2021 was, just like the year before, a year like no other. Take a look back at a selection of some of remarkable moments of last year at our university.
JANUARY: Ghent University pioneers new European University
Ghent University is becoming more international than ever. In fact, the university will be part of ENLIGHT, a brand-new collaboration project, together with eight other European universities. This should make it easier to take courses abroad, conduct research across the borders and team up in tackling social challenges.
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FEBRUARY: Ghent University researchers become corona experts
Just like in 2020, the coronavirus continued to determine our lives this year. A lot of research into and around the virus is going on at Ghent University: the motivation barometer gauges behaviour around all measures, vaccines are tested, we chart the spread of the virus.
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MARCH: Inventor of the World Wide Web receives honorary doctorate
On Dies Natalis, this year on 19 March, Ghent University awarded an institutional honorary doctorate to Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, the HTTP protocol and HTML mark-up language for web pages, the ideas for which he had been developing at CERN since 1989.
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APRIL: Students assisting at vaccination centre
Helping out with vaccinations is the new sought-after activity among students. More than 300 of them have signed up via 25 different student associations as volunteers for the vaccination centre at Flanders Expo.
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MAY: 'Penis plant' in bloom in the Ghent Botanical Garden
A Giant Arum (Latin name Amorphophallus titanum) is blooming in the greenhouses of the Ghent Botanical Garden. A popular event that is even followed online via live stream.
JUNE: faculty of Veterinary Medicine number one in the world
or the fifth consecutive year, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at Ghent University has come first in the Shanghai ranking. This ranks faculties based on their scientific research.
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JULY: students, alumni and researchers present at Olympics
Combining top-level sports with studying: it is not easy. But some Ghent University students do it successfully. This year, no less than 8 students from our university went to the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The marathon participation of alumna Mieke Gorissen will also be remembered. And besides the sports participants, Ghent University's Doping Control Lab was also present at the Games.
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AUGUST: Virtual reality brings medieval Zwin harbours back to life
Thanks to its many outer harbours in the Zwin channel, Bruges was once an international metropolis like London or Shanghai. New archaeological, historical and geological research now makes it possible to reconstruct that past in an unprecedented way. A bicycle route with VR viewers and an experience exhibition in the Zwin Nature Park bring the medieval Zwin harbours back to life.
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SEPTEMBER: traditional opening of the academic year
This year, the academic year once again opened according to long-standing tradition: with a procession to the Aula where a formal sitting took place. In the new academic year, education at Ghent University could once again take place on campus.
OCTOBER: Belgian Cultural Festival at Ghent University Global Campus
Ghent University Global Campus, our campus in South Korea, organised a festival for the second time to introduce Belgian culture to the public in Incheon. You can watch the highlights again on YouTube.
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NOVEMBER: the 'Boekentoren' open again after a long renovation
De Boekentoren is opnieuw open na een lange renovatie. The Ghent University Boekentoren tower is a 64 metre high architectural masterpiece. But the tower is so much than just a monument. “It is a beacon of science, a fountain of knowledge for both researchers and students,” says head librarian Dries Moreels. Since November, monument lighting has also been provided in accordance with the City of Ghent's Lighting Plan.
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DECEMBER: Street art for Amnesty International at Campus Sterre
We donated a wall of campus Sterre to a street art project to celebrate Amnesty International's 60th anniversary. Kitsune's work shows a letter-writing student, the candle and the yellow cover that refer to Amnesty's trademark: letters to set people free and the candle as a symbol of hope.