University of Southampton

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University of Southampton
Motto: Strenuis Ardua Cedunt
The Heights Yield to Endeavour
Established: 1862 Hartley Institution
1902 University College
1952 Royal Charter
Type: Public
Chancellor: Sir John Parker
Vice-Chancellor: Professor Bill Wakeham
Visitor: The Lord President of the Council ex officio
Staff: Around 5,000
Students: 24,735[1]
Undergraduates: 17,120[1]
Postgraduates: 7,615[1]
Location: Southampton, England
Campus: City Campus
Affiliations: Russell Group
ACU
EUA
Website: http://www.soton.ac.uk/
The University of Southampton logo
Not to be confused with Southampton Solent University.

The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902 the Institution developed into the Hartley University College, with degrees were awarded by the University of London. On 29 April 1952, HM Queen Elizabeth II, granted a Royal Charter to give the University of Southampton full University status.

The university is a member of the Russell Group of research universities and the Worldwide Universities Network. It currently has over 17,000 undergraduate and 7,000 postgraduate students[1], making it the largest university by higher education students in the South East region. The main campus is located in the Highfield area of Southampton. Four other campuses are located throughout the city alongside the School of Art based in nearby Winchester.

The university has a strong emphasis on research, having one of the highest proportions of income derived from research activities in Britain[2]. Southampton is highly regarded as a centre for educational excellence, ranking as a top 20 university in various tables[3][4][5][6], and regularly rated in the top 10 of the National Student Survey[2].

Contents

[edit] History

The University of Southampton has its origin as the Hartley Institution which was formed in 1862 from a benefaction by Henry Robertson Hartley (1777–1850). Hartley was the son of a local wine merchant.[7] On his death he left £103,000 to the Southampton Corporation on condition that it was invested "in such manner as might best promote the study and advancement of the sciences of Natural History, Astronomy, Antiquities, Classical and Oriental Literature in the town, such as by forming a Public Library, Botanic Gardens, Observatory, and collections of objects with the above sciences."

The city officials housed Hartley's books in a building in Southampton's High Street, in the city centre. The Hartley Institution was born out of this, and became a university college in 1902. In 1919 it was renamed Hartley University College, and subsequently University College Southampton. Before 1952, the college's degrees were awarded by the University of London.

Having outgrown the High Street premises, the college was set to move to greenfield land near Highfield's Back Lane (now University Road). Although the new main building was formally opened on 20 June 1914, the outbreak of the First World War occurred before any lectures could take place there. The buildings were handed over by the college authorities for use as a military hospital. In order to cope with the volume of casualties, wooden huts were erected at the rear of the building. The college continued to use these after the war, eventually replacing the makeshift extension with brick buildings. With the continuing expansion, an academic bookshop was built on the site of Church Farm and the Students' Union complex and refectory were built on the site of Sir Sidney Kimber's brickyard.

In 1952, the Queen granted the University of Southampton a Royal Charter to award degrees in its own right. This conferred full university status and made Southampton independent of the University of London. It was thus one of the last of the "civic" universities to receive a Royal Charter. It grew rapidly and gained a reputation for a strong academic approach. It expanded rapidly during the 1960s, when a number of new plate glass universities were created; such as the University of East Anglia, University of Lancaster, University of Warwick, University of York and a number of others.

In February 2008, the university rebranded itself, which included redesigning the website and changing the logo.[8]

The University's main buildings are situated on a large site on the campus in Highfield, but the University has other campuses elsewhere around the city: at Boldrewood (biomedical sciences), Southampton General Hospital and on the waterfront at the National Oceanography Centre.

It also has a campus in the nearby city of Winchester which is the home of the University's School of Art, known as the Winchester School of Art. The Avenue Campus houses most of the Humanities subjects taught at the University, including History, English, Film, Philosophy and Modern Languages. The Centre for Language Study is based at Avenue Campus. Archaeology is also located there in a series of purpose-designed buildings (the most modern archaeology facilities of any British university). Music is still taught on the Highfield Campus, near the Turner Sims Concert Hall.

The University of Southampton and the MIT recently announced the launch of a long-term research collaboration, the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI), that aims to produce the fundamental scientific advances necessary to guide the future design and use of the World Wide Web.[9] The Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI), is headed by Professor Tim Berners-Lee.

[edit] Organisation

 Please help improve this section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (October 2007)

[edit] List of Faculties, Schools and Centres

The Tizard Building, home of the Institute of Sound and Vibration Research
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
  • Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics
    • School of Chemistry
    • School of Civil Engineering and the Environment (includes the centre for Environmental Sciences)
    • School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS)
    • School of Engineering Sciences (includes Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Ship Science)
    • School of Geography
    • School of Mathematics
    • School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES)
    • School of Physics and Astronomy
    • Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR)
    • Optoelectronics Research Centre
    • Transportation Research Group (TRG)
    • National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (home of the School of Ocean and Earth Science) (NOCS)
    • Southampton E-Science Centre
  • Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
    • School of Biological Sciences
    • School of Health Professions and Rehabilitation Sciences
    • School of Medicine
    • School of Nursing and Midwifery
    • School of Psychology
    • Health Care Innovation Unit
  • Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute
  • ESRC National Centre for Research Methods

[edit] School of Electronics and Computer Science

The School of Electronics and Computer Science, generally abbreviated "ECS", is regarded by the IET as having the "biggest and strongest academic unit in the country in Electrical and Electronic Engineering." [10] and has been at the forefront of the Open Access movement. Its research has achieved the top 5* rating in the last two Research Assessment Exercises, and in 2003 it was awarded the prestigious ‘best 5*’ rating by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

Chaired by Sir Tim Berners-Lee[11], the school is regarded as one of the best in the UK for both computer science and electronics, scoring 5th and 1st for the subjects respectively in the Guardian Unlimited University Guide 2008[12] and 5th and 2nd respectively by both the Times Online Good University Guide[13] [14] and the Good University Guide [15].

ECS was the first academic institution in the world to adopt a self-archiving mandate (2001) [2] and since then much of its published research has been freely available on the Web [3]. It created the first and most widely used archiving software (EPrints) which is used worldwide by 213 known archives and continues to be evolved and supported from the School [4].

In 2005, a large fire destroyed part of the Mountbatten Building, holding optical fibre research laboratories (the world-renowned Optoelectronics Research Centre, ORC) and the microchip fabrication laboratories. It is estimated that the costs for rebuilding the centre and replacing the equipment will be around £150 million, making this what is believed to be the world's most destructive university fire.[16] The fire that consumed the Mountbatten Building on 30 October 2005 had devastating consequences not just for research in the School of Electronics and Computer Science but for many other partners and collaborators in the UK and around the world whose work was destroyed along with the Building.

[edit] The Business School Professional Campus

The University of Southampton is planning to develop the UK’s first wholly integrated ‘professional campus’. The plans will see the transformation of the University’s Boldrewood campus.[17]

Lloyd’s Register (formerly of London), an independent risk management organisation, named after the London coffee house in which it began, will move its London marine operations to the Boldrewood campus.[18]

The practice of corporations and business schools sharing resources and facilities is well established in some countries but this will be the first ‘professional campus’ in the UK. The Lloyd's Register Group will maintain its building in the City of London as the corporate office and governance of the Group will remain based there.

[edit] League Table Rankings

Year THES - QS World University Rankings (World) Academic Ranking of World Universities (World) Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (World) Times Good University Guide (UK) Guardian University Guide (UK) Sunday Times University Guide (UK) Daily Telegraph (UK)
1993       11    
1994       16    
1995       22    
1996       12    
1997       19    
1998       21   17[19]  
1999       22[20]   20[19]  
2000       26   18[19]  
2001       26   20[19]  
2002       37 17 11[19] 16
2003   153-201[21]   24[22] 20 14[19] 18[23]
2004   152-200[24]   28[25] 34 17[19]  
2005 206[26] 153-203[27]   25[28] 37[29] 17[30]  
2006 141[31] 151-200[32]   26[33] 36[34] 16[35]  
2007 80[36] 151-202[37] 102[38] 22[39]   16[40] 10[6]
2008 99[41] 152-200[42] 110[43] 14[3] 13[4] 12[5]  
2009       16[44] 25[45]    

The University of Southampton did particularly well (25th) on the G-factor metric, which uses Google links to measure the influence of universities' research[46]. Southampton came third among British universities, behind Cambridge and Oxford. Only one other non-American university had a higher G-factor than Southampton. The G-factor is more objective than peer review processes which are prone to perpetuating the perceived status quo.

[edit] Campus life

[edit] Architecture

Avenue Campus

The earliest buildings on the main (Highfield) campus date back to the 1910s; however, the centre of the campus is dominated by two imposing 1930s buildings by the local architect Colonel R. F. Gutteridge [47] - constructed in red brick - while the 1950s masterplan and the majority of the remaining buildings are by Sir Basil Spence in a light, Mies van der Rohe style. A new masterplan for the Highfield campus was drawn up in 1998 by renowned architect Rick Mather who has also contributed some of the newer buildings. The campus has expanded rapidly over the last decade, with many notable new buildings including one designed by Norman Foster. The campus retains an area of parkland in which are scattered 20th century sculptures by Barbara Hepworth, FE McWilliams, Justin Knowles, Nick Pope and John Edwards.

[edit] Students' Union

The University of Southampton Students' Union (SUSU), is sited in three buildings opposite the Hartley Library. One, the West Building, dates back to the 1940s in a red brick style, complementing the Hartley Library opposite; the main building was built in the 1960s in the Basil Spence masterplan. This was extended with new nightclub and cinema facilities in 2002. The newest building was built during the mid-1990s which includes the recently refurbished Union shop, on the ground floor, and hairdressers and travel agency, both on the first floor. In May 2002 (after numerous attempts going back several years), it chose to disaffiliate itself from the NUS, believed by SUSU to be too bureaucratic.[48] The multiple award winning student radio station, Surge, broadcasts from new studios in the main Union building. [49]The award winning website[50] SUSU.org was created and run by students at the university. The student newspaper, originally Wessex News, is now published once every three weeks as Wessex Scene following a name change in 1996. Events are held in The Cube, the Union's nightclub, "The Bridge", the Union's cocktail bar, and in the Stag's Head, the Union pub. National touring bands play in the Garden Court in the West Building.

[edit] Halls of Residence

The University provides accommodation for all first year students who require it. Places in halls are also available for international and postgraduate students. Accommodation may be catered, self catered, have ensuite facilities, a sink in the room, or access to communal bathroom facilities. Each of the large sites has a Junior Common Room system that runs social activities and events throughout the term and supervises the running of the onsite bars.

Glen Eyre

The three main halls of residence are:

  • Glen Eyre Halls Complex

which includes:

  • Chamberlain Hall
  • Hartley Grove Courts
  • Chancellors' Courts
  • New Terrace
  • Old Terrace
  • South Hill Lodges
  • Richard Newitt Courts
  • Brunei House
  • Beechmount House
  • Gower building
  • Small Halls, including Bencraft Court
The 16-storey extension to South Stoneham House

which includes:

  • Archers Road and Small Halls

which includes:

  • Highfield Hall
  • Bencraft Court
  • Erasmus Park (serving the Winchester School of Art)
  • Gateley Hall
  • Romero Hall
  • Shaftesbury Avenue Apartments
  • St. Margaret's House
  • Tasman Court

[edit] Notable People

Main article: List of University of Southampton people

[edit] Academics

Academics to work at the university include Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web[51], Erich Zepler who made leading contributions to radio receiver development[52], Professor David N. Payne who invented EDFA for use in fibre optics cables[53]. Others include Sir Barry Cunliffe, a pioneer of modern British Archaeology[54] and Tim Holt, former President of the Royal Statistical Society [55] and Office for National Statistics [56]

[edit] Alumni

Former students of the university include Sir John Stevens, former head of the Metropolitan Police Service[57] and Current International Security Advisor to the Prime Minister, Chris Hohn, founder of The Children's Investment Fund Management and Britain's biggest charity donor[58] , Jon Sopel, presenter of The Politics Show and a lead presenter on BBC News 24[59] and Sir Adrian Fulford, Judge in the International Criminal Court [60]. Other alumni include actor John Nettles[61], Technical Director for the Red Bull Racing Formula One team Adrian Newey[62], Olympic 400m runner Roger Black [63], musician Brian Eno and science fiction writer Stephen Baxter[64]

[edit] See also

[edit] 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. http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0607.xls. Retrieved on 2008-04-12. 
  2. ^ a b "Good University Guide Profile: University of Southampton". The Times. June 19, 2008. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/good_university_guide/article2166726.ece. Retrieved on 2009-02-05. 
  3. ^ a b Times Good University Guide 2008 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  4. ^ a b Guardian University Guide 2008 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  5. ^ a b Sunday Times University Guide 2008 Retrieved on 2008-09-25
  6. ^ a b Daily Telegraph University league table (Last Updated: 1:50am BST 30/07/2007) Retrieved on 2007-11-09
  7. ^ Mann, John Edgar & Ashton, Peter (1998). Highfield, A Village Remembered. Halsgrove. ISBN 1-874448-91-4.
  8. ^ University launches stylish new visual image Retrieved on 2008-02-07
  9. ^ University of Southampton and MIT launch World Wide Web research collaboration
  10. ^ Power Academy - Southampton University - The IET
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ Guardian Unlimited University Guide 2008
  13. ^ Times Online Good University Guide COMPUTER SCIENCE
  14. ^ Times Online Good University Guide ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC
  15. ^ Good University Guide
  16. ^ University pledges to rebuild fire damaged research facility
  17. ^ University unveils vision for the UK's first 'professional campus'
  18. ^ Lloyd's Register announces plans to move Marine operations to Southampton
  19. ^ a b c d e f g "University ranking based on performance over 10 years" (PDF). Times Online. 2007. http://extras.timesonline.co.uk/pdfs/univ07ten.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-04-28. 
  20. ^ "The Times 1999 League Table". http://www.indonesianembassy.org.uk/education_the_times_gug.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-10. 
  21. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2003". Shanghai Jiao Tong University. http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2003/Top102-500.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-10-01. 
  22. ^ "Times Good University Guide 2003 - Ignore the 2002 typo in the doucument". http://www.nottingham.edu.my/News/News/Documents/2002/Nottingham%20wins%20in%20popularity%20stakes.pdf. 
  23. ^ "Daily Telegraph University League Table 2003". http://www.grb.uk.com/resource/uploads/dtelegraph_leaguetable_2003.pdf. Retrieved on 2009-01-10. 
  24. ^ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2003". Shanghai Jiao Tong University. http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/2004/Top%20100%20European%20Universities.htm. Retrieved on 2009-10-01. 
  25. ^ Times Good University Guide 2004 - Years refer to the the year in which the tables were published (not previous academic year) Retrieved on 2009-01-01
  26. ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2005 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  27. ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2005 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  28. ^ Times Good University Guide 2005 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  29. ^ Guardian University Guide 2005 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  30. ^ Sunday Times University Guide 2005 from The Sunday Times on 2th October 2005. Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  31. ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2006 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  32. ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2006 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  33. ^ Times Good University Guide 2006 - Years refer to the the year in which the tables were published (not previous academic year) Retrieved on 2009-01-01
  34. ^ Guardian University Guide 2006 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  35. ^ Sunday Times University Guide 2006 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  36. ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2007 - Top 100 Universities Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  37. ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2007 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  38. ^ "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities". http://www.webometrics.info/premierleague.asp?offset=100&zoom_highlight=southampton. Retrieved on 2009-01-10. 
  39. ^ Times Good University Guide 2007 Retrieved on 2007-08-04
  40. ^ The Sunday Times University Guide Rankings 2007 Retrieved on 2008-28-09 from UK University Guide on uk-universities.blogspot.com
  41. ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2008 - Top 100 Universities Retrieved on 2008-10-09
  42. ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2008 Retrieved on 2008-10-09
  43. ^ "Webometrics Ranking of World Universities". http://www.webometrics.info/premierleague.asp?offset=100&zoom_highlight=southampton. Retrieved on 2009-01-10. 
  44. ^ Times Good University Guide 2009 Retrieved on 2008-09-20
  45. ^ Guardian University Guide 2009 Retrieved on 2008-09-20
  46. ^ Why Southampton University did so well in the G Factor
  47. ^ Architects' Journal 9 january 1958, p. 69
  48. ^ Southampton students opt out of NUS by Donald MacLeod Wednesday May 22, 2002
  49. ^ Webby Honorees 2008, Student Category
  50. ^ http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current_honorees.php?category_id=79
  51. ^ http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/
  52. ^ http://www.zepler.net/about
  53. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7336393.stm
  54. ^ http://www.soton.ac.uk/about/historyofuni/overview1960.html
  55. ^ http://www.rss.org.uk/main.asp?page=2862
  56. ^ http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=93056&sectioncode=26
  57. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/john-stevens-the-guvnor-427706.html
  58. ^ "Chris Horn". http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2166369/Chris-Hohn-profile-Britain%27s-biggest-charity-donor.html. Retrieved on 2009-01-04. 
  59. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/politics_show/4286048.stm
  60. ^ http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/the-iiosi-pink-list-2008-852032.html
  61. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/5179482.stm
  62. ^ http://www.red-bullog.com/2008/11/14/whos-who-he-designs-the-car-adrian-newey/
  63. ^ http://www.soton.ac.uk/about/historyofuni/overview1990.html
  64. ^ http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780345452498

[edit] News articles

[edit] External links

v • d • e
University of Southampton
Campuses
Former campus
Research Centres
Students' Union (SUSU)
Halls of Residence
v • d • e
Worldwide Universities Network

Bergen • Bristol • UCSD • UIUC • Leeds • Nanjing • Penn State • Sheffield • Southampton • Sydney • Toronto • Utrecht • Washington (UW) • UW-Madison • York • Zhejiang
v • d • e
Russell Group of UK research universities

Coordinates: 50°56′05″N 1°23′45″W / 50.93463°N 1.39595°W / 50.93463; 1.39595

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