Being located in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, the Radboud University was founded in 1923. Nowadays approx. 20.000 students study in seven different faculties: the Faculty of Arts, Law, Medical Sciences, Management, Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Science and the Faculty of Social Science. Since the university is focused on international research in several fields, most master degrees are taught in English, whereas most bachelor degrees are taught in Dutch.
One could name numerous note-worthy alumni of this university, but the most notable would probably be Frans de Waal. After graduating in Primatology and Ethology in 1970, he became very well known for his research in primate social behaviour and the comparison of primate and human behaviour.
Besides famous people graduating from the RU, the public university also attracts important and well-known researchers from all over the world for events. Radboud Reflects is a university-intern organisation, run by students, which organises events, invites speakers and plans workshops. These are free for students, professors and alumni of the university. In 2018, they organised a discussion with Daniel Dennett, who is an American philosopher, writer, cognitive scientist – and superstar of the current scientific world.
But also the day-to-day life at the Radboud University is very pleasant. Where as in Germany there is quite some distance between students and professors, in the Netherlands, it is the opposite. It might happen that you meet your professor in a karaoke bar at night, which is totally fine. Nobody addresses their professor with “Prof.” or “Dr.” but instead you just call them by their first name. This creates a comfortable and close atmosphere. All in all, this is a very good university to spend the best years of your life (:
Project co-financed by: ERASMUS+
Rebecca Ferlemann
Students’ Union Norwegian Volunteer
