Erasmus University Rotterdam was founded on 8 November 1913 as the
Netherlands School of Commerce (, or NHH) through private initiative with broad support from the business community of
Rotterdam. In 1937, the school was recognized as a higher educational institute with university status, providing education in commerce and economics as an academic discipline. This resulted in a change of its name: the NHH became the NEH, or
Netherlands School of Economics (). The growing complexity of society led, in the 1960s, to the arrival of the faculties of Law and Social Sciences, followed in later decades by Philosophy, History and Arts, and Business Administration. From 1950, the Foundation for Higher Clinical Education used its best efforts to get a full academic medical study programme established in Rotterdam, and with success: In 1966, the government established the
Medical Faculty Rotterdam (), housed next to Dijkzigt Hospital. Together with the Sophia Children's Hospital and the Daniel den Hoed Clinic, it forms the University Hospital Rotterdam, which as of 1 January 2003, bears the name Erasmus MC. In 1973, the Medical Faculty Rotterdam and the Netherlands School of Economics merged, after which the institution was renamed under its current name
Erasmus University Rotterdam () – the first university in the Netherlands named after a person, a man to whom Rotterdam owes the reputation it has held for centuries in the academic world.
Health This domain includes the
Erasmus MC, the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM) and the
Institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA).
Erasmus MC is the new name for the university medical centre in Rotterdam, which is a merger of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and the University Hospital Rotterdam (Dijkzigt, Sophia, Daniel den Hoed clinic). The biomedical cluster plays a leading role in the field of analysis of role of individual genes playing role in diseases. The Forensic Molecular Biology department works together with the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI). Major long-term
genetic epidemiological studies among the elderly and children are Erasmus Rotterdam Health for the Elderly (ERGO) and Generation R respectively. The Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management (ESHPM) forms a bridge between medicine and the health sciences on the one hand and social sciences on the other. The institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA) conducts health economic research in collaboration with both the Erasmus MC and the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management.
Wealth This area includes the Erasmus School of Economics and the Rotterdam School of Management. Its economics programs and management programs attract students and postgraduates from all over the world. The research schools Erasmus Institute for Management (ERIM) and the Tinbergen Institute attract PhD students, research fellows, PostDocs and visiting professors of repute from all corners of the world. Other joint ventures are the English-language programme International Business Administration, the Erasmus Executive Development programme (EED) and the Erasmus University Centre for Contract Research and Business Support (ERBS).
Governance The research focuses on the organisation of business and society. This area has ground in common not only with economics and management, but also with medicine and health sciences.
Culture As one of four concentrations of Erasmus University, culture is defined broadly with focus on the areas of media, cultural economics, and the high arts. Primary research is on society and the arts, including cultural policy, media, and social identity in modern society. Faculty has particular strengths in research, and the students tend to graduate with strong research skills for both academic and field placement.
Protests Like other Dutch universities, EUR has seen waves of campus occupations and protests by climate activists and student groups in recent years, particularly targeting university links to the fossil fuel industry and demanding implementation of more sustainable and transparent policies. Several high-profile occupations in 2022–2023 were broken up by
riot police, sparking controversy around the university's response to activism and
freedom of assembly on campus. On 30 May and 9 June, as part of a
wave of pro-Palestinian protests, students set up a tent encampment. This lasted until 9 June after threatened intervention by riot police. In 2025, there was a planned demonstration against a professor that made the anti-Palestinian posts. On 23 October, the Executive Board issued a statement condemning the demonstration, citing safety concerns and remarked that it offers "space for differences of opinion". ==Research institutes/schools==