University of Amsterdam

The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, Dutch: Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.Established in 1632 by municipal authorities and later renamed for the city of Amsterdam, the University of Amsterdam is the third-oldest university in the Netherlands. It is one of the largest research universities in Europe with 31,186 students, 4.794 staff, 1,340 PhD students and an endowment of €613.5 million. It is the largest university in the Netherlands by enrollment and has the second-largest university endowment in the country. The main campus is located in central Amsterdam, with a few faculties located in adjacent boroughs. The university is organised into seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Science, Law, Medicine, and Dentistry.The University of Amsterdam has produced six Nobel Laureates and five prime ministers of the Netherlands. In 2014, it was ranked 50th in the world, 15th in Europe, and 1st in the Netherlands by the QS World University Rankings. The university placed in the top 50 worldwide in seven fields in the 2011 QS World University Rankings in the fields of Linguistics, Sociology, Philosophy, Geography, Science, Economics & Econometrics, and Accountancy & Finance.Close ties are harbored with other institutions internationally through its membership in the League of European Research Universities (LERU), the Institutional Network of the Universities from the Capitals of Europe (UNICA), European University Association (EUA), the International Student Exchange Programs (ISEP), and Universitas 21.In January 1632, the Athenaeum Illustre was founded by the municipal authorities in Amsterdam. It was mainly devoted to medical teaching. The first two professors were Gerardus Vossius and Caspar Barlaeus. The Athenaeum Illustre provided education comparable to other higher education institutions, although it could not confer doctoral degrees. After training at the Athenaeum, students could complete their education at a university in another town.At the time, Amsterdam also housed several other institutions of higher education, including the Collegium Chirugicum, which trained surgeons, and other institutions that provided theological courses for the Remonstrant and the Mennonite communities. Amsterdam's large degree of religious freedom allowed for the establishment of these institutions. Students of the Colegium Chirugicum and the theological institutions regularly attended classes at the Athenaeum Illustre.The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp by Rembrandt shows an anatomy lesson taking place in Amsterdam in 1632, the year the university was founded. Nicolaes Tulp is considered one of the forefathers of the Faculty of Medicine.In 1815 it was given the statutory obligation “to disseminate taste, civilisation and learning" and “to replace, at least in part, the institutes of higher education and an academic education for those young men whose circumstances unable them to fully spend the time necessary for an academic career at an institute of higher education.” The Athenaeum began offering classes for students attending non-academic professional training in pharmacy and surgery in 1800. The Athenaeum Illustre largely worked together with Amsterdam's theological institutions such as the Evangelisch-Luthers Seminarium (evangelical-Lutheran) and the Klinische School (medical school), the successor to the Collegium Chirurgicum.The Athenaeum remained a small institution until the 19th century, with no more than 250 students and eight professors. Alumni of the Athenaeum include Cornelis Petrus Tiele.Municipal university In 1877, the Athenuem Illustre became the Municipal University of Amsterdam and received the right to confer doctoral degrees. This gave the university the same privileges as national universities while being funded by the city of Amsterdam. The professors and lecturers were appointed by the city council. This resulted in a staff that was in many ways more colorful than the staffs of national universities. During its time as a municipal university, the university flourished, in particular in the science department, which counted many Nobel prize winners: Tobias Asser, Christiaan Eijkman, Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Johannes Diderik van der Waals, Pieter Zeeman, and Frits Zernike.The University of Amsterdam's municipal status brought about the relatively early addition of the faculties of Economics and Social Sciences. After the World War II the dramatic rise in the cost of university education put a constraint on the university’s growth.In 1961 the national government made the university a national university, giving it its current name, the University of Amsterdam. Funding was now given by the national government instead of the city and the appointment of professors was transferred to the Board of Governors. The city of Amsterdam retained a limited influence until 1971, when the appointment was handed over to the Executive Board.During May 1969, the university became the focus of nationwide news when UvA's administrative centre at the Maagdenhuis was occupied by hundreds of students who wanted more democratic influence in educational and administrative matters. The protest lasted for days and was eventually broken up by the police. During the 1970s and 1980s, the university was often the target of nationwide student actions.The university saw considerable expansion since becoming a national university, from 7,500 students in 1960 to over 32,000 in 2010. In 2007, UvA undertook the construction of the Science Park Amsterdam, a 70 hectare campus to house the Faculty of Science along with the new University Sports Center. Much of the park has now been completed. The University of Amsterdam began working in close collaboration with the Hogeschool van Amsterdam to allow students from UvA and HvA to take classes at both schools through an integrated curriculum. In 2008, the University of Amsterdam and VU University jointly founded the Amsterdam University College (AUC), an interuniversity institute that offers a three-year Bachelor program in the Liberal Arts and Sciences.