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Founded by the Edinburgh Town Council, the university began life as a College of Law using part of a legacy left by Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral, Orkney.[17] Through efforts by the Town Council and Ministers of the City the institution broadened in scope and became formally established as a university by a Royal Charter, granted by James VI in 1582 after the petitioning of the Council.[18] This was an unusual move at the time, as most universities were established through Papal bulls.[19] Known as the "Tounis College", it was renamed King James's College in 1617. Instruction began in 1583 under the charge of a young St Andrews graduate Robert Rollock.[17] It was the fourth Scottish university in a period when the much more populous and richer England had only two. By the 18th century Edinburgh was a leading centre of the European Enlightenment (see Scottish Enlightenment). Development The University's 'Old College' Before the building of Old College to plans by Robert Adam implemented after the Napoleonic Wars by the architect William Henry Playfair, the University of Edinburgh did not have a custom-built campus and existed in a hotchpotch of buildings from its establishment until the early 19th century. The university's first custom-built building was the Old College, now the School of Law, situated on South Bridge. Its first forte in teaching was anatomy and the developing science of surgery, from which it expanded into many other subjects. From the basement of a nearby house ran the anatomy tunnel corridor. It went under what was then North College Street (now Chambers Street), and under the university buildings until it reached the university's anatomy lecture theatre, delivering bodies for dissection. It was from this tunnel that the body of William Burke was taken after he had been hanged. Towards the end of the 19th century, Old College was becoming overcrowded and Robert Rowand Anderson was commissioned to design new Medical School premises in 1875. The medical school was more or less built to his design and was completed by the addition of the McEwan Hall in the 1880s. The University's New College building The building now known as New College was originally built as a Free Church college in the 1840s and has been the home of Divinity at the University since the 1920s. The university is responsible for a number of historic and modern buildings across the City, including the oldest purpose-built concert hall in Scotland, and the second oldest in use in the British Isles, St Cecilia's Concert Hall; Teviot Row House, which is the oldest purpose built Student Union Building in the world; and the restored 17th-century Mylne's Court student residence which stands at the head of Edinburgh's Royal Mile. The building which houses the University's Institute of Geography, was once part of the Royal Infirmary The two oldest Schools – Law and Divinity – are both well-esteemed in their respective subjects, with Law being based in Old College, and Divinity being based in New College, on the Mound. 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, the Edinburgh University Union (EUU) which was founded in 1889. They are also represented by the Edinburgh University Sports Union (EUSU) which was founded in 1866. The medical school is renowned throughout the world. It was widely considered the best medical school in the English-speaking world throughout the 18th century and first half of the 19th century.[20] (The first medical school in the United States was founded at the University of Pennsylvania in 1765 by Edinburgh alumni John Morgan and William Shippen). It is currently ranked 1st in the UK's most recent RAE. “ So far as science is concerned, no place in the world can pretend to competition with Edinburgh. ” ~ Thomas Jefferson writing to Dugald Stewart in 1789.[21] The University's McEwan Hall building In 2002 the University was re-organised from its 9 faculties into three 'Colleges'. While technically not a collegiate university, it now comprises the Colleges of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), Science & Engineering (SCE) and Medicine & Vet Medicine (MVM). Within these Colleges are 'Schools' – roughly equivalent to the departments they succeeded; individual Schools have a good degree of autonomy regarding their finances and internal organisation. This has brought a certain degree of uniformity (in terms of administration at least) across the university. On 1 August 2011, the Edinburgh College of Art (founded in 1760) merged with the University of Edinburgh. At a result of the merger, Edinburgh College of Art has combined with the University’s School of Arts, Culture and Environment to form a new (enlarged) Edinburgh College of Art within the university.[22] Along similar lines, all teaching is now done over two semesters (rather than 3 terms) – bringing the timetables of different Schools into line with one another, and coming into line with many other large universities (in the US, and to an increasing degree in the UK as well). Academic profile Rankings and reputation Outside McEwan Hall on graduation day. Rankings ARWU[23] (2013, national) 6 ARWU[23] (2013, world) 51 QS[24] (2013/14, national) 5 QS[24] (2013/14, world) 17 THE[25] (2013/14, national) 5 THE[25] (2013/14, world) 39 Complete[26] (2015, national) 13 The Guardian[27] (2015, national) 19 Times/Sunday Times[28] (2014, national) 22 The QS World University Rankings 2013 ranked the University of Edinburgh 17th in the world. The University of Edinburgh is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities and, along with Oxford and Cambridge, one of several British universities to be a member of both the Coimbra Group and the LERU (League of European Research Universities). The University is also a member of Universitas 21, an international association of research-led universities. In the 2008 UK RAE results, the University of Edinburgh was ranked in the top five in the UK and first in Scotland by the volume of four star, "world-leading" research. The results also indicate that the University is home to 37% of Scotland’s 4* research. It was rated 1st in the UK for medicine and informatics by the RAE[29] The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2013/2014 ranked it as 39th overall, one of only 7 UK universities to feature in the top 50.[30] In 2012/2013 it was ranked 36th in the world. In 2011, the Academic Ranking of World Universities placed University of Edinburgh as 53rd overall, 14th in Europe and 6th in the UK.[31] In the 2012/2013 UK University Rankings, the university was ranked 15th in the UK overall by The Guardian,[32] 16th by The Independent/The Complete University Guide,[33] 27th by The Sunday Times[34] and 15th by The Times.[35] Despite these high international rankings, the University of Edinburgh has been ranked bottom in the UK for teaching quality by its students in the 2012 National Student Survey.[36][37][38] [show]University Rankings QS University Rankings Times Higher Education University Rankings Academic Rankings (ARWU) Colleges and schools The coat of arms of the University of Edinburgh, displayed on St Leonard's Land. Humanities and Social Science The English Literature department, the longest-established centre of literary education in Britain, was founded in 1762 when Rev. Hugh Blair was appointed the first Regius Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-Lettres by George III. The College of Humanities and Social Science is the largest of the three Colleges in the University of Edinburgh. It has 11 Schools, 16,300 students and 1,460 staff. An advantage of its size is the very wide range of subjects and research specialisms. There are over 300 undergraduate and 200 taught postgraduate programmes. Its research strength, as affirmed in the 2008 RAE, has attracted over 1200 researchers.[62] It includes the oldest English Literature department in Britain.[63] Business School Edinburgh College of Art Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture Moray House School of Education School of Divinity School of Economics School of Health in Social Science School of History, Classics and Archaeology School of Law School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences School of Social and Political Science The Office of Lifelong Learning Medicine and Veterinary Medicine The Edinburgh Medical School's historical main building on Teviot Place. The College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine has a long history as one of the best medical institutions in the world.[64] In the last research assessment exercise, it was rated 1st in the UK for medical research submitted to the Hospital-based Clinical Subjects Panel. All of the work was rated at International level and 40% at the highest, "world-leading" level.[65] The medical school is ranked 1st in Scotland and 3rd in the UK by The Times Good University Guide 2013, The Complete University Guide 2013 and The Guardian University Guide 2013.[66][67][68] Graduates of the University of Edinburgh Medical School have gone on to found 5 out of the 7 Ivy League medical schools, become US Senators, become Prime Minister of Canada, invent the hypodermic syringe, cure scurvy, discover carbon dioxide and isolate nitrogen, publish the theory of evolution, develop IV therapy, invent the decompression chamber, develop the oophorectomy, discover the SARS virus and develop in-vitro fertilisation (IVF). Faculty of the University of Edinburgh Medical School have introduced antiseptic to sterilize surgical instruments, discovered chloroform anesthesia, discovered oxytocin, developed the Hepatitis B vaccine, co-founded Biogen, pioneered treatment for tuberculosis, discovered apoptosis and tyramine among others. The medical school is associated with 6 Nobel Prize winners, 5 winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine and 1 winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. The eight original faculties formed four Faculty Groups in August 1992. Medicine and Veterinary Medicine became one of these, and in September 2002, became the smallest of three Colleges in the University. University of Edinburgh Medical School Royal School of Veterinary Studies School of Biomedical Sciences School of Clinical Sciences and Community Health Science and Engineering Informatics Forum, University of Edinburgh In the sixteenth century science was taught as 'natural philosophy'. The seventeenth century saw the institution of the University Chairs of Mathematics and Botany, followed the next century by Chairs of Natural History, Astronomy, Chemistry and Agriculture. During the eighteenth century, the University was a key contributor to the Scottish Enlightenment and it educated many of the most notable scientists of the time. It was Edinburgh's professors who took a leading part in the formation of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 1783. In 1785, Joseph Black, Professor of Chemistry and discoverer of carbon dioxide, founded the world's first Chemical Society.[69] The nineteenth century was a time of huge advances in scientific thinking and technological development. The first named degrees of Bachelor and Doctor of Science were instituted in 1864, and a separate 'Faculty of Science' was created in 1893 after three centuries of scientific advances at Edinburgh.[69] The Regius Chair in Engineering was established in 1868, and the Regius Chair in Geology in 1871. In 1991 the Faculty of Science was renamed the Faculty of Science and Engineering, and in 2002 it became the College of Science and Engineering. School of Biological Sciences School of Chemistry School of Engineering School of GeoSciences School of Informatics School of Mathematics School of Physics and Astronomy Campuses Playfair Library The Edinburgh College of Art forms (since 2011) part of the 'central' university campus. As its topics of study have grown and diversified the university has expanded its campuses such that it now has six main sites:[70] Central Area The Central Area includes George Square, the Informatics Forum, The Dugald Stewart Building, Old College, New College, McEwan Hall, St Cecilia's Hall, Teviot Row House, the old Medical School buildings in Teviot Place, and surrounding streets in Edinburgh's Southside. It is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the College of Humanities and Social Science, and the Schools of Computing & Informatics and the School of Law, as well as the main university library. The Appleton Tower is also used for teaching first year undergraduates in science and engineering. Meanwhile, Teviot Place continues to house pre-clinical medical courses and biomedical sciences despite relocation of the Medical School to Little France. Nearby are the main EUSA buildings of Potterrow, Teviot and Pleasance. Old residents of George Square include Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Some of these buildings are used to host events during the Edinburgh International Festival every summer. The main library (Edinburgh University Library) is also located at George Square. New College, overlooks Princes Street and only a short walk from Waverley Rail Station and other Edinburgh landmarks. The building is on the Mound, which houses the School of Divinity - parts of which are also used by the Church of Scotland. King's Buildings Main article: King's Buildings The King's Buildings (KB) is located further south of the city. Most of the Science and Engineering College's research and teaching activities take place at the King's Buildings, which occupy a 35 hectare site. It includes C H Waddington Building (the Centre for Systems Biology at Edinburgh), James Clerk Maxwell Building (the administrative and teaching centre of the School of Physics and Astronomy and the School of Mathematics), The Royal Observatory, William Rankine Building (School of Engineering’s Institute for Infrastructure and Environment) and other schools' buildings. There were three libraries at KB: Darwin Library, James Clerk Maxwell Library and Robertson Engineering and Science Library. A new library called The Noreen and Kenneth Murray Library opened for the 2012/13 session as a replacement for the previous three libraries. It also houses National e-Science Centre (NeSC), Scottish Microelectronics Centre (SMC), Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC), and the Scottish Institute for Enterprise. The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583,[5] is the sixth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's ancient universities. It was the fourth university to be established in Scotland and the sixth in the United Kingdom, and is regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world.[6] The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university.[7] The University of Edinburgh is ranked 17th in the world by the 2013 QS rankings.[8] It is ranked 11th in the world in arts and humanities by the 2012–13 Times Higher Education Ranking.[9] It is ranked the 15th most employable university in the world by the 2013 Global Employability University Ranking.[10] It is a member of both the Russell Group, and the League of European Research Universities, a consortium of 21 research universities in Europe.[11] It has the third largest endowment of any university in the United Kingdom, after the universities of Cambridge and Oxford. The university played an important role in leading Edinburgh to its reputation as a chief intellectual centre during the Age of Enlightenment, and helped give the city the nickname of the Athens of the North. Alumni of the university include some of the major figures of modern history, including the physicist James Clerk Maxwell, naturalist Charles Darwin, philosopher David Hume, mathematician Thomas Bayes, surgeon Joseph Lister, signatories of the American declaration of independence John Witherspoon and Benjamin Rush, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, first president of Tanzania Julius Nyerere, and a host of famous authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, J.M. Barrie and Sir Walter Scott. Associated people include 18 Nobel Prize winners, 1 Abel Prize winner, 1 Pulitzer Prize winner, several Turing Award winners, 3 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, 2 currently-sitting UK Supreme Court Justices, and several Olympic gold medallists.[12] It continues to have links to the British Royal Family, having had Prince Philip as its Chancellor from 1953 to 2010, and Princess Anne since 2011.[13] Edinburgh receives approximately 47,000 applications every year, making it the third most popular university in the UK by volume of applicants.[14] Entrance is competitive, with offer chances of 27% in the 2010-11 admissions cycle.[15] |
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