According to its mission statement, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) is "a group of European research-intensive universities committed to the values of high quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research."

History and overview

Founded in 2002, as a partnership among 12 of Europe's top research universities, in 2006 it expanded its membership to include 8 new universities. It is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. The 20 member universities as of 2006 are:

 Belgium

• Catholic University of Leuven ^[1]

 Finland

• University of Helsinki ^{[2] [4]}

 France

• University of Paris VI: Pierre et Marie Curie ^[3]
• Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg ^[4]
• University of Paris-Sud ^[3]

 Germany

• Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg ^[1]
• Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
• Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg ^[3]

 Italy

• University of Milan

 Netherlands

• University of Amsterdam ^[3]
• Leiden University ^[1],^[2]
• University of Utrecht ^{[3] [4]}

 Sweden

• Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
• Lund University ^[3]

 Switzerland

• University of Geneva ^[1]
• University of Zurich ^[3]

 United Kingdom

• University College London ^[3]
• University of Cambridge ^[1]
• University of Edinburgh ^[1]
• University of Oxford ^[1],^[2]

E-LERU

Eight of the LERU member universities are collaboratively responsible for the "e-LERU virtual campus", which was funded by the European Commission as part of its "eLearning programme". This allows students to study and acquire credit for online courses called "e-modules". The e-LERU site also hosts video lectures by scientists, in what is known as its "Top Science" programme.

See also

• IDEA League (a strategic alliance of five of Europe's leading technical research universities)
• International Research Universities Network

External links

• LERU website
• e-LERU Virtual Campus
• Bright Students’ Conference

Footnotes

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  These universities also belong to the Utrecht Network, another European university network.
4. ^{a b c d e f}  These universities joined the League as new members on January 17, 2006.