The University of Manchester (informally Manchester University or Manchester) is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It was formed in October 2004 by the merger of the Victoria University of Manchester (established 1851) and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (established 1824) sony vgp-bps2 battery. It is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities, the N8 Group and a "red brick" university, its Victoria University predecessor having gained a royal charter in 1903.
As of 2012, the University of Manchester has around 39,000 students and 10,400 staff, making it the largest single-site university in the United Kingdom. sony vgp-bps3 battery More students try to gain entry to the University of Manchester than to any other university in the country, with more than 60,000 applications for undergraduate courses alone.[5] The University of Manchester had a total income of £808.6 million in 2010–11, of which £196.2 million was from research grants and contracts. sony vgp-bps4 battery
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise,[6] the University of Manchester came third in terms of research power (after Cambridge and Oxford) and eighth for grade point average quality when including specialist institutions.[7] It has been described as part of the English "Ivy League" by The Daily Telegraph, along with 11 other universities.[8] According to the 2012 Highfliers Report, Manchester is the most targeted university by the Top 100 Graduate Employers. sony vgp-bps5 battery In the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Manchester is ranked 38th in the world, 6th in Europe and 5th in the UK.[11] It is ranked 29th in the world, 8th in Europe and 7th in the UK in the 2011 QS World University Rankings.
The University of Manchester and its antecedent institutions have 25 Nobel Laureates among their past and present students and staff, the third-highest number of any single university in the United Kingdom (after Cambridge and Oxford) sony vgp-bps7 battery. Four Nobel laureates are currently among its staff – Sir Andre Geim (Physics, 2010), Sir Kostya Novoselov (Physics, 2010), Sir John Sulston (Physiology and Medicine, 2002) and Joseph Stiglitz (Economics, 2001).
History
Main articles: UMIST and Victoria University of Manchester
The Old Quadrangle at the University of Manchester's main campus on Oxford Road.
The University of Manchester can trace its roots back to the formation of the Mechanics' Institute (later to become UMIST) in 1824sony vgp-bpl7 battery, and its history is closely linked to Manchester's emergence as the world's first industrial city.[12] The English chemist John Dalton, together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists, established the Mechanics' Institute to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science. Similarly, John Owens, a Manchester textile merchant, left a bequest of £96,942 in 1846 sony vgp-bps8 battery (around £5.6 million in 2005 prices) [13] for the purpose of founding a college for the education of males on non-sectarian lines. His trustees established Owens College at Manchester in 1851. It was initially housed in a building, complete with Adam staircase, on the corner of Quay Street and Byrom Street which had been the home of the philanthropist Richard Cobdensony vgp-bps8a battery, and subsequently was to house Manchester County Court. In 1873 it moved to new buildings at Oxford Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock and from 1880 it was a constituent college of the federal Victoria University. The university was established and granted a Royal Charter in 1880 to become England's first civic university; it was renamed the Victoria University of Manchester in 1903 and absorbed Owens College the following year. sony vgp-bps8b battery
By 1905, the two institutions were large and active forces in the area, with the Municipal College of Technology, the forerunner of the later UMIST, forming the Faculty of Technology of the Victoria University of Manchester while continuing as a technical college in parallel with the advanced courses of study in the Faculty. Although UMIST achieved independent university status in 1955, the two universities continued to work together. sony vgp-bpl8 battery
Before the merger, Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST between them counted 23 Nobel Prize winners amongst their former staff and students. Manchester has traditionally been particularly strong in the sciences, with the nuclear nature of the atom being discovered at Manchester by Rutherford, and the world's first stored-program computer coming into being at the universitysony vgp-bps9 battery. Famous scientists associated with the university include the physicists Osborne Reynolds, Niels Bohr, Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Arthur Schuster, Hans Geiger, Ernest Marsden and Balfour Stewart. However, the university has also contributed in many other fields, such as by the work of the mathematicians Paul Erdős, Horace Lamb and Alan Turing; the author Anthony Burgesssony vgp-bps9/s battery; philosophers Samuel Alexander, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Alasdair MacIntyre; the Pritzker Prize and RIBA Stirling Prize winning architect Norman Foster and the composer Peter Maxwell Davies all attended, or worked in, Manchester.
The Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology formally agreed to merge into a single institution in March 2003sony vgp-bps9a/s battery.
2004 to present
The Sackville Street Building, formerly the UMIST Main Building
The University of Manchester was officially launched on 1 October 2004 when the Queen handed over the Royal Charter.[17] Following the merger, the university was named Sunday Times University of the Year in 2006 after winning the inaugural Times Higher Education Supplement University of the Year prize in 2005sony vgp-bps9/b battery.
The founding President and Vice-Chancellor of the new university was Alan Gilbert, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, who retired at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year.[19] Gilbert's successor was Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, who had held a chair in physiology at the university since 1994sony vgp-bps9a/b battery. One of the university's aims stated in the Manchester 2015 Agenda is to be one of the top 25 universities in the world. This follows Alan Gilbert's aim for the university to 'establish it by 2015 among the 25 strongest research universities in the world on commonly accepted criteria of research excellence and performance'.[20] As of 2011, four Nobel laureates are currently among its staff: Andre Geim, Konstantin Novoselov, Sir John Sulston and Joseph E. Stiglitzsony vgp-bps9a battery.
In August 2012, it was announced that the University of Manchester's Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences had been chosen to be the 'hub' location for a new BP International Centre for Advanced Materials.
One Central Park
The main site of the University contains the vast majority of its facilities and is often referred to simply as campus. Despite this, Manchester is not a campus university as the concept is commonly understoodsony vgp-bps9b battery. It is centrally located and the buildings of the main site are integrated into the fabric of Manchester, with non-university buildings and major roads between them.
Campus occupies an area shaped roughly like a boot: the foot of the boot is aligned roughly south-west to north-east and is joined to the broader southern part of the boot by an area of overlap between former UMIST and former VUM buildings;[23] it comprises two partssony vgp-bpl9c battery:
North campus, centred on Sackville Street
South campus, centred on Oxford Road.
These names are not officially recognised by the University, but are commonly used, including in parts of its website; another usage is Sackville Street Campus and Oxford Road Campus. They roughly correspond to the campuses of the old UMIST and Victoria University respectively, although there was already some overlap before the mergersony vgp-bpl9 battery.
Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus of the University. It is located in Fallowfield, approximately 2 miles (3 km) south of the main site.
There are a number of other university buildings located throughout the city and the wider region, such as One Central Park (in the northern suburb of Moston) and Jodrell Bank Observatory (in the nearby county of Cheshire). The former is a collaboration between Manchester University and other partners in the sony vgp-bps10 batteryregion which offers office space to accommodate new start-up firms as well as venues for conferences and workshops.
Major projects
The atrium inside the new £38m Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre
Following the merger, the University embarked on a £600 million programme of capital investment, to deliver eight new buildings and 15 major refurbishment projects by 2010, partly financed by a sale of unused assets. These includeSony VGP-BPS12 Battery:
£60 m Flagship University Place building (new)
£56 m Alan Turing Building: housing Mathematics, the Photon Sciences Institute and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (new)
£50 m Life Sciences Research Building (A. V. Hill Building) (new)
£38 m Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB) (new)
£33 m Life Sciences and Medical and Human Sciences Building (Michael Smith Building) (new)
£31 m Humanities Building - now officially called the "Arthur Lewis Building" (new)
£20 m Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre (WMIC) (new) Sony VGP-BPL12 Battery
£18 m Re-location of School of Pharmacy
£17 m John Rylands Library, Deansgate (new extension & refurbishment of existing building)
£13 m Chemistry Building
£10 m Functional Biology Building
The EPSRC announced in Feb 2012 the formation of a National Institute for Graphene Research. The University of Manchester is the "single supplier invited to submit a proposal for funding the new £45m institute, £38m of which will be provided by the government" - (EPSRC & Technology Strategy Board) Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery
The Old Quadrangle
The buildings around the Old Quadrangle date from the time of Owens College, and were designed in a Gothic style by Alfred Waterhouse (and his son Paul Waterhouse). The first to be built (in 1873) was the John Owens Building (formerly the Main Building: the others were added over the next thirty years. In fact, the Rear Quadrangle is older than the Old QuadrangleSony VGP-BPS13B/Q battery. Today, the museum continues to occupy part of one side (including the tower) and the grand setting of the Whitworth Hall is used for the conferment of degrees. Part of the old Christie Library (1898) now houses Christie's Bistro, and the remainder of the buildings house administrative departments.
Main article: Contact TheatreSony VGP-BPS13/Q battery
The Contact Theatre largely stages modern live performance and participatory work for younger audiences. The present fortress-style building on Devas Street was completed in 1999 but incorporates parts of its 1960s predecessor. It features a unique energy-efficient system, using its high towers to naturally ventilate the building without the use of air conditioningSony VGP-BPS13A/B battery. The colourful and curvaceous interior houses three performance spaces, a lounge bar and Hot Air, a reactive public artwork in the foyer.
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Main article: Jodrell Bank Observatory
The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics is a combination of the astronomical academic staff, situated in Manchester, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory in rural land near Goostrey, about ten miles (16 km) west of Macclesfield away from the lights of Greater ManchesterSony VGP-BPS13/S battery. The observatory boasts the third largest fully movable radio telescope in the world, the Lovell Telescope, constructed in the 1950s. It has played an important role in the research of quasars, pulsars and gravitational lenses, and has played a role in confirming Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
Chancellors Hotel and Conference Centre
Main articles: Manchester Conference Centre and Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre
Chancellors Hotel & Conference CentreSony VGP-BPS13/B battery
Formerly named The Firs, the original house was built in 1850 for Sir Joseph Whitworth by Edward Walters, who was also responsible for Manchester’s Free Trade Hall and Strangeways Prison. Whitworth used The Firs mainly as a social, political and business base, entertaining radicals of the age such as John Bright, Richard Cobden, William Forster and T.H. Huxley at the time of the Reform Bill of 1867Sony VGP-BPS13B/S battery. Whitworth, credited with raising the art of machine-tool building to a previously unknown level, supported the new Mechanics Institute in Manchester – the birthplace of UMIST - and helped to found the Manchester School of Design. Whilst living in the house, Whitworth used land to the rear (now the site of the University's botanical glasshouses) for testing his "Whitworth rifle"Sony VGP-BPS13A battery. In 1882, The Firs was leased to C.P. Scott, Editor of the Manchester Guardian. After Scott's death the house became the property of Owens College, and was the Vice-Chancellor's residence until 1991.
The old house now forms the western wing of Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre at the University. The newer eastern wing houses the circular Flowers Theatre, six individual conference rooms and the majority of the 75 hotel bedroomsSony VGP-BPS13A/S battery.
Organisation and administration
The university's Whitworth Hall; this archway was the inspiration for the logo of the Victoria University of Manchester
[edit]Faculties and schools
Despite its size, the University of Manchester is divided into only four faculties, each sub-divided into schools:
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences consisting of the Schools of Medicine; Dentistry; Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Psychological SciencesSony VGP-BPS13AS battery.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences consisting of the Schools of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science; Physics and Astronomy; Electrical & Electronic Engineering; Materials; Mathematics; and Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil EngineeringSony VGP-BPS13S battery.
Faculty of Humanities includes the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures (incorporating Archaeology; Art History & Visual Studies; Classics and Ancient History; Drama; English and American Studies; History; Museology; Music; and Religions and Theology). The other Schools are Combined Studies; Education; Environment and Development; Architecture; Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q battery Languages, Linguistics and Cultures; Law; Social Sciences and the Manchester Business School.
Faculty of Life Sciences unusually consisting of a single school.
Finances
In the financial year ending 31 July 2011, the University of Manchester had a total income of £808.58 million (2009/10 – £787.9 million) and total expenditure of £754.51 million (2009/10 – £764.55 million).[1] Key sources of income included £247.28 million from tuition fees and education contracts (2009/10 – £227.75 million) Sony VGP-BPS13A/R battery, £203.22 million from funding body grants (2009/10 – £209.02 million), £196.24 million from research grants and contracts (2009/10 – £194.6 million) and £14.84 million from endowment and investment income (2009/10 – £11.38 million).[1] During the 2010/11 financial year the University of Manchester had a capital expenditure of £57.42 million (2009/10 – £37.95 million). Sony VGP-BPS13AB battery
At year end the University of Manchester had endowments of £158.7 million (2009/10 – £144.37 million) and total net assets of £731.66 million (2009/10 – £677.12 million).
Academics
The University of Manchester has the largest number of full-time students in the UK, unless the University of London is counted as a single university. It teaches more academic subjects than any other British universitySony VGP-BPS13B battery.
Well-known figures among the University's current academic staff include computer scientist Steve Furber, economist Richard Nelson,[28] novelist Colm Tóibín[29] and biochemist Sir John Sulston, Nobel laureate of 2002.
Research
The 76 m Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.
The University of Manchester is a major centre for research and is a member of the Russell Group of leading British research universities. Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery In the first national assessment of higher education research since the university’s founding, the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the University was ranked third in terms of research power (after Cambridge and Oxford) and sixth for grade point average quality among multi-faculty institutions[31] (eighth when including specialist institutions) Sony VGP-BPL21 batteryManchester has the largest research income of any British university (after Oxford, Imperial, UCL and Cambridge).[32] (these five universities have been informally referred to as the 'golden diamond' of research-intensive UK institutions).[33] Manchester has a particularly strong record in terms of securing funding from the three main UK research councils, EPSRC, MRC and BBSRC, being ranked fifth, Sony VGP-BPS21 battery7th[35] and first[36] respectively. In addition, the university is also one of the richest in the UK in terms of income and interest from endowments: in a recent estimate it was placed third, surpassed only by Oxford and Cambridge.[37] Despite the recent severe cuts in higher education Manchester remains at second place behind Oxford nationally in terms of total recurrent grants allocated by the HEFCE. Sony VGP-BPS21A battery
Historically, Manchester has been linked with high scientific achievement: the university and its constituent former institutions combined had 25 Nobel Laureates among their students and staff, the third largest number of any single university in the United Kingdom (after Oxford and Cambridge) and the ninth largest of any university in Europe. FurthermoreSony VGP-BPS21B battery, according to an academic poll two of the top ten discoveries by university academics and researchers were made at the University (namely the first working computer and the contraceptive pill).[39] The university currently employs four Nobel Prize winners amongst its staff, more than any other in the UK.Sony VGP-BPS26 Battery
Medicine
Old Medical School on Coupland Street (photographed in 1908), which now houses the School of Dentistry
The origins of the Manchester Medical School go back to the The School of Anatomy established at Manchester Royal Infirmary by Joseph Jordan in 1814. Medical education has continued there since this time. The college was formally established in 1874 and is one of the largest in the country, Sony VGP-BPS26A Battery with over 400 medical students being trained in each of the clinical years and over 350 students in the pre-clinical/phase 1 years. Approximately 100 students who have completed pre-clinical training at the Bute Medical School (University of St Andrews) join the third year of the undergraduate medical programme each year.
The university's Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences has links with a large number of NHS hospitals in the North West of England and maintains presences in its four base hospitalsSony VGP-BPS13 battery(without CD): Manchester Royal Infirmary (located at the southern end of the main university campus on Oxford Road), Wythenshawe Hospital, Hope Hospital and the Royal Preston Hospital. All are used for clinical medical training for doctors and nurses.
In 1883, a dedicated department of pharmacy was established at the University and, in 1904, Manchester became the first British university to offer an Honours degree in the subject. The School of PharmacySony VGP-BPS13B/Q battery(without CD) also benefits from the university's links with the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe and Hope hospitals. All of the undergraduate pharmacy students gain hospital experience through these links and are the only pharmacy students in the UK to have an extensive course completed in secondary care.[43] Moreover, the university is a founding partner of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, established to focus high-end healthcare research in Greater ManchesterSony VGP-BPS13/Q battery(without CD).
Future development plans include collaboration plans with Manchester City Football Club and the National Health Service (NHS) to establish a world-leading research facility on sports science and treatment in Sportcity. Further details of the plans are expected to be revealed in the summer of 2011Sony VGP-BPS13A/B battery(without CD).
Dentistry
The university's Dental School is widely regarded as the leading institute for dental education in the UK. In the Times Higher Education Guide it was rated the best dental school in the UK in 2010 and 2011.[46] It is one of the best funded dental schools in the UK, due to its great emphasis on research and the modernising of learning. The university has also obtained multi-million pound backing to maintain its high standard of dental education. Sony VGP-BPS13/S battery(without CD) The number of applicants to the dental school far exceeds the number of places available; in 2011 there were 1000 applicants for 75places.[48] Graduates have enjoyed some of the best employment prospects of UK dental school graduates.[49] The Dental School's enquiry-based learning approach has proved popular with students and many other UK dental schools are now adopting this teaching style. Sony VGP-BPS13/B battery(without CD)
The University Dental Hospital of Manchester is part of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Dental Hospital was established in 1884 in association with the School of Medicine at Owens College. It was then at Grosvenor Street, Chorlton on Medlock and in 1892 removed to another house, in Devonshire StreetSony VGP-BPS13B/S battery(without CD). Fund raising was then slow in response to a public appeal and only in 1908 was the hospital able to occupy a new building on Oxford Road next to the Manchester Museum, designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by the architects Charles Heathcote & Sons. In 1905 the University established a degree and a diploma in dental surgery (these were first awarded in 1909 and 1908 respectively) Sony VGP-BPS13A battery(without CD). A contribution from Godfrey Ermen towards the cost of building the hospital is recorded on a stone tablet near the entrance.
John Rylands University Library
The John Rylands Library, from Deansgate: Spinningfield Square to left
Main article: John Rylands University Library
The university's library, the John Rylands University Library, is the largest non-legal deposit library in the UK, as well as being the UK's third-largest academic library after those of Oxford and Cambridge. It also has the largest collection of electronic resources of any library in the UKSony VGP-BPS13A/S battery(without CD).
The oldest part of the library, the John Rylands Library, founded in memory of John Rylands by his wife Enriqueta Augustina Rylands as an independent institution, is situated in a Victorian Gothic building on Deansgate, Manchester city centre. This site houses an important collection of historic books and other printed materials, manuscripts, including archives and papyriSony VGP-BPS13S battery(without CD). The papyri are in various ancient languages and include the oldest extant New Testament document, Rylands Library Papyrus P52, commonly known as the St John Fragment. In April 2007 the Deansgate site reopened to readers and the public, following major improvements and renovations, including the construction of the pitched roof originally intended and a new wing in SpinningfieldSony VGP-BPS13A/Q battery(without CD).
Manchester Museum
Main article: Manchester Museum
The entrance to the Manchester Museum
The Manchester Museum holds nearly 4.25 million[53] items sourced from many parts of the world. The collections include butterflies and carvings from India, birds and bark-cloth from the Pacific, live frogs and ancient pottery from America, fossils and native art from Australia, mammals and ancient Egyptian craftsmanship from Africa, plants, coins and minerals from Europe, art from past civilisations of the MediterraneanSony VGP-BPS13A/R battery(without CD), and beetles, armour and archery from Asia. In November 2004, the museum acquired a cast of a fossilised Tyrannosaurus rex called "Stan".
The history of the museum goes back to 1821, when the first collections were assembled by the Manchester Society of Natural History and later increased by those of the Manchester Geological Society. Due to the society's financial difficulties and on the advice of the great evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley, Owens College accepted responsibility for the collections in 1867Sony VGP-BPS13AB battery(without CD). The college commissioned Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of London’s Natural History Museum, to design a museum building to house these collections for the benefit of students and the public on a new site in Oxford Road. The Manchester Museum was finally opened to the public in 1888.
Whitworth Art Gallery
Main article: Whitworth Art Gallery
The Whitworth Art GallerySony VGP-BPS13B battery(without CD)
The Whitworth Art Gallery is home to collections of internationally famous British watercolours, textiles and wallpapers, as well as of modern and historic prints, drawings, paintings and sculpture. It contains some 31,000 items in its collection. A programme of temporary exhibitions runs throughout the year, with the Mezzanine Court serving as a venue for showing sculpture. It was founded by Robert Darbishire with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1889Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery(without CD), as The Whitworth Institute and Park. 70 years later in 1959 the gallery became officially part of the University of Manchester.[55] In October 1995 a Mezzanine Court in the centre of the building was opened. This new gallery, designed chiefly for the display of sculptures, won a RIBA regional awardSony VGP-BPL21 battery(without CD).
Rankings and reputation
According to The Sunday Times, "Manchester has a formidable reputation spanning most disciplines, but most notably in the life sciences, engineering, humanities, economics, sociology and the social sciences".[5]
The 2009 THE - QS World University Rankings found Manchester overall 26th in the world. It was also ranked by the same report 5th internationally by employer reviews Sony VGP-BPS21 battery(without CD) (along with MIT and Stanford and ahead of Yale and Cornell) by receiving a maximum 100% rating which the university has retained since 2008. The separate 2011 QS World University Rankings[66] found that Manchester had slipped to 29th overall in the world (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings) Sony VGP-BPS21A battery(without CD).
The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2011 published by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Manchester 5th in the UK, 6th in Europe and 38th in the world. If US universities are excluded then the ARWU places Manchester as 10th in the world for 2011. According to the ARWU rankings for 2009 the university is 9th in Europe for natural sciences and 4th in engineeringSony VGP-BPS21B battery(without CD). Similarly the HEEACT 2009 rankings for scientific performance place Manchester 5th in Europe for engineering,[70] 8th for natural sciences and 3rd for social sciences. And finally THES ranks Manchester 6th in Europe for technology,[73] 10th for life sciences and 7th for social sciences.[75] More recently a survey by the Times Higher Education Supplement has shown that Manchester is placed 6th in Europe in the area of Psychology & Psychiatry. Sony VGP-BPS14/B Battery According to a further ranking by SCImago Research Group Manchester is ranked 5th in Europe amongst higher education institutions in terms of sheer research output for 2011.[77] In terms of research impact a further ranking places Manchester 6th in Europe.[78] Manchester is also one of only seven universities in Europe which are rated Excellent in all seven main academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, PsychologySony VGP-BPS14B Battery, Economics and Political Science) by the 2010 Centre for Higher Education's Development's Excellence Rankings. The Manchester Business School is currently ranked 29th worldwide (4th nationally) by the Financial Times. The latest THES rankings place Manchester 11th in Europe with respect to research volume, income and reputation[81] and 7th in the UKSony VGP-BPS14/S Battery.
According to the High Fliers Research Limited's survey, University of Manchester students are being targeted by more top recruiters for graduate vacancies than any other UK university students for three consecutive years (2007–2009). Furthermore the university has been ranked joint 20th in the world for 2009 according to the Professional Ranking of World Universities. Sony VGP-BPL14/B Battery Its main compilation criterion is the number of Chief Executive Officers (or number 1 executive equivalent) which are among the "500 leading worldwide companies" as measured by revenue who studied in each university. The ranking places the University only behind Oxford nationally. Manchester is ranked 5th among British universities according to a popularity ranking which is based on the degree of traffic that a university's website attractsSony VGP-BPL14 Battery. Also a further report places Manchester within the top 20 universities outside the US. Manchester was also given a prestigious award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts by the Times Higher Education Awards 2010.[87]
At a recent ranking undertaken by the Guardian, Manchester is placed 5th in the UK in international reputation behind the usual four: Oxbridge, UCL and Imperial.[88] Furthermore, according to the latest QS World University RankingsSony VGP-BPL14B Battery, Manchester is ranked 4th in Europe strictly in terms of both academic and employer reputation. However, while as a rule world rankings (such as the ARWU, THES and HEEACT[90]) typically place the university within the top 10 in Europe, national studies are less complimentary; The Times 'Good University Guide 2011’[91] ranked Manchester 30th out of 113 Universities in the UKSony VGP-BPL14/S Battery, ‘The Complete University Guide 2012' in association with The Independent placed it at 29th out of 116 universities[92] whilst ‘The Guardian University Guide 2012’ ranked Manchester at 41st out of 119 universities in the UK.[93] This apparent paradox is mainly a reflection of the different ranking methodologies employed by each listing: global rankings focus on research and international prestige, whereas national rankings are largely based on teaching and the student experienceSony VGP-BPS14 Battery.
Manchester University Press
Main article: Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is an academic publishing house which exists as part of the university. It publishes academic monographs as well as textbooks and journals, the majority of which are works from authors based elsewhere in the international academic community, and is the third largest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University PressSony VGP-BPL15/B Battery.
Main article: University of Manchester Students' Union
The University of Manchester Students' Union (UMSU) is the representative body of students at the University of Manchester and is the UK's largest students' union. It was formed out of the merger between UMIST Students' Association (USA) and University of Manchester Union (UMU) when the parent organisations UMIST and the Victoria University of Manchester merged on 1 October 2004Sony VGP-BPS15/B Battery.
Unlike many other students' unions in the UK, it does not have a president, but is instead run by a 14 member executive team (eight full-time, six voluntary) who share joint responsibility.
Sport
The University's Boat Club is one of many Athletic Union Clubs that Manchester offers.[94]
Unlike some universities, the University of Manchester operates its own sports clubs via the Athletics Union. Student societies on the other hand are operated by the Students' UnionSony VGP-BPL15/S Battery.
Today the university can boast more than 80 health and fitness classes while over 3,000 students are members of the 44 various Athletic Union clubs. The sports societies in Manchester vary widely in their level and scope. Many of the more popular sports have several university teams as well as departmental teams which may be placed in a league against other teams within the university. Common teams includeSony VGP-BPS15/S Battery: lacrosse, korfball, dodgeball, hockey, rugby league, rugby union, football, basketball, netball and cricket. The Manchester Aquatics Centre, the swimming pool used for the Manchester Commonwealth Games is also on the campus.
The university competes annually in 28 different sports against Leeds and Liverpool universities in the Christie Cup, which Manchester has won for seven consecutive years. Sony VGP-BPS15 Battery The university has also achieved considerable success in the BUCS (British University & College Sports) competitions, with the mens water polo 1st team winning the national championships in both 2009 and 2010. It was positioned in eighth place in the overall BUCS rankings for 2009/10 The Christie Cup is an inter-university competition between Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester in numerous sports since 1886Sony VGP-BPS18 battery. After the Oxford and Cambridge rivalry, the Christie's Championships is the oldest Inter–University competition on the sporting calendar: the cup was a benefaction of Richard Copley Christie.
Every year elite sportsmen and sportswomen at the university are selected for membership of the XXI Club, a society that was formed in 1932 and exists to promote sporting excellence at the university. Most members have gained a Full Maroon for representing the university and many have excelled at a British Universities or National levelSony VGP-BPS22 Battery.
University Challenge
Since merging as the University of Manchester, the university has consistently reached the latter stages on the BBC2 quiz programme University Challenge. The team has progressed to the semi-finals every year of the competition since 2005.
In 2006, Manchester beat Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to record the university's first triumph in the competitionSony VPCEH13FX/B Battery. The year after, the university finished in second place after losing out to the University of Warwick in the final. In 2009, the team battled hard in the final against Corpus Christi College, Oxford. At the gong, the score was 275 - 190 to Corpus Christi College after an extraordinary performance from Gail Trimble. However, the title was eventually given to the University of Manchester after it was discovered that Corpus Christi team member Sam Kay had graduated eight months before the final was broadcastSony VPCEH13FX/L Battery, so that the team was disqualified.
Manchester reached the semi-finals in the 2010 competition before being beaten by Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The university did not enter the 2011 series for a unknown reason. However, Manchester did enter a year later and won University Challenge 2012.
Student housing
Ashburne Hall, a catered accommodation offered mainly to undergraduate students, though some places are reserved for postgraduate studentsSony VPCEH13FX/P Battery
Before they merged, the two former universities had for some time been sharing their residential facilities.
Main campus
Whitworth Park Halls of Residence
These halls are owned by the University of Manchester and house 1,085 students of that university. It is most notable for the unique triangular shape of the accommodation blocks which gave rise to the nickname of "Toblerones", after the chocolate barSony VPCEH13FX/W Battery.
The designer of these unique 'Toblerone' shaped buildings took his inspiration from the hill which has been there since 1962, when as a result of a nearby archaeological dig (led by John Gater) the hill was created from the excavated soil. A consequence of this triangular design was a much reduced cost for the contracted construction companySony VPCEH15EG/B Battery. Due to a deal struck between the University and Manchester City Council, which meant that the council would pay for the roofs of all student residential buildings in the area, Allan Pluen's team is believed to have saved thousands on the final cost of the halls. They were built in the mid 1970s.
It is also said by alumni, that the then University of Victoria got a grant for building the halls, and the then government would pay for the roof if they paid for the rest, hence they made very large roofs and not many bricksSony VPCEH1AJ Battery.
Dilworth House, one of the Whitworth Park halls of residence
The site of the halls was previously occupied by many small streets whose names have been preserved in the names given to the halls. Grove House is a much older building and has been used by the University for many different purposes over the last sixty years. Its first occupants in 1951 were the Appointments Board and the Manchester University Press.[99] The shops in Thorncliffe Place were part of the same plan and include banks and a convenience storeSony VPCEH1E1E Battery.
Notable people associated with the halls are Friedrich Engels whose residence on the site is commemorated by a blue plaque on Aberdeen House; the physicist Brian Cox; Irene Khan, Secretary general of Amnesty International; and Big Brother winner Omar Chaparro. Sackville StreetSony VPCEH1J1E Battery
The former UMIST Campus has five halls of residence near to Sackville Street building (Weston, Lambert, Fairfield, Chandos, and Wright Robinson), and several other halls within a 5-15 minute walk away, such as the Grosvenor group of halls.
Other accommodation
The former Moberly Tower has been demolished. There are also Vaughan House (once the home of the clergy serving the Church of the Holy Name)and George Kenyon Hall at University PlaceSony VPCEH1J8E Battery; Crawford House and Devonshire House adjacent to the Manchester Business School and Victoria Hall in Higher Cambridge Street.
[edit]Fallowfield and Victoria Park Campuses
The Fallowfield Campus, situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the main university campus (the Oxford Road Campus), is the largest of the university's residential campuses. The Owens Park group of halls with its landmark tower lies at the centre of it, while Oak House is another large hall of residence. Woolton Hall is also on the Fallowfield campus next to Oak HouseSony VPCEH1L0E BatterySony VPCEH1L8E Battery. Allen Hall is a traditional hall situated near Ashburne Hall (Sheavyn House being annexed to Ashburne). Richmond Park is also a relatively recent addition to the campus.
Victoria Park Campus, comprises several halls of residence. Among these are St Anselm Hall with Canterbury Court and Pankhurst Court, Dalton-Ellis Hall, Hulme Hall (including Burkhardt House), St Gabriel's Hall and Opal Gardens Hall. St Anselm Hall is the only all-male hall left in the United KingdomSony VPCEH1L9E Battery.
Main article: List of University of Manchester people
Many notable and famous people have worked or studied at one or both of the two former institutions that merged to form the University of Manchester, including 25 Nobel prize laureates. Some of the best-known include John Dalton (founder of modern atomic theory), Ludwig Wittgenstein (considered one of the most significant philosophers of the 20th century), George E. Davis (founder of the discipline of Chemical Engineering) Sony VPCEH1M1E Battery, Bernard Lovell (a pioneer of radio astronomy), Alan Turing (one of the founders of computer science and artificial intelligence), Tom Kilburn and Frederic Calland Williams (who developed Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or "Baby", the world's first stored-program computer at Victoria University of Manchester in 1948), Irene Khan (current Secretary General of Amnesty International), the author Anthony Burgess and Robert Bolt Sony VPCEH1M9E Battery (two times Academy Award winner and three times Golden Globe winner for screenwriting Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago).
Additionally, a number of politicians are associated with the university, including the current Presidents of The Republic of Ireland, Belize, Iceland and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as several ministers among others in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Canada and Singapore and also Chaim Weizmann, a chemist and the first President of IsraelSony VPCEH1S0E Battery. A number of well-known actors also studied at the University of Manchester, including Benedict Cumberbatch, leading actor in the BBC television drama Sherlock.
[edit]Nobel prize winners
Overall, there have been 25 Nobel Prizes awarded to staff and students past and present, with some of the most important discoveries of the modern age being made in Manchester.
Chemistry
Ernest Rutherford (awarded Nobel prize in 1908), for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements and the chemistry of radioactive substancesSony VPCEH1S1E Battery.
Arthur Harden (awarded Nobel prize in 1929), for investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes.
Walter Haworth (awarded Nobel prize in 1937), for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C.
George de Hevesy (awarded Nobel prize in 1943), for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processesSony VPCEH1S8E Battery.
Robert Robinson (awarded Nobel prize in 1947), for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids.
Alexander Todd (awarded Nobel prize in 1957), for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes.
Melvin Calvin (awarded Nobel prize in 1961), for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plantsSony VPCEH1S9E Battery.
John Charles Polanyi (awarded Nobel prize in 1986), for his contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.
Michael Smith (awarded Nobel prize in 1993), for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studiesSony VPCEH1Z1E Battery.
Physics
Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson (awarded Nobel prize in 1906), in recognition of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases.
William Lawrence Bragg (awarded Nobel prize in 1915), for his services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.
Niels Bohr (awarded Nobel prize in 1922), for his fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanicsSony VPCEH2C0E Battery.
Charles Thomson Rees (C. T. R.) Wilson (awarded Nobel prize in 1927), for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour.
James Chadwick (awarded Nobel prize in 1935), for the discovery of the neutron.
Patrick M. Blackett (awarded Nobel prize in 1948), for developing cloud chamber and confirming/discovering positronSony VPCEH2D0E Battery.
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (awarded Nobel prize in 1951), for his pioneer work on the splitting of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles and also for his contribution to modern nuclear power.
Hans Bethe (awarded Nobel prize in 1967), for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in starsSony VPCEH2E0E Battery.
Nevill Francis Mott (awarded Nobel prize in 1977), for his fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (awarded Nobel prize in 2010), for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene.[100]
Physiology and Medicine
Archibald Vivian Hill (awarded Nobel prize in 1922), for his discovery relating to the production of heat in muscle. One of the founders of the diverse disciplines of biophysics and operations researchSony VPCEH2F1E Battery.
Sir John Sulston (awarded Nobel prize in 2002), for his discoveries concerning 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'. In 2007, Sulston was announced as Chair of the newly founded Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation (iSEI) at the University of ManchesterSony VPCEH2H1E Battery.
Economics
John Hicks (awarded Nobel prize in 1972), for his pioneering contributions to general economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory.
Sir Arthur Lewis (awarded Nobel prize in 1979), for his pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries.
Joseph E. Stiglitz (awarded Nobel prize in 2001), for his analyses of markets with asymmetric informationSony VPCEH2J1E Battery. Currently, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz heads the Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI) at the University of Manchester.
The University of Bristol (informally Bristol) is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom.[8] One of the British red brick universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876Sony VPCEH2L9E Battery.
Bristol has been named inside the global top 30 by the QS World University Ranking.[11] It has an average of 14 applicants for each undergraduate place, and average A-level attainment of successful entrants equivalent to four grade As.[citation needed] For the most popular courses, such as Economics and Law, the applicant to place ratio is 40:1. Sony VPCEH2M1E Battery The University had a total income of £408.8 million in 2010/11, of which £106.7 million was from research grants and contracts.[13] It is the largest independent employer in Bristol.[14]
Current academics include 18 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 10 Fellows of the British Academy, 13 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 31 Fellows of the Royal SocietySony VPCEH2M9E Battery.
Bristol is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities,[16] the European-wide Coimbra Group and the Worldwide Universities Network, of which the University's Vice-Chancellor Prof. Eric Thomas was Chairman from 2005 to 2007.
The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Venturers’ Technical College (founded as a school as early as 1595) Sony VPCEH2N1E Battery which became the Engineering faculty of Bristol University.[19] The University was also preceded by Bristol Medical School (1833) and University College, Bristol, founded in 1876,[10] where its first lecture was attended by only 99 students.[20] The University was able to apply for a Royal Charter due to the financial support of the Wills and Fry families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations and chocolate, respectivelySony VPCEH2P0E Battery. The Wills Family made a vast fortune from the tobacco industry and gave generously to the city and University. The Royal Charter was gained in May 1909, with 288 undergraduates and 400 other students entering the University in October 1909. Henry Overton Wills III became its first chancellor.[10] The University College was the first such institution in the country to admit women on the same basis as men.[10] However, women were forbidden to take examinations in medicine until 1906. Sony VPCEH2Q1E Battery
Historical development
Main article: History of the University of Bristol
Since the founding of the University itself in 1909, it has grown considerably and is now one of the largest employers in the local area, although it is smaller by student numbers than the nearby University of the West of England.[23] Bristol does not have a campus but is spread over a considerable geographic area. Most of its activitiesSony VPCEH2S9E Battery, however, are concentrated in the area of the city centre, referred to as the "University Precinct". It is a member of the Russell Group of research-led UK universities, the Coimbra Group of leading European universities and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).
The Wills Memorial Building (School of Earth Sciences) on Park Street, Bristol. The tower was cleaned in 2006–2007Sony VPCEH2Z1E Battery.
Most of the buildings here are used by the University. The Wills Memorial Building is left of centre. Viewed from the Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill
The Victoria Rooms. Comprising the world renowned School of Music.
The School of Medical Sciences
Royal Fort and the Physics department
The School of Geography
The Faculty of Engineering Queen's Building
Early years
After the founding of the University College in 1876, Government support began in 1889. After mergers with the Bristol Medical School in 1893 and the Merchant Venturers' Technical College in 1909, Sony VPCEH3B1E Battery this funding allowed the opening of a new Medical School and an Engineering School—two subjects that remain among the University's greatest strengths. In 1908, gifts from the Fry and Wills families, particularly £100,000 from Henry Overton Wills III (£6m in today's money), were provided to endow a University for Bristol and the West of England, provided that a Royal Charter could be obtained within two yearsSony VPCEH3D0E Battery. In December, 1909, the King granted such a Charter and erected the University of Bristol. Henry Wills became its first Chancellor and Conwy Lloyd Morgan the first Vice-Chancellor. Wills died in 1911 and in tribute his sons George and Harry built the Wills Memorial Building, starting in 1913 and finally finishing in 1925. Today, it houses parts of the academic provision for earth sciences and law, and graduation ceremonies are held in its Great HallSony VPCEH3N1E Battery. The Wills Memorial Building is a Grade II* listed building.
In 1920, George Wills bought the Victoria Rooms and endowed them to the University as a Students' Union. The building now houses the Department of Music and is a Grade II* listed building.
At the point of foundation, the University was required to provide for the local community. This mission was behind the creation of the Department of Extra-Mural Adult Education in 1924 to provide courses to the local communitySony VPCEH3N6E Battery. This mission continues today; a new admissions policy specifically caters to the 'BS' postcode area of Bristol.[29]
Among the famous names associated with Bristol in this early period is Paul Dirac, who graduated in 1921 with a degree in engineering, before obtaining a second degree in mathematics in 1923 from Cambridge. For his subsequent pioneering work on quantum mechanics, he was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize for Physics. Later in the 1920sSony VPCEH3T9E Battery, the H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory was opened by Ernest Rutherford. It has since housed several Nobel Prize winners: Cecil Frank Powell (1950); Hans Albrecht Bethe (1967); and Sir Nevill Francis Mott (1977). The Laboratory stands on the same site today, close to the Bristol Grammar School and the city museumSony VPCEJ1E1E Battery.
Sir Winston Churchill became the University's third Chancellor in 1929, serving the University in that capacity until 1965. He succeeded Richard Haldane who had held the office from 1912 following the death of Henry Wills.
During World War II, the Wills Memorial was bombed, destroying the Great Hall and the organ it housed. It has since been restored to its former glory, complete with oak panelled walls and a new organSony VPCEJ1J1E Battery.
Post-war development
In 1946, the University established the first drama department in the country.[10] In the same year, Bristol began offering special entrance exams and grants to aid the resettlement of servicemen returning home. Student numbers continued to increase, and the Faculty of Engineering eventually needed the new premises that were to become Queen's Building in 1955Sony VPCEJ1L1E Battery. This substantial building housed all of the University's engineers until 1996, when Electrical Engineering and Computer Science moved over the road into the new Merchant Venturers' Building to make space for these rapidly expanding fields. Today, Queen's Building caters for most of the teaching needs of the Faculty and provides academic space for the "heavy" engineering subjects (civil, mechanical, and aeronautical) Sony VPCEJ1M1E Battery.
With unprecedented growth in the 1960s, particularly in undergraduate numbers, the Student's Union eventually acquired larger premises in a new building in the Clifton area of the city, in 1965. This building was more spacious than the Victoria Rooms, which were now given over to the Department of Music. The new Union provides many practice and performance rooms, some specialist rooms, as well as three barsSony VPCEJ1S1E Battery: Bar 100; the Mandela (also known as AR2) and the Avon Gorge. Whilst spacious, the Union building is thought by many to be ugly and out of character compared to the architecture of the rest of the Clifton area, having been mentioned in a BBC poll to find the worst architectural eyesores in Britain. The University has proposed relocating the Union to a more central location as part of its development 'masterplan'. Sony VPCEJ1Z1E Battery More recently, plans for redevelopment of the current building have been proposed.
The 1960s were a time of considerable student activism in the United Kingdom, and Bristol was no exception. In 1968, many students marched in support of the Anderson Report, which called for higher student grants. This discontent culminated in an 11-day sit-in at the Senate House (the administrative headquarters of the University) Sony VPCEJ25FG/B Battery. A series of Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors led the University through these decades, with Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort taking over from Churchill as Chancellor in 1965 before being succeeded by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1970 who spent the next 18 years in the office.
As the age of mass higher education dawned, Bristol continued to build its student numbers. The various undergraduate residences were repeatedly expanded and, more recentlySony VPCEJ2B1E Battery, some postgraduate residences have been constructed. These more recent ventures have been funded (and are run) by external companies in agreement with the University.
Since 1988, there have been only two further Chancellors: Sir Jeremy Morse, then chairman of Lloyds Bank who handed over in 2003 to Brenda Hale, the first female Law Lord.
One of the few Centres for Deaf Studies in the United Kingdom was established in Bristol in 1981, followed in 1988 by the Norah Fry Centre for research into learning difficultiesSony VPCEJ2D1E Battery. Also in 1988, and again in 2004,[39] the Students' Union AGM voted to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students (NUS). On both occasions, however, the subsequent referendum of all students reversed that decision and Bristol remains affiliated to the NUS.
In 2002, the University was involved in argument over press intrusion after details of the son of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's application to university were published in national newspapers.
As the number of postgraduate students has grown Sony VPCEJ2E1E Battery (particularly the numbers pursuing taught Master's Degrees), there eventually became a need for separate representation on University bodies and the Postgraduate Union (PGU) was established in 2000.[40][dead link] Universities are increasingly expected to exploit the intellectual property generated by their research activities and, in 2000, Bristol established the Research and Enterprise Division (RED) to further this cause (particularly for technology-based businesses) Sony VPCEJ2J1E Battery. In 2001, the university signed a 25-year research funding deal with IP2IPO, an intellectual property commercialisation company.[41] In 2007, research activities were expanded further with the opening of the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS) and The Bristol Institute for Public Affairs (BIPA).
In 2002, the University opened a new Centre for Sports, Exercise and Health in the heart of the University precinct. At a cost, local residents are also able to use the facilities. Sony VPCEJ2L1E Battery
Expansion of teaching and research activities continues. In 2004, the Faculty of Engineering completed work on the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering (BLADE). This £18.5m project[44][dead link] provides cutting-edge technology to further the study of dynamics and is the most advanced such facility in Europe. It was built as an extension to the Queen's Building and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in March 2005Sony VPCEJ2S1E Battery.
In January, 2005, The School of Chemistry was awarded £4.5m by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to create Bristol ChemLabS: a Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL), with an additional £350k announced for the capital part of the project in February, 2006. Bristol ChemLabS stands for Bristol Chemical Laboratory Sciences; it is the only Chemistry CETL in the UKSony VPCEJ2Z1E Battery.
September 2009 saw the opening of the University's Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information. This £11 million state of the art building is dubbed as the quietest building in the world and has other technologically sophisticated features such as self-cleaning glass. Advanced research into quantum computing, nanotechnology, materials and other disciplines are being undertaken in the buildingSony VPCEJ3T1E Battery.
There is also a plan to significantly redevelop the centre of the University Precinct in the coming years. The first step began in September 2011, with the start of construction of a state-of-the-art Life Sciences building. In a time of heavy financial pressures on all Universities, this £50 million project is a clear statement that Bristol is committed to world class research and teaching facilitiesSony VPCEJM1E Battery.
2003 admissions controversy
Main article: University of Bristol admissions controversy
The University has been regarded as being elitist by some commentators,[49] taking 41% of its undergraduate students from non-state schools, according to the most recent 2009/2010 figures, despite the fact that such pupils make up just 7% of the population and 18% of 16+ year old pupils across the UK. The high ratio of undergraduates from non-state school has led to some tension at the universitySony VPCEL1E1E Battery. In late February and early March 2003, Bristol became embroiled in a row about admissions policies, with some private schools threatening a boycott based on their claims that, in an effort to improve equality of access, the University was discriminating against their students. These claims were hotly denied by the University. In August, 2005, following a large-scale surveySony VPCEL2S1E Battery, the Independent Schools Council publicly acknowledged that there was no evidence of bias against applicants from the schools it represented. The University has a new admissions policy, which lays out in considerable detail the basis on which any greater or lesser weight may be given to particular parts of an applicant's backgrounds—in particular, what account may be taken of which school the applicant hails fromSony VPCEL3S1E Battery. This new policy also encourages greater participation from locally resident applicants.
Campus
The Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building, here used for an award ceremony for the Queen Elizabeth's Hospital.
Some of the University of Bristol's buildings date to its pre-charter days when it was University College Bristol. These buildings were designed by Charles Hansom, the younger brother of Joseph Hansom, Joseph being the inventor of the Hansom CabSony VPCS11V9E/B Battery. These buildings suffered being built in stages due to financial pressure. George Oatley added to them a tower in memory of Albert Fry which can still be seen on University Road. The first large scale building project the University of Bristol undertook on gaining a charter was the Wills Memorial Building which it was hoped would be a symbol of academic permanence for the University and a memorial to the chief benefactor of the University Henry Overton WillsSony VPCF115FG/B Battery. It was requested to the architect George Oatley that the building be built to last at least 400 years but the site purchased, at the top of Park Street suffered from an awkward slope and a desirability to link the building with the Museum and Art Gallery situated adjacent to the plot. The architecture critic Roger Gill has stated that the building is "remarkable in size" but noted that the "ambience of a medieval University was strangely lacking"Sony VPCF117HG/BI Battery. He goes on to criticise the building as a "sham" and a "folly".[56] The armorials on the Founder's Window represent all of the interests present at the founding of the University of Bristol including the Wills and Fry families. The Tyndalls Park Estate and Royal Fort House were also purchased from the trustees of the Tyndall family allowing the University to expandSony VPCF119FC Battery. Many Departments in the Faculty of Arts are housed in large Victorian houses which have been converted for teaching.
Goldney gardens entered the property of the University of Bristol through George Wills who had hoped to build an all male hall of residence there. This was prevented due to the moral objection of the then warden of Clifton Hall House who objected to the idea of male and female residences being in such close proximitySony VPCF11JFX/B Battery. University records show that Miss Starvey was prepared to resign over the issue and that she had the support of the then Chancellor Conwy Lloyd Morgan.[58] Eventually land was purchased in Stoke Bishop allowing Wills Hall to be bought, allowing the building of what has been described as a "quasi-Oxbridge" hall, to which was added the Dame Monica Wills Chapel added by George Wills' widow after his deathSony VPCF11M1E Battery.
The Gardens of Goldney Hall were acquired by the Wills family
Burwalls, a mansion house on the other side of the Avon Gorge, was used as a halls of residence in the past and was a home of Sir George Oatley. The building is now used to house the Centre for Continuing Education.[59]
Many of the more modern buildings, including Senate House and the newer parts of the HH Wills Physics LaboratorySony VPCF11M1E/H Battery, were designed by Raplh Brentnall after funds from the University Grants Committee. He is also responsible for the extension to the Wills Memorial Building library which was completed to such standard that few now realise that is an extension to the original building.[60] Brentnall oversaw the rebuilding of the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building after it was partly destroyed during the Bristol Blitz of World War IISony VPCF11S1E Battery. The buildings of St Michael's Hill were rebuilt using hundreds of old photographs in order to recreate the original houses. The flats at Goldney Hall were designed by Michael Grice and received an award from the Civic Trust for their design.[61] Bristol University owns some of the best examples of Georgian architecture in the city, the best examples being Royal Fort House, Clifton Hill House and Goldney Hall despite some additions. Sony VPCF11Z1E Battery The Victoria Rooms which house the Music Department were designed by Charles Dyer and is seen as a good example of a Greek revival movement in British architecture. The tympanum of the building depicts a scene from The Advent of Morning designed by Jabez Tyley. Its major feature was a large organ which has since been destroyed by fireSony VPCY119FJ Battery.
Academic reputation
Bristol is known for academics, excellent facilities, and a desirable location. League tables usually place Bristol within the top ten universities in the United Kingdom and it attracts many academically gifted students. For example, the 21 July 2011 edition of Times Higher Education reported that Bristol was fifth in a UK league table for the highest proportion of students with A-level grades AAB or better. Sony VPCY11AFJ Battery Internationally, the 2011 QS World University Rankings[64] placed Bristol at 30th overall in the world, moving up three places from its position in the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings). The rankings also placed Bristol at 15th in the world in terms of reputation with employers, placing higher than several American Ivy League universitiesSony VPCY11AGJ Battery, including Princeton University, Cornell and UPenn.[65] Another international ranking, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities, placed Bristol 70th globally in 2011 [66] The Times Higher Education World University Ranking placed Bristol at 66th in 2011.[67] According to data published in The Telegraph Bristol has the third-highest percentage of 'good honours' of any UK university, behind Oxford and Cambridge. Sony VPCY11AHJ Battery In the 2010 Centre for Higher Education's Development's Excellence Rankings, Bristol is one of only four UK Universities (Oxford, UCL and Manchester) to be rated Excellent in all seven departments.[69]
However Bristol gained some of the lowest scores for student satisfaction in the 2008 National Student Survey and The Daily Telegraph have reported of student complaints about teaching qualitySony VPCY11M1E Battery. This has led to the recent deterioration in the University's rankings in the UK league tables, although it still ranks highly in international league tables.
The following courses offered by University of Bristol, managed to reach top 5 in the Times ranking (2008): Computer Science(3rd); Electrical and Electronic Engineering(3rd); Civil Engineering(5th); Biological Sciences(3rd); Mathematics (3rd); and Psychology (4th) Sony VPCY11S1E Battery. Furthermore, the QS World University Rankings place Bristol in the world's top 100 universities for all subject areas in 2011: Arts and Humanities (57th), Natural Sciences (40th), Engineering & IT (83rd), Social Sciences (65th) and Life Sciences (70th).[72] A further breakdown of the QS World University Natural Sciences Ranking shows the following: Earth Sciences (25th),[73] Mathematics (35th), Environmental Sciences (39th), Physics (41st),[76] and Chemistry (48th) Sony VPCY11V9E Battery.
In addition, Bristol is particularly strong in the field of social sciences, particularly in Economics, Finance and Management, and was recently rated 4th in the 2008 Guardian University Guide for Business and Management Studies.[78]
In 2011, The Guardian also ranked Bristol as 3rd in the UK for Geography, just behind 2nd place Oxford[79] and ranked Bristol as 1st in the UK for Music. Sony VPCY11V9E/S Battery
Bristol is also known for its research strength, having 15 departments gaining the top grade of 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Overall, 36 out of 46 departments rated gained the top two ratings of 5 or 5*, and 76% of all the academic staff working in departments scored these top two levels.[81][82] In terms of teaching strength, Bristol had an average Teaching Quality Assessment score of 22.05/24 before the TQA was abolished.[83] For admission in October 2010Sony VPCY218EC/BI Battery, Bristol reported an average of 10.2 applications per place with the average A-level score on admission being 478.5.[84] Bristol's drop-out rate is also lower than the benchmark set by HEFCE of no more than 3.1%.
Degrees
Bristol awards a range of academic degrees spanning bachelor's and master's degrees as well as junior doctorates and higher doctorates. The postnominals awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among British universitiesSony VPCY21S1E/L Battery. The University is part of the Engineering Doctorate scheme,[133] and awards the Eng. D. in systems engineering, engineering management, aerospace engineering and non-destructive evaluation.[134]
Bristol notably does not award by title any Bachelor's degrees in music, which is available for study but awarded B.A. (although it does award M.Mus. and D.Mus.), nor any degree in divinity, since divinity is not available for study (students of theology are awarded a B.A.) Sony VPCY21S1E/P Battery. Similarly, the University does not award B.Litt. (Bachelor of Letters), although it does award both M.Litt. and D.Litt. In regulations, the University does not name M.D. or D.D.S. as higher doctorates, although they are in many universities.[135] as these degrees are normally accredited professional doctoratesSony VPCY21S1E/SI Battery.
The degrees of D.Litt., D.Sc., D.Eng., LL.D. and D.Mus., whilst having regulations specifying the grounds for award,[136] are most often conferred as honorary degrees (in honoris causa). Those used most commonly are the D.Litt., D.Sc. and LL.D., with the M.A. (and occasionally the M.Litt.) also sometimes conferred honorarily for distinction in the local area or within the UniversitySony VPCYA15EC/B Battery.
Governance
Main article: Governance of the University of Bristol
In common with most UK universities, Bristol is headed formally by the Chancellor, currently Baroness Hale of Richmond and led on a day-to-day basis by the Vice-Chancellor, currently Prof Eric Thomas, who is the academic leader and chief executive. There are two Pro Vice-Chancellors and three ceremonial Pro-ChancellorsSony VPCYA15EC/R Battery. The Chancellor may hold office for up to ten years and the Pro-Chancellors for up to three, unless the University Court determines otherwise, but the Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellors have no term limits. The Vice Chancellor is supported by a Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Responsibility for running the University is held at an executive level by the Vice-Chancellor, but the Council is the only body that can recommend changes to the University's statutes and Charter,[143] with the exception of academic ordinancesSONY VGN-FZ11E battery. These can only be made with the consent of the Senate, the chief academic body in the University which also holds responsibility for teaching and learning, examinations and research and enterprise.[143][144] The Chancellor and Pro Chancellors are nominated by Council and appointed formally by Court, whose additional powers are now limited to these appointments and a few others, including some lay members of CouncilSONY VGN-FZ11L battery. Finally, Convocation, the body of all staff, ceremonial officers and graduates of the University, returns 100 members to Court and one member to Council,[138] but is otherwise principally a forum for discussion and to ensure graduates stay in touch with the University.
The University of Bristol Union building
Main article: University of Bristol Union
The University has a Students' Union, the University of Bristol Union, which claims to have the largest Students' Union building in the country. From this location, the student radio station BURST (Bristol University Radio Station) SONY VGN-FZ11M battery broadcasts and the student paper Epigram has its office. In terms of student life, the Union is responsible for the organisation of the annual freshers' fair, the coordination of Bristol Student Community Action, which organises volunteering projects in the local community, and the organisation of entertainment events and student societies. Bristol Improv are a society which regularly performs improvisational comedy for students and locals alike in a number of free shows every monthSONY VGN-FZ11S battery. Previous presidents have included Sue Lawley and former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik. There is a separate union for postgraduate students, as well as an athletic union, which is a member of the British Universities & Colleges Sport. In distinction to the 'blues' awarded for sporting excellence at Oxford and Cambridge, Bristol's outstanding athletes are awarded 'reds'SONY VGN-FZ11Z battery.
Halls of residence
Main article: Halls of residence at the University of Bristol
Wills Hall
Accommodation for students is primarily in the central precinct of the University and two areas of Bristol: Clifton and Stoke Bishop.[150] In Stoke Bishop, Wills Hall on the edge of the Clifton Downs was the first to be opened, in 1929, by then-Chancellor Winston Churchill. Its original quadrangle layout has been expanded twice, in 1962 and 1990.[150] Churchill Hall, named for the ChancellorSONY VGN-FZ130E/B battery, followed in 1956, then Badock Hall in 1964. At the time of Badock Hall's establishment, some of the buildings were called Hiatt Baker Hall, but two years later, Hiatt Baker moved to its own site and is now the largest hall in the University. The first self-catering hall in Stoke Bishop was University Hall, established in 1971 with expansion in 1992. The University's newest undergraduate residence, Durdham Hall, was opened in Stoke Bishop in 1994SONY VGN-FZ130E battery. All of the main halls elect groups of students to the Junior Common Room to organise the halls social calendar for the next year.
Goldney Hall
In Clifton, Goldney Hall was built first in the early 18th century by a wealthy merchant family of the same surname and eventually became part of the University in 1956. It is a popular location for filming, with The Chronicles of Narnia, The House of Eliott and Truly, Madly, Deeply, as well as episodes of Only Fools and Horses and Casualty, being filmed there. SONY VGN-FZ150E battery The Grotto in the grounds is a Grade I listed building.[155] Clifton Hill House is another Grade I listed building now used as student accommodation in Clifton. The original building was constructed between 1745 and 1750 by Isaac Ware, and has been used by the University since its earliest days in 1909. Manor Hall comprises five separate buildings, the principal of which was erected from 1927–1932 to the design of George Oatley following a donation from Henry Herbert WillsSONY VGN-FZ15G battery.
Clifton Hill House
One of its annexes, Manor House, has recently been refurbished and officially 'reopened' in 1999. Goldney Hall has beautiful gardens and modern accommodation complexes. Clifton Hill House has more dated facilities, but as with all the Clifton residences also possesses attractive gardens. Manor Hall houses the largest and most dated rooms, some dating back to the early 20th centurySONY VGN-FZ15L battery. The hall's gardens are breathtakingly attractive, and complement what is a historically beautiful hall.
On the central precinct sits The Hawthorns, a student house accommodating 115 undergraduate students.[158] The house started life as a collection of villas built somewhere between 1888 and 1924[159] that were later converted, bit by bit, into a hotel by John Dingle.[160] The Hawthorns also houses conferencing facilities, the staff refectory and barSONY VGN-FZ15M battery, the Accommodation Office and the Student Houses Office. Several of the residences in the central precinct are more recent and have been built and are managed by third-party organisations under exclusivity arrangements with the University. These include Unite House and Chantry Court, opened in 2000 and 2003 respectively by the UNITE Group, as well as Dean's Court (2001, postgraduates only) and Woodland Court (2005), both run by the Dominion Housing GroupSONY VGN-FZ15S battery.
Symbols
In common with other universities in the United Kingdom, Bristol uses its particular pattern of academic dress as well its logo and coat of arms to represent itself.
[edit]Academic dress
Main article: Academic dress of the University of Bristol
The University specifies a mix of Cambridge and Oxford academic dress. For the most part, it uses Oxford-style gowns and Cambridge-style hoods, which are required to be 'University red' (see the logo at the top of the page) SONY VGN-FZ15T battery
Logo and arms
The University coat of arms
In 2004, the University unveiled its new logo. The icons in the logo are the sun for the Wills family, the dolphin for Colston, the horse for Fry and the ship-and-castle from the mediaeval seal of the City of Bristol, as also used in the coat of arms. The shape of the whole logo represents the open book of learning.[7] This logo has replaced the University arms shown, but the arms continue to be used where there is a specific historical or ceremonial requirementSONY VGN-FZ17 battery. The arms comprise:
argent on a cross quadrate gules the arms of the City of Bristol between in pale and a sun in splendour (for Wills) and an open book proper, leaved and clasped or, and inscribed with the words Nisi quia Dominus, and in fesse to the sinister a dolphin embowed (for Colston), and to the dexter a horse courant (for Fry), both of the thirdSONY VGN-FZ17G battery.
The inscription on the book is the Latin opening of the 124th Psalm, "If the Lord Himself had not (been on our side...)".
Notable people
Bristol is associated with 11 Nobel Laureates, and current academics include 18 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 10 Fellows of the British Academy, 13 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 31 Fellows of the Royal SocietySONY VGN-FZ17L battery.
Sir Michael Berry, knighted in 1996, one of the discoverers of quantum mechanics' 'geometric phase'
John Rarity who, in 2001, set a then world-record 1.9 km range for free-space secure key exchange using quantum cryptography
David May, founder of XMOS and lead architect for the transputer
Mark Horton, a British maritime and historical archaeologist and one of the presenters of the BBC's Coast television seriesSONY VGN-FZ18 battery
Patricia Broadfoot, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, and Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick both were previously faculty at Bristol. Anthony Epstein, co-discoverer of the Epstein-Barr virus, was Professor of Pathology at the University from 1968–1982. Historical academics include Sir John Lennard-Jones, discoverer of the Lennard-Jones potential in physics and Alfred MarshallSONY VGN-FZ180E battery, one of the University College's Principals and influential economist in the latter part of the 19th century.[176] Rohit Parikh lectured in the mathematics department from 1965 to 1967, as did Brian Rotman for twenty years.
University of Bristol is associated with 2 Ig Nobel Prizes. Sir Michael Berry shared the award (with Andre Geim, a Nobel Laureate) for using magnets to levitate a frog. Professor Gareth Jones also shared an Ig Nobel prize for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit batsSONY VGN-FZ18E battery.
Alumni
Main article: Alumni of the University of Bristol
Notable alumni of the University of Bristol include writers Dick King-Smith, Angela Carter and David Nicholls, author of the novel Starter for Ten, turned into a screenplay set in the University of Bristol. Other high-profile former students include BBC News' Chief Political Correspondent James Landale (who founded the Bristol University independent newspaper, Epigram) SONY VGN-FZ18G battery, editor-in-chief of the Telegraph Media Group William Lewis (journalist), illusionist Derren Brown, author of business books Mark Simmons (author), Global Economist Robert Barro, author, commentator and Executive Vice Chair of the Work Foundation Will Hutton, Serial award winning entrepreneur Mike Bennett (businessman) of digital agency E3 Media (digital agency) SONY VGN-FZ18M battery, former IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Prince of Monaco Albert II, TV newsreader Alastair Stewart, as well as musician James Blunt. Radio 4 presenter Sue Lawley was also a student there, whilst former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik was President of Bristol University Students' Union during his time there.
The University also has a comedy pedigree. Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams, SONY VGN-FZ18S battery attended the university, as did Simon Pegg (of Hot Fuzz fame), Chris Morris, creator of the controversial Brass Eye and Jon Richardson. Other comedy stars include Laura Crane-Brewer of The Office fame and Chris Langham, of The Thick of It fame, standup comic Marcus Brigstocke, and Radio 4 favourite Danny Robbins. More recently, Bristol students established a satirical newspaper, The Tart, SONY VGN-FZ18T battery which received national press attention.
Notable alumni from the Film and Television Production department include film directors Mick Jackson, Michael Winterbottom, Marc Evans, Christopher Smith, Alex Cox and Peter Webber amongst many others.
As of 2012, the University of Manchester has around 39,000 students and 10,400 staff, making it the largest single-site university in the United Kingdom. sony vgp-bps3 battery More students try to gain entry to the University of Manchester than to any other university in the country, with more than 60,000 applications for undergraduate courses alone.[5] The University of Manchester had a total income of £808.6 million in 2010–11, of which £196.2 million was from research grants and contracts. sony vgp-bps4 battery
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise,[6] the University of Manchester came third in terms of research power (after Cambridge and Oxford) and eighth for grade point average quality when including specialist institutions.[7] It has been described as part of the English "Ivy League" by The Daily Telegraph, along with 11 other universities.[8] According to the 2012 Highfliers Report, Manchester is the most targeted university by the Top 100 Graduate Employers. sony vgp-bps5 battery In the 2011 Academic Ranking of World Universities, Manchester is ranked 38th in the world, 6th in Europe and 5th in the UK.[11] It is ranked 29th in the world, 8th in Europe and 7th in the UK in the 2011 QS World University Rankings.
The University of Manchester and its antecedent institutions have 25 Nobel Laureates among their past and present students and staff, the third-highest number of any single university in the United Kingdom (after Cambridge and Oxford) sony vgp-bps7 battery. Four Nobel laureates are currently among its staff – Sir Andre Geim (Physics, 2010), Sir Kostya Novoselov (Physics, 2010), Sir John Sulston (Physiology and Medicine, 2002) and Joseph Stiglitz (Economics, 2001).
History
Main articles: UMIST and Victoria University of Manchester
The Old Quadrangle at the University of Manchester's main campus on Oxford Road.
The University of Manchester can trace its roots back to the formation of the Mechanics' Institute (later to become UMIST) in 1824sony vgp-bpl7 battery, and its history is closely linked to Manchester's emergence as the world's first industrial city.[12] The English chemist John Dalton, together with Manchester businessmen and industrialists, established the Mechanics' Institute to ensure that workers could learn the basic principles of science. Similarly, John Owens, a Manchester textile merchant, left a bequest of £96,942 in 1846 sony vgp-bps8 battery (around £5.6 million in 2005 prices) [13] for the purpose of founding a college for the education of males on non-sectarian lines. His trustees established Owens College at Manchester in 1851. It was initially housed in a building, complete with Adam staircase, on the corner of Quay Street and Byrom Street which had been the home of the philanthropist Richard Cobdensony vgp-bps8a battery, and subsequently was to house Manchester County Court. In 1873 it moved to new buildings at Oxford Road, Chorlton-on-Medlock and from 1880 it was a constituent college of the federal Victoria University. The university was established and granted a Royal Charter in 1880 to become England's first civic university; it was renamed the Victoria University of Manchester in 1903 and absorbed Owens College the following year. sony vgp-bps8b battery
By 1905, the two institutions were large and active forces in the area, with the Municipal College of Technology, the forerunner of the later UMIST, forming the Faculty of Technology of the Victoria University of Manchester while continuing as a technical college in parallel with the advanced courses of study in the Faculty. Although UMIST achieved independent university status in 1955, the two universities continued to work together. sony vgp-bpl8 battery
Before the merger, Victoria University of Manchester and UMIST between them counted 23 Nobel Prize winners amongst their former staff and students. Manchester has traditionally been particularly strong in the sciences, with the nuclear nature of the atom being discovered at Manchester by Rutherford, and the world's first stored-program computer coming into being at the universitysony vgp-bps9 battery. Famous scientists associated with the university include the physicists Osborne Reynolds, Niels Bohr, Ernest Rutherford, James Chadwick, Arthur Schuster, Hans Geiger, Ernest Marsden and Balfour Stewart. However, the university has also contributed in many other fields, such as by the work of the mathematicians Paul Erdős, Horace Lamb and Alan Turing; the author Anthony Burgesssony vgp-bps9/s battery; philosophers Samuel Alexander, Ludwig Wittgenstein and Alasdair MacIntyre; the Pritzker Prize and RIBA Stirling Prize winning architect Norman Foster and the composer Peter Maxwell Davies all attended, or worked in, Manchester.
The Victoria University of Manchester and the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology formally agreed to merge into a single institution in March 2003sony vgp-bps9a/s battery.
2004 to present
The Sackville Street Building, formerly the UMIST Main Building
The University of Manchester was officially launched on 1 October 2004 when the Queen handed over the Royal Charter.[17] Following the merger, the university was named Sunday Times University of the Year in 2006 after winning the inaugural Times Higher Education Supplement University of the Year prize in 2005sony vgp-bps9/b battery.
The founding President and Vice-Chancellor of the new university was Alan Gilbert, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, who retired at the end of the 2009-2010 academic year.[19] Gilbert's successor was Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, who had held a chair in physiology at the university since 1994sony vgp-bps9a/b battery. One of the university's aims stated in the Manchester 2015 Agenda is to be one of the top 25 universities in the world. This follows Alan Gilbert's aim for the university to 'establish it by 2015 among the 25 strongest research universities in the world on commonly accepted criteria of research excellence and performance'.[20] As of 2011, four Nobel laureates are currently among its staff: Andre Geim, Konstantin Novoselov, Sir John Sulston and Joseph E. Stiglitzsony vgp-bps9a battery.
In August 2012, it was announced that the University of Manchester's Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences had been chosen to be the 'hub' location for a new BP International Centre for Advanced Materials.
One Central Park
The main site of the University contains the vast majority of its facilities and is often referred to simply as campus. Despite this, Manchester is not a campus university as the concept is commonly understoodsony vgp-bps9b battery. It is centrally located and the buildings of the main site are integrated into the fabric of Manchester, with non-university buildings and major roads between them.
Campus occupies an area shaped roughly like a boot: the foot of the boot is aligned roughly south-west to north-east and is joined to the broader southern part of the boot by an area of overlap between former UMIST and former VUM buildings;[23] it comprises two partssony vgp-bpl9c battery:
North campus, centred on Sackville Street
South campus, centred on Oxford Road.
These names are not officially recognised by the University, but are commonly used, including in parts of its website; another usage is Sackville Street Campus and Oxford Road Campus. They roughly correspond to the campuses of the old UMIST and Victoria University respectively, although there was already some overlap before the mergersony vgp-bpl9 battery.
Fallowfield Campus is the main residential campus of the University. It is located in Fallowfield, approximately 2 miles (3 km) south of the main site.
There are a number of other university buildings located throughout the city and the wider region, such as One Central Park (in the northern suburb of Moston) and Jodrell Bank Observatory (in the nearby county of Cheshire). The former is a collaboration between Manchester University and other partners in the sony vgp-bps10 batteryregion which offers office space to accommodate new start-up firms as well as venues for conferences and workshops.
Major projects
The atrium inside the new £38m Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre
Following the merger, the University embarked on a £600 million programme of capital investment, to deliver eight new buildings and 15 major refurbishment projects by 2010, partly financed by a sale of unused assets. These includeSony VGP-BPS12 Battery:
£60 m Flagship University Place building (new)
£56 m Alan Turing Building: housing Mathematics, the Photon Sciences Institute and the Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics (new)
£50 m Life Sciences Research Building (A. V. Hill Building) (new)
£38 m Manchester Interdisciplinary Biocentre (MIB) (new)
£33 m Life Sciences and Medical and Human Sciences Building (Michael Smith Building) (new)
£31 m Humanities Building - now officially called the "Arthur Lewis Building" (new)
£20 m Wolfson Molecular Imaging Centre (WMIC) (new) Sony VGP-BPL12 Battery
£18 m Re-location of School of Pharmacy
£17 m John Rylands Library, Deansgate (new extension & refurbishment of existing building)
£13 m Chemistry Building
£10 m Functional Biology Building
The EPSRC announced in Feb 2012 the formation of a National Institute for Graphene Research. The University of Manchester is the "single supplier invited to submit a proposal for funding the new £45m institute, £38m of which will be provided by the government" - (EPSRC & Technology Strategy Board) Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery
The Old Quadrangle
The buildings around the Old Quadrangle date from the time of Owens College, and were designed in a Gothic style by Alfred Waterhouse (and his son Paul Waterhouse). The first to be built (in 1873) was the John Owens Building (formerly the Main Building: the others were added over the next thirty years. In fact, the Rear Quadrangle is older than the Old QuadrangleSony VGP-BPS13B/Q battery. Today, the museum continues to occupy part of one side (including the tower) and the grand setting of the Whitworth Hall is used for the conferment of degrees. Part of the old Christie Library (1898) now houses Christie's Bistro, and the remainder of the buildings house administrative departments.
Main article: Contact TheatreSony VGP-BPS13/Q battery
The Contact Theatre largely stages modern live performance and participatory work for younger audiences. The present fortress-style building on Devas Street was completed in 1999 but incorporates parts of its 1960s predecessor. It features a unique energy-efficient system, using its high towers to naturally ventilate the building without the use of air conditioningSony VGP-BPS13A/B battery. The colourful and curvaceous interior houses three performance spaces, a lounge bar and Hot Air, a reactive public artwork in the foyer.
Jodrell Bank Observatory
Main article: Jodrell Bank Observatory
The Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics is a combination of the astronomical academic staff, situated in Manchester, and the Jodrell Bank Observatory in rural land near Goostrey, about ten miles (16 km) west of Macclesfield away from the lights of Greater ManchesterSony VGP-BPS13/S battery. The observatory boasts the third largest fully movable radio telescope in the world, the Lovell Telescope, constructed in the 1950s. It has played an important role in the research of quasars, pulsars and gravitational lenses, and has played a role in confirming Einstein's theory of General Relativity.
Chancellors Hotel and Conference Centre
Main articles: Manchester Conference Centre and Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre
Chancellors Hotel & Conference CentreSony VGP-BPS13/B battery
Formerly named The Firs, the original house was built in 1850 for Sir Joseph Whitworth by Edward Walters, who was also responsible for Manchester’s Free Trade Hall and Strangeways Prison. Whitworth used The Firs mainly as a social, political and business base, entertaining radicals of the age such as John Bright, Richard Cobden, William Forster and T.H. Huxley at the time of the Reform Bill of 1867Sony VGP-BPS13B/S battery. Whitworth, credited with raising the art of machine-tool building to a previously unknown level, supported the new Mechanics Institute in Manchester – the birthplace of UMIST - and helped to found the Manchester School of Design. Whilst living in the house, Whitworth used land to the rear (now the site of the University's botanical glasshouses) for testing his "Whitworth rifle"Sony VGP-BPS13A battery. In 1882, The Firs was leased to C.P. Scott, Editor of the Manchester Guardian. After Scott's death the house became the property of Owens College, and was the Vice-Chancellor's residence until 1991.
The old house now forms the western wing of Chancellors Hotel & Conference Centre at the University. The newer eastern wing houses the circular Flowers Theatre, six individual conference rooms and the majority of the 75 hotel bedroomsSony VGP-BPS13A/S battery.
Organisation and administration
The university's Whitworth Hall; this archway was the inspiration for the logo of the Victoria University of Manchester
[edit]Faculties and schools
Despite its size, the University of Manchester is divided into only four faculties, each sub-divided into schools:
Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences consisting of the Schools of Medicine; Dentistry; Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work; Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Psychological SciencesSony VGP-BPS13AS battery.
Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences consisting of the Schools of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science; Chemistry; Computer Science; Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science; Physics and Astronomy; Electrical & Electronic Engineering; Materials; Mathematics; and Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil EngineeringSony VGP-BPS13S battery.
Faculty of Humanities includes the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures (incorporating Archaeology; Art History & Visual Studies; Classics and Ancient History; Drama; English and American Studies; History; Museology; Music; and Religions and Theology). The other Schools are Combined Studies; Education; Environment and Development; Architecture; Sony VGP-BPS13A/Q battery Languages, Linguistics and Cultures; Law; Social Sciences and the Manchester Business School.
Faculty of Life Sciences unusually consisting of a single school.
Finances
In the financial year ending 31 July 2011, the University of Manchester had a total income of £808.58 million (2009/10 – £787.9 million) and total expenditure of £754.51 million (2009/10 – £764.55 million).[1] Key sources of income included £247.28 million from tuition fees and education contracts (2009/10 – £227.75 million) Sony VGP-BPS13A/R battery, £203.22 million from funding body grants (2009/10 – £209.02 million), £196.24 million from research grants and contracts (2009/10 – £194.6 million) and £14.84 million from endowment and investment income (2009/10 – £11.38 million).[1] During the 2010/11 financial year the University of Manchester had a capital expenditure of £57.42 million (2009/10 – £37.95 million). Sony VGP-BPS13AB battery
At year end the University of Manchester had endowments of £158.7 million (2009/10 – £144.37 million) and total net assets of £731.66 million (2009/10 – £677.12 million).
Academics
The University of Manchester has the largest number of full-time students in the UK, unless the University of London is counted as a single university. It teaches more academic subjects than any other British universitySony VGP-BPS13B battery.
Well-known figures among the University's current academic staff include computer scientist Steve Furber, economist Richard Nelson,[28] novelist Colm Tóibín[29] and biochemist Sir John Sulston, Nobel laureate of 2002.
Research
The 76 m Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.
The University of Manchester is a major centre for research and is a member of the Russell Group of leading British research universities. Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery In the first national assessment of higher education research since the university’s founding, the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the University was ranked third in terms of research power (after Cambridge and Oxford) and sixth for grade point average quality among multi-faculty institutions[31] (eighth when including specialist institutions) Sony VGP-BPL21 batteryManchester has the largest research income of any British university (after Oxford, Imperial, UCL and Cambridge).[32] (these five universities have been informally referred to as the 'golden diamond' of research-intensive UK institutions).[33] Manchester has a particularly strong record in terms of securing funding from the three main UK research councils, EPSRC, MRC and BBSRC, being ranked fifth, Sony VGP-BPS21 battery7th[35] and first[36] respectively. In addition, the university is also one of the richest in the UK in terms of income and interest from endowments: in a recent estimate it was placed third, surpassed only by Oxford and Cambridge.[37] Despite the recent severe cuts in higher education Manchester remains at second place behind Oxford nationally in terms of total recurrent grants allocated by the HEFCE. Sony VGP-BPS21A battery
Historically, Manchester has been linked with high scientific achievement: the university and its constituent former institutions combined had 25 Nobel Laureates among their students and staff, the third largest number of any single university in the United Kingdom (after Oxford and Cambridge) and the ninth largest of any university in Europe. FurthermoreSony VGP-BPS21B battery, according to an academic poll two of the top ten discoveries by university academics and researchers were made at the University (namely the first working computer and the contraceptive pill).[39] The university currently employs four Nobel Prize winners amongst its staff, more than any other in the UK.Sony VGP-BPS26 Battery
Medicine
Old Medical School on Coupland Street (photographed in 1908), which now houses the School of Dentistry
The origins of the Manchester Medical School go back to the The School of Anatomy established at Manchester Royal Infirmary by Joseph Jordan in 1814. Medical education has continued there since this time. The college was formally established in 1874 and is one of the largest in the country, Sony VGP-BPS26A Battery with over 400 medical students being trained in each of the clinical years and over 350 students in the pre-clinical/phase 1 years. Approximately 100 students who have completed pre-clinical training at the Bute Medical School (University of St Andrews) join the third year of the undergraduate medical programme each year.
The university's Faculty of Medical and Human Sciences has links with a large number of NHS hospitals in the North West of England and maintains presences in its four base hospitalsSony VGP-BPS13 battery(without CD): Manchester Royal Infirmary (located at the southern end of the main university campus on Oxford Road), Wythenshawe Hospital, Hope Hospital and the Royal Preston Hospital. All are used for clinical medical training for doctors and nurses.
In 1883, a dedicated department of pharmacy was established at the University and, in 1904, Manchester became the first British university to offer an Honours degree in the subject. The School of PharmacySony VGP-BPS13B/Q battery(without CD) also benefits from the university's links with the Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe and Hope hospitals. All of the undergraduate pharmacy students gain hospital experience through these links and are the only pharmacy students in the UK to have an extensive course completed in secondary care.[43] Moreover, the university is a founding partner of the Manchester Academic Health Science Centre, established to focus high-end healthcare research in Greater ManchesterSony VGP-BPS13/Q battery(without CD).
Future development plans include collaboration plans with Manchester City Football Club and the National Health Service (NHS) to establish a world-leading research facility on sports science and treatment in Sportcity. Further details of the plans are expected to be revealed in the summer of 2011Sony VGP-BPS13A/B battery(without CD).
Dentistry
The university's Dental School is widely regarded as the leading institute for dental education in the UK. In the Times Higher Education Guide it was rated the best dental school in the UK in 2010 and 2011.[46] It is one of the best funded dental schools in the UK, due to its great emphasis on research and the modernising of learning. The university has also obtained multi-million pound backing to maintain its high standard of dental education. Sony VGP-BPS13/S battery(without CD) The number of applicants to the dental school far exceeds the number of places available; in 2011 there were 1000 applicants for 75places.[48] Graduates have enjoyed some of the best employment prospects of UK dental school graduates.[49] The Dental School's enquiry-based learning approach has proved popular with students and many other UK dental schools are now adopting this teaching style. Sony VGP-BPS13/B battery(without CD)
The University Dental Hospital of Manchester is part of Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Dental Hospital was established in 1884 in association with the School of Medicine at Owens College. It was then at Grosvenor Street, Chorlton on Medlock and in 1892 removed to another house, in Devonshire StreetSony VGP-BPS13B/S battery(without CD). Fund raising was then slow in response to a public appeal and only in 1908 was the hospital able to occupy a new building on Oxford Road next to the Manchester Museum, designed in the Edwardian Baroque style by the architects Charles Heathcote & Sons. In 1905 the University established a degree and a diploma in dental surgery (these were first awarded in 1909 and 1908 respectively) Sony VGP-BPS13A battery(without CD). A contribution from Godfrey Ermen towards the cost of building the hospital is recorded on a stone tablet near the entrance.
John Rylands University Library
The John Rylands Library, from Deansgate: Spinningfield Square to left
Main article: John Rylands University Library
The university's library, the John Rylands University Library, is the largest non-legal deposit library in the UK, as well as being the UK's third-largest academic library after those of Oxford and Cambridge. It also has the largest collection of electronic resources of any library in the UKSony VGP-BPS13A/S battery(without CD).
The oldest part of the library, the John Rylands Library, founded in memory of John Rylands by his wife Enriqueta Augustina Rylands as an independent institution, is situated in a Victorian Gothic building on Deansgate, Manchester city centre. This site houses an important collection of historic books and other printed materials, manuscripts, including archives and papyriSony VGP-BPS13S battery(without CD). The papyri are in various ancient languages and include the oldest extant New Testament document, Rylands Library Papyrus P52, commonly known as the St John Fragment. In April 2007 the Deansgate site reopened to readers and the public, following major improvements and renovations, including the construction of the pitched roof originally intended and a new wing in SpinningfieldSony VGP-BPS13A/Q battery(without CD).
Manchester Museum
Main article: Manchester Museum
The entrance to the Manchester Museum
The Manchester Museum holds nearly 4.25 million[53] items sourced from many parts of the world. The collections include butterflies and carvings from India, birds and bark-cloth from the Pacific, live frogs and ancient pottery from America, fossils and native art from Australia, mammals and ancient Egyptian craftsmanship from Africa, plants, coins and minerals from Europe, art from past civilisations of the MediterraneanSony VGP-BPS13A/R battery(without CD), and beetles, armour and archery from Asia. In November 2004, the museum acquired a cast of a fossilised Tyrannosaurus rex called "Stan".
The history of the museum goes back to 1821, when the first collections were assembled by the Manchester Society of Natural History and later increased by those of the Manchester Geological Society. Due to the society's financial difficulties and on the advice of the great evolutionary biologist Thomas Huxley, Owens College accepted responsibility for the collections in 1867Sony VGP-BPS13AB battery(without CD). The college commissioned Alfred Waterhouse, the architect of London’s Natural History Museum, to design a museum building to house these collections for the benefit of students and the public on a new site in Oxford Road. The Manchester Museum was finally opened to the public in 1888.
Whitworth Art Gallery
Main article: Whitworth Art Gallery
The Whitworth Art GallerySony VGP-BPS13B battery(without CD)
The Whitworth Art Gallery is home to collections of internationally famous British watercolours, textiles and wallpapers, as well as of modern and historic prints, drawings, paintings and sculpture. It contains some 31,000 items in its collection. A programme of temporary exhibitions runs throughout the year, with the Mezzanine Court serving as a venue for showing sculpture. It was founded by Robert Darbishire with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1889Sony VGP-BPS13B/B battery(without CD), as The Whitworth Institute and Park. 70 years later in 1959 the gallery became officially part of the University of Manchester.[55] In October 1995 a Mezzanine Court in the centre of the building was opened. This new gallery, designed chiefly for the display of sculptures, won a RIBA regional awardSony VGP-BPL21 battery(without CD).
Rankings and reputation
According to The Sunday Times, "Manchester has a formidable reputation spanning most disciplines, but most notably in the life sciences, engineering, humanities, economics, sociology and the social sciences".[5]
The 2009 THE - QS World University Rankings found Manchester overall 26th in the world. It was also ranked by the same report 5th internationally by employer reviews Sony VGP-BPS21 battery(without CD) (along with MIT and Stanford and ahead of Yale and Cornell) by receiving a maximum 100% rating which the university has retained since 2008. The separate 2011 QS World University Rankings[66] found that Manchester had slipped to 29th overall in the world (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings) Sony VGP-BPS21A battery(without CD).
The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2011 published by the Institute of Higher Education of Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked Manchester 5th in the UK, 6th in Europe and 38th in the world. If US universities are excluded then the ARWU places Manchester as 10th in the world for 2011. According to the ARWU rankings for 2009 the university is 9th in Europe for natural sciences and 4th in engineeringSony VGP-BPS21B battery(without CD). Similarly the HEEACT 2009 rankings for scientific performance place Manchester 5th in Europe for engineering,[70] 8th for natural sciences and 3rd for social sciences. And finally THES ranks Manchester 6th in Europe for technology,[73] 10th for life sciences and 7th for social sciences.[75] More recently a survey by the Times Higher Education Supplement has shown that Manchester is placed 6th in Europe in the area of Psychology & Psychiatry. Sony VGP-BPS14/B Battery According to a further ranking by SCImago Research Group Manchester is ranked 5th in Europe amongst higher education institutions in terms of sheer research output for 2011.[77] In terms of research impact a further ranking places Manchester 6th in Europe.[78] Manchester is also one of only seven universities in Europe which are rated Excellent in all seven main academic departments (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, PsychologySony VGP-BPS14B Battery, Economics and Political Science) by the 2010 Centre for Higher Education's Development's Excellence Rankings. The Manchester Business School is currently ranked 29th worldwide (4th nationally) by the Financial Times. The latest THES rankings place Manchester 11th in Europe with respect to research volume, income and reputation[81] and 7th in the UKSony VGP-BPS14/S Battery.
According to the High Fliers Research Limited's survey, University of Manchester students are being targeted by more top recruiters for graduate vacancies than any other UK university students for three consecutive years (2007–2009). Furthermore the university has been ranked joint 20th in the world for 2009 according to the Professional Ranking of World Universities. Sony VGP-BPL14/B Battery Its main compilation criterion is the number of Chief Executive Officers (or number 1 executive equivalent) which are among the "500 leading worldwide companies" as measured by revenue who studied in each university. The ranking places the University only behind Oxford nationally. Manchester is ranked 5th among British universities according to a popularity ranking which is based on the degree of traffic that a university's website attractsSony VGP-BPL14 Battery. Also a further report places Manchester within the top 20 universities outside the US. Manchester was also given a prestigious award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts by the Times Higher Education Awards 2010.[87]
At a recent ranking undertaken by the Guardian, Manchester is placed 5th in the UK in international reputation behind the usual four: Oxbridge, UCL and Imperial.[88] Furthermore, according to the latest QS World University RankingsSony VGP-BPL14B Battery, Manchester is ranked 4th in Europe strictly in terms of both academic and employer reputation. However, while as a rule world rankings (such as the ARWU, THES and HEEACT[90]) typically place the university within the top 10 in Europe, national studies are less complimentary; The Times 'Good University Guide 2011’[91] ranked Manchester 30th out of 113 Universities in the UKSony VGP-BPL14/S Battery, ‘The Complete University Guide 2012' in association with The Independent placed it at 29th out of 116 universities[92] whilst ‘The Guardian University Guide 2012’ ranked Manchester at 41st out of 119 universities in the UK.[93] This apparent paradox is mainly a reflection of the different ranking methodologies employed by each listing: global rankings focus on research and international prestige, whereas national rankings are largely based on teaching and the student experienceSony VGP-BPS14 Battery.
Manchester University Press
Main article: Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is an academic publishing house which exists as part of the university. It publishes academic monographs as well as textbooks and journals, the majority of which are works from authors based elsewhere in the international academic community, and is the third largest university press in England after Oxford University Press and Cambridge University PressSony VGP-BPL15/B Battery.
Main article: University of Manchester Students' Union
The University of Manchester Students' Union (UMSU) is the representative body of students at the University of Manchester and is the UK's largest students' union. It was formed out of the merger between UMIST Students' Association (USA) and University of Manchester Union (UMU) when the parent organisations UMIST and the Victoria University of Manchester merged on 1 October 2004Sony VGP-BPS15/B Battery.
Unlike many other students' unions in the UK, it does not have a president, but is instead run by a 14 member executive team (eight full-time, six voluntary) who share joint responsibility.
Sport
The University's Boat Club is one of many Athletic Union Clubs that Manchester offers.[94]
Unlike some universities, the University of Manchester operates its own sports clubs via the Athletics Union. Student societies on the other hand are operated by the Students' UnionSony VGP-BPL15/S Battery.
Today the university can boast more than 80 health and fitness classes while over 3,000 students are members of the 44 various Athletic Union clubs. The sports societies in Manchester vary widely in their level and scope. Many of the more popular sports have several university teams as well as departmental teams which may be placed in a league against other teams within the university. Common teams includeSony VGP-BPS15/S Battery: lacrosse, korfball, dodgeball, hockey, rugby league, rugby union, football, basketball, netball and cricket. The Manchester Aquatics Centre, the swimming pool used for the Manchester Commonwealth Games is also on the campus.
The university competes annually in 28 different sports against Leeds and Liverpool universities in the Christie Cup, which Manchester has won for seven consecutive years. Sony VGP-BPS15 Battery The university has also achieved considerable success in the BUCS (British University & College Sports) competitions, with the mens water polo 1st team winning the national championships in both 2009 and 2010. It was positioned in eighth place in the overall BUCS rankings for 2009/10 The Christie Cup is an inter-university competition between Liverpool, Leeds and Manchester in numerous sports since 1886Sony VGP-BPS18 battery. After the Oxford and Cambridge rivalry, the Christie's Championships is the oldest Inter–University competition on the sporting calendar: the cup was a benefaction of Richard Copley Christie.
Every year elite sportsmen and sportswomen at the university are selected for membership of the XXI Club, a society that was formed in 1932 and exists to promote sporting excellence at the university. Most members have gained a Full Maroon for representing the university and many have excelled at a British Universities or National levelSony VGP-BPS22 Battery.
University Challenge
Since merging as the University of Manchester, the university has consistently reached the latter stages on the BBC2 quiz programme University Challenge. The team has progressed to the semi-finals every year of the competition since 2005.
In 2006, Manchester beat Trinity Hall, Cambridge, to record the university's first triumph in the competitionSony VPCEH13FX/B Battery. The year after, the university finished in second place after losing out to the University of Warwick in the final. In 2009, the team battled hard in the final against Corpus Christi College, Oxford. At the gong, the score was 275 - 190 to Corpus Christi College after an extraordinary performance from Gail Trimble. However, the title was eventually given to the University of Manchester after it was discovered that Corpus Christi team member Sam Kay had graduated eight months before the final was broadcastSony VPCEH13FX/L Battery, so that the team was disqualified.
Manchester reached the semi-finals in the 2010 competition before being beaten by Emmanuel College, Cambridge. The university did not enter the 2011 series for a unknown reason. However, Manchester did enter a year later and won University Challenge 2012.
Student housing
Ashburne Hall, a catered accommodation offered mainly to undergraduate students, though some places are reserved for postgraduate studentsSony VPCEH13FX/P Battery
Before they merged, the two former universities had for some time been sharing their residential facilities.
Main campus
Whitworth Park Halls of Residence
These halls are owned by the University of Manchester and house 1,085 students of that university. It is most notable for the unique triangular shape of the accommodation blocks which gave rise to the nickname of "Toblerones", after the chocolate barSony VPCEH13FX/W Battery.
The designer of these unique 'Toblerone' shaped buildings took his inspiration from the hill which has been there since 1962, when as a result of a nearby archaeological dig (led by John Gater) the hill was created from the excavated soil. A consequence of this triangular design was a much reduced cost for the contracted construction companySony VPCEH15EG/B Battery. Due to a deal struck between the University and Manchester City Council, which meant that the council would pay for the roofs of all student residential buildings in the area, Allan Pluen's team is believed to have saved thousands on the final cost of the halls. They were built in the mid 1970s.
It is also said by alumni, that the then University of Victoria got a grant for building the halls, and the then government would pay for the roof if they paid for the rest, hence they made very large roofs and not many bricksSony VPCEH1AJ Battery.
Dilworth House, one of the Whitworth Park halls of residence
The site of the halls was previously occupied by many small streets whose names have been preserved in the names given to the halls. Grove House is a much older building and has been used by the University for many different purposes over the last sixty years. Its first occupants in 1951 were the Appointments Board and the Manchester University Press.[99] The shops in Thorncliffe Place were part of the same plan and include banks and a convenience storeSony VPCEH1E1E Battery.
Notable people associated with the halls are Friedrich Engels whose residence on the site is commemorated by a blue plaque on Aberdeen House; the physicist Brian Cox; Irene Khan, Secretary general of Amnesty International; and Big Brother winner Omar Chaparro. Sackville StreetSony VPCEH1J1E Battery
The former UMIST Campus has five halls of residence near to Sackville Street building (Weston, Lambert, Fairfield, Chandos, and Wright Robinson), and several other halls within a 5-15 minute walk away, such as the Grosvenor group of halls.
Other accommodation
The former Moberly Tower has been demolished. There are also Vaughan House (once the home of the clergy serving the Church of the Holy Name)and George Kenyon Hall at University PlaceSony VPCEH1J8E Battery; Crawford House and Devonshire House adjacent to the Manchester Business School and Victoria Hall in Higher Cambridge Street.
[edit]Fallowfield and Victoria Park Campuses
The Fallowfield Campus, situated 2 miles (3.2 km) south of the main university campus (the Oxford Road Campus), is the largest of the university's residential campuses. The Owens Park group of halls with its landmark tower lies at the centre of it, while Oak House is another large hall of residence. Woolton Hall is also on the Fallowfield campus next to Oak HouseSony VPCEH1L0E BatterySony VPCEH1L8E Battery. Allen Hall is a traditional hall situated near Ashburne Hall (Sheavyn House being annexed to Ashburne). Richmond Park is also a relatively recent addition to the campus.
Victoria Park Campus, comprises several halls of residence. Among these are St Anselm Hall with Canterbury Court and Pankhurst Court, Dalton-Ellis Hall, Hulme Hall (including Burkhardt House), St Gabriel's Hall and Opal Gardens Hall. St Anselm Hall is the only all-male hall left in the United KingdomSony VPCEH1L9E Battery.
Main article: List of University of Manchester people
Many notable and famous people have worked or studied at one or both of the two former institutions that merged to form the University of Manchester, including 25 Nobel prize laureates. Some of the best-known include John Dalton (founder of modern atomic theory), Ludwig Wittgenstein (considered one of the most significant philosophers of the 20th century), George E. Davis (founder of the discipline of Chemical Engineering) Sony VPCEH1M1E Battery, Bernard Lovell (a pioneer of radio astronomy), Alan Turing (one of the founders of computer science and artificial intelligence), Tom Kilburn and Frederic Calland Williams (who developed Small-Scale Experimental Machine (SSEM) or "Baby", the world's first stored-program computer at Victoria University of Manchester in 1948), Irene Khan (current Secretary General of Amnesty International), the author Anthony Burgess and Robert Bolt Sony VPCEH1M9E Battery (two times Academy Award winner and three times Golden Globe winner for screenwriting Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago).
Additionally, a number of politicians are associated with the university, including the current Presidents of The Republic of Ireland, Belize, Iceland and Trinidad and Tobago, as well as several ministers among others in the United Kingdom, Malaysia, Canada and Singapore and also Chaim Weizmann, a chemist and the first President of IsraelSony VPCEH1S0E Battery. A number of well-known actors also studied at the University of Manchester, including Benedict Cumberbatch, leading actor in the BBC television drama Sherlock.
[edit]Nobel prize winners
Overall, there have been 25 Nobel Prizes awarded to staff and students past and present, with some of the most important discoveries of the modern age being made in Manchester.
Chemistry
Ernest Rutherford (awarded Nobel prize in 1908), for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements and the chemistry of radioactive substancesSony VPCEH1S1E Battery.
Arthur Harden (awarded Nobel prize in 1929), for investigations on the fermentation of sugar and fermentative enzymes.
Walter Haworth (awarded Nobel prize in 1937), for his investigations on carbohydrates and vitamin C.
George de Hevesy (awarded Nobel prize in 1943), for his work on the use of isotopes as tracers in the study of chemical processesSony VPCEH1S8E Battery.
Robert Robinson (awarded Nobel prize in 1947), for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids.
Alexander Todd (awarded Nobel prize in 1957), for his work on nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes.
Melvin Calvin (awarded Nobel prize in 1961), for his research on the carbon dioxide assimilation in plantsSony VPCEH1S9E Battery.
John Charles Polanyi (awarded Nobel prize in 1986), for his contributions concerning the dynamics of chemical elementary processes.
Michael Smith (awarded Nobel prize in 1993), for his fundamental contributions to the establishment of oligonucleotide-based, site-directed mutagenesis and its development for protein studiesSony VPCEH1Z1E Battery.
Physics
Joseph John (J. J.) Thomson (awarded Nobel prize in 1906), in recognition of his theoretical and experimental investigations on the conduction of electricity by gases.
William Lawrence Bragg (awarded Nobel prize in 1915), for his services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.
Niels Bohr (awarded Nobel prize in 1922), for his fundamental contributions to understanding atomic structure and quantum mechanicsSony VPCEH2C0E Battery.
Charles Thomson Rees (C. T. R.) Wilson (awarded Nobel prize in 1927), for his method of making the paths of electrically charged particles visible by condensation of vapour.
James Chadwick (awarded Nobel prize in 1935), for the discovery of the neutron.
Patrick M. Blackett (awarded Nobel prize in 1948), for developing cloud chamber and confirming/discovering positronSony VPCEH2D0E Battery.
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (awarded Nobel prize in 1951), for his pioneer work on the splitting of atomic nuclei by artificially accelerated atomic particles and also for his contribution to modern nuclear power.
Hans Bethe (awarded Nobel prize in 1967), for his contributions to the theory of nuclear reactions, especially his discoveries concerning the energy production in starsSony VPCEH2E0E Battery.
Nevill Francis Mott (awarded Nobel prize in 1977), for his fundamental theoretical investigations of the electronic structure of magnetic and disordered systems.
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (awarded Nobel prize in 2010), for groundbreaking experiments regarding the two-dimensional material graphene.[100]
Physiology and Medicine
Archibald Vivian Hill (awarded Nobel prize in 1922), for his discovery relating to the production of heat in muscle. One of the founders of the diverse disciplines of biophysics and operations researchSony VPCEH2F1E Battery.
Sir John Sulston (awarded Nobel prize in 2002), for his discoveries concerning 'genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death'. In 2007, Sulston was announced as Chair of the newly founded Institute for Science, Ethics and Innovation (iSEI) at the University of ManchesterSony VPCEH2H1E Battery.
Economics
John Hicks (awarded Nobel prize in 1972), for his pioneering contributions to general economic equilibrium theory and welfare theory.
Sir Arthur Lewis (awarded Nobel prize in 1979), for his pioneering research into economic development research with particular consideration of the problems of developing countries.
Joseph E. Stiglitz (awarded Nobel prize in 2001), for his analyses of markets with asymmetric informationSony VPCEH2J1E Battery. Currently, Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz heads the Brooks World Poverty Institute (BWPI) at the University of Manchester.
The University of Bristol (informally Bristol) is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom.[8] One of the British red brick universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876Sony VPCEH2L9E Battery.
Bristol has been named inside the global top 30 by the QS World University Ranking.[11] It has an average of 14 applicants for each undergraduate place, and average A-level attainment of successful entrants equivalent to four grade As.[citation needed] For the most popular courses, such as Economics and Law, the applicant to place ratio is 40:1. Sony VPCEH2M1E Battery The University had a total income of £408.8 million in 2010/11, of which £106.7 million was from research grants and contracts.[13] It is the largest independent employer in Bristol.[14]
Current academics include 18 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 10 Fellows of the British Academy, 13 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 31 Fellows of the Royal SocietySony VPCEH2M9E Battery.
Bristol is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities,[16] the European-wide Coimbra Group and the Worldwide Universities Network, of which the University's Vice-Chancellor Prof. Eric Thomas was Chairman from 2005 to 2007.
The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Venturers’ Technical College (founded as a school as early as 1595) Sony VPCEH2N1E Battery which became the Engineering faculty of Bristol University.[19] The University was also preceded by Bristol Medical School (1833) and University College, Bristol, founded in 1876,[10] where its first lecture was attended by only 99 students.[20] The University was able to apply for a Royal Charter due to the financial support of the Wills and Fry families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations and chocolate, respectivelySony VPCEH2P0E Battery. The Wills Family made a vast fortune from the tobacco industry and gave generously to the city and University. The Royal Charter was gained in May 1909, with 288 undergraduates and 400 other students entering the University in October 1909. Henry Overton Wills III became its first chancellor.[10] The University College was the first such institution in the country to admit women on the same basis as men.[10] However, women were forbidden to take examinations in medicine until 1906. Sony VPCEH2Q1E Battery
Historical development
Main article: History of the University of Bristol
Since the founding of the University itself in 1909, it has grown considerably and is now one of the largest employers in the local area, although it is smaller by student numbers than the nearby University of the West of England.[23] Bristol does not have a campus but is spread over a considerable geographic area. Most of its activitiesSony VPCEH2S9E Battery, however, are concentrated in the area of the city centre, referred to as the "University Precinct". It is a member of the Russell Group of research-led UK universities, the Coimbra Group of leading European universities and the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN).
The Wills Memorial Building (School of Earth Sciences) on Park Street, Bristol. The tower was cleaned in 2006–2007Sony VPCEH2Z1E Battery.
Most of the buildings here are used by the University. The Wills Memorial Building is left of centre. Viewed from the Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill
The Victoria Rooms. Comprising the world renowned School of Music.
The School of Medical Sciences
Royal Fort and the Physics department
The School of Geography
The Faculty of Engineering Queen's Building
Early years
After the founding of the University College in 1876, Government support began in 1889. After mergers with the Bristol Medical School in 1893 and the Merchant Venturers' Technical College in 1909, Sony VPCEH3B1E Battery this funding allowed the opening of a new Medical School and an Engineering School—two subjects that remain among the University's greatest strengths. In 1908, gifts from the Fry and Wills families, particularly £100,000 from Henry Overton Wills III (£6m in today's money), were provided to endow a University for Bristol and the West of England, provided that a Royal Charter could be obtained within two yearsSony VPCEH3D0E Battery. In December, 1909, the King granted such a Charter and erected the University of Bristol. Henry Wills became its first Chancellor and Conwy Lloyd Morgan the first Vice-Chancellor. Wills died in 1911 and in tribute his sons George and Harry built the Wills Memorial Building, starting in 1913 and finally finishing in 1925. Today, it houses parts of the academic provision for earth sciences and law, and graduation ceremonies are held in its Great HallSony VPCEH3N1E Battery. The Wills Memorial Building is a Grade II* listed building.
In 1920, George Wills bought the Victoria Rooms and endowed them to the University as a Students' Union. The building now houses the Department of Music and is a Grade II* listed building.
At the point of foundation, the University was required to provide for the local community. This mission was behind the creation of the Department of Extra-Mural Adult Education in 1924 to provide courses to the local communitySony VPCEH3N6E Battery. This mission continues today; a new admissions policy specifically caters to the 'BS' postcode area of Bristol.[29]
Among the famous names associated with Bristol in this early period is Paul Dirac, who graduated in 1921 with a degree in engineering, before obtaining a second degree in mathematics in 1923 from Cambridge. For his subsequent pioneering work on quantum mechanics, he was awarded the 1933 Nobel Prize for Physics. Later in the 1920sSony VPCEH3T9E Battery, the H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory was opened by Ernest Rutherford. It has since housed several Nobel Prize winners: Cecil Frank Powell (1950); Hans Albrecht Bethe (1967); and Sir Nevill Francis Mott (1977). The Laboratory stands on the same site today, close to the Bristol Grammar School and the city museumSony VPCEJ1E1E Battery.
Sir Winston Churchill became the University's third Chancellor in 1929, serving the University in that capacity until 1965. He succeeded Richard Haldane who had held the office from 1912 following the death of Henry Wills.
During World War II, the Wills Memorial was bombed, destroying the Great Hall and the organ it housed. It has since been restored to its former glory, complete with oak panelled walls and a new organSony VPCEJ1J1E Battery.
Post-war development
In 1946, the University established the first drama department in the country.[10] In the same year, Bristol began offering special entrance exams and grants to aid the resettlement of servicemen returning home. Student numbers continued to increase, and the Faculty of Engineering eventually needed the new premises that were to become Queen's Building in 1955Sony VPCEJ1L1E Battery. This substantial building housed all of the University's engineers until 1996, when Electrical Engineering and Computer Science moved over the road into the new Merchant Venturers' Building to make space for these rapidly expanding fields. Today, Queen's Building caters for most of the teaching needs of the Faculty and provides academic space for the "heavy" engineering subjects (civil, mechanical, and aeronautical) Sony VPCEJ1M1E Battery.
With unprecedented growth in the 1960s, particularly in undergraduate numbers, the Student's Union eventually acquired larger premises in a new building in the Clifton area of the city, in 1965. This building was more spacious than the Victoria Rooms, which were now given over to the Department of Music. The new Union provides many practice and performance rooms, some specialist rooms, as well as three barsSony VPCEJ1S1E Battery: Bar 100; the Mandela (also known as AR2) and the Avon Gorge. Whilst spacious, the Union building is thought by many to be ugly and out of character compared to the architecture of the rest of the Clifton area, having been mentioned in a BBC poll to find the worst architectural eyesores in Britain. The University has proposed relocating the Union to a more central location as part of its development 'masterplan'. Sony VPCEJ1Z1E Battery More recently, plans for redevelopment of the current building have been proposed.
The 1960s were a time of considerable student activism in the United Kingdom, and Bristol was no exception. In 1968, many students marched in support of the Anderson Report, which called for higher student grants. This discontent culminated in an 11-day sit-in at the Senate House (the administrative headquarters of the University) Sony VPCEJ25FG/B Battery. A series of Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors led the University through these decades, with Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort taking over from Churchill as Chancellor in 1965 before being succeeded by Dorothy Hodgkin in 1970 who spent the next 18 years in the office.
As the age of mass higher education dawned, Bristol continued to build its student numbers. The various undergraduate residences were repeatedly expanded and, more recentlySony VPCEJ2B1E Battery, some postgraduate residences have been constructed. These more recent ventures have been funded (and are run) by external companies in agreement with the University.
Since 1988, there have been only two further Chancellors: Sir Jeremy Morse, then chairman of Lloyds Bank who handed over in 2003 to Brenda Hale, the first female Law Lord.
One of the few Centres for Deaf Studies in the United Kingdom was established in Bristol in 1981, followed in 1988 by the Norah Fry Centre for research into learning difficultiesSony VPCEJ2D1E Battery. Also in 1988, and again in 2004,[39] the Students' Union AGM voted to disaffiliate from the National Union of Students (NUS). On both occasions, however, the subsequent referendum of all students reversed that decision and Bristol remains affiliated to the NUS.
In 2002, the University was involved in argument over press intrusion after details of the son of then-Prime Minister Tony Blair's application to university were published in national newspapers.
As the number of postgraduate students has grown Sony VPCEJ2E1E Battery (particularly the numbers pursuing taught Master's Degrees), there eventually became a need for separate representation on University bodies and the Postgraduate Union (PGU) was established in 2000.[40][dead link] Universities are increasingly expected to exploit the intellectual property generated by their research activities and, in 2000, Bristol established the Research and Enterprise Division (RED) to further this cause (particularly for technology-based businesses) Sony VPCEJ2J1E Battery. In 2001, the university signed a 25-year research funding deal with IP2IPO, an intellectual property commercialisation company.[41] In 2007, research activities were expanded further with the opening of the Advanced Composites Centre for Innovation and Science (ACCIS) and The Bristol Institute for Public Affairs (BIPA).
In 2002, the University opened a new Centre for Sports, Exercise and Health in the heart of the University precinct. At a cost, local residents are also able to use the facilities. Sony VPCEJ2L1E Battery
Expansion of teaching and research activities continues. In 2004, the Faculty of Engineering completed work on the Bristol Laboratory for Advanced Dynamics Engineering (BLADE). This £18.5m project[44][dead link] provides cutting-edge technology to further the study of dynamics and is the most advanced such facility in Europe. It was built as an extension to the Queen's Building and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in March 2005Sony VPCEJ2S1E Battery.
In January, 2005, The School of Chemistry was awarded £4.5m by the Higher Education Funding Council for England to create Bristol ChemLabS: a Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL), with an additional £350k announced for the capital part of the project in February, 2006. Bristol ChemLabS stands for Bristol Chemical Laboratory Sciences; it is the only Chemistry CETL in the UKSony VPCEJ2Z1E Battery.
September 2009 saw the opening of the University's Centre for Nanoscience and Quantum Information. This £11 million state of the art building is dubbed as the quietest building in the world and has other technologically sophisticated features such as self-cleaning glass. Advanced research into quantum computing, nanotechnology, materials and other disciplines are being undertaken in the buildingSony VPCEJ3T1E Battery.
There is also a plan to significantly redevelop the centre of the University Precinct in the coming years. The first step began in September 2011, with the start of construction of a state-of-the-art Life Sciences building. In a time of heavy financial pressures on all Universities, this £50 million project is a clear statement that Bristol is committed to world class research and teaching facilitiesSony VPCEJM1E Battery.
2003 admissions controversy
Main article: University of Bristol admissions controversy
The University has been regarded as being elitist by some commentators,[49] taking 41% of its undergraduate students from non-state schools, according to the most recent 2009/2010 figures, despite the fact that such pupils make up just 7% of the population and 18% of 16+ year old pupils across the UK. The high ratio of undergraduates from non-state school has led to some tension at the universitySony VPCEL1E1E Battery. In late February and early March 2003, Bristol became embroiled in a row about admissions policies, with some private schools threatening a boycott based on their claims that, in an effort to improve equality of access, the University was discriminating against their students. These claims were hotly denied by the University. In August, 2005, following a large-scale surveySony VPCEL2S1E Battery, the Independent Schools Council publicly acknowledged that there was no evidence of bias against applicants from the schools it represented. The University has a new admissions policy, which lays out in considerable detail the basis on which any greater or lesser weight may be given to particular parts of an applicant's backgrounds—in particular, what account may be taken of which school the applicant hails fromSony VPCEL3S1E Battery. This new policy also encourages greater participation from locally resident applicants.
Campus
The Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building, here used for an award ceremony for the Queen Elizabeth's Hospital.
Some of the University of Bristol's buildings date to its pre-charter days when it was University College Bristol. These buildings were designed by Charles Hansom, the younger brother of Joseph Hansom, Joseph being the inventor of the Hansom CabSony VPCS11V9E/B Battery. These buildings suffered being built in stages due to financial pressure. George Oatley added to them a tower in memory of Albert Fry which can still be seen on University Road. The first large scale building project the University of Bristol undertook on gaining a charter was the Wills Memorial Building which it was hoped would be a symbol of academic permanence for the University and a memorial to the chief benefactor of the University Henry Overton WillsSony VPCF115FG/B Battery. It was requested to the architect George Oatley that the building be built to last at least 400 years but the site purchased, at the top of Park Street suffered from an awkward slope and a desirability to link the building with the Museum and Art Gallery situated adjacent to the plot. The architecture critic Roger Gill has stated that the building is "remarkable in size" but noted that the "ambience of a medieval University was strangely lacking"Sony VPCF117HG/BI Battery. He goes on to criticise the building as a "sham" and a "folly".[56] The armorials on the Founder's Window represent all of the interests present at the founding of the University of Bristol including the Wills and Fry families. The Tyndalls Park Estate and Royal Fort House were also purchased from the trustees of the Tyndall family allowing the University to expandSony VPCF119FC Battery. Many Departments in the Faculty of Arts are housed in large Victorian houses which have been converted for teaching.
Goldney gardens entered the property of the University of Bristol through George Wills who had hoped to build an all male hall of residence there. This was prevented due to the moral objection of the then warden of Clifton Hall House who objected to the idea of male and female residences being in such close proximitySony VPCF11JFX/B Battery. University records show that Miss Starvey was prepared to resign over the issue and that she had the support of the then Chancellor Conwy Lloyd Morgan.[58] Eventually land was purchased in Stoke Bishop allowing Wills Hall to be bought, allowing the building of what has been described as a "quasi-Oxbridge" hall, to which was added the Dame Monica Wills Chapel added by George Wills' widow after his deathSony VPCF11M1E Battery.
The Gardens of Goldney Hall were acquired by the Wills family
Burwalls, a mansion house on the other side of the Avon Gorge, was used as a halls of residence in the past and was a home of Sir George Oatley. The building is now used to house the Centre for Continuing Education.[59]
Many of the more modern buildings, including Senate House and the newer parts of the HH Wills Physics LaboratorySony VPCF11M1E/H Battery, were designed by Raplh Brentnall after funds from the University Grants Committee. He is also responsible for the extension to the Wills Memorial Building library which was completed to such standard that few now realise that is an extension to the original building.[60] Brentnall oversaw the rebuilding of the Great Hall of the Wills Memorial Building after it was partly destroyed during the Bristol Blitz of World War IISony VPCF11S1E Battery. The buildings of St Michael's Hill were rebuilt using hundreds of old photographs in order to recreate the original houses. The flats at Goldney Hall were designed by Michael Grice and received an award from the Civic Trust for their design.[61] Bristol University owns some of the best examples of Georgian architecture in the city, the best examples being Royal Fort House, Clifton Hill House and Goldney Hall despite some additions. Sony VPCF11Z1E Battery The Victoria Rooms which house the Music Department were designed by Charles Dyer and is seen as a good example of a Greek revival movement in British architecture. The tympanum of the building depicts a scene from The Advent of Morning designed by Jabez Tyley. Its major feature was a large organ which has since been destroyed by fireSony VPCY119FJ Battery.
Academic reputation
Bristol is known for academics, excellent facilities, and a desirable location. League tables usually place Bristol within the top ten universities in the United Kingdom and it attracts many academically gifted students. For example, the 21 July 2011 edition of Times Higher Education reported that Bristol was fifth in a UK league table for the highest proportion of students with A-level grades AAB or better. Sony VPCY11AFJ Battery Internationally, the 2011 QS World University Rankings[64] placed Bristol at 30th overall in the world, moving up three places from its position in the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings parted ways to produce separate rankings). The rankings also placed Bristol at 15th in the world in terms of reputation with employers, placing higher than several American Ivy League universitiesSony VPCY11AGJ Battery, including Princeton University, Cornell and UPenn.[65] Another international ranking, the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Academic Ranking of World Universities, placed Bristol 70th globally in 2011 [66] The Times Higher Education World University Ranking placed Bristol at 66th in 2011.[67] According to data published in The Telegraph Bristol has the third-highest percentage of 'good honours' of any UK university, behind Oxford and Cambridge. Sony VPCY11AHJ Battery In the 2010 Centre for Higher Education's Development's Excellence Rankings, Bristol is one of only four UK Universities (Oxford, UCL and Manchester) to be rated Excellent in all seven departments.[69]
However Bristol gained some of the lowest scores for student satisfaction in the 2008 National Student Survey and The Daily Telegraph have reported of student complaints about teaching qualitySony VPCY11M1E Battery. This has led to the recent deterioration in the University's rankings in the UK league tables, although it still ranks highly in international league tables.
The following courses offered by University of Bristol, managed to reach top 5 in the Times ranking (2008): Computer Science(3rd); Electrical and Electronic Engineering(3rd); Civil Engineering(5th); Biological Sciences(3rd); Mathematics (3rd); and Psychology (4th) Sony VPCY11S1E Battery. Furthermore, the QS World University Rankings place Bristol in the world's top 100 universities for all subject areas in 2011: Arts and Humanities (57th), Natural Sciences (40th), Engineering & IT (83rd), Social Sciences (65th) and Life Sciences (70th).[72] A further breakdown of the QS World University Natural Sciences Ranking shows the following: Earth Sciences (25th),[73] Mathematics (35th), Environmental Sciences (39th), Physics (41st),[76] and Chemistry (48th) Sony VPCY11V9E Battery.
In addition, Bristol is particularly strong in the field of social sciences, particularly in Economics, Finance and Management, and was recently rated 4th in the 2008 Guardian University Guide for Business and Management Studies.[78]
In 2011, The Guardian also ranked Bristol as 3rd in the UK for Geography, just behind 2nd place Oxford[79] and ranked Bristol as 1st in the UK for Music. Sony VPCY11V9E/S Battery
Bristol is also known for its research strength, having 15 departments gaining the top grade of 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Overall, 36 out of 46 departments rated gained the top two ratings of 5 or 5*, and 76% of all the academic staff working in departments scored these top two levels.[81][82] In terms of teaching strength, Bristol had an average Teaching Quality Assessment score of 22.05/24 before the TQA was abolished.[83] For admission in October 2010Sony VPCY218EC/BI Battery, Bristol reported an average of 10.2 applications per place with the average A-level score on admission being 478.5.[84] Bristol's drop-out rate is also lower than the benchmark set by HEFCE of no more than 3.1%.
Degrees
Bristol awards a range of academic degrees spanning bachelor's and master's degrees as well as junior doctorates and higher doctorates. The postnominals awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among British universitiesSony VPCY21S1E/L Battery. The University is part of the Engineering Doctorate scheme,[133] and awards the Eng. D. in systems engineering, engineering management, aerospace engineering and non-destructive evaluation.[134]
Bristol notably does not award by title any Bachelor's degrees in music, which is available for study but awarded B.A. (although it does award M.Mus. and D.Mus.), nor any degree in divinity, since divinity is not available for study (students of theology are awarded a B.A.) Sony VPCY21S1E/P Battery. Similarly, the University does not award B.Litt. (Bachelor of Letters), although it does award both M.Litt. and D.Litt. In regulations, the University does not name M.D. or D.D.S. as higher doctorates, although they are in many universities.[135] as these degrees are normally accredited professional doctoratesSony VPCY21S1E/SI Battery.
The degrees of D.Litt., D.Sc., D.Eng., LL.D. and D.Mus., whilst having regulations specifying the grounds for award,[136] are most often conferred as honorary degrees (in honoris causa). Those used most commonly are the D.Litt., D.Sc. and LL.D., with the M.A. (and occasionally the M.Litt.) also sometimes conferred honorarily for distinction in the local area or within the UniversitySony VPCYA15EC/B Battery.
Governance
Main article: Governance of the University of Bristol
In common with most UK universities, Bristol is headed formally by the Chancellor, currently Baroness Hale of Richmond and led on a day-to-day basis by the Vice-Chancellor, currently Prof Eric Thomas, who is the academic leader and chief executive. There are two Pro Vice-Chancellors and three ceremonial Pro-ChancellorsSony VPCYA15EC/R Battery. The Chancellor may hold office for up to ten years and the Pro-Chancellors for up to three, unless the University Court determines otherwise, but the Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellors have no term limits. The Vice Chancellor is supported by a Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Responsibility for running the University is held at an executive level by the Vice-Chancellor, but the Council is the only body that can recommend changes to the University's statutes and Charter,[143] with the exception of academic ordinancesSONY VGN-FZ11E battery. These can only be made with the consent of the Senate, the chief academic body in the University which also holds responsibility for teaching and learning, examinations and research and enterprise.[143][144] The Chancellor and Pro Chancellors are nominated by Council and appointed formally by Court, whose additional powers are now limited to these appointments and a few others, including some lay members of CouncilSONY VGN-FZ11L battery. Finally, Convocation, the body of all staff, ceremonial officers and graduates of the University, returns 100 members to Court and one member to Council,[138] but is otherwise principally a forum for discussion and to ensure graduates stay in touch with the University.
The University of Bristol Union building
Main article: University of Bristol Union
The University has a Students' Union, the University of Bristol Union, which claims to have the largest Students' Union building in the country. From this location, the student radio station BURST (Bristol University Radio Station) SONY VGN-FZ11M battery broadcasts and the student paper Epigram has its office. In terms of student life, the Union is responsible for the organisation of the annual freshers' fair, the coordination of Bristol Student Community Action, which organises volunteering projects in the local community, and the organisation of entertainment events and student societies. Bristol Improv are a society which regularly performs improvisational comedy for students and locals alike in a number of free shows every monthSONY VGN-FZ11S battery. Previous presidents have included Sue Lawley and former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik. There is a separate union for postgraduate students, as well as an athletic union, which is a member of the British Universities & Colleges Sport. In distinction to the 'blues' awarded for sporting excellence at Oxford and Cambridge, Bristol's outstanding athletes are awarded 'reds'SONY VGN-FZ11Z battery.
Halls of residence
Main article: Halls of residence at the University of Bristol
Wills Hall
Accommodation for students is primarily in the central precinct of the University and two areas of Bristol: Clifton and Stoke Bishop.[150] In Stoke Bishop, Wills Hall on the edge of the Clifton Downs was the first to be opened, in 1929, by then-Chancellor Winston Churchill. Its original quadrangle layout has been expanded twice, in 1962 and 1990.[150] Churchill Hall, named for the ChancellorSONY VGN-FZ130E/B battery, followed in 1956, then Badock Hall in 1964. At the time of Badock Hall's establishment, some of the buildings were called Hiatt Baker Hall, but two years later, Hiatt Baker moved to its own site and is now the largest hall in the University. The first self-catering hall in Stoke Bishop was University Hall, established in 1971 with expansion in 1992. The University's newest undergraduate residence, Durdham Hall, was opened in Stoke Bishop in 1994SONY VGN-FZ130E battery. All of the main halls elect groups of students to the Junior Common Room to organise the halls social calendar for the next year.
Goldney Hall
In Clifton, Goldney Hall was built first in the early 18th century by a wealthy merchant family of the same surname and eventually became part of the University in 1956. It is a popular location for filming, with The Chronicles of Narnia, The House of Eliott and Truly, Madly, Deeply, as well as episodes of Only Fools and Horses and Casualty, being filmed there. SONY VGN-FZ150E battery The Grotto in the grounds is a Grade I listed building.[155] Clifton Hill House is another Grade I listed building now used as student accommodation in Clifton. The original building was constructed between 1745 and 1750 by Isaac Ware, and has been used by the University since its earliest days in 1909. Manor Hall comprises five separate buildings, the principal of which was erected from 1927–1932 to the design of George Oatley following a donation from Henry Herbert WillsSONY VGN-FZ15G battery.
Clifton Hill House
One of its annexes, Manor House, has recently been refurbished and officially 'reopened' in 1999. Goldney Hall has beautiful gardens and modern accommodation complexes. Clifton Hill House has more dated facilities, but as with all the Clifton residences also possesses attractive gardens. Manor Hall houses the largest and most dated rooms, some dating back to the early 20th centurySONY VGN-FZ15L battery. The hall's gardens are breathtakingly attractive, and complement what is a historically beautiful hall.
On the central precinct sits The Hawthorns, a student house accommodating 115 undergraduate students.[158] The house started life as a collection of villas built somewhere between 1888 and 1924[159] that were later converted, bit by bit, into a hotel by John Dingle.[160] The Hawthorns also houses conferencing facilities, the staff refectory and barSONY VGN-FZ15M battery, the Accommodation Office and the Student Houses Office. Several of the residences in the central precinct are more recent and have been built and are managed by third-party organisations under exclusivity arrangements with the University. These include Unite House and Chantry Court, opened in 2000 and 2003 respectively by the UNITE Group, as well as Dean's Court (2001, postgraduates only) and Woodland Court (2005), both run by the Dominion Housing GroupSONY VGN-FZ15S battery.
Symbols
In common with other universities in the United Kingdom, Bristol uses its particular pattern of academic dress as well its logo and coat of arms to represent itself.
[edit]Academic dress
Main article: Academic dress of the University of Bristol
The University specifies a mix of Cambridge and Oxford academic dress. For the most part, it uses Oxford-style gowns and Cambridge-style hoods, which are required to be 'University red' (see the logo at the top of the page) SONY VGN-FZ15T battery
Logo and arms
The University coat of arms
In 2004, the University unveiled its new logo. The icons in the logo are the sun for the Wills family, the dolphin for Colston, the horse for Fry and the ship-and-castle from the mediaeval seal of the City of Bristol, as also used in the coat of arms. The shape of the whole logo represents the open book of learning.[7] This logo has replaced the University arms shown, but the arms continue to be used where there is a specific historical or ceremonial requirementSONY VGN-FZ17 battery. The arms comprise:
argent on a cross quadrate gules the arms of the City of Bristol between in pale and a sun in splendour (for Wills) and an open book proper, leaved and clasped or, and inscribed with the words Nisi quia Dominus, and in fesse to the sinister a dolphin embowed (for Colston), and to the dexter a horse courant (for Fry), both of the thirdSONY VGN-FZ17G battery.
The inscription on the book is the Latin opening of the 124th Psalm, "If the Lord Himself had not (been on our side...)".
Notable people
Bristol is associated with 11 Nobel Laureates, and current academics include 18 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 10 Fellows of the British Academy, 13 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 31 Fellows of the Royal SocietySONY VGN-FZ17L battery.
Sir Michael Berry, knighted in 1996, one of the discoverers of quantum mechanics' 'geometric phase'
John Rarity who, in 2001, set a then world-record 1.9 km range for free-space secure key exchange using quantum cryptography
David May, founder of XMOS and lead architect for the transputer
Mark Horton, a British maritime and historical archaeologist and one of the presenters of the BBC's Coast television seriesSONY VGN-FZ18 battery
Patricia Broadfoot, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gloucestershire, and Nigel Thrift, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick both were previously faculty at Bristol. Anthony Epstein, co-discoverer of the Epstein-Barr virus, was Professor of Pathology at the University from 1968–1982. Historical academics include Sir John Lennard-Jones, discoverer of the Lennard-Jones potential in physics and Alfred MarshallSONY VGN-FZ180E battery, one of the University College's Principals and influential economist in the latter part of the 19th century.[176] Rohit Parikh lectured in the mathematics department from 1965 to 1967, as did Brian Rotman for twenty years.
University of Bristol is associated with 2 Ig Nobel Prizes. Sir Michael Berry shared the award (with Andre Geim, a Nobel Laureate) for using magnets to levitate a frog. Professor Gareth Jones also shared an Ig Nobel prize for scientifically documenting fellatio in fruit batsSONY VGN-FZ18E battery.
Alumni
Main article: Alumni of the University of Bristol
Notable alumni of the University of Bristol include writers Dick King-Smith, Angela Carter and David Nicholls, author of the novel Starter for Ten, turned into a screenplay set in the University of Bristol. Other high-profile former students include BBC News' Chief Political Correspondent James Landale (who founded the Bristol University independent newspaper, Epigram) SONY VGN-FZ18G battery, editor-in-chief of the Telegraph Media Group William Lewis (journalist), illusionist Derren Brown, author of business books Mark Simmons (author), Global Economist Robert Barro, author, commentator and Executive Vice Chair of the Work Foundation Will Hutton, Serial award winning entrepreneur Mike Bennett (businessman) of digital agency E3 Media (digital agency) SONY VGN-FZ18M battery, former IMF Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Prince of Monaco Albert II, TV newsreader Alastair Stewart, as well as musician James Blunt. Radio 4 presenter Sue Lawley was also a student there, whilst former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Öpik was President of Bristol University Students' Union during his time there.
The University also has a comedy pedigree. Little Britain stars Matt Lucas and David Walliams, SONY VGN-FZ18S battery attended the university, as did Simon Pegg (of Hot Fuzz fame), Chris Morris, creator of the controversial Brass Eye and Jon Richardson. Other comedy stars include Laura Crane-Brewer of The Office fame and Chris Langham, of The Thick of It fame, standup comic Marcus Brigstocke, and Radio 4 favourite Danny Robbins. More recently, Bristol students established a satirical newspaper, The Tart, SONY VGN-FZ18T battery which received national press attention.
Notable alumni from the Film and Television Production department include film directors Mick Jackson, Michael Winterbottom, Marc Evans, Christopher Smith, Alex Cox and Peter Webber amongst many others.
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