Utrecht university cancels most exams as buildings reopen Monday after data center fire
Utrecht University stated that it will reopen all its buildings Monday during regular hours with laboratories operating normally, but most exams have been canceled and digital systems will run with limitations after a major fire at a data center in Almere.
Exams were canceled for the majority of students on Monday, May 11, and Tuesday, May 12. Only tests of the faculty of Medical Sciences in the Hijmans van den Berghgebouw, tests of the faculty of Veterinary Medicine and tests of University College Utrecht will proceed. All other exams resume as planned from Wednesday, May 13, possibly in adapted form.
The fire broke out Thursday morning, May 7, 2026, at the NorthC Datacenters facility on Rondebeltweg in Almere. It knocked out the university’s network, applications and websites. Students and staff could not log in, and the digital news site DUB was unreachable.
A backup system is now stable enough for essential services, the university said Sunday. Not all digital systems will work Monday. Students and staff should only use the listed stable systems and retry login after five minutes if needed.
Education continues on normal schedules. Servers in Almere appear undamaged but have not yet been restarted. Full recovery timeline is unknown.
“That we are partially operational again on Monday is thanks to the efforts of many colleagues, and in particular our IT organization,” vice chair Margot van der Starre said. “We greatly appreciate the enormous effort. ... I thank all colleagues and students for their flexibility, understanding and patience.”
The university urged people not to contact the IT servicedesk about known issues and asked staff and students to avoid unnecessary logins, including Microsoft tools, to reduce system load.
