University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield is a research university, located in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England.

History

The University of Sheffield was originally formed by the merger of three colleges. The Sheffield School of Medicine was founded in 1828, followed in 1879 by the opening of Firth College by Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer, to teach arts and science subjects. Firth College then helped to fund the opening of the Sheffield Technical School in 1884 to teach applied science, the only major faculty the existing colleges did not cover. The three institutions merged in 1897 to form the University College of Sheffield. Sheffield is one of the six original Red Brick Universities.

Victoria University

It was originally envisaged that the University College would join Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds as the fourth member of the federal Victoria University.

However, the Victoria University began to split-up before this could happen and so the University College of Sheffield received its own Royal Charter in 1905 and became the University of Sheffield.

From 200 full-time students in 1905, the University grew slowly until the 1950s and 1960s when it began to expand rapidly. Many new buildings (including the famous Arts Tower) were built and student numbers increased to their present levels of over 20,000.

In 1995, the University took over the Sheffield and North Trent College of Nursing and Midwifery, which greatly increased the size of the medical faculty. In 2005, the South Yorkshire Strategic Health Authority announced that it would split the training between Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University - however, the University decided to pull out of providing preregistration nursing and midwifery training due to "costs and operational difficulties".

Over the years, the University has been home to a number of notable writers and scholars, including the literary critic William Empson, who was head of the Department of English; author Angela Carter; five Nobel Prize winners; and Bernard Crick.

Nobel Prizes

The University's Faculty of Pure Science may boast an association with five Nobel Prizes, two for the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology:

• 1945 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (joint award) Prof. Howard Florey, for his work on penicillin.
  
• 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Prof. Hans Adolf Krebs, "for the discovery of the citric acid cycle in cellular respiration"
  
• 
  
• And three to its Department of Chemistry:
  
• 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (joint award), Prof. George Porter (later Lord Porter), "for their work on extremely fast chemical reactions" (see Flash photolysis)
  
• 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (joint award), Richard J. Roberts, "for the discovery that genes in eukaryotes are not contiguous strings but contain introns, and that the splicing of messenger RNA to delete those introns can occur in different ways, yielding different proteins from the same DNA sequence"
  
• 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (joint award), Sir Harry Kroto, "for their discovery of fullerenes").
  

University guides confirm our position as one of the UK's leading universities. The Virgin 2007 Alternative Guide to British Universities, for instance, says that “Sheffield is a top university across the board”.

Teaching quality assessments rate our teaching very highly across a wide range of subjects, and official research assessments confirm our reputation as a centre for world-class research in many disciplines.

We have more than 24,000 students from 118 countries, and almost 6000 staff. The University of Sheffield is a popular choice with applicants for university places, and once they arrive our students enjoy the experience so much that many settle in Sheffield after they graduate.

Our research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.

Our academic partners include leading universities around the world. International partnerships include Worldwide Universities Network (USA, Europe and China) and our partnership with Leeds and York Universities (the White Rose Consortium) has combined research power greater than that of either Oxford or Cambridge.

The University's history stretches back to 1828, when the Sheffield School of Medicine was founded, and our University Charter was granted in 1905.

The University holds charitable status as an Exempt Charity. The benefits include tax savings to both the University and to charitable donors or their estates.

Reputation

Sheffield was the Sunday Times University of the Year in 2001 and has consistently appeared as one of their top-30 institutions. Just three universities nationally have more than Sheffield's 30 top-rated subjects for teaching excellence and only five have a greater number than the 35 subject areas at Sheffield deemed to have conducted world-class research in the most recent ratings.

The University of Sheffield is rated 8th in the UK, 18th in Europe and 69th in the world in an annual academic ranking of the top 500 universities worldwide published in August 2005. Shanghai Jiao Tong University evaluated the universities using several research performance indicators, including the number of highly cited researchers, academic performance, articles in the periodicals Science and Nature, and the number of Nobel prize-winners. A separate ranking, published in the US by Newsweek magazine, and released in August 2006, ranked Sheffield 9th in the UK, 18th in Europe and 70th in the world in a list of the Global Top 100 Universities. The University is rated 12th in the UK, 22nd in Europe and 68th in the world in the Times Higher Education Supplement's November 2007 ranking of the top 200 universities in the world.

Faculties

The University is in the process of changing its structure, from the existing seven facultie into five new faculties:

Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Medicine and Health
Faculty of Pure Science
Faculty of Social Sciences

University of Sheffield Ranked 69th in the 2007 THES-QS World University ranking

University of Sheffield Ranked 76th in the 2008 THES-QS World University ranking

University of Sheffield Ranked 82nd in the 2009 THES-QS World University ranking

University of Sheffield Ranked 69th in the 2010 QS World University ranking

University of Sheffield Ranked 72nd in the 2011 QS World University ranking

Technische Universität MÜNCHEN [Munich Technical University]

Technische Universität München (TUM) (English: Technical University of Munich) is a German university, part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities in Munich.

TUM is among the highest acclaimed universities in Germany, producing several Nobel Laureates including Gerhard Ertl who in 2007 received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

History

• 
  
• 1868 King Ludwig II founded a 'Polytechnic School' reorganized like a university.
  
• 1877 Awarded the designation 'Technical University'.
  
• 1901 Granted the right to award doctorates.
  
• 1902 Approval of the election of the Principal by the teaching staff.
  
• 1930 Integration of the College of Agriculture and Brewing in Weihenstephan.
  
• 1942 Christian Probst, Hans Scholl, and Sophie Scholl, of "The White Rose," were arrested and killed by a Nazi Group.
  
• 1957 Given the status of a 'public legal body'.
  
• 1958 Research Reactor Munich (FRM), Garching officially assigned to the TH München.
  
• 1970 Renamed 'Technische Universität München'.
  
• 2000 Establishment of Weihenstephan Science Centre for Life & Food Sciences, Land Use and Environment (WZW) belonging to the TUM.
  
• 2002 The German Institute of Science and Technology founded in Singapore.
  
• 2004 Official opening of TUM's Heinz Maier-Leibnitz (FRM II) Neutron Research Source, the world first research neutron source, on March 2.

Campuses

The TUM, like many German universities, is a "no campus" university. However, with new expansion planned in Garching, more and more departments will be placed into the new buildings in Garching. The Garching campus, unlike the downtown area, is set up more like a traditional "quadrangle" style campus with a large grouping of buildings. At the moment, university buildings are spread over four main and several minor locations:
Main campus in downtown Munich
Garching (Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering...), complete with an on-campus General Electric Company facility
Weihenstephan (Center for Life and Food Science)
Hospital "Rechts der Isar" (Medicine), Munich.

Faculties

Currently TUM has approx. 21,600 students in undergraduate and graduate programs of which 3,700 are foreign students.

TUM has 395 professors, 4,160 academic and 2,801 non-academic staff.

The TUM is divided into 12 departments:
Architecture
Business Administration
Chemistry
Civil Engineering and Surveying
Electrical Engineering and Information Technology
Informatics (Computer Science)
Mathematics
Mechanical Engineering
Medicine with the university hospital "Rechts der Isar"
Physics
Sports Science

Weihenstephan Center for Life and Food Science

Partnership

TUM's first spin-off is the German Institute of Science and Technology (GIST), in Singapore (together with National University of Singapore).

TUM has currently over 130 international partnerships, among them MIT, Stanford University, University of Illinois, Cornell University, National University of Singapore, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Tsinghua University, University of Tokyo, École Centrale Paris, TU Eindhoven, Technical University of Denmark, Technical University of Vienna, University of Melbourne, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Sirindhorn International Institute of Technology. TUM is also a partner of LAOTSE, an international network for student and senior lecturers among leading European and Asian universities.

TUM is also a member of the TIME network (Top Industrial Managers for Europe).

Technische Universität München ranked 67th in the 2007 THES QS World university Ranking

Technische Universität München ranked 78th in the 2008 THES QS World university Ranking

Technische Universität München ranked 55th in the 2009 THES QS World university Ranking

Technische Universität München ranked 58th in the 2010 QS World university Ranking

Technische Universität München ranked 54th in the 2011 QS World university Ranking

Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

The Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), or briefly University of Munich is a university in the Bavarian capital Munich. It is named after its founder Duke Ludwig the rich and the Elector Max IV named Joseph.

There are are nearly 42,000 students enrolled at the Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich . Approximately 700 professors teach 18 faculties. She is one of the largest universities in Germany. The annual budget is just under 340 million euros. The University Hospital and its budget are not members of the LMU, as it is, the University Hospital is a separate legal entity independent of the university.

With 160 courses, the University of Munich offers a very wide range of subjects, among which some, otherwise in the German-speaking subjects are not offered. In technical subjects, the LMU in direct competition with the Technical University of Munich.

The University of Munich is not a campus university, but over several locations. In addition to the main building at the Geschwister-Scholl-Platz (immediately adjacent outbuildings), there are, inter alia, the so-called high-tech campus in Grosshadern Clinic and the inner city, the women's clinic at the Maistraße and many others across the city distributed Institute building, such B.

A few hundred metres north of the so-called Schweinchenbau (pedagogy and psychology, because of the so-called pink Gebäudeanstrichs), a few hundred metres apart from the southwest Pinakotheken the mathematics building (in the partly physics, computer science and geology lectures will be held) or in the former building of the radio station Radio Free Europe Institute accommodated at the English Garden (Geschwister-Scholl Institute of Political Science, Communication Studies, East Asian customers, Science, the Institute for Biomolecular optics and the Center for Information and Language Processing).

Faculties

The University of Munich is divided into 18 departments:
01 Catholic theology
02 Evangelical Theology
03 Law
04 Betriebswirtschaftslehre
05 economics
07 medical (including dentistry)
08 veterinary medicine
09 and Art History, Science
10 philosophy, scientific theory and religious studies
11 psychology and pedagogy
12 Kulturwissenschaften
13/14 Languages and Literatures
15 Social Sciences
16 mathematics, computer science and statistics
17 Physics
18 Chemistry and Pharmacy
19 Biology
20 geosciences

The official number of faculties is historical reasons: The Faculty of Forestry heard 06 since October 1999 on the Technical University of Munich; faculty 13/14 created by merging two faculties

Ranking

In a global comparison of Newsweek from 2006, the LMU place 63, but they are also 16 European universities had before him, but within just ahead of Bayern Munich University of Technology ranks. In a ranking of The Times newspaper from the year 2004 they occupied the 4th place nationwide, Shanghai Jiao Tong League Annual Ranking 2007 occupied the LMU rank 53 in the world ranking, and 1st in Germany.

The University of Munich ranked equal 65th in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

The University of Munich ranked 93rd in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking

The University of Munich ranked 98th in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

The University of Munich ranked 66th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

The University of Munich ranked 62nd in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

University of Western Australia

The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a leading Australian research university and has an international reputation for excellence, innovation and enterprise. A member of the Australian 'Group of Eight' research universities, it is also among Australia's leading research universities. The University's Vice Chancellor is Professor Alan Robson supported by a five member Executive.

The University of Western Australia (UWA) is the oldest university in the state of Western Australia. Established in February 1911, it is the only university in the state to be a member of the prestigious Group of Eight, as well as the Sandstone universities. The University was established under and is governed by the University of Western Australia Act 1911

Sitting on the banks of the Swan River, the UWA Crawley campus is the oldest in Western Australia and among the most picturesque in the nation with its grand sandstone and terracotta buildings sitting among elegant heritage-listed gardens.

Graduates Prospects

UWA has the highest quality undergraduates of any university in Australia. This is underpinned by the fact that the proportion of UWA graduates accepted into full-time employment within five months of completing their course is the highest of all Western Australian universities and among the highest in Australia.

Coupled with this success is our high-quality intake of students. Western Australia's top-achieving school leavers choose to study at UWA as do high-calibre undergraduate and postgraduate students from around Australia and the world, particularly South-East Asia.

Education Standard

UWA is ranked second in Australia for the quality of its undergraduate programs. Our students benefit from the strong knowledge base and experience of teaching staff, many of whom have substantial international experience.

The University's strong foundation in research and teaching creates a scholarly environment which promotes the pursuit and rigorous critical interpretation of new information as well as the acquisition of knowledge.

Apart from regular delivery of information (lectures, tutorials, supervised research, field trips and student placements), the University also provides students with opportunities to apply their knowledge on collaborative projects with business, industry, government and the wider community.

UWA students are also involved in more than 75 student exchange or study abroad programs in north America, Asia and Europe

Faculties

The university offers comprehensive learning programs for undergraduates and postgraduates across nine faculties and the School of Indigenous Studies.

The faculties are:

• Architecture, Landscape and Visual Arts
  
• Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
  
• Business School
  
• Education
  
• Engineering, Computing and Mathematics
  
• Law
  
• Life and Physical Sciences
  
• Medicine, Dentistry and Health Services
  
• Natural and Agricultural Sciences.
  

Our offshore teaching programs are attended by more than 700 students in Singapore, China (including Hong Kong) and the Philippines.

Research

UWA is one of Australia's leading research universities, ranked second for research in Australia (taking account of its size). Responsible for almost 70 per cent of the university-based research and development in Western Australia, UWA is committed to the achievement of the highest quality research and scholarship by international standards.

While research covers the full range of disciplines within the university, our specialist areas include:
exploration, production and exploitation of minerals, oil and gas
management of agricultural and natural ecosystems
the humanities and social sciences
health and bio-medicine
genetic epidemiology
indigenous issues
information technology, telecommunications and computer science and
international management and business studies.

International Community

Our campus is a multi-cultural and multi-faith community which includes more than 3,000 international students from 80 nations. We actively promote a culture of inclusiveness and respect.

The University also participates in a number of international scholarship programs, principally through AusAID, which manages the Australian Government's overseas aid program.

Research strength and Rankings

As a result of its strong research culture, the University recently attracted more competitive research funding - on a per capita basis of staff involved in research - than any other Australian university.

Annually the University receives in excess of $71 million of external research income, expends over $117 million on research and graduates over 250 higher degree by research students, mostly doctorates.

The University has over 80 research centres, including the Crime Research Centre, the Centre for Forensic Science, the Centre for Water Research and the Centre for Oil and Gas Engineering.

A recently announced project is the Zadko Telescope. A local businessman, James Zadko, and his family contributed funds for the purchase of a robotically controlled 1-metre modified Ritchey-Chrétien telescope (F/4 equatorially mounted flat field). The telescope will be co-located with the UWA's Gravity Discovery Centre and Southern Cross Cosmos Centre 70km north of Perth on Wallingup Plain near the town of Gingin. Its operation will be harmonised with detection of major supernova events by some of the European Union's satellites.

The university consistently ranks among the top universities in the world. Newsweek ranked UWA 78th in the world in its 2005 global rankings and the THES ranked UWA 80th in the world,and in 2007 THES ranked UWA as 64th best university in the world.

The Academic World University rankings conducted by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked UWA's Life and Agricultural Science programs 34th in the world and the best in Australia, as well as being ranked between 51st-75th in the world and equal 1st in Australia in the Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy Category.

Its overall ranking in the Academic World University rankings compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University was between 101-150th in the world and equal 3rd in Australia.

University of Western Australia ranked 64th in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Western Australia ranked 83rd in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Western Australia ranked 84th in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Western Australia ranked 89th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

University of Western Australia ranked 73rd in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

Delft University of Technology

Delft University of Technology, (Technische Universiteit Delft in Dutch) in Delft, the Netherlands, is the largest and most comprehensive technical university in the Netherlands, with over 13,000 students and 2,100 scientists (including 200 professors). It is a member of the IDEA League.

Although the University only received its current name in 1986, it has been providing technical education for 165 years.

History

On January 8, 1842, King Willem II founded the 'Royal Academy for the education of civilian engineers, for serving both nation and industry, and of apprentices for trade'. The Academy also educated civil servants for the colonies and revenue officers of the Dutch East Indies.

An Act passed on May 2, 1863, imposing regulations on technical education as well as bringing it under the influence of the rules applying to secondary education. Then, on the 20th of June, 1864, a Royal Decree was issued, ordering that the Royal Academy in Delft be disbanded in order to make way for a new 'Polytechnic School'. The School went on to educate architects, and engineers in the fields of civil works, shipbuilding, mechanical engineering and mining.

On May 22, 1905, an Act was passed, acknowledging the academic level of the School's technical education - it became a 'Technische Hogeschool', or an 'Institute of Technology'. Queen Wilhelmina attended the Institute's official opening ceremony on July 10, 1905. The Institute's first Rector Magnificus was the professor of hydraulic engineering ir. J. Kraus. The Institute was granted corporate rights by an Act passed on June 7, 1956.

It was an Act which took effect on 1st September, 1986, that officially transformed the Institute of Technology into Delft University of Technology, also known as 'TU Delft'.

Undergraduate Programs

All undergraduate programs lead to a B.Sc. degree.

Aerospace Engineering

Applied Earth Science

Applied Mathematics

Applied Physics

Architecture

Civil Engineering

Computer Science

Electrical Engineering

Industrial Design Engineering

Life Science & Technology

Marine Technology

Mechanical Engineering

Molecular Science & Technology

Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management

Graduate Programs


The university offers the following graduate programs (sorted by faculty). All programs lead to a M.Sc. degree.

Aerospace Engineering
Aerospace Engineering
Geomatics
Applied Sciences
Applied Physics
Biochemical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Life Science & Technology
NanoScience
Science Education & Communication
Teacher programme (TULO)
Architecture
Architecture
Building Technology
Real Estate & Housing
Urbanism
Civil Engineering and Geosciences
Applied Earth Sciences
Civil Engineering
Geomatics
Offshore Engineering
Transport, Infrastructure & Logistics
Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science
Applied Mathematics
Computer Engineering
Computer Science
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Power Engineering (track)
Microelectronics (track)
Telecommunications (track)
Embedded Systems
Media & Knowledge Engineering
Bioinformatics (track)
Industrial Design Engineering
Design for Interaction
Integrated Product Design
Strategic Product Design
Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering
Biomedical Engineering
Marine Technology
Materials Science & Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Offshore Engineering
Systems & Control
Transport, Infrastructure & Logistics
Technology, Policy and Management
Engineering & Policy Analysis
Geomatics
Management of Technology
Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management
Transport, Infrastructure & Logistics

TU Delft ranked 63rd in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

TU Delft ranked 78th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
TU Delft ranked 83rd in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking
TU Delft ranked 108th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

TU Delft ranked 104th in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

University of Adelaide

The University of Adelaide (colloquially Adelaide University or Adelaide Uni) is a public university located in Adelaide. Established in 1874, the university is the third oldest in Australia. It has produced five Nobel laureates, 101 Rhodes scholars and is a member of the prestigious Group of Eight, as well as the Sandstone universities.

Its main campus is located on the cultural boulevard of North Terrace in the city-centre alongside prominent institutions such as the Art Gallery of South Australia, the South Australian Museum and the State Library of South Australia. The university also has four other campuses throughout the city: Roseworthy College at Roseworthy; The Waite Institute at Glen Osmond; Adelaide University Research Park at Thebarton; and the National Wine Centre in the Adelaide Park Lands.

Academics

The University is divided into five faculties, with various subsidiary schools:

Faculty of Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences: Australian School of Petroleum (ASP); School of Chemical Engineering; School of Civil & Environmental Engineering; School of Computer Science; Education Centre for Innovation & Commercialisation; School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering; School of Mathematical Sciences; School of Mechanical Engineering.

Faculty of Health Sciences: University of Adelaide School of Dentistry ; School of Medical Sciences; Medical School; School of Paediatrics & Reproductive Health; School of Population Health & Clinical Practice; School of Psychology.

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences: Elder Conservatorium of Music; School of History & Politics; School of Humanities; School of Social Sciences; Wilto Yerlo Centre for Australian Indigenous Research & Studies.

Faculty of the Professions: Graduate School of Business; School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture & Urban Design; School of Commerce; School of Economics; School of Education; Law School.

Faculty of Sciences: School of Agriculture, Food & Wine; School of Chemistry & Physics; School of Earth & Environmental Sciences; School of Molecular & Biomedical Science.

Through forward thinking strategies, the University of Adelaide has capitalised on a number of opportunities to commercialise its research. It engages in extensive contract research and collaborative work in conjunction with local and international companies, as well as Federal, State and Local Governments. This activity is managed by the University's commercial development company, Adelaide Research & Innovation Pty Ltd (ARI).

Some examples of recent influences to the University's teaching and research priorities are the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) in Adelaide's northern suburbs to which the University provides many physics, engineering and IT graduates, the growth in South Australia's wine industry which is supported by the Waite and National Wine Centre campuses producing oenology and agriculture/viticulture graduates.

In addition, the university participates in the Auto-ID Labs.

Brief Explanation

Since its establishment in 1874 the University of Adelaide has been amongst Australia's leading universities. Its contribution to the wealth and wellbeing of South Australia and Australia as a whole - across all fields of endeavour - has been enormous.

Studying at the University of Adelaide means being part of a rich tradition of excellence in education and research, with world-class academic staff and a vibrant student life.

Adelaide has a fine tradition of exemplary scholarship and ground-breaking research, and its unique relationship with industry and other organisations ensures that our research expertise is translated into tangible benefits for the global community.

Adelaide's research is at the leading edge of knowledge, with research earnings consistently the highest per capita of any university in Australia. Analysis of the impact of publications and citations shows that the University of Adelaide is ranked in the top 1% in the world in 11 research fields.

An innovative and forward-looking University, Adelaide has major strengths in wine and food, health sciences, biological sciences, physical sciences, information technology and telecommunications, environmental sciences and social sciences.

At the heart of the University's vision, achievement and impact is our commitment to excellence, our sense that a focus on the experience of the student is fundamental, and our belief that research intensity and innovative, high quality teaching have a symbiotic relationship that underpins and characterises the finest universities in the world.

We are committed to producing graduates recognised worldwide for their creativity, knowledge and skills, as well as their culture and tolerance. Our graduates make an impact on the world.

The beginnings

In 1872, the Baptist, Congregational and Presbyterian churches in the province of South Australia founded a Union College "to provide young men with an education beyond school level". Courses were offered in Classics, Philosophy, English Literature, Mathematics and Natural Science.

That same year, a wealthy grazier and copper miner, Walter Watson Hughes, proposed a donation of 20,000 pounds to the new college — an immense sum in those days, and more than enough to found a university.

So the University of Adelaide came into being, with a Bill "for an act to incorporate and endow the University of Adelaide" receiving the Governor's assent on 6 November 1874. The University began teaching in March 1876, with the Bachelor of Arts the first degree offered. The University was formally inaugurated on 25 April 1876, and fully constituted on 2 May 1877, when the admission of 73 graduates of other universities to degrees ad eundem gradum of the University of Adelaide enabled the Senate to be established.

A progressive institution

Adelaide is the third-oldest university in Australia and older than all but a handful of universities in England.

From the start, it was a progressive institution. It was the first Australian university to admit women to academic courses — in 1881, ahead of Oxford (1920) and Cambridge (1948). It was the first Australian university to grant degrees in Science — its first science graduate was also its first woman graduate, Edith Emily Dornwell. It was the first Australian university to establish a Conservatorium of Music, a Chair of Music, and a Doctor of Music, and the first to grant that degree to a woman (Ruby Davy in 1918). Adelaide graduated Australia's first woman surgeon (Laura Margaret Fowler), the first woman elected to a university Council in Australia (Helen Mayo), and the first Australian woman to be a Queen's Counsel, South Australian Supreme Court Judge, Deputy Chancellor and then Chancellor of an Australian university, and Governor of an Australian State — the redoubtable Dame Roma Mitchell.

A reputation for excellence

The University of Adelaide was quick to establish a reputation for excellence in education and research. Teachers and graduates soon made an impact that was felt not only in South Australia but also in national and international arenas.

An early Professor of Mathematics and Physics was Sir William Bragg, who went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1915 for his work on X-ray crystallography. He shared the honour with his son, Sir Lawrence, a graduate of the University.

Another graduate honoured with a Nobel Prize (1945) was Lord Howard Florey, who pioneered the application and manufacture of penicillin.

The early Antarctic explorer, Sir Douglas Mawson, had a 50-year association with the University, including 31 years as Professor of Geology and Mineralogy.

In more recent times, mechanical engineering graduate Dr Andy Thomas was Payload Commander aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on its 10-day mission in 1996. He was also chosen by NASA for the Shuttle-Mir research project, and is now Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office.

Today, the University's Creative Writing students have the opportunity to benefit from the advice of Nobel Laureate for Literature 2003, JM Coetzee, who in 2002 accepted appointment as an Honorary Visiting Research Fellow within the University.

The Nobel Prize in Medicine 2005 was awarded to Dr J. Robin Warren, who graduated MB BS from the University of Adelaide in 1961. He shares the prize with Barry Marshall "for their discovery of the bacterium Helicobacter pylori and its role in gastritis and peptic ulcer disease," and becomes the fifth person directly associated with the University of Adelaide to win a Nobel Prize.

An international institution

The University of Adelaide has built a rich tradition of excellence to become a leader in Australian higher education and research. Since its foundation, it has produced 100 Rhodes Scholars, and the University is now known internationally for the quality of its programs and its high-calibre graduates, whose skills go beyond the workplace to make an impact on the world.

The University of Adelaide extends across four campuses and accommodates more than 19,000 students, including approximately 4,500 international students from 90 countries. The 1200 high-quality teaching and research staff come from all parts of the globe.

The academic enterprise, by its nature, is not limited by national boundaries, and the University works to ensure that the many informal linkages that exist between its academic staff and their colleagues worldwide are complemented by a series of formal relationships with other universities, as well as non-university institutions, government bodies, NGOs and industry groups, to benefit both its research programs, and the learning and teaching experience of its students.

At the time of writing, the University of Adelaide had in place formal linkages with 138 universities in 25 countries.

Good governance

The University of Adelaide is governed by its Council, which is established by the University of Adelaide Act. The Council's responsibilities are to oversee the management and development of the University, devise or approve strategic plans and major policies, and monitor and review the operation of the University.

Council has 21 members, is chaired by the Chancellor, and is advised by seven standing committees. Other Management Committees advise the Vice-Chancellor and President and senior managers.

The University's Chief Executive Officer is the Vice-Chancellor and President. He is supported by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President (Academic) , Deputy Vice-Chancellor & Vice-President (Research) and Vice-President (Services & Resources).

The University's academic activities are grouped into five Faculties: Engineering, Computer & Mathematical Sciences; Health Sciences; Humanities & Social Sciences; Professions; and Sciences. Each Faculty is headed by an Executive Dean.

University of Adelaide ranked 62nd in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Adelaide ranked 106th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Adelaide ranked 81st in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Adelaide ranked 103rd in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

University of Adelaide ranked 92nd in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (in short K.U.Leuven) is the Flemish successor institution to the oldest university in Belgium, founded in 1425 (see Catholic University of Leuven). Centrally located in the town of Leuven in Flanders, the K.U.Leuven is officially a Dutch-speaking institution. Worldwide, however, especially in the English speaking world, the university is often known by its anglicized French name 'Louvain'. 'Louvain' was for centuries a major contributor to the development of Catholic theology. With predecessor institutions dating back to 1425, the K.U.Leuven and its French-speaking counterpart, the Université catholique de Louvain, are regarded as the oldest existing Catholic universities in the world.

The Katholieke Universiteit Leuven also has a campus at Kortrijk, formerly known as Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Afdeling Kortrijk (KULAK).

In 2006, more than 30,000 students were attending classes at the 14 faculties of the K.U.Leuven, about 4000 of whom were foreign students, many of whom were able to follow courses offered in English. Most courses, however, are taught in Dutch. The K.U.Leuven is a member of the Coimbra Group (a network of leading European universities) as well as of the LERU Group (League of European Research Universities). Since August 2005, the university has been led by Marc Vervenne who replaced former rector André Oosterlinck. The Belgian archbishop, Cardinal Godfried Danneels is the current Grand Chancellor and a member of the university board.

The K.U.Leuven is dedicated to Mary, the mother of Jesus, under her traditional attribute as 'Seat of Wisdom', and organizes an annual celebration on 2 February in her honour. On that day, the university also awards its honorary doctorates.

In polarized Flanders, the K.U.Leuven is nominally Catholic, whereas the University of Ghent and the University of Antwerp are officially neutral on issues of religious/philosophical orientation, and the Free University of Brussels is Freethinking.However, nowadays these polarized classifications are less relevant than they once were. In fact, the K.U.Leuven is not Catholic in any real sense, certainly not in the sense of adhering always to Church teachings. In this respect, K.U.Leuven is more often regarded as being 'progressive' in relation to other Catholic universities worldwide. Students and staff tend to choose a university rather for pragmatic reasons - such as the quality of education, the distance to the campus or even the offered opportunities - than purely for religious or philosophical reasons.

K.U.Leuven is a strongly research oriented university, and among its achievements is to have featured among the top European universities in terms of scientific output (although not yet impact). Rijndael, the cipher chosen as the Advanced Encryption Standard, was developed at K.U.Leuven.

History

In 1968 tensions between the Dutch-speaking and French-speaking communities led to the splitting of the bilingual Catholic University of Leuven into two "sister" universities, with the Dutch-language university becoming a fully-functioning independent institution in Leuven in 1970, and the Université Catholique de Louvain decamping to a greenfield campus site in the French-speaking part of Belgium. Pieter De Somer became the first rector of the K.U. Leuven.

In 1972 the K.U. Leuven set up a separate entity, "Leuven Research & Development" (LRD), to support industrial and commercial applications of university research. It has led to numerous spin-offs, such as the technology companies Option and Metris, and manages tens of millions of euros in investments and venture capital.

On 11 July 2002 the K.U.Leuven became the dominant institution in the "K.U.Leuven Association".

Facts and figures
General financial overview

In 2005, the total revenue of K.U.Leuven was EUR 506.8 million. 60.3% of this went to personnel costs, and 39.7% was spent on operations and equipment.

Students
Academic year 2005-2006
30,442 students
3,770 international students

Staff
K.U.Leuven employs 8,017 people.
The university hospitals employ 8,172 people.
Research 2005
Research expenditures: EUR 230 million
Research expenditures by percentage: exact sciences, 44%; biomedical sciences, 30%; humanities, 19%; interfacultary institutes 7%
4,447 researchers (1,227 senior and 3,220 junior researchers), measured in full-time equivalents
3,000 publications (in 2004) in international peer-reviewed academic and scientific journals
427 doctorates (117 by international doctoral students)
Fifty-eight spin-off companies
Member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), a group of twenty European research-intensive universities committed to the values of high-quality teaching within an environment of internationally competitive research

Education
102 postgraduate academic programmes:
- Fifty supplementary programmes (fifteen of which are in English, and eight of which are interuniversity programmes)
- Fifty-two specialization programmes (twenty-one programmes taught in English, twenty-one interuniversity programmes)
One undergraduate campus in Kortrijk
Four academic programmes taught completely in English (Philosophy, Theology, Religious Studies, and Canon Law)
Participation in three Erasmus Mundus programmes: 572 students from K.U.Leuven went abroad, 591 international students came to K.U.Leuven
International Cooperation
Participation in three Tempus-CARDS programmes, three Tempus-Tacis programmes, and five Alfa programmes
Partner in twenty bilateral interuniversity collaboration agreements
Seventeen selective bilateral interuniversity agreements for PhD students
Development cooperation: twenty-two ongoing projects in Africa, fourteen in Asia, and fifteen in Central and South America (projects both under K.U.Leuven's own initiative, and in connection with University Institutional Cooperation)

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ranked 61st in the 2007 THES - QS World University Ranking

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ranked 72nd in the 2008 THES - QS World University Ranking

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ranked 65th in the 2009 THES - QS World University Ranking

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ranked 86th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

Katholieke Universiteit Leuven Ranked 68th in the 2011 QS World University Ranking

University of Heidelberg

The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg is a public, comprehensive research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Commonly referred to as University of Heidelberg, Ruperto Carola, or simply Heidelberg, it is the oldest university in Germany. The University of Heidelberg consists of twelve faculties and offers degree programs at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral level in a wide array of disciplines. It is a German Excellence University, and a founding member of the League of European Research Universities, the Coimbra Group, and the European University Association.

History

Rupert I, Elector Palatine established the university in 1386 in the town of Heidelberg, then the seat of Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire. It acted from the outset as a center for theologians and law experts from throughout the Holy Roman Empire. After having gone into decline as a result of the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), it overcame its fiscal and intellectual crisis not until the early 19th century. It then became a hub for independent thinkers and developed into a stronghold of humanism and democracy. However, during the Nazi era between 1933 and 1945, the university lost many of its dissident professors and was consequently ill-famed as a NSDAP cadre university. It thus underwent an extensive denazification after World War II. In the 1970s, the University of Heidelberg was one of the main scenes of the left-wing student protests in Germany.

Today, the university puts an emphasis on natural sciences and medicine, but it retains its traditions with strong faculties of humanities and social sciences. The university is closely associated with some of the foremost science institutes in Europe and is particularly research oriented.It is consistently ranked among Europe's top universities, and it is one of the internationally leading education venues for doctoral students, with approximately 1,000 doctorates successfully completed every year.Although there is an increasing number of commercial sponsors, the university depends mostly on financial support by the state. International students from some 130 countries usually account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body;at some graduate programs the proportion of international students approaches 50 percent.

Library

The University Library is the main library of the university, and constitutes together with the decentralized libraries of the faculties and institutes the integral university library system, headed by the director of the University Library. Besides the usual tasks of a library for research and teaching, the University Library contains special collections in the following concentration areas: literature concerning the Palatinate and Baden, Egyptology, archeology, history of art, and South Asia. The University Library's stocks exceeded one million in 1934. Today it holds about 3.2 million books, about 500,000 other media like microfilms and video tapes, 10,732 current scientific journals, as well as 6000 ancient manuscripts. The 83 decentralized libraries contain another 3.5 million printed books. In 2005, 34,500 active users of the University Library accessed 1.4 million books a year. The conventional book supply is complemented by numerous electronic services. Around 3000 commercial scientific journals can be accessed via e-journal.

The University Library of today traces its roots back to the purchase of a chest of documents by the first Rector Marsilius von Inghen in 1388, which was stored in the Heiliggeistkirche, then the University Cathedral. Additional foundations of the library were laid by means of donations from the bishops, chancellors, and early professors. Louis III willed his large and valuable collection to the university, as did also the Fugger of Augsburg. Otto Henry, Elector Palatine, combined the university's libraries in the 16th century, thus creating the Bibliotheca Palatina. In the 17th century, the greatest part of the Bibliotheca Palatina was donated to the Vatican in Rome as a loot of the Thirty Years War. The libraries of the secularized monasteries Salem and Petershausen constituted the basis for the reconstruction. From 1901 to 1905 a richly ornamented, four-wing red sandstone building was constructed for the library across from the Church of St. Peter. It was designed by Josef Durm, who adapted the Renaissance style of Heidelberg Castle and added numerous elements of art noveau. The building was expanded several times, lately by enlarged basements under the courtyard of the neighboring New University. The frontage is punctuated with many windows for the sake of natural illumination. Since 1978, the science branch of the University Library serves the institutes of natural sciences and medicine at the New Campus.

Faculties

After a structural reformation in 2003, the university consists of twelve faculties which in turn comprise several disciplines.

As a consequence of the Bologna process, most faculties now offer Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD degrees in order to comply with the new European degree standard.

• Faculty of Behavioural Sciences and Empirical Cultural Sciences
  
• Faculty of Biosciences
  
• Faculty of Chemistry and Earth Sciences
  
• Faculty of Economics and Social Studies
  
• Faculty of Law
  
• Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
  
• Faculty of Medicine
  
• Faculty of Medicine in Mannheim
  
• Faculty of Modern Languages
  
• Faculty of Philosophy and History
  
• Faculty of Physics and Astronomy
  
• Faculty of Theology

Organization and length of courses

Main auditorium in the New University

The academic year is divided into two semesters. The winter semester runs from 1st of October - 31st of March and the summer semester from 1st of April - 30th of September. Classes are held from mid-October to mid-February and mid-April to mid-July. Students can generally begin their studies either in the winter or the summer semester. However, there are several subjects students can begin only in the winter semester. The standard time required to finish a Bachelor's degree is principally 6 semesters, and a further 4 semesters for consecutive Master's degrees. The normal duration of PhD programs for full-time students is 6 semesters. The overall period of study for an undergraduate degree is divided into two parts: a period of basic study, lasting at least 4 semesters, at the end of which students must sit a formal examination, and a period of advanced study, lasting at least 2 semesters, after which students take their final examinations.



Reputation

The THES - QS World University Rankings ranked the University of Heidelberg overall between 12th and 15th in Europe, between 45th and 60th in the world, and consistently as the foremost German university. Based on the overall academic peer review score of 2005, Heidelberg ranked 6th in Europe and 28th in the world. In the separate THES - QS rankings of broad subject areas, Heidelberg ranked globally between 17th and 43rd in life science and biomedicine, between 22nd and 45th in science, between 41st and 61st in arts and humanities, and between 54th and 78th in social sciences. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Heidelberg between 12th and 18th in Europe, and between 58th and 66th in the world. With these placings Heidelberg outranks many world-renowned institutions of higher education, such as most often two Ivy League universities. (Note that the THES - QS and Jiao Tong tables are the only annual comprehensive world university rankings, and that their methodologies are subject to controversy.)

According to the Ranking of Scientific Impact of Leading European Research Universities compiled by the European Commission, Heidelberg ranks 9th in Europe. The CHE Excellence Ranking, measuring academic performance of European graduate programs in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics, placed Heidelberg in the excellence group for physics and chemistry, and in the top group for mathematics and biology, which is overall a joint 9th place in Europe.

Ranked by the number of Nobel Laureates affiliated with the university at the time of Nobel Prize announcement, Heidelberg is placed 4th in Europe and 13th in the world by 2007. A study based on a survey of scientific journal referees created by Braun et al. in 2007 ranks the University of Heidelberg at the top of German universities in academic reputation.The Times referred to the University of Heidelberg as "the oldest and most eminent in the country of Luther and Einstein" and as "the jewel of German learning".

The University of Heidelberg ranked 60th in the 2007 THES-QS World University ranking

The University of Heidelberg ranked 57th in the 2008 THES-QS World University ranking

The University of Heidelberg ranked 57th in the 2009 THES-QS World University ranking

The University of Heidelberg ranked 51st in the 2010 QS World University ranking

The University of Heidelberg ranked 53rd in the 2011 QS World University ranking