The Université libre de Bruxelles (French: [ynivɛʁsite libʁ də bʁysɛl]; English: Free University of Brussels; abbreviated ULB) is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. ULB is one of the two institutions tracing their origins to the Free University of Brussels, founded in 1834 by the lawyer and liberal politician Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen. The split occurred along linguistic lines, forming the French-speaking ULB in 1969, and Dutch-speaking Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) in 1970. One of the leading Belgian universities open to Europe and the world, the ULB now has about 24,200 students, 33% of whom come from abroad, and an equally cosmopolitan staff. Source: Wikipedia (en)