On Friday 6 February 2026, the VUB International Relations office organised an information session to welcome 146 new international students and trainees who arrived at the VUB to start the 2nd semester through their exchange programmes. This is approximately 23.73% more compared to the February 2025 figure of 118.
The info session covered topics such as studying at VUB, living in Brussels and Belgium, and addressed a whole array of administrative topics particular to exchange students.
Afterwards, the incoming students had a chance to get to know each other better by taking part in campus tours of the Etterbeek campus. Each participating student was welcomed with a small gift. Following that, they went on to Pilar to mingle and enjoy some drinks among themselves, but also with exchange students who finished their semester/year abroad at VUB and will be returning home, and with VUB students who have come back from their adventure abroad.
This year’s exchange students and trainees arriving for the 2nd semester come from 31 different countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Czechia, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Mexico, Morocco, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Uganda, and Uzbekistan.
More than half of them are studying at the Faculty of Social Sciences & Solvay Business School. The next biggest draw is the Faculty of Engineering, followed by the Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences and the Faculty of Languages and Humanities.
Most of the interns will follow traineeships in the Faculty of Physical Education & Physiotherapy, followed by the Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences, and the Faculty of Medicine & Pharmacy at the university hospital UZ Brussel.