University Of Bristol
University Of Bristol
University Of Bristol
The University of Bristol is ranked 11th in the UK for its research, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 by GPA.[13] The University of Bristol is ranked 37th by University Rankings 2015-16, and is ranked the top ten of UK universities by , THE, and .[14][15][16] A highly selective institution, it has an average of 6.4 (Sciences faculty) to 13.1 (Medicine Faculty) applicants for each undergraduate place.[17] The University of Bristol is the youngest British university to be ranked among the top 40 institutions in the world according to the World University Rankings.Current academics include 21 fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 13 fellows of the British Academy, 13 fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 44 fellows of the Royal Society.[18] The university has been associated with 12 Nobel laureates throughout its history, including Paul Dirac, Sir William Ramsay, Cecil Frank Powell, Sir Winston Churchill, Dorothy Hodgkin, Hans Bethe, Max Francis Mott, Harold Pinter, Jean-Marie Leo and Angus Bristol is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities,[19] the European-wide Group[20] and the Worldwide Universities Network, of which the university's previous vice-chancellor, Eric Thomas, was chairman from 2005 to 2007.[21] In addition, the university holds an Erasmus Charter, sending more than 500 students per year to partner institutions in Europe.[22]The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Technical College (founded as a school as early as 1595) which became the engineering faculty of Bristol University.[23] 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.[24] The university was able to apply for a royal charter due to the financial support of the Wills families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations and chocolate, respectively. 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 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.[25]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 ' Technical College in 1909,[29] 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 and Wills families, particularly £100,000 from Henry Wills III (£ 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 years. In December 1909, the King granted such a charter and erected the University of Bristol.[26] Henry Wills became its first chancellor Lloyd Morgan the first vice-chancellor.[30] 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.[31] Today, it houses parts of the academic provision for earth sciences and law, and graduation ceremonies are held in its Great Hall. The Wills Memorial Building is a Grade II* listed building.[32]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 1955. This substantial building housed all of the university's engineers until 1996, when the department of Electrical of Computer Science moved over the road into the new Merchant ' 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).With unprecedented growth in the, particularly in undergraduate numbers, the Student's Union eventually acquired larger premises in a new building in 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 many practice and performance rooms, some specialist rooms, as well as three bars: Bar 100; the Mandela (also known and the Avon Gorge. Whilst spacious, the Union building is thought by many to be ugly[40] 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.[41] The university has proposed relocating the Union to a more central location as part of its development '.[42] More recently, plans for redevelopment of the current building have been proposed.[43]The were a time of considerable student activism in the United Kingdom, and Bristol was no exception. In 1968, many students marched in support of 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).[10] 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.[30]As the age of mass higher education dawned, Bristol continued to build its student numbers. The various undergraduate residences were repeatedly expanded and, more recently, some postgraduate residences have been constructed. These more recent ventures have been funded (and are run) by external companies in agreement with the university.The university has been regarded as being elitist by some commentators,[54] 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[55] and 18% of 16+ year old pupils across the UK.[56] The intake of state school pupils at Bristol is lower than many .[57] The high ratio of undergraduates from non-state school has led to some tension at the university.[58]In late February and early March 2003, Bristol became embroiled in a row about admissions policies, with some private schools threatening a boycott[59] 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.[60] In August 2005, following a large-scale survey, the Independent Schools Council publicly acknowledged that there was no evidence of bias against applicants from the schools it represented.[61] The university has a new admissions policy,[34] 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 from. This new policy also encourages greater participation from locally resident applicants.