Every four years in spring, KU Leuven elects a new rector. Professors from different disciplines, faculties and groups compete in an election that helps shape the future direction of our university. And it’s not just your study advisor, professors or teaching assistants who get to vote — as a student, your vote counts too.
And it truly matters. Together, students make up a part of the electorate. Your vote can genuinely make a difference. That’s why it’s important to be well-informed about who the candidates are, what they stand for and what their plans are for KU Leuven.
On this page, we’ll share everything you need to cast your vote with confidence.
What you need to know about the rector elections
This video gives you a clear overview of how the election process works.
The timeline above shows which phase we’re currently in and the menu will be updated with new information as the election approaches.
How do students vote in the rector elections?
All KU Leuven students have the right to vote — and your voice matters! You vote through your Faculty Organ (FO) using an online voting system. There, you’ll rank the rector candidates from most to least preferred. It’s called instant-runoff voting, but really, it’s just a smart way to show your preferences clearly.
But here’s the thing: a good vote is an informed vote. Find out who the candidates are, what they stand for and what their plans are.
Got questions? Doubts? Not sure how it all works?
Reach out to your FO or drop by our office — we’re happy to help!
KU Leuven Student Council Election Memorandum 2025: shaping the university of tomorrow together
This document brings together our priorities, ambitions and proposals for the upcoming policy period. It was created through the broad involvement of student representatives from all campuses and was endorsed by the full General Assembly.
Our memorandum outlines the themes where we expect to see real progress: from mental wellbeing and housing to digitalization, sustainability and inclusiveness. Every key point is rooted in a shared belief: a strong KU Leuven is one that listens to its students and shapes the future alongside them. Together, we strive for a university where every student feels at home, heard, and supported.
Discover our key priorities at a glance below or dive into the full memorandum via the PDF (coming soon).
After a thorough evaluation, the student representatives introduced several substantive changes to the previous Special Election Regulations. These adjustments aim to make communication about the rector elections more accessible and easier to understand. In addition, the new regulations are designed to create a clearer and more user-friendly voting system for all students.
You can find the approved Election Regulations for the Student Vote in the 2025 rector elections below.
Rectoral elections are held every four years in the spring. Professors from various disciplines, faculties and groups then compete against each other. Not only your student advisor, professors or assistants have the right to vote. As students, we were able to help determine the outcome of this battle. But how did this all work? And what does the role that candidates aspire to actually entail? We told you all about it in the run-up to the past elections. As a student, you had the opportunity to make your voice heard through your Faculty Consultative Body.
Luc Sels
Jan Tytgat
Professor Tytgat – who described himself not as an opposing candidate but as an alternative candidate – challenged the sitting rector, Sels. During the election period, he was the head of the Department of Toxicology and Pharmacology within the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
The 2016-2017 rector election was an incredibly close race. Professor Sels won with 50.58% of the vote, narrowly defeating incumbent rector Professor Torfs. With a margin of less than two percentage points, the outcome was decided by the smallest of differences.
This showed how a small group can make a big impact! Especially as students, we can have a significant influence if we organize ourselves well. After all, we represent about 10% of the total votes. For candidates, it is therefore crucial to have supporters in every voting group.
As in previous rector elections, Stura organized both an internal and an external debate in the weeks leading up to the election. During these debates, candidates had the opportunity to elaborate on their views and answer students’ questions.
The internal debate, held on Friday, April 30, 2021, was organized for the members of the General Assembly. This debate allowed the GA to ask all their questions directly.
The external debate, which took place on Monday, April 26, 2021, was open to the broader public, specifically all KU Leuven students. The debate was moderated by Wim De Vilder.
You can rewatch this debate here!
Every student at KU Leuven had the opportunity to vote for the new Rector. However, they did not all have to go to the ballot box themselves. The General Assembly chose to work with electors, who were fairly distributed over the student numbers of the faculties. For example, the smaller Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies received 3 out of 332 electoral votes for their faculty student vote, while the Faculty of Law & Criminological Studies received 30 out of the total.
Voting was conducted through Faculty Congresses, which were organized by the student representatives of each faculty. A discussion took place at these congresses, after which students were able to cast an informed vote. The Rector candidate who obtained the most votes at a Faculty Congress then received all the student votes that the representatives of that faculty were allowed to cast. Going back to the example above, this meant that if you are a Criminology student and cast a vote at your Faculty Congress, 30 of the 332 student votes would go to the rector candidate who won the majority at that Congress’ vote.
Students who studied at more than one faculty cast their vote at the Faculty Congress of the faculty where they took the most credits.
To avoid fragmentation of our voting block, student representatives constantly coordinated with each other. They worked out Election Regulations that helped determine the way students could cast their votes. Consider the number of electors each group received. For example, there are many more Civil Engineers than Canon lawyers studying at KU Leuven. They also considered whether students should, for example, vote for the same candidate during a second or third round of voting. After all, the first round does not always produce an absolute majority for a particular candidate.
All this tinkering with election procedures happened mainly in the working group rectorial elections. This group consisted of members of Stura and representatives from each Faculty Consultative Body, from the economists of StEB to the scientists of OOR and philosophers of NFK. They provided regular feedback to the General Assembly. After several months of adjustment and further refinement, the Election Regulations appeared for a final time at the GA. The debate was opened. Members expressed concerns, asked questions and approved the regulations when they agreed. After GA approval, the regulations went to the Academic Council for further consideration.
View the approved Student Voice Election Regulations for the 2021 election below.
The Rector for 2021-2025 was announced on May 11, 2021.
All electors left for the ballot box (digitally) that day. The votes were counted: Prof. Sels was re-elected rector of KU Leuven for a four-year policy term with 63.9% of the votes.
Stura thanked both candidates for the interesting debates and good cooperation.
In addition, we thanked our FSC’s, campus councils and every student who cast a vote through a Faculty Congress for their efforts.
As Student Council we put our trust in a constructive cooperation with Rector Sels.
