University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh was founded in
1583 in a period of rapid development in
Edinburgh,
Scotland. It has more students than any other university in
Scotland and is amongst the largest in the
United Kingdom. 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 the
Coimbra Group and the
LERU: two groups of leading European universities. In
2003 Edinburgh became the first Scottish university to be awarded
Fairtrade status.
History
The university's first building was 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. It offers degree courses in more traditional subjects than you could think of (although the Agricultural College has recently closed). The University also offers a number of subjects that are offered in only relatively few other universities, including artificial intelligence, in which it is rivalled only by MIT.
The university is one of the ancient universities of Scotland, and boasts a student newspaper ("Student") founded by Robert Louis Stevenson in 1887. 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, just in front of the temporary home of the Scottish Parliament. Students at the university are represented by the Edinburgh University Students' Association, EUSA, which was founded in 1889 and comprises the Students' Union and Student Representative Council (SRC).
Location
Along with the expansion in topics of study the university has also expanded its campus such that it now has five main sites:
- George Square and surrounding streets in the southern central area of the city is the oldest region, occupied primarily by the schools of art, social science, medicine and law. It 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.\n* The Kings Buildings, further south, houses most of the Science schools including a Biology faculty that is a world leader in genetics. \n* Moray House just off the Royal Mile, used to be the Moray House Institute for Education until that was acquired by the University around 1998. The University has since extended it and agglomerated it with its own Sports Institute along with a large new building to house the expanding Institutes. The Moray House campus is being amalgamated with the George Square campus through simple ownership of much of the intervening land. \n* The New Royal Infimary of Edinburgh in Little France, in the southeast of the city, was opened in 2000 as 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).\n* Pollock Halls, adjoining Holyrood Park to the east, provides accommodation (mainly half board) for students in their first year. It was mostly built in the mid-20th century and is thus filled with large blocklike towers. Most other students in the city live in private flats in the Marchmont, Newington, Bruntsfield, Mayfield and Leith areas.
Alumni
The University has had many famous alumni, including:\n* Gordon Brown, British Chancellor of the Exchequer\n* Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes Author\n* Charles Darwin, naturalist\n* Klaus Fuchs, physicist\n* David Hume, philosopher\n* David MacRitchie, archaeologist\n* Stella Rimington, former head of MI5\n* Peter Roget, author of the famous Thesaurus\n* Sir Walter Scott, author and poet\n* David Steel, leader of the British Liberal Party\n* James Clerk Maxwell, physicist\n* James Hector, geologist
Hume and Maxwell both applied for teaching posts at the university, which refused to employ either.
External Links
See also: Russell Group of Universities
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Edinburgh, University of
Category: Edinburgh
