University of Warwick
Motto: Mens agitat molem
Logo © University of Warwick
The University of Warwick is a world-class campus university which, despite its name, is located mainly inside the southern boundary of Coventry, England, some 11 km (c. 7 miles) from the town of Warwick, the remainder of the campus (the Cryfield site) being situated across Gibbet Hill Road on land donated by Warwickshire.
Despite being one of the UK's younger universities (founded in 1965), Warwick University has quickly established itself as a global heavyweight in higher education. Tony Blair characterised the university as "the university of the future" and US President Bill Clinton chose Warwick to deliver his last public speech. Departments with a particularly strong reputation include Mathematics, History, Philosophy, Warwick-Horticulture Research International, Computer Science, Economics and Business. It is also home to the Modern Records Centre, Britain's largest repository of the archives of trade unions and industrial relations .
A recent addition is the Leicester-Warwick Medical School , one of the first graduate medical schools opened in an attempt to respond to the chronic lack of doctors in the UK.
It is a member of both the Russell Group and the 1994 Group.
Attainment
The University was ranked 5th among the UK's 100 universities for quality of research in the UK Funding Councils' 2001 Research Assessment Exercise. Over 91% of the University's academic staff are located in departments with top research ratings of 5 or 5*.
22 of the 24 University academic departments which have been assessed under the Subject Review process conducted by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education have been rated 'excellent' (scored 21 or more points out of 24) for the quality of their teaching. Seven departments have achieved the maximum score of 24 out of 24.
The Guardian University Guide ranks Warwick eighth overall.
The Times Good University Guide 2004 ranks Warwick fifth overall.
Staff
Famous members of staff at Warwick have included:
- Germaine Greer, the feminist author
- Ian Stewart, the popular science author
- Mike Cowlishaw, creator of the REXX programming language.
- Andrew Davies, the television screenwriter
- Stephen Houlgate , Bill Brewer and Keith Ansell-Pearson , philosophers
- Andrew Oswald , economist
- Nick Land , cybernetics theorist
The Mathematics Department and Mathematics Institute was founded by Sir Christopher Zeeman, famous topologist and exponent of Catastrophe theory.
Alumni
Prominent people to have attended the University of Warwick include:
Chancellors
Vice-Chancellors
- Lord Butterworth (1965–1985)
- Dr C.L. Brundin (1985–1992)
- Professor Sir Brian K. Follet (1993–2001)
- Professor David VandeLinde (2001–2006)
Students' Union
The University of Warwick Students' Union is the largest and one of the more active Students' Unions in the UK, currently having 233 societies and 74 sports clubs. It has an annual turnover of approximately £5 million, which is used to improve its services and employ its Sabbatical Officers. The Union building features four club venues and seven bars, with many 'full union' nights giving free run of the entire building.
The Union has a nationally-renowned Equal Opportunities policy, and is a member of the National Union of Students (NUS) and West Midlands Area NUS (WMANUS).
University Arts Centre
Situated at the centre of the University, the Warwick Arts Centre is the second largest arts centre in the UK (after London's Barbican).
The centre comprises:
- The Butterworth Hall, a 1500-seat capacity concert hall
- A 550-seat theatre
- A 180-seat theatre studio
- A 220-seat cinema
- The Mead Gallery, an art gallery
Hospitality Services
Warwick was a pioneer among UK Universities in opening its halls and lecture facilities to outside organisations, for profit, during the summer holidays. Warwick Conferences is now a thriving internal business unit, with its profits contributing to the University's financial independence, with a dedicated, year-round conference centre, Scarman House , built on campus.
Information
In 2002, the total number of students was 17,904. This figure comprised:
- undergraduates: 10,077
- postgraduates: 6,272
- overseas undergraduate and postgraduate students: 2,948
- other programmes: 1,555
- overseas students on other programmes: 1,484
Total number of staff: 4,354, including:
- academic: 824
- other research: 728
Size of campus:
- 2.9 km² (720 acres)
The University's coat of arms includes atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear of Warwickshire (N.B. the bear is not chained in the University's current coat of arms - although it was in earlier versions) and the Elephant of Coventry. The current crest can be seen at: University of Warwick crest page
External links
