Aberystwyth University
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Aberystwyth University (Welsh: Prifysgol Aberystwyth; sometimes called "Aber" or "the College by the Sea")[2] is a university located in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding Member Institution of the former federal University of Wales. As of late 2006, the University has over 12,000 students spread across seventeen academic departments. The University started life in 1872 as University College Wales. In 1894 the University became a founder member of the University of Wales and changed its name to the University of Wales College Aberystwyth. In the mid 1990s the University again changed its name to the University of Wales, Aberystwyth. On 1 September 2007 the University of Wales ceased to be a federal university and Aberystwyth became an independent university in its own right once again. However, it will continue to award University of Wales degrees for the foreseeable future.[3] The National Student Survey named Aberystwyth fifth in the UK in 2006 and tenth in 2007, for overall student satisfaction. This made Aberystwyth University the clear leader in Wales for both years.[4][5][6] Indeed, The Times Good University Guide 2008 ranked Aberystwyth joint first in the UK for student satisfaction. It also ranked Aberystwyth 39th in the Academic league tables out of 113 institutions.[7] The quality of the University has been confirmed by Aberystwyth being short-listed for a best student experience award by the Times.[8] HistoryImage:Old College Main Entrance.jpg
The main Entrance to Old College at Aberystwyth University.
The University was founded in 1872 as University College Wales. The first Principal was Thomas Charles Edwards and initially there were just 26 students. In 1894 the college joined the University of Wales as a founder member (prior to this students had been submitted for examinations of the University of London). One of the newest departments in the University is the Department of Sports and Exercise Science, which was established in 2000. Within the next few years the university has plans to establish a department of Psychology, which will be based upon the Centre for Applied Psychology currently found within the department of International Politics. Indeed many joint honours Psychology degrees were launched in September 2007. The University's coat of arms was awarded in the late 1880s.[9] The shield features two red dragons, the red dragon being a common symbol of Wales, and an open book, symbolising learning. The crest is an eagle or phoenix above a flaming tower: it possibly symbolises the rebirth of the College after the fire of 1885.[9] The motto is "Nid Byd, Byd Heb Wybodaeth": "A World Without Knowledge, is No World At All". Reputation and rankingImage:Main hall.jpg
The Entrance Hall at the Old College, this building houses the Old Library on the top floor
The internationally recognized IGER institute which is part of the University leads the way in many areas of Environmental Research, as do other departments of the University in their respective fields. The University has a number of notable alumni, including Frederick Soddy, a Nobel Prize winner in Chemistry, and Prince Charles. Notable past academics include R. Geraint Gruffydd, Bobi Jones, E. H. Carr and Leopold Kohr. According to the The Times Good University Guide within Wales Aberystwyth University is ranked 2nd after Cardiff University. The Times Good University Guide, also evaluates Aberystwyth's Overall Academic Ranking within the United Kingdom as being number 39 from a total of 113 Universities. The 2007 QS-THES (Quacquarelli-Symonds/Times Higher Education Supplement) world university rankings place Aberystwyth at 490th best in the world,[10] and according to the International Journal of Scientometrics the University is ranked at 470 in the World for its web presence.[11] Aberystwyth is given sixth place in the Times Higher Education Supplement's "Student Experience Rankings", a large survey of student satisfaction in their University ranging from teaching standards to social life.[12] The School of Management and Business is one of only 20 departments in the world to have its Masters degrees accredited by the AMBA. It is similar to the AACSB in the U.S. and EQUIS in Europe. Its MBA is also accrediated by the same organisation.[13] The Institute of Geography & Earth Sciences was the first British university department to offer single honours degrees in human geography and physical geography,[14] a course which has since been adopted by many other universities in the UK. Aberystwyth was ranked 14th of 65 UK universities for Geography and Environmental Studies in the 2008 Guardian University Guide.[15] The Department for International Politics was founded in 1919 and is the oldest such department in the world.[16] The University has come under recent criticism for its record on sustainability, with a ranking of 97th out of 106 UK higher education institutions in the "Green League 2007".[17] Departments
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The Old College South Tower at University
The Department of History and Welsh History, and the Institute of Mathematics and Physics can trace their beginnings back to the formation of the University in 1872. The Department of Law was established in 1901, and as such is one of the oldest law schools in the UK. The School of Art has a history stretching back to 1917 when it was part of the only British university concerned with the Art and Crafts Movement. In 1936 it became a sub-department within the Education Department where, in 1965 the Joint Honours Art scheme was established. Single Honours Art and Masters degree schemes were introduced in 1974, one year after the subject had once again been given autonomy as a university department. Modern languages has been taught at Aberystwyth since c. 1874, making the current Department of European Languages one of the oldest departments in the UK to teach the subject. The Department of Information & Library Studies was founded in 1989 following the merger of the University with the College of Librarianship Wales. The Institute of Biological Sciences was formed in 1993 from the Department of Biological Sciences, the Department of Biochemistry and the Genetics Group of the Department of Agricultural Botany. These former departments in turn can trace their beginnings to the foundation of the University. In 1993 budgetary considerations caused the University to permanently close its department of philosophy. The efforts of some student philosophy organizations have so far failed to restore any funding for a philosophy department at Aberystwyth although there are a number of political philosophy related modules covered by the Department of International Politics. List of Departments
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The Old College's East Entrance at the University
Department of Computer ScienceThe Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth was founded in 1970. AberMUD, the first popular internet-based MUD, was written in this department of the university by then-student Alan Cox. Institute of Geography and Earth SciencesThe Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences was formed in 1989 from the former Departments of Geography (established in 1917) and Geology. This department contains the E.G. Bowen map library, containing 80000 maps and 500 atlases. Department of Information StudiesThe College of Librarianship, Wales was established at Llanbadarn Fawr in 1964 in response to a recommendation for the training of bilingual librarians, in the Bourdillon report on Standards of public library service in England, (H.M.S.O., 1962). The college grew rapidly and became the largest institution for the training of librarians in Europe.[18] The independent college merged with the University in August 1989. The College of Librarianship gained an international reputation for the training of librarians, particularly in the developing world. Since 1989 the new department has gained a reputation for introducing innovative teaching methods, and particularly offering courses by open and distance learning. Department of International PoliticsImage:IPD.jpg
The new multi-million pound building for the International Politics Department at the University
In 1919 the world's first Department of International Politics was founded at Aberystwyth. Today it is the largest department of its kind in Europe, and one of the largest in the world. It also has an international reputation for excellence, scoring top marks for both research and teaching, placing the department on a par with the London School of Economics. The department has attracted influential names in the field of international relations including E. H. Carr, Leopold Kohr, Andrew Linklater and Michael Cox. In 2006, a new building for the Department of International Politics was completed and opened on the main Penglais Campus. Department of Law and CriminologyThe Department of Law and Criminology is housed in the Hugh Owen Building, which is centrally located on the main campus. This department was founded in 1901. The Department bases itself on a long, reputable and increasingly varied experience of legal education and academic work. Ranked within the top twenty institutions for Law in the United Kingdom, it is the oldest law school in Wales and one of the oldest in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, the Department is home to the specialist research centre, the Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs. All lecturers in the Department are actively engaged in research and the International Journal of Biosciences and the Law, and the Cambrian Law Review are edited in the Department. Over the years a large number of well-known legal academics, practitioners and politicians have taught in the Department have made their mark in a range of subsequent careers. Recently the Department has worked closely with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in testing new processes for teaching quality assessment. The Department is one of only a few universities in the United Kingdom which offers the two-year LL.B scheme to graduates in a discipline other than law. In 2006, the Department of Law started a Legal Practice Course, which is run in collaboration with Swansea University. The LPC is a requirement for anyone who wishes to practice as a solicitor in England and Wales. Department of Theatre, Film and Television StudiesThe Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies is one of the largest departments in the University in terms of numbers of undergraduate students and was established in the late 1970s. The department is enhanced by the presence of a BBC studio housed within the department's headquarters built in 2001. Image:NLW.jpg
The National Library of Wales one of the main Research and deposit Libraries in the UK, a great asset to Student Research
Institute of Rural SciencesThe Institute of Rural Sciences on Llanbadarn Campus was formed by the merger of the Welsh Agricultural College, which had hitherto been independent, and the University's Department of Agriculture in 1995. School of Management and BusinessIn 1998 the Department of Economics (founded 1912), the Department of Accounting and Finance (founded 1979) and the Centre for Business Studies merged to create the School of Management and Business.The MBA at Aberystwyth was established in 1985 and the school is one of only around 100 business schools in the world to have its MBA program accredited by the AMBA; it was the first business school in Wales to achieve this honour, and for many years the only. However Swansea University has also recently been accrediated. The schools postgraduate programmes in Management and International Business Management are both MBM (Masters in Business Management) accredited by the Association of MBAs. Only around 20 business schools throughout the world have achieved this prestigious programme accreditation[19] and Aber is one of only 9 in the UK.[20] Recently the school has been ranked 16th in Europe for accounting research by the Journal Accounting and Business Research[21] and 22nd in Europe for Finance and Financial Economics by the Journal of Business Finance & Accounting.[22] In the most recent subject specific teaching quality reviews the Accounting and Finance degrees schemes and the Economics degree schemes at Aberystwyth were both judged to be excellent, this is the highest category that can be awarded.[23] The research training masters are also ESRC 1+3 recognised.[24] Geography of the University CampusesImage:Cardigan bay.jpg
Sunset as seen from Constitution Hill
The main campus of the University is situated on Penglais Hill, overlooking the town of Aberystwyth and Cardigan Bay. The Penglais Campus is the site of 12 of the University's 17 departments, as well as most of the student halls of residence. Just below the Penglais Campus is the National Library of Wales, one of Britain's five legal deposit libraries. The original university building, next to the sea, known as "Old College", is the site of most of the University's administration as well as the Departments of Welsh and Education. The Llanbadarn Campus is located approximately one mile to the east of the Penglais Campus, and hosts the Institute of Rural Sciences and the Department of Information Studies. Additionally, the Llanbadarn Campus is the site of the Aberystwyth branch of Coleg Ceredigion, a further education college, and not part of the University. The School of Art is located between the Penglais Campus and the centre of Aberystwyth, in what was originally the Edward Davies Chemical Laboratory, site of the now-defunct Department of Chemistry. Student residencesAberystwyth is the UK's favourite university town according to the findings of a study published by www.accommodationforstudents.com published on 5 June 2007. The University came top with a score of 64 per cent, scoring particularly well on the metrics "community" and "going out". The various student residences owned, leased or managed by the university offer almost 4,000 bed-spaces in total.[25] There is a mixture of halls and shared apartment-style accommodation. All feature wired access to the University's computer network and a support network of wardening staff. Penglais Campus:
Llanbadarn Campus:
Pentre Jane Morgan (the Student Village):
Town:
Notable alumniAcademic Alumni
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