, mottoeng = So that they may have life
, established =
, type =
public research university
A public university or public college is a university or college that is in owned by the state or receives significant public funds through a national or subnational government, as opposed to a private university. Whether a national university ...
, endowment =
£20.0 million
, budget =
£326 million
[
, chancellor = ]David Willetts
David Linsay Willetts, Baron Willetts, (born 9 March 1956) is a British politician and life peer. From 1992 to 2015, he was the Member of Parliament (MP) representing the constituency of Havant in Hampshire. He served as Minister of State for ...
, vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah
Cedric Nishan Canagarajah (born 1966) is a British Tamil academic and the current president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester. He was previously one of the pro-vice-chancellors of the University of Bristol.
Early life and famil ...
, head_label = Visitor
A visitor, in English and Welsh law and history, is an overseer of an autonomous ecclesiastical or eleemosynary institution, often a charitable institution set up for the perpetual distribution of the founder's alms and bounty, who can interve ...
, head = The King
, academic_staff = 1,705 (2018/19)
, administrative_staff = 2,205 (2018/19)
, students = ()
, undergrad = ()
, postgrad = ()
, city = 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 ...
, country = England, UK
, coordinates =
, campus = Urban parkland
, colours =
, website =
, logo = UniOfLeicesterLogo.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, affiliations = ACU
AMBA
Amba or AMBA may refer to:
Title
* Amba Hor, alternative name for Abhor and Mehraela, Christian martyrs
* Amba Sada, also known as Psote, Christian bishop and martyr in Upper Egypt
Given name
* Amba, the traditional first name given to the first ...
EMUA
EUA
Sutton 30
M5 Universities
Universities 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 ...
The University of Leicester ( ) 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 based in 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 ...
, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
. The university's predecessor, University College, Leicester, gained university status in 1957.
The university had an income of £323.1 million in 2019/20, of which £57 million was from research grants.[
The university is known for the invention of ]genetic fingerprinting
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
, and for the discovery and identification of the remains of King Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
.
History
Desire for a university
The first serious suggestions for a university in Leicester began with the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society (founded at a time when "philosophical" broadly meant what "scientific" means today). With the success of Owen's College
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. Afte ...
in Manchester, and the establishment of the University of Birmingham
, mottoeng = Through efforts to heights
, established = 1825 – Birmingham School of Medicine and Surgery1836 – Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery1843 – Queen's College1875 – Mason Science College1898 – Mason Univers ...
in 1900, and then of Nottingham University College
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
, it was thought that Leicester ought to have a university college too. From the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century university colleges could not award degrees and had to be associated with universities that had degree-giving powers. Most students at university colleges took examinations set by 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 ...
.
In the late 19th century the co-presidents of the Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society, the Revered James Went, headmaster of the Wyggeston Boys' School, and J. D. Paul, regularly called for the establishment of a university college However, no private donations were forthcoming, and the Corporation of Leicester
Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city, overseen by a directly elected mayor. It is currently contro ...
was busy funding the School of Art and the Technical School. The matter was brought up again by Dr Astley V. Clarke (1870–1945) in 1912. Born in Leicester in 1870, he had been educated at Wyggeston Grammar School and the 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 ...
before receiving medical training at Guy's Hospital
Guy's Hospital is an NHS hospital in the borough of Southwark in central London. It is part of Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust and one of the institutions that comprise the King's Health Partners, an academic health science centre.
...
. He was the new president of the Literary and Philosophy society. Reaction was mixed, with some saying that Leicester's relatively small population would mean a lack of demand. With the outbreak of the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in 1914, talk of a university college subsided. In 1917 the ''Leicester Daily Post'' urged in an editorial that something of more practical utility than memorials ought to be created to commemorate the war dead. With the ending of the war both the ''Post'' and its rival the ''Leicester Mail'' encouraged donations to form the university college. Some suggested that Leicester should join forces with Nottingham, Sutton Bonington and Loughborough to create a federal university college of the East Midlands, but nothing came of this proposal.
Establishment
The old asylum building had often been suggested as a site for the new university, and after it was due to be finished being used as a hospital for the wounded, Astley Clarke was keen to urge the citizens and local authorities to buy it. Fortunately, Clarke quickly learned the building had already been bought by Thomas Fielding Johnson
Thomas Fielding Johnson (24 December 1828 – 18 March 1921) was a prominent Victorian businessman and philanthropist in Leicester, England, Leicester, England. Among his many acts of public spiritedness and generosity was the donation in 1919 of ...
, a wealthy philanthropist who owned a worsted
Worsted ( or ) is a high-quality type of wool yarn, the fabric made from this yarn, and a yarn weight category. The name derives from Worstead, a village in the English county of Norfolk. That village, together with North Walsham and Aylsham, for ...
manufacturing business. He had bought 37 acres of land for £40,000 and intended not only to house the college, but also the boys' and girls' grammar schools. Further donations soon topped £100,000: many were given in memory of loved ones lost during the war, while others were for those who had taken part and survived. King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936.
Born duri ...
gave his blessing to the scheme after a visit to the town in 1919.
Talk turned to the curriculum with many arguing that it should focus on Leicester's chief industries hosiery, boots and shoes. Others had higher hopes than just technical training. The education acts of 1902
Events
January
* January 1
** The Nurses Registration Act 1901 comes into effect in New Zealand, making it the first country in the world to require state registration of nurses. On January 10, Ellen Dougherty becomes the world's f ...
and 1918
This year is noted for the end of the First World War, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, as well as for the Spanish flu pandemic that killed 50–100 million people worldwide.
Events
Below, the events ...
, which brought education to the masses was also thought to have increased the need for a college, not least to train the new teachers that were needed. Talk of a federal university soured and the decision was for Leicester to become a stand-alone college. In 1920, the college appointed its first official. W. G. Gibbs, a long-standing supporter of the college while editor of the ''Leicester Daily Post'', was nominated as secretary. On 9 May 1921, Dr R. F. Rattray (1886–1967) was appointed principal, aged 35. Rattray was an impressive academic. Having gained a first class English degree at Glasgow, he studied at Manchester College, Oxford
Harris Manchester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It was founded in Warrington in 1757 as a college for Unitarian students and moved to Oxford in 1893. It became a full college of th ...
. He then studied in Germany, and secured his PhD at Harvard. After that, he worked as a Unitarian minister. Rattray was to teach Latin and English. He recruited others including Miss Measham to teach botany, Miss Sarson to teach geography, and Miss Chapuzet to teach French. In all, 14 people started at the university when it opened its doors in October 1921: the principal, the secretary, three lecturers and nine students (eight women and one man). Two types of students were expected, around 100–150 teachers in training, and undergraduates hoping to sit the external degrees of London University. A students union was formed in 1923–24 with a Miss Bonsor as its first president.
In 1927, after it became University College, Leicester, students sat for the examinations for external degrees 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 ...
. Two years later, it merged with the Vaughan Working Men's College, which had been providing adult education in Leicester since 1862. In 1931, Dr Rattray resigned as principal. He was replaced in 1932 by Frederick Attenborough
Frederick Levi Attenborough (4 April 1887 – 20 March 1973) was a British academic and principal of University College, Leicester.
Biography
He was the son of Mary (née Saxton) and Frederick August Attenborough of Stapleford, Nottinghamshir ...
, who was the father of David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
and Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
Attenborough. He was succeeded by Charles Wilson in 1952.
University status to modern day
In 1957, the University College was granted its 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 ...
, and has since then had the status of a university with the right to award its own degrees. The Percy Gee Student Union building was opened by 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 ...
on 9 May 1958.
Leicester University won the first ever series of ''University Challenge
''University Challenge'' is a British television quiz programme which first aired in 1962. ''University Challenge'' aired for 913 episodes on ITV from 21 September 1962 to 31 December 1987, presented by quizmaster Bamber Gascoigne. The BBC ...
'', in 1963. The university's motto ''Ut Vitam Habeant'' –"so that they may have life", is a reflection of the war memorial origins of its formation. It is believed to have been Rattray's suggestion.
The university medical school, Leicester Medical School, opened in 1971.
In 1994, the University of Leicester celebrated winning the 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 its work in Physics & Astronomy. The prize citation reads: "World-class teaching, research and consultancy programme in astronomy and space and planetary science fields. Practical results from advanced thinking".
In 2011, the university was selected as one of four sites for national high performance computing (HPC) facilities for theoretical astrophysics and particle physics. An investment of £12.32 million, from the Government's Large Facilities Capital Fund, together with investment from the Science and Technology Facilities Council
The Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is a United Kingdom government agency that carries out research in science and engineering, and funds UK research in areas including particle physics, nuclear physics, space science and astro ...
and from universities contribute to a national supercomputer.
Multi-million pound new national supercomputer to perform astronomical feats. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
In September 2012, a ULAS team Exhumation of Richard III of England, exhumed the body of King Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
, discovering it in the former Greyfriars Friary Church in the city of 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 ...
. As a result of that success Prof King was asked to investigate whether a skeleton found in Jamestown was that of George Yeardley
Sir George Yeardley (1587 – November 13, 1627) was a planter and colonial governor of the colony of Virginia. He was also among the first slaveowners in Colonial America. A survivor of the Virginia Company of London's ill-fated Third Supply Mi ...
, the 1st colonial governor of Virginia and founder of the Virginia General Assembly
The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...
.
In January 2017, Physics students from the University of Leicester made national news when they revealed their predictions on how long it would take a zombie apocalypse to wipe out humanity. They calculated that it would take just 100 days for zombies to completely take over earth. At the end of the 100 days, the students predicted that just 300 humans would remain alive and without infection.
In January 2021, around 200 UCU members at the university passed a no-confidence motion in Vice Chancellor Nishan Canagarajah
Cedric Nishan Canagarajah (born 1966) is a British Tamil academic and the current president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester. He was previously one of the pro-vice-chancellors of the University of Bristol.
Early life and famil ...
because of proposed cuts putting 145 staff members at risk of redundancy. There was anger at his claim that redundancies are needed to "continue to deliver excellence". In April, the UCU urged academics to boycott the university due to the planned redundancies, including encouraging people to not apply for jobs at Leicester or collaborate on new research projects.
Campus
The main campus is a mile south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park Victoria Park may refer to:
Places Australia
* Victoria Park Nature Reserve, a protected area in Northern Rivers region, New South Wales
* Victoria Park, Adelaide, a park and racecourse
* Victoria Park, Brisbane, a public park and former golf ...
and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College
Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College () is a sixth form college, located in Leicester, England. The college is led by Paul Wilson who was appointed the eighth principal in March 2018. The college merged with the nearby Regent College in 2018 ...
. The skyline of the university is punctuated by three distinctive, towering, buildings from the 1960s: the Department of Engineering, the Attenborough Tower and the Charles Wilson Building.
Fielding Johnson Building
The Fielding Johnson Building
The Fielding Johnson Building is the main administrative building for the University of Leicester, Leicester, England. It is a Grade II listed building.
History
The building, which was designed by William Parsons with assistance from George Walle ...
was designed by William Parsons in a late Georgian provincial style as the Leicestershire and Rutland County Asylum. From 1921 the building was home to most of the university departments until purpose-built accommodation was created, and it was renamed the Fielding Johnson Building in 1964. It now houses the university's administration offices, the Faculty of Law, faculty of criminology and a lecture theatre.
Attenborough Tower
The 18-storey Attenborough Tower is home to the College of Social Sciences and has undergone extensive renovation.
Engineering Building
The Engineering Building was the first major building by British architects James Stirling and James Gowan
James Gowan (18 October 1923 – 12 June 2015) was a Scottish-born architect known for his post-modernist designs of the "engineering style" which influenced a generation of British architects.
Life
Gowan was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow in ...
. This Grade II* listed building comprises workshops and laboratories at ground level, and a tower containing offices and lecture theatres.
Other buildings
Opposite the Fielding Johnson Building are the Astley Clarke Building, home to the School of Media, Communication and Sociology, and the Danielle Brown Sports Centre.
The Ken Edwards Building, built in 1995, lies adjacent to the Fielding Johnson Building and is home to the School of Management.
Built in 1957, the Percy Gee Building is home to Leicester University's Students' Union. Percy Gee was one of the first treasurers of the University College.
The David Wilson Library was opened by 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 ...
on 4 December 2008, following an extensive refurbishment with a budget of £32 million.
The Bennett Building, Physics and Astronomy Building, the Chemistry Building and the Adrian Building lie beyond the Charles Wilson Building. Across University Road, linked by pedestrian bridges, lie the Maurice Shock and Hodgkin Buildings. Further along University Road is the George Davies Centre building (built 2016), home to Leicester's Medical School.
The Adrian Building was built in 1967 and designed by Courtald Technical Services which became W.F Johnson & Partners. It was named after Edgar Adrian
Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian (30 November 1889 – 4 August 1977) was an English electrophysiologist and recipient of the 1932 Nobel Prize for Physiology, won jointly with Sir Charles Sherrington for work on the function of neurons. ...
the first chancellor of the university (1957–1971).
The Charles Wilson Building was designed by Denys Lasdun and completed in 1967.
Along London road is the Brookfield campus home to the school of business and the post-graduate centre. It was sympathetically renovated, with the original building being built in 1870 and was home to Thomas Fielding Johnson, the founder of the University of Leicester.
Further along University Road and on Salisbury Road and Regents Road are the Department of Education and the Fraser Noble Building.
On Lancaster Road there is the Attenborough Arts Centre
The Attenborough Arts Centre is an arts centre on Lancaster Road, Leicester, United Kingdom. It is the University of Leicester arts centre but also serves Leicester as a whole. The centre's access and inclusive work has been recognised, through ...
, the university's arts centre.
Leicester's halls of residence are noteworthy: many of the halls (nearly all located in Oadby
Oadby is a town in the borough of Oadby and Wigston in the county of Leicestershire, England. Oadby is a district centre south east of Leicester city centre on the A6 trunk road. Leicester Racecourse is situated on the border between Oadby a ...
) date from the early 1900s and were the homes of Leicester's wealthy industrialists.
Image:Leicester University Engineering Building.jpg, The Engineering Building, designed by James Stirling, James Gowan
James Gowan (18 October 1923 – 12 June 2015) was a Scottish-born architect known for his post-modernist designs of the "engineering style" which influenced a generation of British architects.
Life
Gowan was born in Pollokshields, Glasgow in ...
and Frank Newby
Frank Newby (26 March 1926 – 10 May 2001) was one of the leading structural engineers of the 20th century, working with such architects as Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, Eero Saarinen, Cedric Price,James Gowan (architect) James Stirling, an ...
Image:Physics and astronomy building, University of Leicester.jpg, The Physics and Astronomy Building, part of a larger complex by Leslie Martin
Sir John Leslie Martin (17 August 1908, in Manchester – 28 July 2000) was an English architect, and a leading advocate of the International Style. Martin's most famous building is the Royal Festival Hall. His work was especially influenced ...
Image:Leicester University analemma sundial.jpg, ''Eye of Time'' sundial
A sundial is a horological device that tells the time of day (referred to as civil time in modern usage) when direct sunlight shines by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky. In the narrowest sense of the word, it consists of a flat ...
Image:Jewry Wall ruins panorama 3.jpg, Vaughan College
Leicester Vaughan College (LVC) is an independent higher education college in Leicester, England. It is the successor to Vaughan College, originally founded by Revd David Vaughan in 1862 to provide education for under-educated men. It rapidly bec ...
, the university's former adult education college, is Grade II
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
listed and faces the Jewry Wall
The Jewry Wall is a substantial ruined wall of 2nd-century Roman masonry, with two large archways, in Leicester, England. It stands alongside St Nicholas' Circle and St Nicholas' Church. It formed the west wall of a public building in (Roma ...
Roman ruins
File:Astronomical Clock at Leicester University.jpg, Leicester University Astronomical Clock
The Leicester University astronomical clock is a modern astronomical clock at the University of Leicester.
History and description
The clock was installed in 1989 on the side of the Rattray Lecture Theatre at the University of Leicester
, m ...
Development
In recent years, the university has disposed of some of its poorer quality property in order to invest in new facilities, and is currently undergoing a £300+ million redevelopment. The new John Foster Hall of Residence opened in October 2006. The David Wilson Library, twice the size of the previous University Library, opened on 1 April 2008 and a new biomedical research building (the Henry Wellcome Building) has already been constructed. A complete revamp of the Percy Gee Student Union building was completed in September 2010, and another is underway, due for completion in spring 2020. Nixon Court was extended and refurbished in 2011.
Organisation
The university's academic schools and departments are organised into colleges. In August 2015, the colleges were further restructured with the merging of ''Social Sciences'' and ''Arts, Humanities and Law'' to give the following structure:
College of Life Sciences
The college has the following academic schools:
* Leicester Medical School
Leicester Medical School is a medical school, which is part of the University of Leicester. The school was founded in 1975, although between 2000 and 2007 it was part of the joint Leicester-Warwick Medical School. As of 2021, the medical school ...
* School of Biological Sciences
* School of Psychology
* School of Allied Health Professions
The research departments and institutes:
* Cardiovascular Sciences
* Genetics and Genome Biology (including the Leicester Cancer Research Centre)
* Health Sciences (including the Leicester Diabetes Centre)
* Infection, Immunity and Inflammation
* Molecular and Cell Biology
* Neuroscience, Psychology and Behaviour (including the Centre for Systems Neuroscience)
* Leicester Precision Medicine Institute (including Leicester Drug Discovery and Diagnostics)
* Leicester Institute of Structural and Chemical Biology
Leicester Medical School
The university is home to a large medical school, Leicester Medical School, which opened in 1971. The school was formerly in partnership with the University of Warwick
The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands (county), West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded i ...
, and the Leicester-Warwick medical school proved to be a success in helping Leicester expand, and Warwick establish. The partnership ran the end of its course towards the end of 2006 and the medical schools became autonomous institutions within their respective universities.
College of Science and Engineering
The college comprises the following departments:
Chemistry
* Informatics
* School of Geography Geology & the Environment
* Engineering
* Mathematics
* Physics and Astronomy
There are also interdisciplinary research centres for Space Research, Climate Change Research, Mathematical/Computational Modelling and Advanced Microscopy.
Engineering
The department offers MEng and BEng degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Embedded Systems Engineering, Communications and Electronic Engineering, Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and General Engineering. Each course is accredited by the relevant professional institutions. The department also offers MSc courses.
Physics and Astronomy
The department has around 350 undergraduate students, following either BSc
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
(three-year) or MPhys A Master of Physics honours (or MPhys (Hons)) academic degree, degree is a specific master's degree for courses in the field of physics.
United Kingdom
In England and Wales, the MPhys is an Undergraduate education, undergraduate award available aft ...
(four-year) degree courses, and over 70 postgraduate students registered for a higher degree.
Frequently asked questions. Retrieved 22 March 2015
The main Physics building accommodates several research groups—Radio and Space Plasma Physics (RSPP), X-ray and Observational Astronomy (XROA), and Theoretical Astrophysics (TA)—as well as centres for Supercomputer, supercomputing, microscopy
Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of micr ...
, Gamma
Gamma (uppercase , lowercase ; ''gámma'') is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter re ...
and X-ray astronomy, and radar sounding, and the Swift
Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to:
* SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks
** SWIFT code
* Swift (programming language)
* Swift (bird), a family of birds
It may also refer to:
Organizations
* SWIFT, ...
UK Data Centre. A purpose built Space Research Centre houses the Space Science and Instrumentation (SSI) group and provides laboratories, clean rooms and other facilities for instrumentation research, Earth Observation Science (EOS) and the Bio-imaging Unit. The department also runs the University of Leicester Observatory in Manor Road, Oadby, with a 20-inch telescope it is one of the UK's largest and most advanced astronomical teaching facilities. The department has close involvement with the National Space Centre
The National Space Centre is a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester. It is located on the north side of the city ...
also located in Leicester.
The department is home to the university's ALICE 3400+ core supercomputer and is a member of the UK's DiRAC (DiStributed Research utilising Advanced Computing) consortium. DiRAC is the integrated supercomputing facility for theoretical modelling and HPC-based research in particle physics, astronomy and cosmology.
College of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities
The college has 10 schools including:
* American Studies
* Archaeology and Ancient History
* School of Arts
* School of Business
* Criminology
* Education
* History, Politics and International Relations
* Leicester Law School
* School of Media, Communication and Sociology
* Museum Studies
Archaeology and Ancient History
The ''School of Archaeology and Ancient History'' was formed in 1990 from the then Departments of Archaeology and Classics, under the headship of Graeme Barker
Graeme William Walter Barker, (born 23 October 1946) is a British archaeologist, notable for his work on the Italian Bronze Age, the Roman occupation of Libya, and landscape archaeology.
Early life and education
Barker was born on 23 October ...
. The academic staff currently (as of January 2017) include 21 archaeologists and 8 ancient historians, though several staff teach and research in both disciplines.
The School has particular strengths in Mediterranean archaeology, ancient Greek and Roman history, and the archaeology of recent periods; and is also home to the ''University of Leicester Archaeological Services'' (ULAS).
Business
The ''School of Business'' was founded in 2016, bringing together the expertise of the School of Management and the Department of Economics. The new school now has approximately 150 academic staff, 50 from Economics and 100 from Management. In 2010 the former School of Management was ranked 2nd after Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
by the ''Guardian''.
The School of Business provides postgraduate and undergraduate programmes in Management, Accounting and Economics. The School of Business, is one of the approximately 270 Schools/Universities in the world accredited by AMBA
Amba or AMBA may refer to:
Title
* Amba Hor, alternative name for Abhor and Mehraela, Christian martyrs
* Amba Sada, also known as Psote, Christian bishop and martyr in Upper Egypt
Given name
* Amba, the traditional first name given to the first ...
.
English
The ''School of English'' teaches English at degree level. The school offers English studies from contemporary writing to Old English and language studies. It contains the ''Victorian Studies Centre'', the first of its kind in the UK. . Malcolm Bradbury
Sir Malcolm Stanley Bradbury, (7 September 1932 – 27 November 2000) was an English author and academic.
Life
Bradbury was born in Sheffield, the son of a railwayman. His family moved to London in 1935, but returned to Sheffield in 1941 with ...
is one of the department's most famous alumni: he graduated with a First in English in 1953.
Historical Studies
The ''School of Historical Studies'' is one of the largest of any university in the country. It has made considerable scholarly achievements in many areas of history, notably urban history, English local history, American studies and Holocaust studies. The school houses both the East Midlands Oral History Archive (EMOHA) and the Media Archive for Central England Media Archive for Central England (MACE) is the public sector regional film archive that collects, preserves and provides access to film, television and other moving image materials that relate to the governmental regions of the East Midlands and We ...
.
Law
The ''School of Law'' is one of the biggest departments in the university. According to the Times Online Good University Guide 2009, the Faculty of Law was ranked 8th, out of 87 institutions, making it one of the top law schools in the country.
Academic profile
Admissions
New students entering the university in 2015 had the 42nd highest UCAS Points in the UK at 374 points (the equivalent of BBC at A Level and BC at AS Level). According to the 2017 ''Times'' and ''Sunday Times'' Good University Guide, approximately 2% of Leicester's undergraduates come from independent schools.
Teaching
The university is held in high regard for the quality of its teaching. 19 subject areas have been graded as "Excellent" by the Quality Assurance Agency
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is the independent body that checks on standards and quality in UK higher education. It conducts quality assessment reviews, develops reference points and guidance for providers, and condu ...
– including 14 successive scores of 22 points or above stretching back to 1998, six of which were maximum scores.
Leicester was ranked joint first in the 2005, 2006, and 2007 National Student Survey The National Student Survey is an annual survey, launched in 2005, of all final year undergraduate degree students at institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The survey is designed to assess undergrad ...
for overall student satisfaction among mainstream universities in England. It was second only to Cambridge in 2008 and again joint first in 2009.
Research
The university has research groups in the areas of astrophysics, biochemistry and genetics. The techniques used in genetic fingerprinting
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
were invented and developed at Leicester in 1984 by Sir Alec Jeffreys
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolv ...
. It also houses Europe's biggest academic centre for space research, in which space probes have been built, most notably the Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
Lander Beagle 2
The ''Beagle 2'' is an inoperative British Mars lander that was transported by the European Space Agency's 2003 ''Mars Express'' mission. It was intended to conduct an astrobiology mission that would have looked for evidence of past life on Mar ...
, which was built in collaboration with the Open University
The Open University (OU) is a British public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate students are based in the United Kingdom and principally study off- ...
.
Leicester Physicists (led by Ken Pounds) were critical in demonstrating a fundamental prediction of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theory ...
's General Theory of Relativity
The theory of relativity usually encompasses two interrelated theories by Albert Einstein: special relativity and general relativity, proposed and published in 1905 and 1915, respectively. Special relativity applies to all physical phenomena in ...
– that black holes
A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light or other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it. The theory of general relativity predicts that a sufficiently compact mass can def ...
exist and are common in the universe
The universe is all of space and time and their contents, including planets, stars, galaxies, and all other forms of matter and energy. The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological description of the development of the universe. Acc ...
. It is a founding partner of the £52 million National Space Centre
The National Space Centre is a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester. It is located on the north side of the city ...
.
Leicester is one of a small number of universities to have won the prestigious 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 Education on more than one occasion: in 1994 for physics & astronomy and again in 2002 for genetics.
The 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise for the School of Archaeology and Ancient History, 74% of research activity, including 100% of its Research Environment, was classed as 'world-leading' or 'internationally excellent', ranking it 6th among UK university departments teaching archaeology and 1st for the public impact of its research.
The Institute of Learning Innovation
The Institute of Learning Innovation, formerly the Beyond Distance Research Alliance, was a teaching and research group based at the University of Leicester. It was founded by Professor Gilly Salmon, and directed by Professor Gráinne Conole. Th ...
within the University of Leicester is a research and postgraduate teaching group, directed by Grainne Conole. The institute has and continues to research on UK- and European-funded projects (over 30 as of August 2013), focusing on topics such as educational use of podcasting, e-readers in distance education, virtual worlds, open educational resources
Open educational resources (OER) are Instructional materials, teaching, learning, and research materials intentionally created and Free license, licensed to be free for the end user to own, share, and in most cases, modify. The term "OER" descri ...
and open education, and learning design.
In 2019, the university of Leicester ranked 76th in Reuters top 100 of Europe's most innovative universities. University of Leicester excelled in molecular and cell biology.
Leicester has been ranked as one of the top performing universities in the UK for COVID-19 research, after being awarded more than £10.8 million of government funding since the pandemic began.
The university now sits alongside 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 ...
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 = ...
and has been recognised globally for its work, including being the first in the world to discover the link between people from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds being more susceptible to severe cases of coronavirus.
Rankings and reputation
The university was named University of the Year of 2008 by the ''Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
''. It is also the only university ever to have won a ''Times Higher Education'' award in seven consecutive years. The university was previously consistently ranked among the top 20 universities in the United Kingdom by the '' Times Good University Guide'' and ''The Guardian''.
In 2017, the university ranked 25th in ''The Sunday Times Good University Guide.''
Library special collections
Local history collections
The Library has one of the largest local history collections in the country. The main collection contains circa 37,000 items covering all the major counties of England. Much of this material has been collected for the Centre for English Local History since its founding in 1948. In addition, there are several rare book collections and archives:
* Hatton Collection. This collection is focused on the early English county histories and works by the antiquarians. Thomas Hatton (1876–1943), a local businessman whose collection of nearly 2,000 books on English local history was donated to the Library of Leicester College in 1920. This was one of the first major donations to the Library.
* Chaproniere Collection. Photographic archive of English parish churches organised by geological region. Donated by Donna Chaproniere.
* Fairclough Collection. Portrait prints and topographical illustrations of 17th century Britain. Donated by A. B. R. Fairclough in 1970.
* Thirsk Collection. Notes and data collected by Joan Thirsk for volumes 4 (1500–1640) and 5 (1640–1750) of The Agrarian History of England and Wales. Thirsk was the editor of these volumes and a research fellow at Leicester in the 1950s.
In recent years, the Library has digitised, and mad
available online
collections relating to local and urban history, including The Historical Directories of England and Wales and the East Midlands Oral History Archive.
Modern Literary Archives
The library also holds a number of collections of 20th century writers and illustrators:
* The Joe Orton Collection. Joe Orton
John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...
(1933–1967) was a Leicester-born playwright, the collection contains his manuscripts and correspondence.
* The Laura Riding Letters. The collected correspondence of the American poet and critic Laura Riding
Laura Riding Jackson (born Laura Reichenthal; January 16, 1901 – September 2, 1991), best known as Laura Riding, was an American poet, critic, novelist, essayist and short story writer.
Early life
She was born in New York City to Nathan ...
(1901–1991).
* The Sue Townsend Collection. The personal papers of Sue Townsend
Susan Lillian Townsend, FRSL (née Johnstone, 2 April 194610 April 2014), was an English writer and humorist whose work encompasses novels, plays and works of journalism. She was best known for creating the character Adrian Mole.
After writing ...
(1946–2014). The collection contains Townsend's literary correspondence and notebooks detailing her works.
Student life
The university has a number of different societies within its students' union. The Union has over 220 different societies.
Student media
The students' union has three student groups producing media: Leicester Student Magazine, Galaxy Radio, and LUST (Leicester University Student Television).
Leicester Student Magazine was founded in 1957, and has previously been known as ''The Ripple, The Wave & Galaxy Press''.
LUST (Leicester University Student Television) was re-founded in 2002 after a period of dormancy. The station is affiliated to the National Student Television Association
Student television in the United Kingdom is the act of students from universities and colleges around the United Kingdom producing and publishing video content independently, operating in a similar fashion to a small television station. Student ...
(NaSTA) and hosted the association's annual awards ceremony in 2008.
Galaxy Radio
Founded in 1996, Galaxy Radio (previously LUSH Radio, LUSH FM) is run and presented exclusively by students and broadcasts a mixture of music, chat and news. Some notable personalities from the early days of the station (LUSH FM at the time) who have gone on to work in the media are Lucy O'Doherty (BBC 6 Music) and Adam Mitchenall (ETV).
Niraj Dave hosted a show on LUSH FM from 2007 to 2008 and has worked for Asian Sound Radio and Sunrise Radio, London, two of the largest British Asian radio stations in the country.
Galaxy Radio holds an annual 24-hour charity broadcast. In 2011, £300 was raised for Comic Relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.
Definition
Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...
. In 2013 the station held its first '69 Hour Broadcast', which raised over £450 for Comic Relief. For the 2018 fundraiser GR worked with fellow student group Leicester Marrow to raise £1,000 for Anthony Nolan
Anthony Nolan is a UK charity that works in the areas of leukaemia and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. It manages and recruits donors to the Anthony Nolan Register, which is part of an aligned registry that also includes the ''Welsh Bon ...
.
Galaxy Radio has broadcast live the annual varsity match
A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murray ...
against De Montfort University
De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body. The name De Montfort University was tak ...
for both football from the King Power Stadium
King Power Stadium (also known as the Leicester City Stadium due to UEFA sponsorship regulations and formerly known as the Walkers Stadium) is a football stadium in Leicester, England. It has been the home of Premier League club Leicester City ...
and rugby union from Welford Road Stadium
Welford Road (currently known as Mattioli Woods Welford Road for sponsorship reasons) is a rugby union stadium in Leicester, England, and is the home ground of Leicester Tigers. The ground was opened on 10 September 1892, and is located betwe ...
.
Notable people
File:Anthony Giddens at the Progressive Governance Converence, Budapest, Hungary, 2004 October.jpg, Anthony Giddens
Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is t ...
, sociologist
File:Peter Atkins - EdSciFest 2014.jpg, Peter Atkins
Peter William Atkins (born 10 August 1940) is an English chemist and a Fellow of Lincoln College at the University of Oxford. He retired in 2007. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including ''Physical Chemistry'', ''Ino ...
, chemist
File:Sir Liam Donaldson.jpg, Sir Liam Donaldson
Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson (born 3 May 1949) is a British doctor. He was formerly the Chief Medical Officer for England, being the 15th occupant of the post since it was established in 1855. As such, he was principal advisor to the United Kingd ...
, medical doctor and university chancellor
File:Natalie_Bennett-IMG_4086.jpg, Natalie Bennett
Natalie Louise Bennett, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (born 10 February 1966) is a Australian-British politician and journalist who served as Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. Bennett was given a peerage in ...
, British politician
File:Norman_Lamb_%282013%29.jpg, Norman Lamb
Sir Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee ...
, MP
File:Bob_mortimer_Middlesbrough.jpg, Bob Mortimer
Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, podcast presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy double act, and more recently the '' Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing ...
, comedian
Notable academics from the university include; Anthony Giddens
Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is t ...
, prominent sociologist who taught social psychology
Social psychology is the scientific study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the real or imagined presence of other people or by social norms. Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the r ...
, Sarah Hainsworth
Sarah Victoria Hainsworth (born 5 October 1967 in Leeds) is Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University of Bath. Previously she was Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Executive Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Aston University ...
, Professor of Materials and Forensic Engineering, involved in analysing the wounds on the skeleton of Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
, Jeffrey A. Hoffman
Jeffrey Alan Hoffman (born November 2, 1944) is an American former NASA astronaut and currently a professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT.
Hoffman made five flights as a Space Shuttle astronaut, including the first mission to repair th ...
, NASA astronaut and physicist, Sir Alec Jeffreys
Sir Alec John Jeffreys, (born 9 January 1950) is a British geneticist known for developing techniques for genetic fingerprinting and DNA profiling which are now used worldwide in forensic science to assist police detective work and to resolv ...
, inventor of genetic fingerprinting
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
; Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin (9 August 1922 – 2 December 1985) was an English poet, novelist, and librarian. His first book of poetry, '' The North Ship'', was published in 1945, followed by two novels, '' Jill'' (1946) and '' A Girl in Winter'' (1 ...
, librarian and poet; Charles Rees, organic chemist; Lord Rees of Ludlow
Martin John Rees, Baron Rees of Ludlow One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where: (born 23 June 1942) is a British cosmologist and astrophysicist. He is the fifteenth Astronomer Royal, ...
, the Astronomer Royal
Astronomer Royal is a senior post in the Royal Households of the United Kingdom. There are two officers, the senior being the Astronomer Royal dating from 22 June 1675; the junior is the Astronomer Royal for Scotland dating from 1834.
The post ...
, visiting professor at Leicester. Jeremy Howick
Jeremy Howick is a Canadian-born, British residing clinical epidemiologist and philosopher of science. He researches evidence-based medicine, clinical empathy and the philosophy of medicine, including the use of placebos in clinical practice a ...
joined the University of Leicester as director of the new Stoneygate Centre for Excellence in Empathic Healthcare.
Numerous public figures in many diverse fields have been students at the university. Alumni in science include Peter Atkins
Peter William Atkins (born 10 August 1940) is an English chemist and a Fellow of Lincoln College at the University of Oxford. He retired in 2007. He is a prolific writer of popular chemistry textbooks, including ''Physical Chemistry'', ''Ino ...
, physical chemist; Philip Campbell, editor-in-chief of ''Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
''; Sir Liam Donaldson
Sir Liam Joseph Donaldson (born 3 May 1949) is a British doctor. He was formerly the Chief Medical Officer for England, being the 15th occupant of the post since it was established in 1855. As such, he was principal advisor to the United Kingd ...
, Chief Medical Officer
Alumni in politics and government include Natalie Bennett
Natalie Louise Bennett, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (born 10 February 1966) is a Australian-British politician and journalist who served as Leader of the Green Party of England and Wales from 2012 to 2016. Bennett was given a peerage in ...
, former leader of the Green Party of England and Wales
The Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW; cy, Plaid Werdd Cymru a Lloegr, kw, Party Gwer Pow an Sowson ha Kembra, often simply the Green Party or Greens) is a green, left-wing political party in England and Wales. Since October 2021, Carla ...
; Patricia Perkowski, member of the Providence Point Charlie’s Angels; Atifete Jahjaga
Atifete Jahjaga (; born 20 April 1975) is a Kosovar Albanian politician who served as the third President of Kosovo. She was the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo, the first non-partisan candidate and the youngest female head of ...
, President of Kosovo
The president of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Presidenti i Republikës së Kosovës, ), is the head of state and chief representative of the de facto Republic of Kosovo in the country and abroad.
The president is elected indirectly, by the Assem ...
; Jyrki Katainen
Jyrki Tapani Katainen (born 14 October 1971) is a Finnish politician who served as the European Commission's Vice-President for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness from 2014 until 2019. Katainen was previously Prime Minister of Finland fr ...
, Prime Minister of Finland;"Finnish PM’s politics formed at the University of Leicester"
University of Leicester, 1 May 2013. Norman Lamb
Sir Norman Peter Lamb (born 16 September 1957) is a British politician and solicitor. He was the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for North Norfolk from 2001 to 2019, and was the chair of the Science and Technology Select Committee ...
, MP; Princess Mako of Akishino
, formerly , is a former member of the Japanese imperial family. She is the eldest child of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko, niece of Emperor Naruhito, and granddaughter of Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko. ...
, a member of the Japanese Imperial Family; Aaron Porter
Aaron Ross Porter (born 11 January 1985) is a former president of the National Union of Students in the United Kingdom; he was elected with a 65% majority and took office in June 2010 for one year.
Background and positions held
In 2010, Porter ...
, President, National Union of Students (United Kingdom)
The National Union of Students (NUS) is a confederation of Students' union, student unions in the United Kingdom. Around 600 student unions are affiliated, accounting for more than 95% of all higher and further education unions in the UK. Altho ...
2010–11.
Alumni in the arts include Sir Malcolm Bradbury, author; Pete McCarthy
Peter Charles McCarthy Robinson (9 November 1951 – 6 October 2004) was an English comedian, radio and television presenter and travel writer. He was noted for his best-selling travel books ''McCarthy's Bar'' (2000) and ''The Road to McCarthy'' ...
, writer, broadcaster, comedian; Bob Mortimer
Robert Renwick Mortimer (born 23 May 1959) is an English comedian, podcast presenter and actor. He is known for his work with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy double act, and more recently the '' Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing ...
, comedian; Bob Parr MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
, multi Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning television producer; C. P. Snow
Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow, (15 October 1905 – 1 July 1980) was an English novelist and physical chemist who also served in several important positions in the British Civil Service and briefly in the UK government.''The Columbia Encyclope ...
, author; John Sutherland, Guardian Columnist, Emeritus Professor of English Literature, University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
.
The Attenboroughs
The University of Leicester is commonly associated with the Attenborough family. Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
and David Attenborough
Sir David Frederick Attenborough (; born 8 May 1926) is an English broadcaster, biologist, natural historian and author. He is best known for writing and presenting, in conjunction with the BBC Natural History Unit, the nine natural histor ...
(with their younger brother John) spent their childhood in College House, which is now home to part of the Maths department (and is now near to the Attenborough tower, the tallest building on the campus and home to many of the arts and humanities departments). Their father Frederick Attenborough
Frederick Levi Attenborough (4 April 1887 – 20 March 1973) was a British academic and principal of University College, Leicester.
Biography
He was the son of Mary (née Saxton) and Frederick August Attenborough of Stapleford, Nottinghamshir ...
was Principal of the University College from 1932 until 1951. The brothers were educated at the adjacent grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented secondary school ...
before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
and the 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 ...
respectively.
Both have maintained links with the university—David Attenborough was made an honorary Doctor of Letters in 1970 and opened the Attenborough Arboretum in Knighton in 1997. In the same year, the ''Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and the Arts'' was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
. Both brothers were made Distinguished Honorary Fellows of the university at the degree ceremony in the afternoon of 13 July 2006.
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 Oxford's being possibly the oldest ...
* List of universities in the UK
*National Space Centre
The National Space Centre is a museum and educational resource covering the fields of space science and astronomy, along with a space research programme in partnership with the University of Leicester. It is located on the north side of the city ...
*Peer English
''Peer English'' is an academic journal established in 2006 and published annually by the Department of English at the University of Leicester and the English Association. ''Peer English'' exists "to interpret ‘literary criticism, literary studi ...
, an academic journal published by the Department of English
*Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust Studies
The Stanley Burton Centre for Holocaust and Genocide Studies (SBC) is a teaching and research centre located within the school of history at the University of Leicester.
The Centre
The Centre was founded by historian Aubrey Newman in 1990, and ...
*University of Leicester Botanic Garden
The University of Leicester Harold Martin Botanic Garden is a botanic garden close to the halls of residence for the University of Leicester in Oadby, Leicestershire, England. Founded in 1921, the garden was established on the present site in 1 ...
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
University of Leicester website
Aerial photograph of University College (later Leicester University) in April 1926
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leicester, University Of
Educational institutions established in 1921
1921 establishments in England
Universities UK