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The University of Edinburgh (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Dh n ideann), founded in 1582, is a renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, UK. It was the sixth university to be established in the British Isles, making it one of the ancient universities of Scotland and Britain. The university is amongst the largest and most prestigious in the world and currently ranks in the world top 25, ahead of some of the Ivy League institutions.

Histoty

The founding of the University is attributed to Bishop Robert Reid of St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall, Orkney, who lt 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 more populous neighbour England had only two.

By the 18th century Edinburgh was a leading centre of the European Enlightenment (see Scottish 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, 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.

In 2002, the University was re-organised from its 9 faculties into three Colleges , and now comprises 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.

Location

Edinburgh is considered by some as one of the greenest and most architecturally beautiful cities in Europe often rerred 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 includes George Square, the Informatics Forum, Old College, 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 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. 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 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. 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. Self-catered flats elsewhere account for the majority of university-provided accommodation. 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 campus, 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.

Academic reputation

The east fa?ade of the Old College, bore the dome was added in 1887In the Third European Report on Science Technology Indicators, compiled by the European Commission, the University of Edinburgh ranked as follows:

5th in Europe

3rd in the UK

1.35 score of citation impact (0.2 points below the leader, University of Cambridge)

The 2007 Times Higher Education Supplement [THES] World University Rankings ranked the University of Edinburgh as follows:

23rd in the world

5th in the UK

5th in Europe overall

The THES also ranked world universities in broad subject areas in tables published in the THES itself, and available to subscribers via the THES website.The University of Edinburgh was ranked:

28th in the world for arts and humanities

30th in the world for life sciences and biomedicine

47th in the world for social sciences

The Academic Ranking of World Universities 2008 [ARWU] ranked the University of Edinburgh as follows:

6th in the UK

13th in Europe

55th in the world

The Guardian University Guide 2008 ranked the University of Edinburgh as follows:

7th in the UK overall

1st in the UK for computer science

1st in the UK for physics

2nd in the UK for medicine

2nd in the UK for veterinary science

The Times Good University Guide 2008 ranked the University of Edinburgh as the 13th best university in the UK. This represents a drop from previous rankings: 11th in 2007 and within the top ten in 2005 and 2006. However, Edinburgh University remains in the top five for entry standards, a testimony to its popularity and selectivity. 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.

Colleges and Schools

College of Humanities and Social Science

School of Arts, Culture and Environment

School of Divinity

School of Health in Social Science

School of History, Classics and Archaeology

School of Law (Edinburgh Law School)

School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures

University of Edinburgh Business School

Moray House School of Education

School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences

School of Social and Political Studies

The Office of Lifelong Learning

College of Medicine and 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

College of Science and Engineering

School of Biological Sciences

School of Chemistry

School of GeoSciences

School of Engineering and Electronics

School of Informatics

School of Mathematics

School of Physics

Student Organizations

Students Association

The Edinburgh University Students Association consists of the unions and the Student Representative Council. The Unions include Teviot Row House, Potterrow, Kings Buildings House, the Pleasance, and a number of shops, cafe s and rectories around the various campuses. Teviot Row House is said to be the oldest purpose built student union building in the world. The Student Representative Council represents students to the University and the outside world. It is also responsible for Edinburgh s 222 student societies. The Association has four sabbatical office bearers - a President and three Vice Presidents. Turnout in elections for these positions has, in recent years, been among the highest in the UK. The Association is affiliated to the National Union of Students.

Media

Newspapers:

Student is a weekly Scottish 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. It has held the title of Best Student Newspaper in Scotland, awarded by the Herald Student Press Awards, for two years running, having won in 2006 and again in 2007.

The Journal is a very recent addition to the student media scene at the university. It is an independent publication, established in 2007 by three students at the University of Edinburgh, and also distributes to the four other higher education institutions in the city - Heriot-Watt University, Napier University, Queen Margaret University and the Edinburgh College of Art. It is the largest such publication in Scotland, with a print run of 14,000 copies and is produced by students from across the city.

Student Sport

Edinburgh University is one of Britain s most successful sporting universities. Student sport consists of 65 clubs from the traditional Football and Rugby to the more unconventional Hot Air Ballooning and Korfball. Run by the Edinburgh University Sports Union, these 65 Clubs have seen Edinburgh rise to 4th place in the British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) rankings in 2006/07. It continues to be the most successful Scottish University for sport.

During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the University of Edinburgh alumni and students secured four medals - three gold and a silver. The three gold medals were won by the cyclist Chris Hoy and the silver was won by Katherine Grainger in female rowing.

Student Activism

There are a number of campaigning societies at the university. The largest of these is environment and poverty campaigning group People Planet, which is affiliated to the national People Planet network.