Conference venue

The city of Groningen had a great tradition in education even before the 17th Century. The Sint Maartenschool, a so-called Latin School, was famous throughout the country and even further: people came from France, Italy and Poland to study here with people of the city and province of Groningen. However, if someone from Groningen wanted a university education, they had to go to Leiden or abroad, until the university in Groningen was founded in 1614.

Today, the University of Groningen has an international reputation as one of the leading research universities in Europe. Research and education are organized within eleven faculties. One of those faculties is the Faculty of Arts and Society. Students and researchers in this faculty study subjects that are familiar to us all. The language that we speak, the history of our families or surroundings, the news websites we visit, the conversations we have, the movies we watch and the books we read. The Department of Applied Linguistics of the University of Groningen has international standing and draws students from all of the world.

Academy building

The Academy building was the first and main building of the university. But the first building became too small and the second Academy building was destroyed by fire. The third Academy building, built in the style of the northern Dutch Renaissance, opened its doors in 1909 and it is still the main building of the University of Groningen. It is the place where all university ceremonies take place and where the nine faculties each have their own faculty rooms. And a lot of conferences are held in this beautiful building.