, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution
1902 – Hartley University College
1913 – Southampton University College
1952 – gained
university status
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
by
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
, chancellor =
Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on t ...
, vice_chancellor =
Mark E. Smith
Mark Edward Smith (5 March 1957 – 24 January 2018) was an English singer, who was the lead singer, lyricist and only constant member of the post-punk group the Fall. Smith formed the band after attending the June 1976 Sex Pistols gig at the ...
, head_label =
Visitor
, head =
Penny Mordaunt
Penelope Mary Mordaunt (; born 4 March 1973) is a British politician who has been Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council since September 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she has been Member of Parliament (MP) ...
, location =
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, England
, campus = City Campus
, academic_staff = 2,715 (2020)
, administrative_staff = 5,001
, students = ()
, undergrad = ()
, postgrad = ()
, colours = Navy blue, light sea green and dark red
, endowment = £14.9 million
, budget = £578.4 million
, affiliations =
ACU EUAPort-City University League
The Port-City University League (PUL) is an international league of universities located in major port cities around the world. It was established in 2006, and the first general meeting was held in Yokohama, Japan, in 2006.
As of 2018, the PUL con ...
Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governmen ...
SES
SES, S.E.S., Ses and similar variants can refere to:
Business and economics
* Socioeconomic status
* Scottish Economic Society, a learned society in Scotland
* SES, callsign of the TV station SES/RTS (Mount Gambier, South Australia)
* SES S.A., ...
SETsquared
The SETsquared Partnership, usually known simply as SETsquared, is a business incubation network run by five universities in Southern England. SETsquared stands for Southern England Technology Triangle. The partnership was formed in 2002, betwee ...
AACSB
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, also known as AACSB International, is an American professional organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to ...
Association of MBAsUniversities UK
Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...
WUN
, website =
, logo = University of Southampton logo.svg
The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in
post-nominal letters
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, England. Southampton is a founding member of the
Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governmen ...
of research-intensive universities in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, and ranked in the top 100 universities in the world.
The university has seven campuses. The
main campus is located in the
Highfield area of Southampton and is supplemented by four other campuses within the city:
Avenue Campus
Avenue Campus is a campus of the University of Southampton and is located in Southampton, England. It currently houses most of the University's Faculty of Humanities. It is located off A33 road, The Avenue, borders Southampton Common and is less ...
housing the School of Humanities, the
National Oceanography Centre
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a marine science research and technology institution based on two sites in Southampton and Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the UK’s largest institution for integrated sea level science, coastal and ...
housing courses in Ocean and Earth Sciences,
Southampton General Hospital
Southampton General Hospital (SGH) is a large teaching hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, England run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was founded in 1900 as the Southampton Union Infirmary in Shi ...
offering courses in Medicine and Health Sciences, and
Boldrewood Campus
Boldrewood Innovation Campus is one of the University of Southampton’s campuses, located in Bassett, Southampton. The newly built campus is a centre where business, research and education coexist in engineering sciences, maritime engineerin ...
housing an engineering and maritime technology campus and
Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...
. In addition, the university operates a
School of Art
An art school is an educational institution with a primary focus on the visual arts, including fine art – especially illustration, painting, photography, sculpture, and graphic design. Art schools can offer elementary, secondary, post-second ...
based in nearby
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
and an international branch in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
offering courses in Engineering. Each campus is equipped with its own library facilities.
The University of Southampton currently has undergraduate and postgraduate students, making it the
largest university by higher education students in the
South East
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...
region. The
University of Southampton Students' Union, provides support, representation and social activities for the students ranging from involvement in the Union's four media outlets, to any of the 200 affiliated societies and 80 sports. The university owns and operates a sports ground for use by students and also operates a sports centre on the main campus.
History
Hartley Institution
![HartleyOpening](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/HartleyOpening.JPG)
The University of Southampton has its origin as the Hartley Institution which was formed in 1862 from a benefaction by Henry Robinson Hartley (1777–1850). Hartley had inherited a fortune from two generations of successful wine merchants. At his death in 1850, he left a bequest of £103,000 to the Southampton Corporation for the study and advancement of the sciences in his property on Southampton's High Street, in the city centre.
Hartley was an eccentric straggler, who had little liking of the new age docks and railways in Southampton.
He did not desire to create a college for many (as formed at similar time in other English industrial towns and commercial ports) but a cultural centre for Southampton's intellectual elite.
After lengthy legal challenges to the Bequest, and a public debate as to how best interpret the language of his Will, the Southampton Corporation choose to create the Institute (rather than a more widely accessible college, that some public figures had lobbied for).
On 15 October 1862, the Hartley Institute was opened by the Prime Minister
Lord Palmerston
Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, (20 October 1784 – 18 October 1865) was a British statesman who was twice Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century. Palmerston dominated British foreign policy during the period ...
in a major civic occasion which exceeded in splendor anything that anyone in the town could remember. After initial years of financial struggle, the Hartley Institute became the Hartley College in 1883. This move was followed by increasing numbers of students, teaching staff, an expansion of the facilities and registered lodgings for students.
University College
![HartleyLibraryFront](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/HartleyLibraryFront.JPG)
In 1902, the Hartley College became the Hartley
University college
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
, a degree awarding branch of the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
. This was after inspection of the teaching and finances by the University College Grants Committee, and donations from Council members (including
William Darwin the then Treasurer). An increase in student numbers in the following years motivated fund raising efforts to move the college to
greenfield land
Greenfield land is a British English term referring to undeveloped land in an urban or rural area either used for agriculture or landscape design, or left to evolve naturally. These areas of land are usually agricultural or amenity properties ...
around Back Lane (now University Road) in the
Highfield area of Southampton. On 20 June 1914,
Viscount Haldane
A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status.
In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...
opened the new site of the renamed Southampton University College. However, the outbreak of the First World War six weeks later meant no lectures could take place there, as the buildings were handed over by the college authorities for use as a military hospital. To cope with the volume of casualties, wooden huts were erected at the rear of the building. These were donated to university by the
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
after the end of fighting, in time for the transfer from the high street premises in 1920. At this time, Highfield Hall, a former country house and overlooking
Southampton Common
Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of th ...
, for which a lease had earlier been secured, commenced use as a
halls of residence
A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...
for female students. South Hill, on what is now the Glen Eyre Halls Complex was also acquired, along with
South Stoneham House
South Stoneham House is a Grade II* listed former manor house in Swaythling, Southampton; the former seat of the Barons Swaythling before the family moved to the nearby Townhill Park House. The building is owned by the University of Southampto ...
to house male students.
Further expansion through the 1920s and 1930s was made possible through private donors, such as the two daughters of Edward Turner Sims for the construction of the university library, and from the people of Southampton, enabling new buildings on both sides of University Road. During World War II the university suffered damage in the
Southampton Blitz
The Southampton Blitz was the heavy bombing of Southampton by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during World War II. Southampton was a strategic bombing target for the Luftwaffe as it contained both busy docks with associated business premises and ...
with bombs landing on the campus and its halls of residence.
The college decided against evacuation, instead expanding its Engineering Department, School of Navigation and developing a new School of Radio Telegraphy.
The university hosted the
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II as well as a range of seaplanes and flying boats, and a series of jet-powered fighter aircraft after World War II ...
plans and design team for a period but in December 1940 further bomb hits resulted in it being relocated to
Hursley House
Hursley House is an 18th-century Queen Anne style mansion in Hursley, near Winchester in the English county of Hampshire. The building is Grade II* listed.
History
The Hursley estate was bought by William Heathcote, MP from the daughters of ...
.
Halls of residence were used to house Polish, French and American troops.
After the war, departments such as Electronics grew under the influence of
Erich Zepler and the
Institute of Sound and Vibration was established.
University
![Toast rack - University of Southampton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4f/Toast_rack_-_University_of_Southampton.jpg)
On 29 April 1952,
Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
granted the University of Southampton a
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
, the first to be given to a university during her reign, which enabled it to award degrees. Six faculties were created: Arts, Science, Engineering, Economics, Education and Law. The first University of Southampton degrees were awarded on 4 July 1953, following the appointment of the
Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
as Chancellor of the university. Student and staff numbers grew throughout the next couple of decades as a response to the
Robbins Report. The campus also grew significantly, when in July 1961 the university was given the approval to acquire some 200 houses on or near the campus by the Borough Council.
In addition, more faculties and departments were founded, including Medicine and Oceanography (despite the discouragement of Sir
John Wolfenden, the chairman of the University Grants Committee).
Student accommodation was expanded throughout the 1960s and 1970s with the acquisition of Chilworth manor and new buildings at the Glen Eyre and Montefiore complexes.
In 1987, a crisis developed when the
University Grants Committee announced, as part of nationwide cutbacks, a series of reductions in the funding of the university.
To eliminate the expected losses, the budgets and deficits subcommittee proposed reducing staff numbers. This proposal was met with demonstrations on campus and was later reworked (to reduce the redundancies and reallocate the reductions in faculties funding) after being rejected by the university
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
By the mid-1980s through to the 1990s, the university looked to expand with new buildings on the Highfield campus, developing the Chilworth Manor site into a science park and conference venue, opening the National Oceanography Centre at a dockside location and purchasing new land from the City Council for the Arts Faculty and sports fields (at Avenue Campus and Wide Lane, respectively).
Research university
![Autumnal trees, University of Southampton (geograph 5599126)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6b/Autumnal_trees%2C_University_of_Southampton_%28geograph_5599126%29.jpg)
Under the leadership of then Vice-Chancellor, Sir
Howard Newby
Sir Howard Joseph Newby (born 10 December 1947) is a British sociologist. He was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 2008 and retired in December 2014. He was vice-chancellor of the University of Southampton from 1994 to ...
the university became more focused in encouraging and investment in more and better quality research.
In the mid-1990s, the university gained two new campuses, as the
Winchester School of Art
Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England.
History
The Winchester School of Art was founded in 187 ...
and
La Sainte Union College became part of the university.
A new school for Nursing and Midwifery was also created and went on to provide training for
NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
professionals in central-southern England. This involved a huge increase in student numbers and the establishment of sub-campuses in
Basingstoke
Basingstoke ( ) is the largest town in the county of Hampshire. It is situated in south-central England and lies across a valley at the source of the River Loddon, at the far western edge of The North Downs. It is located north-east of Southa ...
,
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
and
Newport, Isle of Wight
Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, and is in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the na ...
.
In the autumn of 1997, the university experienced Britain's worst outbreak of
meningitis, with the death of three students. The university responded to the crisis by organising a mass vaccination programme, and later took the ground-breaking decision to offer all new students vaccinations.
The university celebrated its Golden Jubilee on 22 January 2002. By this time, Southampton had research income that represented over half of the total income.
In recent years a number of new landmark buildings have been added as part of the estates development. New constructions on the main campus include the Jubilee Sports Complex in 2004, the EEE (ECS, Education and Entrance) building in 2007, the new Mountbatten building in 2008 housing the
School of Electronics and Computer Science following a fire and the Life Sciences building in 2010. In addition, the Hartley Library and Student Services Centre were both extended and redesigned in 2005 and the Students' Union was also extended in 2002. Other constructions include the Archaeology building on Avenue Campus in 2006 and the Institute of Development Sciences building at
Southampton General Hospital
Southampton General Hospital (SGH) is a large teaching hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, England run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was founded in 1900 as the Southampton Union Infirmary in Shi ...
in 2007. The university has also significantly redeveloped its Boldrewood Campus which is home to part of the engineering faculty and to Lloyd's Register's Global Technology Centre.
The university joined the
Science and Engineering South Consortium (SES) on 9 May 2013. The SES was created to pool the collective insights and resources of the
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
,
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
,
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...
and
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
to innovate and explore new ideas through collaboration whilst providing efficiencies of scale and shared utilisation of facilities. This is the most powerful cluster of research intensive universities in the UK and the new consortium is to become one of the world's leading hubs for science and engineering research.
In 2015, the university started a fundraising campaign to build the Centre for Cancer Immunology based at
Southampton General Hospital
Southampton General Hospital (SGH) is a large teaching hospital in Southampton, Hampshire, England run by University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust.
History
The hospital was founded in 1900 as the Southampton Union Infirmary in Shi ...
. At the beginning of 2018, the target amount of £25 million was raised, allowing 150 scientists to move into the building in March 2018. The Centre for Cancer Immunology is the first of its kind in the UK and contains facilities that will hosts clinical trial units and laboratories that will explore the relationship between cancer and the immune system.
Campuses
The university has seven educational campuses – five in
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
, one in
Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
, and one international branch in
Malaysia
Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...
.
The university operates a science park in
Chilworth. The university also owns sports facilities and
halls of residences on a variety of other nearby sites.
Highfield Campus
![Highfield Campus aerial view](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Highfield_Campus_aerial_view.jpg)
The university's main campus is located in the residential area of
Highfield. Opened on 20 June 1914, the site was initially used as a military hospital during World War I. The campus grew gradually, mainly consisting of detailed red brick buildings (such as the Hartley library and West building of the Students' Union) designed by
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott
Sir Giles Gilbert Scott (9 November 1880 – 8 February 1960) was a British architect known for his work on the New Bodleian Library, Cambridge University Library, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, Battersea Power Station, Liverpool Cathedral, and ...
. In 1956, Sir
Basil Spence
Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...
was commissioned to prepare a masterplan of the campus for the foreseeable future.
This included incorporating the University Road, that split the campus in two and the quarry of Sir
Sidney Kimber's brickyard that itself was split by a stream. Unable to remove the road and the private houses along it, Spence designed many of the buildings facing away from it, using contemporary designs working in concrete, glass and mosaic.
During recent decades, new buildings were added that contravened the master plan of Spence, such as the Synthetic Chemistry Building and Mountbatten Building (the latter of which was destroyed by fire in 2005).
In 1991, the Highfield Planning Group was formed within the university under the chairmanship of
Tim Holt
Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures.
In a career spanning mo ...
.
[ This led to the development of new buildings such as the Jubilee Sports Hall, Student Services Building and the ]Institute of Sound and Vibration Research
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
. In addition, existing buildings, such as the Hartley Library, were extensively renovated and extended. A new masterplan for the Highfield campus was drawn up in 1998 by Rick Mather
Rick Mather (May 30, 1937 – April 20, 2013) was an American-born architect working in England. Born in Portland, Oregon and awarded a B.arch. at the University of Oregon in 1961, he came to London in 1963 and worked at the architectural firm L ...
, who proposed that the University Road should become a tree-lined boulevard backed by white-rendered buildings. He also contributed some of the newer buildings such as the Zepler and Gower Buildings.[
]
Avenue Campus
Avenue Campus is currently home to the Faculty of Humanities, with the exception of Music, and is located a short distance away from the main Highfield campus. The site previously housed the Southampton Tramsheds and Richard Taunton's College, of which the existing building still stands on the site. It was purchased by the university from Southampton City Council
Southampton City Council is the local authority of the city of Southampton. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including c ...
for £2 million in December 1993 so that the university could expand – planning regulations meant that excess land on the Highfield campus couldn't be built on and had to be reserved for future car parking spaces. The car parking spaces have now been built. The departments moved onto the campus in 1996. The campus consists of the original Tauntons building from the early 20th century but redeveloped with a glass-fronted courtyard and extension and a new Archaeology building built in 2006 costing £2.7 million.
Boldrewood Campus
Boldrewood Campus, located a short distance from the Highfield campus, houses the university's new Maritime Centre of Excellence, the Southampton Marine and Maritime Institute and Lloyd's Register
Lloyd's Register Group Limited (LR) is a technical and professional services organisation and a maritime classification society, wholly owned by the Lloyd’s Register Foundation, a UK charity dedicated to research and education in science and ...
's Group Technology Centre.
The campus was formerly the Biomedical Sciences campus of the university and acted, until 2010, as a non-hospital base for the School of Medicine and home to a research facility for the Biological Sciences. These departments were then relocated to either Southampton General Hospital, the new Life Sciences building at Highfield, or the University of Southampton science park.
National Oceanography Centre, Southampton
The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) is located in Southampton Docks
The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...
three miles south of the main university campus. The campus is home of the university's Ocean and Earth Sciences department and is also a campus of the Natural Environment Research Council
The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is a British research council that supports research, training and knowledge transfer activities in the environmental sciences.
History
NERC began in 1965 when several environmental (mainly geog ...
's research institute, the National Oceanography Centre
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a marine science research and technology institution based on two sites in Southampton and Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the UK’s largest institution for integrated sea level science, coastal and ...
. Five of the National Oceanography Centre's research divisions are based on the campus.
Planning of the campus began in 1989 and was completed in 1994 due to cuts and uncertainties whether a national research centre could be successfully integrated with a university. It was opened in 1996 by the Duke of Edinburgh. The campus was also the base for the NERC purpose-built research vessels RRS ''James Cook'' and until recently the RRS ''Discovery'' and the RRS ''Charles Darwin''.
University Hospital Southampton (UHS)
The university maintains a presence at Southampton General in partnership with the NHS
The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...
trust operating the hospital. It is home to some operations of the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Health Sciences, although these two faculties have bases on Highfield campus. As a teaching hospital, it is used by a range of undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, research academics and clinicians.
The university's involvement began in 1971, when it became the first to house a new school of medicine alongside the universities of Nottingham
Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...
and Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, and currently extends to several operations and specific research centres.
Winchester School of Art
The Winchester School of Art, located in central Winchester
Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...
, houses the university's arts and textiles courses that are part of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The school itself was established in the 1960s and was integrated into the University of Southampton in 1996. The campus contains the original school buildings from the 1960s, in addition to structures built when the merger occurred and in 1998 when the Textile Conservation Centre
Winchester School of Art is the art school of the University of Southampton, situated 10 miles (14 km) north of Southampton in the city of Winchester near the south coast of England.
History
The Winchester School of Art was founded in 18 ...
moved to the site from Hampton Court Palace. The centre remained with the school until its closure in 2009.
Malaysia Campus (University of Southampton Malaysia - UoSM)
The university opened its first international campus in Iskandar Puteri
Iskandar Puteri is a city which functions as the administrative capital of the state of Johor, Malaysia ( Kota Iskandar) and represents the seat of government of the state of Johor (Executive branch & Legislative branch). Situated along the S ...
, Malaysia in October 2012. Located in the state of Johor near the southwestern tip of Malaysia, the campus is located within EduCity in Iskandar Puteri - a new city comprising universities and institutes of higher education, academia-industry action and R&D centres, as well as student accommodation, shared sports and recreational facilities.
The campus operates courses in engineering, it offers an Engineering foundation year programme and MEng
Meng may refer to:
* Meng (surname) (孟), a Chinese surname
* Master of Engineering (MEng or M.Eng.), an academic or professional master's degree in the field of engineering
* , "M with hook", letter used in the International Phonetic Alphabet
* ...
programmes in Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...
and Astronautics
Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field.
The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astron ...
, Mechanical Engineering and Electrical and Electronic Engineering. All programmes have been approved by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency
The Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA; ms, Agensi Kelayakan Malaysia) is a statutory body in Malaysia set up under the Malaysian Qualifications Act 2007 to accredit academic programs provided by educational institutions providing post secon ...
(MQA) and the Board of Engineers Malaysia (BEM).
The split campus degree programmes take place in Malaysia for the first two years, with the final two years at Southampton. In 2016, the Malaysia Campus' first group of students graduated, along with the first PhD graduate.
As part of its expansion plans, the University of Southampton Malaysia has moved into its new 150,000sq ft state-of-the-art estate in Eco Botanic City, Iskandar Puteri. The new campus is equipped with a myriad of open learning spaces, lecture halls, an Aerospace Lab, a Design Studio, Business Experimental Labs, and a 12-terminal Bloomberg Suite to enhance the quality and learning experience throughout the students’ journey. From the initial offerings of four Engineering programmes, UoSM has now grown to offer 20 programmes in the fields of Engineering, Business and Computer Science fields.
Currently, among all the British universities with a campus in Malaysia, UoSM is the only one that is ranked in the world’s top 100 universities and the Top UK University in Malaysia.
Science Park
The University of Southampton Science Park contains approximately 50 businesses connected to the university. Originally established in 1983 as Chilworth Science Park, named after the manor house that is now a luxury hotel and conference centre, the park houses business incubator
Business incubator is an organization that helps startup companies and individual entrepreneurs to develop their businesses by providing a fullscale range of services starting with management training and office space and ending with venture c ...
units to help these companies. The companies occupying the park range in expertise and fields including oil and gas exploration, pharmaceuticals, nanotechnology and optoelectronics
Optoelectronics (or optronics) is the study and application of electronic devices and systems that find, detect and control light, usually considered a sub-field of photonics. In this context, ''light'' often includes invisible forms of radiat ...
, with three of the twelve successful spin-out companies created since 2000 being floated on London's Alternative Investment Market
AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in operation since 1980. It allows ...
(AIM) with a combined market capitalisation value of £160 million.
The park was renamed in 2006.
Transport links
To connect the university's Southampton campuses, halls of residence, hospitals, and other important features of the city, the university operates the Unilink bus service for the benefit of the students, staff and the general public. The service is currently operated by local bus company Bluestar using the Unilink name. The service consists of four routes. The U1 runs between Southampton Airport
Southampton Airport is an international airport located in both Eastleigh and Southampton, Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The airport is located north-north-east of central Southampton. The southern tip of the runway lies within the Sou ...
and the National Oceanography Centre via Wessex Lane Halls, Highfield campus, Portswood
Portswood is a suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England. The suburb lies to the north-north-east of the city centre and is bounded by (clockwise from west) Freemantle, Highfield, Swaythling, St. Denys and Bevois Valley.
Portswood W ...
, Southampton City Centre and Southampton Central railway station
Southampton Central railway station is a main line station serving the city of Southampton in Hampshire, southern England. It is on the South West Main Line and also serves the Wessex Main Line and the West Coastway Line. The station is appr ...
. The other regular routes, the U2 and the U6, run between the City Centre and Bassett Green
Bassett Green is a suburb of Southampton, which has grown from the original small village of Basset. It remains part of the electoral ward of Bassett (q.v. for population). The area is mainly residential, with a mixture of Herbert Collins-design ...
and Southampton General Hospital respectively while the final route, the U9, runs an infrequent service between Southampton General hospital and Townhill Park. Students who live in halls of residence provided by the university receive an annual bus pass, allowing them to use all Unilink services for free.
Organisation
Governance
Responsibility for running the university is held formally by the Chancellor and led at the executive level by the Vice-Chancellor, currently Prof Mark E. Smith. The key bodies in the university governance structure are the Council and Senate.
The Council is the governing body of the university. It is ultimately responsible for the overall planning and management of the university. The council is also responsible for ensuring that the funding made available to the university by the Higher Education Funding Council for England is used as prescribed. The council is composed of members from 5 different classes, namely (1) officers; (2) eight lay members appointed by the council; (3) four members appointed by the Senate; (4) one member of the non-teaching staff; (5) the President of the Students' Union.
The Senate is the university's primary academic authority, with responsibilities which include the direction and regulation of education and examinations, the award of degrees, and the promotion of research. The Senate has approximately 65 members, including the Vice-Presidents, the Deans and representatives from the academic staff in each faculty and those administrative groups most closely associated with educational activities, and representatives of the Students' Union. The Senate is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor.
Faculties
The university comprises five faculties, each with a number of academic units. This current faculty structure came into effect in 2018, taking over from a previous structure consisting of eight faculties. The current faculty structure is:
*Faculty of Arts and Humanities
**Humanities
**Winchester School of Art
*Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences
**Chemistry
**Electronics and Computer Science
**Engineering
**Physics and Astronomy
*Faculty of Environmental and Life Sciences
**Biological Sciences
**Geography and Environmental Science
**Health Sciences (nursing, midwifery, allied health professionals)
**Ocean and Earth Sciences
**National Oceanography Centre
The National Oceanography Centre (NOC) is a marine science research and technology institution based on two sites in Southampton and Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the UK’s largest institution for integrated sea level science, coastal and ...
**Psychology
*Faculty of Medicine
**Southampton Medical School
University of Southampton School of Medicine is a medical school in England. It is part of the University of Southampton with a site at Southampton General Hospital, offering 5 Medicine courses, all leading to the award of Bachelor of Medicine, B ...
*Faculty of Social Sciences
**Economic, Social and Political Sciences
**Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute
**Mathematical Sciences
**Southampton Business School
**Southampton Education School
**Southampton Law School
Affiliations
Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governmen ...
of research-intensive universities in Britain.
Academic profile
Courses and subjects
Southampton awards a wide range of academic degrees spanning academic degrees for bachelor's in a variety of degrees and master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. degrees as well as junior doctorates and higher doctorate
A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...
s. The postnominal
Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, academic degree, accreditation, ...
s awarded are the degree abbreviations used commonly among British universities. The university is part of the Engineering Doctorate
Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...
scheme, for the award of Eng. D. degrees.
Short courses and professional development courses are run by many of the university's Academic Schools and Research Centres.
The university works closely with members of the Armed Forces. It provides professional military educators in the British Army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
to study for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education
The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE/PGCertEd) is a one- or two-year higher education course in England, Wales and Northern Ireland which provides training in order to allow graduates to become teachers within maintained schools. In ...
(PGCE). The university also works with the Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
to provide training and qualifications towards Chartered Engineer
Regulation and licensure in engineering is established by various jurisdictions of the world to encourage life, public welfare, safety, well-being, then environment and other interests of the general public and to define the licensure process thr ...
status.
Admissions
In terms of average UCAS
The Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS ) is a UK-based organisation whose main role is to operate the application process for British universities. It operates as an independent charity, funded by fees charged to applicants an ...
points of entrants, Southampton ranked 25th in Britain in 2023. The university gives offers of admission to 84.0% of its applicants, the 6th highest amongst the Russell Group
The Russell Group is a self-selected association of twenty-four public research universities in the United Kingdom. The group is headquartered in Cambridge and was established in 1994 to represent its members' interests, principally to governmen ...
.
According to the 2017 ''Times'' and ''Sunday Times'' Good University Guide, approximately 15% of Southampton's undergraduates come from independent schools. In the 2016–17 academic year, the university had a domicile breakdown of 72:7:21 of UK:EU:non-EU students respectively with a female to male ratio of 53:47.
Rankings and reputation
In the 2023 international university rankings, Southampton ranked 78th (''QS World University Rankings
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
'') and 108th (''Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli ...
''). The 2022 Round University Ranking
Round University Ranking (RUR Ranking) is a Moscow, Russia-based world university ranking, assessing effectiveness of 700 leading world universities based on 20 indicators distributed among 4 key dimension areas: teaching, research, international ...
ranked Southampton 72nd globally, and the 2022 CWTS Leiden Ranking
The CWTS Leiden Ranking is an annual global university ranking based exclusively on bibliometric indicators. The rankings are compiled by the Centre for Science and Technology Studies ( Dutch: ''Centrum voor Wetenschap en Technologische Studies ...
placed Southampton 85th worldwide. The 2021 '' U.S. News & World Report'' ranks Southampton 97th in the world and 11th in the UK.
Southampton was originally awarded Bronze ("provision is of satisfactory quality") in the 2017 Teaching Excellence Framework
The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) is a controversial government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England, which may be used from 2020 to determine ...
, a government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England. The Bronze award was appealed by the university, however it was rejected by the HEFCE in August 2017. In response, the university's Vice Chancellor, Christopher Snowden, claimed the exercise was "devoid of any meaningful assessment of teaching" and that "there are serious lessons to be learned if the TEF is to gain public confidence." Enrollment into the exercise was voluntary and institutions were made aware of the metrics used before agreeing to be assessed by the TEF. In January 2018, the university confirmed that it would re-enter the TEF believing that it would benefit from changed evaluations that would benefit Russell Group universities. In 2018, Southampton was awarded Silver by the Teaching Excellence Framework
The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) is a controversial government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England, which may be used from 2020 to determine ...
Panel.
''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' ranked the university at number 1 in the UK for Civil Engineering and Electronic and Electrical Engineering in 2020.
In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework
The Research Excellence Framework (REF) is a research impact evaluation of British higher education institutions. It is the successor to the Research Assessment Exercise and it was first used in 2014 to assess the period 2008–2013. REF is under ...
assessing the research output of 154 British Universities and Institutes, Southampton was ranked 18th for GPA (15th among Russell Group Universities), 11th for research power (11th among Russell Group Universities), and 8th for research intensity (7th among Russell Group Universities).
Research
The university conducts research in most academic disciplines and is home to a number of notable research centres. Southampton has leading research centres in a number of disciplines, e.g. music, computer sciences, engineering or management sciences, and houses world-leading research institutions in fields as varied as oceanography and web science.
Within the university there are a number of research institutes and groups that aim to pool resources on a specific research area. Institutes or groups identified by the university of being of significant importance are marked in italics.
Institute of Sound and Vibration Research
The Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR), is an acoustical research institute which is part of the University of Southampton. Founded in 1963, it has been awarded a 2006 Queen's Anniversary Prize
The Queen's Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education are a biennially awarded series of prizes awarded to universities and colleges in the further and higher education sectors within the United Kingdom. Uniquely it forms part of the Bri ...
for Higher and Further Education.
ISVR is divided into four distinct groups of research:
*The Dynamics Group, (specialised in the modelling, measurement and control of structural vibrations).
*The Fluid Dynamics and Acoustics Group (including the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre in Gas Turbine Noise) specialised in three fields which are aero-acoustics of aircraft engines, ultrasonics and underwater acoustics, noise source imaging and virtual acoustics.
*The Human Sciences Group (including the Hearing and Balance Centre and the Human Factors Research Unit) specialises in the human response to sound and vibration.
*The Signal Processing and Control Group, which specialises in acoustics, dynamics, audiology and human sciences and as a basis for control of sound and vibration.
ISVR offers a number of Undergraduate and Postgraduate degree programmes in acoustical engineering, acoustics & music and audiology.
EPrints
The School of Electronics and Computer Science created the first archiving software (EPrints
EPrints is a free and open-source software package for building open access repositories that are compliant with the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). It shares many of the features commonly seen in document ...
) to publish its research freely available on the Web. This software is used throughout the university and as an archiving system for many different institutions around the world.
Libraries
The university has libraries located on each of the academic campuses and in total the collection holds over 1.5 million books and periodicals.
The university's primary library is the Hartley Library, located on Highfield campus and first built in 1935 and extended further in 1959 and 2005. The majority of the books and periodicals are held there as well as specialist collections of works such as Ford collection of Parliamentary papers and the European Documentation Centre
A European Documentation Centre (EDC) is a body designated by the European Commission to collect and disseminate publications of the European Union for the purposes of research and education. There are 400 such centers in all member states of the ...
. In addition, the main library houses the Special Collections and Archives centre, housing more than 6 million manuscripts and a large archive of rare books. Specific collections include the correspondence of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...
, acquired by the university in 1983, as well as the Broadlands Archive, including the Palmerston Palmerston may refer to:
People
* Christie Palmerston (c. 1851–1897), Australian explorer
* Several prominent people have borne the title of Viscount Palmerston
** Henry Temple, 1st Viscount Palmerston (c. 1673–1757), Irish nobleman an ...
and Mountbatten papers. The library also contains 4,500 volumes of Claude Montefiore
Claude Joseph Goldsmid Montefiore, also Goldsmid–Montefiore or just Goldsmid Montefiore (1858–1938) was the intellectual founder of Anglo- Liberal Judaism and the founding president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a schola ...
's library on Theology and Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, the Ford Parliamentary Papers, Frank Perkins' collection of books on agriculture, Sir Samuel Gurney-Dixon
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bib ...
's Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...
collection and the James Parkes Library of Jewish/non-Jewish relations.[ The library also includes six rare editions of the Divina Commedia; the first of these, the Brescia edition of 1487, is the library's earliest book.][
In addition to the main Hartley Library, there are other libraries based at the university's other campuses primarily focused on the subjects studied at that location. As one of the smaller libraries and given its proximity to the Highfield campus, the Avenue Library only houses a collection of key Humanities resources. It does however also hold an extensive film library, many of an international nature. On a larger scale, the libraries at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton General Hospital, Winchester School of Art are more complete and house the majority of the resources and specialist collections on oceanography and earth sciences, healthcare and art and design respectively. The Malaysia campus holds a small collection of reference books but the majority of the resources needed for courses at the campus are available online. Separate from the Hartley Library is the E. J. Richards Engineering Library, which contains further materials for more in-depth study and is freely accessible to Engineering students and staff.
]
Arts
The university's main Highfield campus is home to three main arts venues supported and funded by the university and Arts Council England
Arts Council England is an arm's length non-departmental public body of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is also a registered charity. It was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three s ...
. The Nuffield Theatre opened in 1963 with construction funded by a grant from the Nuffield Foundation of £130,000 (£2,450,000 in 2013). The building was designed by Sir Basil Spence
Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...
as part of his campus masterplan with additional direction provided by Sir Richard Southern
Sir Richard William Southern (8 February 1912 – 6 February 2001), who published under the name R. W. Southern, was a noted English medieval historian based at the University of Oxford.
Biography
Southern was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne ...
. The theatre consists of a 480-seat auditorium, that also served as the principal lecture theatre at the time of construction, as well as additional lecture theatres and adjacent Kitchen bar. The theatre went into administration in May 2020 and permanent closure was announced in July 2020.
The Turner Sims Concert Hall was added to the art provision in October 1974 following a £30,000 (£460,000 in 2012) donation from Margaret Grassam Sims in 1967. It was made to provide a venue specifically for music following difficulties in gaining space in the Nuffield Theatre and due to acoustical differences with the spaces. The new space has a single auditorium, designed by the university's Institute of Sound and Vibration Research
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
with musical performances in mind, with a flat space at the bottom so it could be used for exams.
The final of the three Art Council supported venues on campus is the John Hansard Gallery
The John Hansard Gallery is a contemporary visual art gallery and part of the University of Southampton.
History
The John Hansard Building was originally located in building 50 in the University of Southampton building coding scheme. It wa ...
. The gallery was opened on 22 September 1980 but is housed in a building that previously housed a tidal model of Southampton Water between 1957 and 1978. It took over responsibility from a photographic gallery, a gallery in the Nuffield Theatre and one located on Boldrewood campus. It houses various exhibitions in contemporary art and is due to move to new premises in Guildhall Square in c.2015.
In addition, the western half of Highfield campus contain several 20th-century sculptures by Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
, Justin Knowles, Nick Pope and John Edwards.
Student life
Students' Union
The University of Southampton Students' Union (SUSU) is the university students' union and has a range of facilities located on the Highfield campus and on the Winchester School of Art campus. At Highfield the union is sited in three buildings opposite the Hartley Library. The main building (Building 42) was built in the 1960s as part of the Basil Spence masterplan. The building was also extensively renovated in 2002 leading to the creation of two new Bars and 'The Cube' multi-functional space. The West Building dates back to the 1940s in a red brick style, complementing the Hartley Library opposite. This originally held all of the Union's activities until the construction of the current Union. At present the building hosts the pub 'The Stags Head'. The newest building was built during the mid-1990s which includes the union shop and other retail stores.
The union operates four media outlets. Surge Radio, broadcasts from new studios in the main union building over the internet. Internet television station SUSUtv broadcasts a wide range of programmes live and on demand through their website. The student newspaper ''Wessex Scene
''Wessex Scene'' is a student news magazine and website serving the students of the University of Southampton. Having been in print continuously since 1936, it is one of the oldest student publications in the United Kingdom.
''Wessex Scene'' now ...
'' is published once every three weeks. ''The Edge
David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), better known as the Edge or simply Edge,McCormick (2006), pp. 21, 23–24 is an English-born Irish musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing voca ...
'' entertainment magazine began life as an insert of the Wessex Scene in 1995 before growing to become a full publication and online presence in 2011.
Halls of residence
The university provides accommodation for all first year students who require it and places in residences are available for international and MSc students. Accommodation may be catered, self-catered, have en-suite facilities, a sink in the room, or access to communal bathroom facilities. Each hall has a Junior Common Room (JCR) committee that is responsible for the running of social events and representing the residents to the students union and the university via the Students union JCR officer.
The university's accommodation exists around two large complexes of halls and some other small halls located around the city. These are:
*Glen Eyre Complex – The complex lies less than half a mile to the north of Highfield Campus and houses approximately 2000 students. The complex consists of several building sets, designed over the years and arranged either around the central landscaped garden – the oldest buildings, Richard Newitt Courts are separated into blocks A-G and are closest to the Glen Bar, students in these blocks have very small flats (between 4 and 6 to a kitchen with usually more than one bathroom). Old Terrace and New Terrace are close to the site's entrance, New Terrace has ensuite rooms. Chancellors' courts, consisting of Selbourne, Jellicoe and Roll courts are the most modern blocks in the accommodation with Brunei house, the most basic of accommodations, on the outskirts. Located on the south side of Glen Eyre Road on the periphery of the site are Chamberlain Halls, which share most things with the main Glen Eyre site. This site consists of Hartley Grove, South Hill, Beechmount House and the Chamberlain blocks. All Glen Eyre Halls are self-catered at present.
*Wessex Lane Halls
Wessex Lane Halls is a halls of residence complex owned by the University of Southampton. It is situated in the Swaythling district of Southampton, approximately one mile north-east of the University campus in Highfield.
The complex is for ...
– Located in Swaythling
Swaythling is a suburb and electoral ward of the city of Southampton in Hampshire, England. The ward has a population of 13,664.
Swaythling is predominantly residential in character, and noted for its large student population due to its proxi ...
approximately one mile east of the Highfield Campus. The complex provides accommodation for over 1,800 students and currently comprises two halls of residence: Montefiore Hall, and Connaught
Connacht ( ; ga, Connachta or ), is one of the provinces of Ireland, in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, Conmhaícne, and Delbhn ...
. Connaught Halls are fully catered. The complex also features South Stoneham House
South Stoneham House is a Grade II* listed former manor house in Swaythling, Southampton; the former seat of the Barons Swaythling before the family moved to the nearby Townhill Park House. The building is owned by the University of Southampto ...
, a period building constructed in 1708.
*City Gateway Hall – Located in Swaythling
Swaythling is a suburb and electoral ward of the city of Southampton in Hampshire, England. The ward has a population of 13,664.
Swaythling is predominantly residential in character, and noted for its large student population due to its proxi ...
one mile north east of the Highfield Campus at the intersection of two major roads. Opened in September 2015, the landmark building was included in the runners-up list of the 2015 Carbuncle Cup
The Carbuncle Cup was an architecture prize, given annually by the magazine ''Building Design'' to "the ugliest building in the United Kingdom completed in the last 12 months". It was intended to be a humorous response to the prestigious Stirlin ...
. Featuring a 15-story elliptical tower and two adjoining six-story rectangular accommodation blocks the hall provides accommodation for up to 375 students.
*Mayflower Halls – Located in the city centre within the city's 'Cultural Quarter', and two-minutes walk away from Southampton Central railway station. The hall opened at the start of the 2014/2015 academic year, and houses over 1100 students in a mix of rooms. It includes a gym which is available to both residents and the public.
*Archers Road – Lying two miles south of Highfield and housing 500 students, Archers Road compromises two halls on separate sites. The two halls, Gateley and Romero, are all self-contained and self catered but share a reception and other community facilities.
*Highfield Halls – Located adjacent to Avenue Campus and half a mile from Highfield campus. Highfield halls comprises Aubrey and Wolfe houses and both have on site catering. The site is also used as a University conference facility during the summer months when vacated.
*Gower Building – Gower is mainly used by mature and postgraduate students, located on Highfield campus. Gower contains a small number of self-contained apartments, located above other University amenities.
*Erasmus Park – Located in Winchester, this hall houses around 400 students studying at the Winchester School of Art.
*Riverside Way - Located in Winchester in close proximity to Erasmus Park. This is a private halls site but the university does have an agreement to allocate some students there.
Healthcare
The University Health Service is an NHS GP practice located on the main Highfield campus, with over 20,000 patients as of December 2021 working from Building 48 between the Physics & Maths Buildings.
Sports
The university's Sport and Wellbeing department runs the majority of the sports facilities on campus which are based predominately at two locations: the Jubilee Sports Centre and Wide Lane Sports Ground. The Jubilee Sports Centre, opened in 2004 at a cost of £8.5 million, is located on the Highfield Campus and contains a six-lane 25-metre swimming pool, 160 workstation gym and an eight-court sports hall. Wide Lane meanwhile is located nearby in Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, ...
and was refurbished at cost of £4.3 million in 2007. The complex includes flood-lit synthetic turf and grass pitches, tennis courts, a pavilion and a 'Team Southampton' Gym. The university also runs facilities at the Avenue Campus, National Oceanography Centre, the Watersports Centre on the River Itchen and at Glen Eyre and Wessex Lane halls while there is another sports hall, squash courts, martial arts studio and bouldering wall located within the Students' Union.
The university competes in numerous sports in the BUCS
British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...
South East Conference (after switching from the Western Conference in 2009). A number of elite athletes are supported by the SportsRec through sports bursaries and the UK Government's Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS).
The University Athletic Union was formally established on 29 November 1929, by the University College council. Versions of the union had existed previously to which many clubs such as Cricket, Association Football, Rugby, Boxing, Gymnastics, Tennis and Boat clubs (all formed before the turn of the 20th century) were members.
Mustangs Baseball Club
The Southampton Mustangs Baseball Club was founded in 1997. In the early years, the club participated in mainly friendly games against other British university baseball teams, as no formal university league was in existence. Starting in 1998, the Mustangs started to host a university baseball tournament – inviting other teams including Oxford, Cambridge, Portsmouth, Royal Holloway, and Norwich. In 2004 the Mustangs entered into the national adult baseball leagues run by the British Baseball Federation
The British Baseball Federation (BBF) is the national governing body of baseball within the United Kingdom. Organised modern baseball has been played in the United Kingdom since the first baseball league began in 1890, with a succession of dif ...
(BBF). The club entered in the lowest division, but after a few years of consolidation, the Mustangs have worked their way up from the lower leagues in the BBF to play in the top-tier league of the British baseball, the British National Baseball League (NBL), in the 2010 season.
National student championships
Throughout its history the university has had a number of successful teams in National student championships.
Notable people
Alumni
File:Official_portrait_of_Justine_Greening_crop_2.jpg, Justine Greening
Justine Greening (born 30 April 1969) is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Education from 2016 to 2018. Prior to that, she served as Economic Secretary to the Treasury from 2010 to 2011, Secretary of State for Transport ...
, MP
File:Chris_Packham%2C_People%27s_Walk_for_Wildlife_2018_%2844125363624%29_%28cropped%29.jpg, Chris Packham
Christopher Gary Packham CBE (born 4 May 1961) is an English naturalist, nature photographer, television presenter and author, best known for his television work including the CBBC children's nature series '' The Really Wild Show'' from 1986 ...
, naturalist
Academics
Academics working at the university include:
* Sir Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web
The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet.
Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web se ...
* Wendy Hall
Dame Wendy Hall (born 25 October 1952) is a British computer scientist. She is Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton.
Early life and education
Wendy Hall was born in west London and educated at Ealing Grammar ...
, inventor of Microcosm, a predecessor of the World Wide Web, founding director of the Web Science Trust
The Web Science Trust (WST) is a UK Charitable Trust with the aim of supporting the global development of Web science. It was originally started in 2006 as a joint effort between MIT and University of Southampton to formalise the social and te ...
between the University of Southampton and MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
;
* José Antonio Bowen, President of Goucher College
Goucher College ( ') is a private liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland. It was chartered in 1885 by a conference in Baltimore led by namesake John F. Goucher and local leaders of the Methodist Episcopal Church.https://archive.org/details/h ...
and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts
The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
* Erich Zepler, who made leading contributions to radio receiver development
* David Payne, inventor of EDFA
An optical amplifier is a device that amplifies an optical signal directly, without the need to first convert it to an electrical signal. An optical amplifier may be thought of as a laser without an optical cavity, or one in which feedback from ...
for use in fibre optics
An optical fiber, or optical fibre in Commonwealth English, is a flexible, transparent fiber made by drawing glass (silica) or plastic to a diameter slightly thicker than that of a human hair. Optical fibers are used most often as a means t ...
cables
* Sir Barry Cunliffe
Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...
, a pioneer of modern British archaeology
* Ray Monk
Ray Monk (born 15 February 1957) is a British biographer who is renowned for his biographies of Ludwig Wittgenstein, Bertrand Russell, and J. Robert Oppenheimer. He is emeritus professor of philosophy at the University of Southampton, where he ...
, the biographer of Ludwig Wittgenstein
Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein ( ; ; 26 April 1889 – 29 April 1951) was an Austrian-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language. He is considere ...
* Albie Sachs
Albert "Albie" Louis Sachs (born 30 January 1935) is a South African lawyer, activist, writer, and former judge appointed to the first Constitutional Court of South Africa by Nelson Mandela.
Early life and education
Albie Sachs was born on ...
, former Judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa;
* Tim Holt
Charles John "Tim" Holt III (February 5, 1919 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He was a popular Western star during the 1940s and early 1950s, appearing in forty-six B westerns released by RKO Pictures.
In a career spanning mo ...
, former President of the Royal Statistical Society
The Royal Statistical Society (RSS) is an established statistical society. It has three main roles: a British learned society for statistics, a professional body for statisticians and a charity which promotes statistics for the public good.
...
and Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for th ...
.
File:Sir_Tim_Berners-Lee_%28cropped%29.jpg, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, computer scientist
File:Professor_Nigel_Shadbolt.jpg, Sir Nigel Shadbolt
Sir Nigel Richard Shadbolt (born 9 April 1956) is Principal of Jesus College, Oxford, and Professorial Research Fellow in the Department of Computer Science, University of Oxford. He is Chairman of the Open Data Institute which he co-founded ...
, computer scientist
File:Launch_of_IYA_2009%2C_Paris_-_Grygar%2C_Bell_Burnell_cropped.jpg, Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Dame Susan Jocelyn Bell Burnell (; Bell; born 15 July 1943) is an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who, as a postgraduate student, discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. The discovery eventually earned the Nobel Prize in Physics in ...
, astrophysicist
See also
* Armorial of UK universities
The armorial of British universities is the collection of coats of arms of universities in the United Kingdom. Modern arms of universities began appearing in England around the middle of the 15th century, with University of Oxford, Oxford's bei ...
* List of universities in the UK
References
Further reading
* Patterson, A. Temple (1962). ''The University of Southampton : A Centenary History of the Evolution and Development of the University of Southampton, 1862–1962''. Southampton: The Camelot Press Ltd.
* Nash, Sally and Martin Sherwood (2002). ''University of Southampton: An Illustrated History''. London: James and James
*
External links
*
University of Southampton Students' Union website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southampton, University Of
Russell Group
Educational institutions established in 1952
1952 establishments in England
Tourist attractions in Southampton
Universities established in the 1950s
Universities UK