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. 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. The 24 member universities as of 2026 are:

{| class="wikitable"

|+LERU Members

!Country

!Universities

|-

|

|KU Leuven

|-

|

|University of Copenhagen

|-

|

|University of Helsinki

|-

| rowspan="3" |

|Sorbonne University

|-

|Paris-Saclay University

|-

|University of Strasbourg

|-

| rowspan="3" |

|University of Freiburg

|-

|Heidelberg University

|-

|LMU Munich

|-

|

|Trinity College Dublin

|-

|

|University of Milan

|-

| rowspan="3" |

|University of Amsterdam

|-

|Leiden University

|-

|Utrecht University

|-

|

|University of Barcelona

|-

|

|Lund University

|-

| rowspan="3" |

|University of Geneva

|-

|ETH Zurich

|-

|University of Zurich

|-

| rowspan="5" |

|Imperial College London

|-

|University College London

|-

|University of Cambridge

|-

|University of Edinburgh

|-

|University of Oxford

|}

Locations

See also

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

Notes

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

References