BEST SUMMER COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BEST Course 2022:

Wolf of Watt Street

INTRODUCTION:

WHERE: LEUVEN, BELGIUM

WHEN: from 12 July 2022 to 22 July 2022

UNIVERSITY: KU LEUVEN

Hi there! Thank you for your interest in the BEST Course in Leuven!

The main purpose of this survival guide is to enhance that interest even more! Here you will find out everything you need to know about our course and Leuven, both as a historic city and a MASSIVE student community.

OVERVIEW: What will you find here?

• Getting to Leuven
• Meeting Point
• Course information
• Belgium Crash Course
• Leuven: History
• Belgian traditions
• Practical information

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Getting to Leuven: Train

• More or less all international trains end up in Brussels. There are three main train stations in Brussels [not. Dutch name (French name)]:�Brussel Zuid (Bruxelles Midi), Brussel Centraal (Bruxelles Centraal) and Brussel Nord (Bruxelles Nord).
• A few international trains stop at Antwerp and Liège, from which you can also take the train to Leuven.
• You can check out the NMBS website for more details (e.g. timetables, ticket prices etc.).

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Getting to Leuven: Air Travel

• There are two main airports in the Brussels area: Brussels South Charleroi Airport and Brussels International (Zaventem) Airport.
• There is a direct train line (approx. 20 mins) between Brussels International Airport and Leuven.
• We know that Ryanair flight prices flying to the Charleroi Airport are tempting, but in a few seconds you will realize why we say this: If possible, please book your flights for Brussels International!

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Getting to Leuven from Brussels Charleroi Airport

• There are a couple of ways to get to Leuven from Brussels Charleroi:
• There is a flibco.com shuttle bus driving from Charleroi airport to Brussel Zuid (50 min bus ride) train station every half an hour (price: 14.70 €), from which you can then take the train to Leuven (30 min).�Note: Be aware that when you buy a flibco.com ticket, you buy for a specific day, not for a specific bus time slot on that day. This means that you will probably have to wait in line to enter the bus after leaving the airport, which will delay your arrival to Leuven.
• You can take a bus to Charleroi South Station, from which you can then take a train to Leuven. You can buy the ticket for both the bus and the train at the airport (at the ticket machines close to the Entrance 2).

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Getting to Leuven: Tips & Tricks about Ryanair

If you do book a ticket with Ryanair, here is a couple of tricks to avoid any extra charges they may have:

• Ryanair’s standard fare includes a small bag of dimensions 40cm x 25 cm x 20cm, they are fairly strict about their bag-policy, so make sure that you do not go over that limit as you may be charged 70 €.
• Finally, once the day of your flight arrives, check-in online (otherwise you pay 55€), make sure you have your boarding passes printed out or available on Ryanair app. Otherwise you might be charged a check-in fee of 20 €.

Meeting point

• Meeting the point is located next to the Leuven Train Station entrance (picture below).

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

COURSE INFORMATION

Life has many challenges like getting out of bed, making the right decisions and maybe the biggest of them: the energy transition. Nations keep developing and our hunger for energy reached unprecedented levels. With this evolution our fossil fuel stocks will eventually run out and the rise of cleaner and renewable energy is needed. The energy transition isn’t that simple. It is a net where social, economical and political issues are intertwined with each other. What will happen when energy demand surpasses supply and vice versa? What will be the impact of these new energy trends and will they be sustainable? Will this be reliable? Will we always have energy or will it be limited? Is the new infrastructure needed for this affordable? Modern problems require modern solutions. On the basis of lectures, company visits and workshops you will get guided through the energy issues and how to transition towards the future.

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BELGIUM CRASH COURSE: Key facts

• Population: 11.586 million, Surface area: 30.528 km2
• Capital: Brussels
• Languages: Dutch, French, German
• International phone code: +32
• Currency: Euro
• Government type: Federal parliamentary constitutional �monarchy
• King: Philippe of Belgium

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BELGIUM CRASH COURSE: Fun Facts

• World’s record for the longest government formation period: 589 days (some things just take time..).
• Belgium’s national symbol is Manneken pis (a.k.a. peeing boy).
• Belgian is world-known for its comic books, the most famous ones being The Smurfs.
• Saxophone was invented by a Belgian named Adolphe Sax. He was from Dinant, and in Dinant you can visit the Charles de Gaulle saxophone bridge.
• Cricket is thought to be a Belgian invention, not British. Academics believe that the game could have been imported to Britain from the north of Belgium, based on one Flemish poem dating back from the 1533.

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

PLACES TO VISIT

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Bruges

Ghent

PLACES TO VISIT

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Brussels

Antwerp

ABOUT LEUVEN

• Leuven is a university town 25 km east from Brussels and is the capital of the province Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The population is 101,396 (out of which 40-50 thousand are students) and the area is 56.63 km2 (giving a population density of 1800/km2!).
• The earliest mention of Leuven dates from 891 when a Viking army was defeated by a Frankish king Arnulf of Carinthia.
• From 1425 Leuven is mostly a university city, also the�birthplace of the Big Bang theory.

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

ABOUT KU LEUVEN

• Founded in 1425, KU Leuven has been the centre of learning for nearly six centuries. Today, it is Belgium’s highest-ranked university as well as one of the world’s oldest and most renowned research universities in Europe.
• Since 2016, KU Leuven is recognized as Europe’s most innovative university.
• KU Leuven offers various disciplines offered by the 15 faculties, each of these being ranked in the top 100 by the THE World University Rankings by subject.

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BELGIAN GASTRONOMY

Very important part of Belgium, or any country for that manner. Belgians just happily enjoy a beer and a good dish. The most famous dishes are Belgian fries and waffles. Fries are often good enough on their own, but they are sometimes served in combination with some of the other Belgian specialties, such as: Mussels, “stoofvlees” etc.

Belgian is also widely known for its beer, Trappists being the most famous ones. Trappists are beers brewed by monks in an abbey, who swore a vow of secrecy.

If you are more of a sweet tooth, Belgium is also widely known for its chocolate, pralines, etc. In case you crave for some chocolate during your stay in Belgium, there is a couple of home-made chocolate shops in Leuven (highly recommend ThinkChocolate!).

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Nightlife and parties:

Well, they say an image says a thousand words…

BEST SUMMER COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Oude Markt (Leuven) during the day

BEST SUMMER COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

But during the night…

BEST SUMMER COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Or, how they used to do it in the 1930s

Social activities

After the lectures, we will do a lot of social activities. Those are meant for making friends, to explore each other’s cultures and most of all: to make your journey unforgettable!

You will attend an international evening, where everyone can present their country with typical food and drinks. Not only that, an authentic Belgian traditional party (we’re experienced) will be organised. That and many other activities are waiting for you! You will find an overview of all the activities on the schedule. Leuven has the honour to have the longest bar of Europe. All these are located at the Old Market, a very intimate place where you will find more than 50 bars close to each other.

You will love it!

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Practical information: What to bring? (I)

• Passport or National identity card
• Visa (if required)
• Travel/Health Insurance (if you are from an EU member country, it is enough to bring your EHIC card)
• Student ID card / ISIC / EYC
• Medicines (hope you will not need it)
• Money for the course fee (cash), and some extra cash pocket money is highly recommended
• Sheets for the bed (bedspread + pillowcase) and sleeping bag

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

Practical information: What to bring? (II)

• Swimsuit
• Sunscreen
• Fancy clothes for the official reception
• Raincoat (weird thing to mention after swimsuit and sunscreen, but you will thank us later!)
• For the International Evening make sure to bring your country’s flag and/or scarf, songs and traditional food and/or drinks

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BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

It is recommended that you can manouevre one of these when you come to Leuven. This will be the main transport to lectures and parties, and it is the key part of a survival pack for a student in Leuven.

Money saver:

• As already mentioned, it is recommended that you have some extra pocket money on you when you come to Leuven. This is because a lot of shops or bars in Leuven take only Belgian cards (if they take card at all).
• In case it happens that you run out of cash or that you forgot to bring any, it is handy to have a Revolut account and a Revolut card on you.
• Revolut exchanges money by the average rate, and more importantly, the ATMs in Leuven do not charge additional conversion rates if you use your Revolut card.
• We highly recommend this, since this is something that will be useful for any latter trip you might take.

BEST COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

BEST SUMMER COURSE IN LEUVEN 2022

MEET THE ORGANISERS: You are in the safe hands of…

Bruno Missoni

PARTICIPANTS RESPONSIBLE

MAIN ORGANISERS

Milan Wils

Tim Olde

Contact: bestcourse@bestleuven.eu