Swansea University

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Not to be confused with Swansea Metropolitan University or Swansea College.
Swansea University
Prifysgol Abertawe
Motto Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn
("Technical skill is bereft without culture")
Established 1920
Type Public
Chancellor None; previously Professor Sir David Williams
Vice-Chancellor Professor Richard B. Davies
Admin. staff 2,500
Students 18,445[1]
Undergraduates 11,730[1]
Postgraduates 2,145[1]
Other students 4,570 FE[1]
Location Swansea, UK
Campus Suburban/Coastal
Colours Green & White
Affiliations University of Wales, EUA, ACU
Website http://www.swan.ac.uk/

Swansea University (Welsh: Prifysgol Abertawe) is a university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. Swansea University was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920,[2] as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it changed its name to the University of Wales Swansea[2] following structural changes within the University of Wales. The new title of Swansea University was formally adopted on 1 September 2007 when the University of Wales became a non-membership confederal institution and the former members became universities in their own right.[3]

It is the third largest university in Wales in terms of number of students. The university campus is located next to the coast at the north of Swansea Bay, east of the Gower Peninsula, in the grounds of Singleton Park, just outside Swansea city centre. Swansea was granted its own degree-awarding powers in 2005 in preparation for possible changes within the University of Wales.[4]

Swansea and Cardiff University compete in an annual varsity match, known as the Welsh version of the Oxbridge event, which includes the Welsh Varsity rugby and The Welsh Boat Race.

Contents

[edit] Governance and structure

Swansea received its royal charter in 1920 and like many universities is governed by its constitution that is set out in its statutes and charter. The governing body of Swansea University is its Council, which, in turn, is supported by the Senate and the Court.

[edit] Academic structure

Faraday Tower, home to the Schools of Engineering and Physical Sciences.

Swansea University's academic departments are organised into 8 schools:

[edit] Research

Wiki letter w cropped.svg This section requires expansion.

Swansea is a highly research intensive university with 52 Centres of Research.[5] The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise rankings for Swansea showed a doubling of world-leading research and the largest increase in internationally excellent research in the whole of the UK, resulting in Swansea University climbing 13 places in the UK rankings from 2001 to 2008. Almost 50 per cent of all research at Swansea University was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent - 4* and 3*- the top two categories of assessment.[6]

Within Wales, out of 31 subject areas submitted in the RAE, Swansea University came first in 17 areas, and first or second in 24 areas.

Research area for which Swansea University is first in Wales
Allied Health Professions and Studies (Biomedicine)
American Studies and Anglophone Area Studies
Civil Engineering
Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
Computer Science
Development Studies
Economics and Econometrics
French
Health Services Research
German, Dutch and Scandinavian Languages
General Engineering and Mineral & Mining Engineering
History
Italian
Iberian and Latin American Languages
Metallurgy and Materials
Physics
Pure Mathematics
Social Work and Social Policy and Administration

[6]

Recent research interests include being part of the Bloodhound SSC land-speed record attempt in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics and Aerodynamic design.[7] The university was also a key partner in the successful Thrust SSC land-speed record attempt.

The university has a connection with CERN. At CERN, university staff were part of the first team to create antihydrogen[6] and later trapping it.[8] The current leader of the Large Hadron Collider project is a former Alumni Dr Lyn Evans.

[edit] Campus

The majority of university buildings are on the Singleton Campus, based in the grounds of Singleton Park, adjacent to Swansea Bay. The campus also includes the nearby Sports Village and Hendrefoelan Student Village, about 2.5 miles away.[9]

[edit] Library

Library & Information Services at Swansea provides a combined library, IT and Careers service. The main Library & Information Centre on the Singleton campus has over 800,000 books and periodicals, along with a wide range of electronic resources including over 23,000 electronic journals. There are over 1,000 study spaces, almost half of which are equipped with networked PCs. LIS was awarded the Charter Mark in 2006.

The Library & Information Centre also has major archive collections, based on the South Wales Coalfield Collection, several papers of Welsh writers in English and the Richard Burton Collection, which was recently donated by Burton's wife, Sally. It is hoped that the collection will form the hub of a learning resource dedicated to the actor’s life and work.

Recent developments include a major extension in opening hours, the installation of a Costa coffee pod in the Group Study Area and the transfer of the stock of the Morriston Hospital Nursing Library to the Library and Information Centre.[citation needed]

[edit] Sports centre

Swansea University's sports centre[10] is located near the main campus on the western side of Sketty Lane. The university sports centre is separate to the adjacent King Edward V Playing fields to the west. The sports centre is used by the university for its sports degree courses as well for general student recreation. Facilities include the Wales National Pool, an indoor 6-lane running track, gymnasium, sports hall, tennis courts, squash courts and a climbing wall. Outdoor facilities include an 8-lane running track and floodlit playing fields including rugby, football, lacrosse and cricket pitches.[11][12]

[edit] Xtreme Radio 1431AM

Main article: Xtreme Radio

Xtreme Radio is the radio station of the University, run by students. It was founded in November 1968 as Action Radio, making it the third oldest student radio station in the UK and oldest in Wales.[13] It broadcasts to various areas around campus, around Swansea itself on 1431AM and worldwide on the internet. The station plays a wide variety of music, as well as having a number of specialist programmes including talk and sports shows.

[edit] Museum of Egyptian Antiquities (Egypt Centre)

Located within the Taliesin building, the Egypt Centre is a museum of Egyptian antiquities open to the public. There are over 4000 items in the collection.[14] Most of them were collected by the pharmacist Sir Henry Wellcome. Others came to the university from: the British Museum; the Royal Edinburgh Museum; National Museums and Galleries of Wales Cardiff; the Royal Albert Museum and Art Gallery and also private donors.

Egypt Centre staff regularly give lectures and talks to museum groups and other outside bodies on widening participation in university museums; social inclusion and volunteering. Schools regularly visit us to take part in a stimulating and interactive programme of events.[14]

[edit] Student accommodation

Swansea University provides approximately 3400 places in University halls and aims to offer accommodation to over 98% of new Undergraduate students who request it. Accommodation is also available for all International Postgraduate students.

Swansea University maintains on-campus and off-campus halls of residence and the purpose built Hendrefoelan Student Village. Several new halls of residence were completed in 2004 and in 2008.

There are also a number of university managed properties in the Uplands and Brynmill areas of the city.[15]

[edit] Hendrefoelan Student Village

Hendrefoelan Student Village is the university’s largest residence site where 1644 students live in self-catering accommodation. The Hendrefoelan estate is 2.5 miles from the campus, just off the main Swansea to Gower road, set amongst mature woodland with open grassy areas. The campus host's a mini-supermarket, launderette, bar and diner. Busses run from the campus to the University, City Centre, Swansea Stadium and various Hospitals within the city. The campus is near the Killay shopping precinct.[15]

[edit] Campus halls

Penmaen and Horton buildings seen from Singleton Park

There are nine halls that make up the campus residences providing accommodation to around 1226 students. The halls offer a combination of part and self-catered rooms and a choice of standard or ensuite study rooms. Three of these halls (Caswell, Langland and Oxwich) were completed in 2004 and the original halls (Kilvey, Preseli, Rhossili and Cefn Bryn, formerly known as Sibly, Lewis Jones, Mary Williams Annexe and Mary Williams respectively) have undergone some refurbishment in recent years. Penmaen and Horton are the newest addition to the campus residences providing 351 self-catered, ensuite study rooms. Many rooms have views over the bay or across the park.[16]

[edit] Tŷ Beck / Beck House

Six large Victorian town houses situated in the Uplands area of Swansea, approximately a mile from the Singleton campus. Predominantly provide rooms for postgraduates and students with families, as well as overseas exchange students.[17]

[edit] Recent developments

The Digital Technium houses Britain's most advanced Virtual Reality cave.[18]

The University has restructured in recent years, expanding popular areas such as History, English, Geography and Computer Science, but closing the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, and the Department of Philosophy.[citation needed] The Department of Chemistry has also ceased to take undergraduate students, although it continues to carry out research and post-graduate teaching. It is also proposed to cut over 50% of the modern foreign languages department [5] sparking outcry. Recent course additions include Aerospace Engineering as well as a partnership with Cardiff University to provide a four-year accelerated graduate-entry medical degree (MB BCh) in Swansea which was launched in 2004. In 2007 Swansea University was awarded the four year course on its own.[6]

The Western Britain chapter of the International Conference for the Study of Political Thought was moved to the Department of Politics & International Relations from Exeter University earlier in 2006.[citation needed]

In July 2007 the £52 million Institute of Life Science (ILS) opened as the research arm of the university's school of medicine.[19] The ILS is based in a six-storey building housing laboratories, business incubation suites and an IBM Blue C supercomputer.[20][21] The supercomputer is used for projects including numerically-intensive analysis of viral genomes, epidemiological modelling, large clinical databases and analysis of the genetics of disease susceptibility.[22] In July 2009, an expansion of the ILS was announced with a £30m investment from Swansea University, the Welsh Assembly Government, the European Union and Abertawe Bro Morgannwg University Health Board.[23] ILS2 is due for completetion in Summer 2011[24]

In November 2007, the University announced a collaboration with Navitas to found an International College - International College Wales Swansea to provide foundation, 1st year degree and Pre-Masters programmes on campus. The first intake was September 2008.

[edit] Boots Centre for Innovation

The ILS Building contains the Boots Centre for Innovation and the IBM Blue-C Supercomputer.

Boots Centre for Innovation was created in April 2007 as a non profit making partnership between Boots the Chemist, Longbow Capital, Swansea University and the Welsh Assembly Government. The Centre was created to work closely with early stage companies or lone inventors to develop innovative new products and technologies within the health and beauty sectors, and to eventually launch new consumer products for the shelves of Boots stores.[25]

[edit] Campus Expansion

In written evidence presented to the Welsh Assembly's Enterprise and Learning Committee in January 2008, the university stated that it was "at an advanced stage of discussion" about a new 'Innovation Campus' on a second site. The new campus could be home to Engineering, Computing, Telecommunications, the Business and Law Schools and a range of "research/test facilities" for large and small companies.[26] One proposal is the development of a 100-acre (0.40 km2) site near Fabian Way at Crymlyn Burrows.[27]

[edit] University rankings

Ambox outdated serious.svg
 This section may need to be updated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information, and remove this template when finished. Please see the talk page for more information. (November 2010)

The Times university 2008 Top 100 league table listed the university as the 46th best university in the UK, up from 50th position in 2004 but down from 42nd in 2005. The university picked up the 2005 Times Higher Education Supplement Award for the UK's "best student experience".[28][29] However, the survey was criticised by some, as it was carried out by the Student Panel making the sample self-selected and therefore unscientific. The university is also listed as one of the top 500 universities in the World at 401 to 500 in the 2006 Shanghai Jiao Tong University World Rankings.[30] Additionally, the 2008 Times Higher Education Supplement of World University Rankings places Swansea as 347th in the world, up from 401-500 in 2007.[31] The Guardian league tables placed the university at 83rd in its institution wide table.[32]

The Times Good University Guide 2005 places Swansea second to Cambridge out of 45 universities for Civil Engineering.[33] According to the latest national research assessment, Swansea University's Civil Engineering department is ranked 2nd in the UK behind Cambridge, but ahead of rivals Imperial College, Cardiff, Bristol, Southampton, Bath and Sheffield. Only Swansea and Cambridge are eligible for the new 6* rating now being applied to the English rating system.[33]

[edit] Notable alumni

See also: Category:Academics of Swansea University and Category:Alumni of Swansea University
Science, Engineering and Technology
Business
Politics
Academia
Sporting
Arts

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Table 0 - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study and domicile 2007/08". Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0708.xls?v=1.0. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
  2. ^ a b http://www.archivesnetworkwales.info/search/thesaurus/corps/list20.shtml#lbl425
  3. ^ "Three universities go independent". BBC News. 1 September 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6972832.stm. Retrieved 24 May 2010. 
  4. ^ [1] THES article 'Swansea Goes It Alone'
  5. ^ http://www.swan.ac.uk/research/centresandinstitutes/#d.en.2804
  6. ^ a b c http://www.swan.ac.uk/media/Media,32016,en.pdf
  7. ^ http://www.bloodhoundssc.swan.ac.uk/
  8. ^ http://www.swan.ac.uk/news_centre/LatestNews/Headline,53022,en.php
  9. ^ http://www.swan.ac.uk/university/TheCampus/
  10. ^ Swansea University - Facilities
  11. ^ Swansea University Athletic Union - The Home for SUAU University Athletes
  12. ^ City and County of Swansea - New sports village to host top athletics
  13. ^ Xtreme Radio 1431AM, Swansea University and surrounding Student areas - Media UK
  14. ^ a b http://www.swan.ac.uk/egypt/infosheet/setup.htm
  15. ^ a b http://www.swansea.ac.uk/accommodation/UniversityResidences/SwanseaAccommodationServices/
  16. ^ http://www.swan.ac.uk/accommodation/UniversityResidences/SingletonCampusResidences/
  17. ^ http://www.swan.ac.uk/accommodation/UniversityResidences/TyBeckHouse/
  18. ^ http://www.swan.ac.uk/university/TheCampus/Featurebuildings/DigitalTechnium/
  19. ^ Swansea University - ILS
  20. ^ ILS - Home
  21. ^ ILS - What we offer
  22. ^ ILS - Blue C's capabilities
  23. ^ BBC NEWS | Wales | Wales politics | Up to 650 jobs could come to city
  24. ^ Ministers unveil architect plans for Institute of Life Science Phase Two
  25. ^ [2]
  26. ^ EL(3)-03-08 : Paper 1 : Evidence to the Committee inquiry into the economic contribution of higher education - Swansea University
  27. ^ http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=161366&command=displayContent&sourceNode=161366&contentPK=20194195&folderPk=88499
  28. ^ BBC Article on the University's Ranking
  29. ^ Times League Table
  30. ^ 500.htm Academic World Ranking
  31. ^ [3]
  32. ^ Guardian Ranking
  33. ^ a b [4]

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 51°36′35.00″N 3°58′50.00″W / 51.60972°N 3.98056°W / 51.60972; -3.98056

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