In the late 19th century there was a terrible agricultural crisis.
Belgium was forced to import massive quantities of grain from Russia and America
and was in desperate need of better production methods.
Agricultural sciences developed against this historic background,
leading to the inauguration of the first school for agriculture
in the centre of Leuven.
In the early days, the Faculty of Science
wasn't very enthusiastic about this relatively new field of science.
In fact,
it took until the sixties for the institute of agriculture to be recognised
as an autonomous faculty
– now known as the Faculty of Bioscience Engineering.
But since then, the faculty has developed at record speed.
After the war, the institute moved to this building on the Arenberg Campus.
The industrialisation of agriculture gave the programme
a popularity boost and it was designated an official engineering major.
Nowadays, it's about so much more than just agriculture.
Biotechnology, human health,
environmental science, you name it!