The Euler-Franeker Memorial University

EULER (short form, long form: The Euler-Franeker Memorial University Institute) is an independent academic institute formally established within EUCLID (Euclid University), an intergovernmental treaty-based organization with a university charter. EULER also holds a separate university charter within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which allows it to confer both EUCLID and EULER degrees under national and international law.

Thanks to this strategic history and relationship, EULER is able to take full advantage of EUCLID’s infrastructure and institutional recognition while maintaining its unique characteristics and vision.

At the Crossroads of Tradition and Modernity

EULER’s vision as a “Memorial” university is to continue and revive the tradition of scientific rigor, disputation (formal debate), and socio-spiritual engagement of Europe’s great universities, notably of the original Franeker University, which delivered extraordinary education between 1585 and 1811. EULER benefits from the financial, technological, and academic support of an intergovernmental organization to resume and engage a great tradition of global academic excellence.

Our History

We are proud to be part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands as, indeed, our roots go deep in history, all the way to the Netherlands in the 1500s, 1585 to be exact, the year of the establishment of the University of Franeker. This remarkable university continued in its original form until it was disbanded by the French Emperor Napoleon in 1811 and eventually ceased operations, even its Athenaeum form in 1843. However, the ‘ashes of Franeker’ remained smoldering as its enduring vision to harmonize science, philosophy, research, and theology remained increasingly relevant.

One hundred and eighty years later, the flame was reignited by means of a memorial university charter approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports (Willemstad, Curaçao, Kingdom of the Netherlands). The charter granted to the Euler-Franeker Memorial University (Foundation) the legal right to revive the legacy and vision of this remarkable Dutch institution while also commemorating, for the first time in a university name, the profound legacy of Leonard Euler.