League of European Research Universities

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

League of European Research Universities

Formation	2002; 23 years ago (2002)
Type	Education and research
Headquarters	Leuven, Belgium
Region served	Europe
Membership	24
Secretary-General	Kurt Deketelaere
Website	www.leru.org

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 its membership expanded to twenty-four. As the latest addition, ETH Zurich joined the alliance on 1 January 2024. The purpose of the League is to influence policy 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 member of the LERU, voluntarily left the group in March 2011.^[2] The 24 member universities as of 2024 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]
	University of 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]

Location

Leuven

Helsinki

Sorbonne

Paris-Saclay

Strasbourg

Freiburg

Heidelberg

Munich

Milan

Amsterdam

Leiden

Utrecht

Barcelona

Lund

Copenhagen

Geneva

Zurich

Imperial

UCL

Cambridge

Edinburgh

Trinity

Oxford

Locations of LERU universities

See also

• List of higher education associations and alliances
• Association of East Asian Research Universities

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.