Brexit: KU Leuven rector urges British universities to set up Brussels campuses

University of Leuven (KU Leuven) rector Rik Torfs has pleaded for a collaboration with UK universities following Brexit. In the Times Higher Education magazine, he has proposed setting up associations of British and European universities.

The UK is part of many EU research programmes, and it is currently unclear whether researchers based at British universities will be able to remain in these programmes following the country’s exit from the European Union. Many British universities are considering setting up satellite campuses on the European mainland.

Torfs (pictured) has proposed the establishment of “one or more British universities on the mainland”. This would allow British researchers to continue collaborating with their colleagues and access EU funding. He said this could conceivably be established before Brexit concludes.

“You could imagine an association of a few excellent UK universities on the mainland, as a legal entity somewhere in Brussels, close to EU headquarters for practical reasons,” he told the Times. “Education remains an area where division leads nowhere.”

An exit of British researchers from the EU system would be bad for the reputation of European research, he said, emphasising that it’s essential to maintain long-existing contacts, collaborations and intellectual links.

KU Leuven currently collaborates with British universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, through the League of European Research Universities.

Photo: Rob Stevens/KU Leuven