dublin[1][6]
 Italy University of Milan
 Netherlands University of Amsterdam[3]
Leiden University[1][2]
Utrecht University[3][4]
 Spain University of Barcelona[5][1]
 Sweden Lund University[3]
 Switzerland University of Geneva[1]
ETH Zurich
University of Zurich[3]
 United Kingdom Imperial College London[5]
University College London[3]
University of Cambridge[1]
University of Edinburgh[1]
University of Oxford[1][2]

Locations

Locations of the LERU members
See also

See also

Notes

Notes

  1. a b c d e f g These universities also belong to the Coimbra Group, a larger alliance of European universities.
  2. a b c These universities also belong to Europaeum, another European university network.
  3. a b c d e f These universities joined the League as new members on 1 January 2006.
  4. a b c These universities also belong to the Utrecht Network, another European university network.
  5. a b These universities joined the League as new members on 1 January 2010.
  6. a These universities joined the League as new members on 1 January 2017.
References

References

  1. "Secretary-General – LERU: League of European Research Universities". leru.org. Archived from the original on 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2011-01-27.
  2. "The First Decade - LERU" (PDF).
  3. "Members". LERU. Retrieved 2026-05-02.
External links