University of Edinburgh

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University of Edinburgh

Latin: Universitas Academica Edinburgensis
Established	1582
Type	Public
Endowment	£201 million^[1]
Rector	Mark Ballard MSP
Chancellor	HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Timothy O'Shea
Principal	Professor Timothy O'Shea
Staff	7,700^[2]
Students	24,500
Undergraduates	18,300^[3]
Postgraduates	6,200^[3]
Location	Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom (55°56′50.6″N, 3°11′13.9″W)
Address	Old College, South Bridge, Edinburgh, EH8 9YL, UK
Telephone	+44 131 650 1000
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	Russell Group, Coimbra Group, LERU, Universitas 21
Website	www.ed.ac.uk

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1582,^[4] is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was the sixth university to be established in the British Isles, making it one of the ancient universities of Scotland and is amongst the largest and most prestigious in the United Kingdom.^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8]

1 History
2 Reputation
3 Endowment
4 Affiliations
5 Colleges and Schools
6 Miscellaneous
7 Location
8 Alumni and faculty
9 Student organizations
- 9.1 Societies
- 9.2 Media
10 Gallery
11 See also
12 Footnotes
13 External links

[edit] History

Main article: History of Edinburgh University

The founding of the University is attributed to Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, who left the funds on his death in 1558 that ultimately provided the University's endowment. The University was established by a Royal Charter granted by James VI in 1582, becoming the fourth Scottish university at a time when the much more populous and prosperous England had only two.

By the 18th century Edinburgh was a leading centre of the European Enlightenment and became one of the continent's principal universities.

Students at the university are represented by Edinburgh University Students' Association (EUSA), which consists of the Students' Representative Council (SRC), founded in 1884 by Robert Fitzroy Bell, and Edinburgh University Union (EUU) which was founded in 1889.

In 2002 the University was re-organised from its 9 faculties into three ‘Colleges’, and is now comprised of the Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Science and Engineering (CSE), and Medicine and Veterinary Medicine (MVM). Within these Colleges are 21 ‘Schools’, which are of roughly equal sizes, generally significantly larger than the more-numerous departments they replaced.

[edit] Reputation

The University's Robert Adam-designed Old College building, home of its Law School

The 2006 Times Higher Education Supplement [THES] World University Rankings ranked the University of Edinburgh as follows:

6th in the UK
8th in Europe overall
joint 33rd in the world overall (with University of Hong Kong)
13th in the world for arts and humanities
14th in the world for biomedicine
38th in the world for science

The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2006 [ARWU] ranked the University of Edinburgh as follows:

6th in the UK
11th in Europe
52nd in the world

The Times Good University Guide 2007 has ranked the University of Edinburgh as the eleventh best university in the UK. In 2005, the University was the Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year.

In 2006 Newsweek ranked the University of Edinburgh 6th in the UK, 11th in Europe and 47th in the World.

[edit] Endowment

The university has the third largest financial endowment among UK universities at £201m and the third largest endowment per student, according to the Sutton Trust (2002). The university has an annual turnover of more than £400m

[edit] Affiliations

The University of Edinburgh is a member of the Russell Group of large, research-led British universities. It is also the only Scottish university (and the only British university apart from Oxford and Cambridge) to be a member of both the Coimbra Group and the LERU: two associations of leading European universities. The University is a member of Universitas 21, an international association of research-driven universities.

[edit] Colleges and Schools

The coat of arms of the University of Edinburgh, displayed on St Leonard's Land

[edit] The College of Humanities & Social Science

School of Arts, Culture and Environment
School of Divinity
School of Health in Social Science
School of History and Classics
School of Law
School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
Management School and Economics
School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences
School of Social and Political Studies
Moray House School of Education

[edit] College of Medicine & Veterinary Medicine

School of Biomedical Sciences
School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health
School of Molecular and Clinical Medicine
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies

[edit] College of Science & Engineering

[edit] Miscellaneous

Queen's University, a Canadian university founded in 1841, was modelled after the University of Edinburgh, and continues to display strong Scottish roots and traditions today.

McGill University, another Canadian university, founded in 1821, has strong Edinburgh roots and links to the University of Edinburgh as McGill's first (and, for several years, its only)faculty, Medicine, was founded by four physicians/surgeons who had trained in Edinburgh.

The University of Pennsylvania has long-standing historical links with the University of Edinburgh, including modelling UPenn's School of Medicine after Edinburgh's.

[edit] Location

Edinburgh is considered by some as one of the greenest and most architecturally beautiful cities in Europe often referred to as the "Athens of the North". The University plays an integral role in the city, contributing to its vibrant atmosphere.

With the expansion in topics of study the university has expanded its campuses such that it now has seven main sites:

The Central Area including George Square, the Informatics Forum, Old College, and surrounding streets in Edinburgh's Southside, is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the college of humantities and social science, and the schools of informatics and law, as well as the main university library. The Appleton Tower is also used for teaching first year undergraduates in science and engineering. Nearby are the main EUSA buildings of Potterrow, Teviot Row House and the Pleasance Societies Centre. Old residents of George Square include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. A number of these buildings are used to host events during the Edinburgh International Festival every summer.
The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at Summerhall, at the East end of The Meadows. This houses Veterinary Medicine.
Moray House School of Education just off the Royal Mile, used to be the Moray House Institute for Education until this merged with the University in August 1998. The University has since extended Moray House's Holyrood site to include a redeveloped and extended major building housing Sports Science, Physical Education and Leisure Management facilities adjacent to its own Sports Institute in the Pleasance.
Pollock Halls, adjoining Holyrood Park to the east, provides accommodation (mainly half board) for a minority of students in their first year. The majority is provided by Self-catered flats. Two of the older houses in Pollock Halls were demolished in 2002 and a new building has been built in their place, leaving a total of ten buildings. Most other students in the city live in private flats in the Marchmont, Newington, Bruntsfield, New Town and Leith areas, although some university-owned flats are also available there.
New College, on the Mound, which houses the School of Divinity parts of which are also used by the Church of Scotland.
The King's Buildings, further south, houses most of the Science and Engineering schools including a Biology School that is a world leader in genetics. The Scottish Agricultural College (SAC) and British Geological Survey (BGS) also have a presence on campus.
The Chancellor's Building was opened on 12th August 2002 by The Duke of Edinburgh and houses the new £40 million Medical School at the New Royal Infirmary in Little France. It was a joint project between private finance, the local authorities and the University to create a large modern hospital, veterinary clinic and research institute and thus the University is currently (2003) in the process of moving its Veterinary and Medical Faculties there (and quite possibly also the School of Nursing). It has two large lecture theatres and a medical library. It is connected to the new Edinburgh Royal Infirmary by a series of corridors.

[edit] Alumni and faculty

Main article: Alumni of the University of Edinburgh

There have been many notable alumni and faculty of the university, including Gordon Brown, Alexander Graham Bell, Charles Darwin, Arthur Conan Doyle, David Hume, James Clerk Maxwell, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Michael Atiyah and Ian Wilmut.

At graduation ceremonies, the Vice-Chancellor caps graduates with the Geneva Bonnet, a hat which legend says was originally made from cloth taken from the breeches of John Knox or George Buchanan. The hat was last restored in 2000, when a note from 1849 was discovered in the fabric.^[9]^[10] In 2006, a University emblem taken into space by Piers Sellers was incorporated into the Geneva Bonnet.^[11]

[edit] Student organizations

[edit] Societies

Students at the university form various voluntary societies for academic, social, political, religious and other reasons. Many of these are affiliated with the Students' Association.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

[edit] Media

Newspapers:

Edinburgh Student Newspaper is a weekly Scottish independent newspaper produced by students at the University of Edinburgh. Founded in 1887 by author Robert Louis Stevenson, it is the oldest student newspaper in the United Kingdom and currently holds the title of Best Student Newspaper in Scotland, awarded by the Herald Student Press Awards in 2006.

[edit] Gallery

Old College	Old College dome	The east façade of the Old College, before the dome was added in 1887	Detail of the façade to the courtyard of the Old College
Students' Union - Teviot Row House	Teviot Row House, seen here as a Gilded Balloon venue during the Edinburgh Fringe	Appleton Tower, currently under renovation	Pollock Halls of Residence
Pollock Halls of Residence	Pollock Halls of Residence	John Playfair	David Hume statue