Established in 1636, Utrecht University (UU) has evolved into a leading research university with a growing international reputation. On the 2019 Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities, UU ranks first in the Netherlands, 13th in Europe and 49th in the world. UU has state-of-the-art research facilities and excellent research training through 7 faculties and related graduate schools. The UU Faculty of Medicine and the UMCU work together in the field of (bio)medical education and research. UU is legally linked to UMCU as the PhD degree awarding entity for UMCU-based PhDs. All UMCU PhD programs are part of the UU Graduate School of Life Sciences.