According to its mission statement, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) is "a group of European research-intensive universities committed to the values of high quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research."

Founded in 2002, as a partnership among 12 of Europe's top research universities, in 2006 it expanded its membership to include 8 new universities. It is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. The 20 member universities as of 2006 are:

Belgium

Catholic University of Leuven (Dutch-speaking)

University of Helsinki

Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg

University of Paris-Sud

Ruprecht Karls University of Heidelberg

Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich

Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg

University of Milan

University of Amsterdam

Leiden University ,

University of Utrecht

Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

Lund University

University of Geneva

University of Zürich

University College London

University of Cambridge

University of Edinburgh

University of Oxford ,