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Cardiff University
Prifysgol Caerdydd
Motto: Welsh: Gwirionedd Undod A Chytgord
Motto in English: Truth Unity and Harmony
Established: 1883 (as the University College of South Wales & Monmouthshire)
Type: Public
President: Neil Kinnock
Vice-Chancellor: Dr David Grant
Staff: 5,230
Students: 30,930[1]
Undergraduates: 21,800[1]
Postgraduates: 7,840[1]
Other students: 1,290 FE[1]
Location: Cardiff, Wales, UK
Campus: Urban
Affiliations: Russell Group

EUA

University of Wales
Website: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/
The main building of Cardiff University

Cardiff University (Welsh: Prifysgol Caerdydd) is a leading university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities.

In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, almost 60 per cent of all research at Cardiff University was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent - 4* and 3* the top two categories of assessment.

Ranked number 133 of the world's top universities, Cardiff University celebrates its 125th anniversary in 2008. Before August 2004, the university was officially known as University of Wales, Cardiff (Welsh: Prifysgol Cymru, Caerdydd), although it used the name Cardiff University publicly.

History

The Aberdare Report of 1881 recommended the foundation of university colleges in North Wales and South Wales to complement the already established University College, Wales (now the University of Wales, Aberystwyth) in Aberystwyth. Following a public appeal that raised £37,000, the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire opened on October 24, 1883, offering studies in Biology, Chemistry, English, French, German, Greek, History, Latin, Mathematics & Astronomy, Music, Welsh, Logic & Philosophy and Physics. The University College was incorporated by Royal Charter the following year. John Viriamu Jones was appointed as the University’s first Principal, at age 27. The only college in Wales with its own degree awarding powers at this time was St David's University College. As such, Cardiff entered students for the examinations of the University of London until, in 1893, it became one of the founding institutions of the University of Wales and began awarding their degrees.

In 1885, Aberdare Hall opened as the first hall of residence, allowing women access to the university. This moved to its current site in 1895, but remains a single-sex hall. 1904 saw the appointment of the first female professor in the UK, Millicent McKenzie.

Architect John Caroe sought to combine the charm and elegance of his former college (Trinity College, Cambridge) with the picturesque balance of many of the University of Oxford colleges. Building work on Main Building commenced in 1905 and was completed in many stages, the first in 1909. Money ran short for this project, however, and although the side-wings were completed in the 1960s the planned Great Hall has never been built. Prior to then, from its founding in 1883, the University was based in the Old Infirmary on Newport Road, Cardiff which is now part of the University’s Queen’s Buildings.

In 1931, the School of Medicine, which had been founded as part of the College in 1893 when the Departments of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Pharmacology were founded, was split off to form the University of Wales College of Medicine. In 1972, the College was renamed University College, Cardiff.

In 1988, financial problems caused University College, Cardiff and the University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology to merge, forming the University of Wales College, Cardiff. Following changes to the constitution of the University of Wales in 1996, this became the University of Wales, Cardiff.

In the early 1990s, the university's computer systems served as the home for The Internet Movie Database.[2] In 1997, the College was granted full independent degree awarding-powers by the Privy Council (though, as a member of the University of Wales it could not begin using them) and in 1999 the public name of the university was changed to Cardiff University. Some considered this part of an effort at Cardiff to set itself apart from the other colleges of the University of Wales, none of which are members of the Russell Group.

On 1 August 2004 the University of Wales, Cardiff merged with the University of Wales College of Medicine. The merged institution separated from the collegiate University of Wales and officially took the name Cardiff University.

Cardiff today

In 2002, ideas were floated to re-merge Cardiff with the University of Wales College of Medicine following the publication of the Welsh Assembly Government's review of higher education in Wales. This merger became effective on August 1, 2004, on which date Cardiff University ceased to be a constituent institution of the University of Wales and became an independent "link institution" affiliated to the federal University. The process of the merger was completed on December 1, 2004 when the Act of Parliament transferring UWCM's assets to Cardiff University received Royal Assent. On December 17 it was announced that the Privy Council had given approval to the new Supplemental Charter and had granted university status to Cardiff, legally changing the name of the institution to Cardiff University. Cardiff awarded University of Wales degrees to students admitted before 2005, but these have been replaced by Cardiff degrees. Medicine, dentistry and other health-related areas began to admit students for Cardiff degrees in 2006.

In 2004, Cardiff University and the University of Wales, Swansea entered a partnership to provide a four-year graduate-entry medical degree. An annual intake of around 70 post-graduate students undertake an accelerated version of the Cardiff course at the University of Wales, Swansea for the first two years before joining undergraduate students at Cardiff for the final two years. All medicine/surgery graduates are awarded the degrees MB BCh.

In 2005, The Wales College of Medicine, which is part of the University, launched the North Wales Clinical School in Wrexham in collaboration with the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education in Wrexham and the University of Wales, Bangor and with the National Health Service in Wales. This has been funded with £12.5 Million from the Welsh Assembly[3] and will lead to the tripling of the number of trainee doctors in clinical training in Wales over a four year period.

The university has a rivalry with nearby Swansea University, against whom every year they have a varsity match termed the Welsh Varsity.

Reputation

Cardiff University - the main building (as seen from Cathays Park in spring time)

Cardiff University has a long standing tradition of providing the best education in Wales, as shown in its five year standing as the best centre of excellence in Wales in the Sunday Times League Tables. Cardiff is also the only university in Wales to be a member of the Russell Group of Research Intensive Universities. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, 33 out of the 34 research areas submitted by the University for assessment were shown to be undertaking research that includes world-leading work.

Times Higher Education ranked Cardiff University 99th in the top 100 universities in the world in 2007.[4]

The Times Higher-QS World University Rankings

  • 2008 - Ranked 133 globally[5]
  • 2007 - Moved into the top 100 globally at position 99[6][7]
  • 2006 - placed 141 globally and 8-25 in Europe[8]

The Times Online - Good University Guide 2009

  • Ranked 29th overall [9]
    • Ranked 1st for Architecture [10]
    • Ranked 2nd for Town and Country Planning and Landscape[11]
    • Ranked 11th for Biological Sciences [12]
    • Ranked 20th in Business Studies [13]

The Guardian University Guide 2007

  • Ranked 33rd overall out of 149 universities in the institution-wide league table[14]
    • Ranked 38th out of 140 universities for business and management studies

The Sunday Times University Guide 2007

  • Ranked 28th out of 123 universities overall in the institution-wide league table[15]

Schools and colleges

Cardiff University has 29 academic schools and four graduate schools.

The academic schools are:

  • Architecture
  • Biosciences
  • Business
  • Chemistry
  • City & Regional Planning
  • Computer Science
  • Cymraeg
  • Dentistry
  • Earth and Ocean Sciences
  • Engineering
  • English, Communication and Philosophy
  • European Studies
  • Healthcare Studies
  • History and Archaeology
  • Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
  • Law
  • Lifelong Learning
  • Manufacturing Engineering Centre
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Music
  • Nursing and Midwifery Studies
  • Optometry and Vision Sciences
  • Pharmacy
  • Physics and Astronomy
  • Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education
  • Psychology
  • Religious and Theological Studies
  • Social Sciences

Research and graduate schools

  • Humanities
  • Social Sciences
  • Biomedical and Life Sciences
  • Physical Sciences and Engineering

Facilities

There are sporting facilities and sports teams in the BUCS university league, including men's and women's hockey.

The Cardiff University Students' Union building is over the main railway going north from Cardiff to the Valleys, next door to Cathays railway station. It has shops, a nightclub and the studios of Xpress Radio (which is piped throughout the union) and Gair Rhydd (Welsh for 'Free Word'), the student newspaper.

Notable alumni/current staff

Graduation Ceremony at St David's Hall

Alumni and current staff of Cardiff University (and its predecessor) include:

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2006/07" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved on 2008-04-20.
  2. ^ "IMDb History".
  3. ^ "Health Minister opens North Wales Clinical School". Welsh Assembly Government. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  4. ^ QS Top Universities: Top 100 universities in the THE - QS World University Rankings 2007
  5. ^ "World University Rankings 2008". Times Higher Education. Retrieved on 2009-01-07.
  6. ^ "World University Rankings 2007". Times Higher Education. Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
  7. ^ "Cardiff in World's Top 100 university rankings". Cardiff University. Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
  8. ^ "World University Rankings 2006". Times Higher Education. Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
  9. ^ "University Rankings League Table 2009". Times Online. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  10. ^ "University Rankings League Table 2009 - Architecture". Times Online. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  11. ^ "Town and Country Planning and Landscape". Times Online. Retrieved on 02 January 2009.
  12. ^ "University Rankings League Table 2009 - Biological Sciences". Times Online. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  13. ^ "University Rankings League Table 2009 - Business Studies". Times Online. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  14. ^ "Rankings with performance scores" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
  15. ^ "The Times Good University Guide". The Times. Retrieved on 2008-06-20.
  16. ^ "Nobel laureate joins University". Cardiff University. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.
  17. ^ "The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1988". The Nobel Foundation. Retrieved on 2008-07-04.

External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Cardiff University
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Accredited institutions
Affiliated institutions
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Properties
Russell Group of UK research universities

Related links


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