There is a closer communication between lecturers and students

“The VUB was the best choice for me. I come from an elitist high school and since most of the students went to the KULeuven, that choice was quickly dropped. The new choice was the Vrije Universiteit Brussel or studying in Ghent, the distance and the fact that my friends went to the VUB made my choice much easier. What I find positive about the VUB is the general small scale. We work in smaller groups and there is more contact between the teachers and the students. In my opinion, the VUB is also the best-known campus in Flanders and the multiculturalism of the VUB is the same as in Brussels. I'm not only a Computer Science student, I also have a student job at the sports centre. There is not really a difference in the way I am treated by the people I meet there; the only difference is that the students recognise me. The Faculty of Sciences and Bio-engineering Sciences organised a barbecue last year and that day is my best memory of the VUB. The craziest moments at the VUB are the days when the faculty student societies are present, especially when they are wrestling in the mud. Over the years, the VUB has positively changed, there are always renovations going on and new buildings being added. I think it's a pity that the old buildings were closed because they had their charm, but on the other hand it's good because there's more room for the new students. I also heard that the new I buildings are too small and that there isn't enough room in the dorms. I don't care because I don’t have a dorm, my parents were extremely against it and that was also an important factor that determined my choice. I'd rather commute to the VUB for half an hour every day than forty-five minutes to Ghent.”

On the occasion of the VUB’s 50th anniversary, prof. dr. Martina Temmerman asked the students in her introductory course on journalism genres to make portraits of people on the VUB campus. The ‘snapshots’ resulting from the project Humans of the VUB offer a lovely cross section of life on our university campus in 2019/20.