Established in 1810, the Rennes 2 University (Université Rennes 2, UR2) is in Upper Brittany, France and is one of four in the Academy region of Rennes.
It is Western France’s largest research and higher learning institution in arts, literature, languages, social sciences and humanities, with approximately 20,000 students and 600 professors. It has five faculties: languages, social sciences, human sciences, art, literature and communication and sports and physical education and teaches some 21 modern languages at undergraduate and graduate level.
Its international relations are an integral part of the university and it has longstanding links with higher education institutions across all five continents. It offers 134 different diplomas for full-time, part-time or distance learning students.
The main campus is in the northwest section of Rennes, in the Villejean neighbourhood, which is close to the other campus, at La Harpe. The Villejean campus has its own VAL subway station, which places the university just five minutes away from the centre of the city.
Rennes 2 University has over 50 institutions for extra-curricular activities, which means it has the highest rate of organisations among any French university. These include the radio station, Radio Campus Rennes, which has had its own building (the EREVE) since 2005.
Notable alumni include Louis Le Pensec, once Minister of Agriculture and a member of French parliament, Marylise Lebranchu, Minister of Justice and Jean-Yves Le Drian, Minister of Defense. After leaving Prague in 1975, the writer Milan Kundera settled in Rennes and became a professor at UR2.
