The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a British 'red brick' university located in the city of Birmingham, England. Founded in Edgbaston in 1900 as a successor to Mason Science College, and with origins dating back to the 1825 Birmingham Medical School, it was the first of the so-called 'red brick' universities to receive a Royal Charter and thus official university status.
It is a member of the Russell Group of research universities and a founding member of Universitas 21. The student population includes 18,500 undergraduate and just over 8,000 postgraduate students, making it the largest university in the West Midlands region. In 2006-07, it was the fourth most popular English university by number of applications. In the same year the annual income of the university was £389m, with an expenditure of £372m.
The university is ranked 12th in Europe and 75th in the world in the 2008 Times Higher Education Suppliment QS World University Rankings. It is ranked 11th in the UK and 30th in Europe in the 2008 Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Guardian University Guide describes it as "Large, prestigious, and rather grand".
History
The earliest beginnings of the university can be traced back to the Birmingham Medical School which began life through the work of William Sands Cox in his aim of a medical school along strictly Christian lines, unlike the London medical schools. The medical school was founded in 1828 but Cox began teaching in December 1825. Queen Victoria granted her patronage to the Clinical Hospital in Birmingham and allowed it to be styled "The Queen's Hospital". It was the first provincial teaching hospital in England. In 1843, the medical college became known as Queen's College.
On February 23, 1875, Sir Josiah Mason, the Birmingham industrialist and philanthropist, who made his fortune in making key rings, pens, pen nibs and electroplating, founded Mason Science College. It was this institution that would eventually form the nucleus of the University of Birmingham.
In 1882, the Departments of Chemistry, Botany and Physiology were transferred to Mason Science College, soon followed by the Departments of Physics and Comparative Anatomy.
It was largely due to Chamberlain's tireless enthusiasm that the university was granted a Royal Charter by Queen Victoria on March 24, 1900. The Calthorpe family offered twenty-five acres (10 hectares) of land on the Bournbrook side of their estate in July. The Court of Governors received the Birmingham University Act 1900, which put the Royal Charter into effect, on May 31.
The transfer of Mason University College to the new University of Birmingham, with Chamberlain as its first Chancellor and Sir Oliver Lodge as the first Principal, was complete. All that remained of Josiah Mason's legacy was his Mermaid in the sinister chief of the university shield and of his college, the double-headed lion in the dexter. It became the first civic and campus university in England.
Campus
The main campus of the university occupies a site some 3 miles (4.8 km) south-west of Birmingham city centre, in Edgbaston. It is arranged around Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower (affectionately known as 'Old Joe'), a grand campanile which commemorates the university's first chancellor, Joseph Chamberlain. The university's Great Hall is located in the domed Aston Webb Building, which is named after one of the architects - the other was Ingress Bell. The initial 25-acre (100,000 m2) site was given to the university in 1900 by Lord Calthorpe.
Library
The university's Library Services department operates 10 libraries across the Edgbaston campus, Selly Oak campus, Birmingham City Centre and Stratford-upon-Avon. The University of Birmingham also contains a number of collections of rare books and manuscripts. The library has a large number of pre-1850 books dating from 1471 with approximately 3 million manuscripts. The library also contains the Chamberlain collection of papers from Neville Chamberlain, Joseph Chamberlain and Austen Chamberlain, the Avon Papers belonging to Antony Eden with material on the Suez Crisis, the Cadbury Papers relating to the Cadbury firm from 1900 to 1960, the Mingana Collection of Middle Eastern Manuscripts, the Noel Coward Collection, the papers of Edward Elgar, the records of the English YMCA and the records of the Church Missionary Society.
NHS Hospital
The University of Birmingham's medical school is one of the largest in Europe with well over 450 medical students being trained in each of the clinical years and over 1,000 teaching, research, technical and administrative staff. The school has centres of excellence in cancer, immunology, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience and endocrinology and renowned nationally and internationally for its research and developments in these fields. The medical school has close links with the NHS and works closely with 15 teaching hospitals and 50 primary care training practices in the West Midlands.
Academic Reputation
The university ranked 25th in The Times 2009 Good University Guide, and came 18th in The Guardian's 2008 rankings.
In October 2007, the University was also ranked equal 65th best in the world by The Times Higher Education Supplement. It is rated equal 92nd best university in the world in the Institute of Higher Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (IHE-SJTU) Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007.
In 2006 it was ranked only 33rd out of 109 universities according to the much respected Times Good University Guide, but climbed back up to 25th by 2009. It still remains one of only eleven British universities ranked in the world's top 100.
Owing to Birmingham's role as a centre of light engineering, the University traditionally had a special focus on science, engineering and commerce, as well as coal mining. It now teaches a full range of academic subjects and has five-star rating for teaching and research in several departments; additionally, it is widely regarded as making a prominent contribution to cancer studies.
The University is particularly known for its research. According to the results of the Research Assessment Exercise 2008, 90% of the University of Birmingham’s research activity has international impact. The Research Fortnight’s University Power Ranking, based on quality and quantity of research activity, put the University of Birmingham 12th in the UK, leading the way across a broad range of disciplines including Primary Care, Cancer Studies, Psychology and Sport and Exercise Sciences.
In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, two thirds of The University's departments ranked nationally or internationally outstanding. Languages, mathematics, biological sciences, physiotherapy, sociology and electrical and electronic engineering all recorded maximum points. It was rated fifth in the UK for research quality, with 32 departments holding a 5 or 5* rating. The Department of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS) ranked 4th in the UK and 22nd in the world in the Hix rankings of political science departments. The sociology department also ranked 4th by the Guardian University guide.
Research
The university is home to a number of internationally renowned research centres and schools, including the Birmingham Business School, the oldest business school in England (which is accredited by both AMBA and EQUIS), the University of Birmingham Medical School, which produces more medical doctors than any other university in Britain, the Institute of Local Government Studies, the Centre of West African Studies, the European Research Institute and the Shakespeare Institute.
Academic Departments
Being a large university Birmingham has departments covering a wide range of subjects. On August 1, 2008, the university's system was restructured into five 'colleges', which are composed of numerous 'schools':
- Arts and Law (Archaeology and Antiquity; Birmingham Law School; English, Drama and American & Canadian Studies; History and Cultures; Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music; Philosophy, Theology and Religion)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences (Chemistry; Chemical Engineering; Civil Engineering; Computer Science; Electronic, Electrical and Computer Engineering; Mathematics; Mechanical Engineering; Metallurgy and Materials; Physics and Astronomy)
- Life and Environmental Sciences (Biosciences; Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences; Psychology; Sport and Exercise Sciences)
- Medical and Dental Sciences (Cancer Sciences; Clinical and Experimental Medicine; Dentistry; Health and Population Sciences; Immunity and Infection)
- Social Sciences (Birmingham Business School; Education; Government and Society; Social Policy)
University of Birmingham was ranked 75th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking.
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