Information about University Of Sheffield

University of Sheffield
Motto	Rerum cognoscere causas ("to discover the causes of things")
Established	1897 (became university 1905)
Type	Public
Endowment	£31.5 million [1]
Chancellor	Sir Peter Middleton
Vice-Chancellor	Prof Keith Burnett
Staff	1,306
Students	26,785 [1]
Undergraduates	19,480 <ref name="HESA" />
Postgraduates	7,300 <ref name="HESA" />
Location	Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK
Campus	Urban
Colours	Azure
Affiliations	Russell Group WUN EUA ACU N8 White Rose Yorkshire Universities
Website	[2]

The University of Sheffield is a research university, located in Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England.

Reputation

Sheffield was the Sunday Times University of the Year in 2001 and has consistently appeared as their top 20 institutions. Just three nationally have more than Sheffield’s 30 top-rated subjects for teaching excellence and just five can better the 35 subject areas deemed to have conducted world-class research in the most recent ratings. ^[2]

Sheffield's strategic aim is to place itself in the top five of UK Universities and to enhance its position as a World leading University. ^[3]

History

The University of Sheffield was originally formed by the merger of three colleges. The Sheffield School of Medicine was founded in 1828, followed in 1879 by the opening of Firth College by Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer, to teach arts and science subjects. Firth College then helped to fund the opening of the Sheffield Technical School in 1884 to teach applied science, the only major faculty the existing colleges did not cover. The three institutions merged in 1897 to form the University College of Sheffield. Sheffield is one of the six original Red Brick Universities.

It was originally envisaged that the University College would join Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds as the fourth member of the federal Victoria University. However, the Victoria University began to split-up before this could happen and so the University College of Sheffield received its own Royal Charter in 1905 and became the University of Sheffield.

From 200 full-time students in 1905, the University grew slowly until the 1950s and 1960s when it began to expand rapidly. Many new buildings (including the famous Arts Tower) were built and student numbers increased to their present levels of over 20,000.

In 1995, the University took over the Sheffield and North Trent College of Nursing and Midwifery, which greatly increased the size of the medical faculty although in 2005 it decided to pass these subjects over to Sheffield Hallam University.

Over the years, the University has been home to a number of famous writers and scholars, including the literary critic William Empson, who was head of the Department of English; author Angela Carter; five Nobel Prize winners; and Bernard Crick, who taught politics with future Labour Party politician David Blunkett as one of his students.

Location

The University of Sheffield is not a campus university, though most of its buildings are close together. The centre of the University's presence lies one mile to the west of Sheffield city centre where there is a mile-long collection of buildings belonging almost entirely to the University. This area includes the students' union, the Octagon Centre, Firth Court, the Geography and Planning building, the Alfred Denny Building (housing natural sciences and including a small museum), the Dainton and Richard Roberts Buildings (chemistry) and the Hicks Building (mathematics and physics). The Grade II*-listed library and Arts Tower are also located there. The Arts Tower houses one of Europe's few surviving examples of a Paternoster Lift. A concourse under the main road (the A57) allows students to easily move between these buildings. The Information Commons is the newest building, added in 2007. The Information Commons is a new library, coffee shop and restaurant, with a digital and computer infrastructure, lounge areas and flexible learning space.

To the east lies St George's Campus, named for St George's Church, now a lecture theatre. The campus is centred on Mappin Street, home to a number of University buildings, including the Faculty of Engineering (partly housed in the Grade II-listed Mappin Building) and the University of Sheffield School of Management and Department of Computer Science. The University also maintains the Turner Museum of Glass in this area. The University has recently acquired the listed old Victorian Jessop Hospital for Women buildings and HSE Building. Both buildings are currently being refurbished to house the Departments of Modern Languages, History and English, thus fully joining the West and St. George's campuses. The Law School will move from the Crookesmoor Building to Bartolomé House in early 2008.

Further west lies Weston Park, the Weston Park Museum, the Harold Cantor Gallery, sports facilities and the faculties of law in the Crookesmoor area and medicine, in the Royal Hallamshire Hospital (although taught in the city's extensive teaching hospitals under the Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and throughout South Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire).

Further west still lie the University halls of residence, Ranmoor House, Halifax Hall of Residence, Stephenson Hall of Residence and Tapton Hall of Residence, and the music department, in the Broomhill and Crookes areas of the city. The University is currently building a new student residence village worth in excess of £150 million.

The Manvers campus, at Wath-on-Dearne between Rotherham and Barnsley, is where the majority of nursing is taught.

Organisation

Like most British universities, the University of Sheffield is headed by a Vice-Chancellor, Professor Keith Burnett, CBE who took over from Prof Bob Boucher, CBE on 1 October 2007, and a titular Chancellor, Sir Peter Middleton. Prof Burnett was Head of the Division of Mathematical, Physical and Life Sciences at the University of Oxford and before that Chairman of Physics.

The University is organised into seven faculties, with all the faculties except Law being sub-divided into numerous departments:

• Faculty of Architectural Studies
• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Engineering
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Pure Science
• Faculty of Social Sciences

Research and Teaching Quality

The University of Sheffield has been described by The Times as one of the powerhouses of British higher education.^[4] The University is a member of the Russell Group, the European University Association, the Worldwide Universities Network and the White Rose University Consortium. It is a major contributor to research, being the sixth most highly rated research university in the UK (As of 2001).

In the latest round of Teaching Quality Assessments (TQA 1993-2001) Sheffield ranked third in the UK for the highest number of "Excellent" rated subject areas. Nearly 75% of all teaching subjects achieved a 24/24 (Excellent) score.

The University of Sheffield is rated 8th in the UK, 18th in Europe and 69th in the world in an annual academic ranking of the top 500 universities worldwide published in August 2005. Researchers at China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University evaluated the universities using several research performance indicators, including the number of highly cited researchers, academic performance, articles in the periodicals Science and Nature, and the number of Nobel prizewinners. A separate ranking, published in the US by Newsweek magazine, and released in August 2006, ranked Sheffield 9th in the UK, 18th in Europe and 70th in the world in a list of the Global Top 100 Universities.

The University has won Queen's Anniversary Awards in 1998, 2000 and 2002. It was also named the Sunday Times University of the Year in 2001. In 2005, the Sunday Times rated the University as the 24th best in the UK.

Sheffield is particularly famous for its Archaeology, Architecture, Management, Chemistry, Engineering, Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Dentistry, English, Geography, History, Music, Philosophy, Politics Physics, Computer Science and Town Planning departments, which are heavily oversubscribed.

In the 2007's National Student Survey, five of the University of Sheffield's departments reached the top of the table for overall student satisfaction among the UK universities. "Dentistry, Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Philosophy, East Asian Studies and courses in Modern Languages and Modern Languages with Interpreting returned the highest satisfaction scores in the UK." ^[5]

Major research partners and clients include Boeing, Rolls Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations.

For many years the University has been engaged in theological publishing through Sheffield Academic Press and JSOT Press.

The University of Sheffield is also a partner organisation in Higher Futures, a collaborative association of institutions set up under the government's Lifelong Learning Networks initiative, to co-ordinate vocational and work-based education.^[6]

Nobel Prizes

The University's Faculty of Pure Science may boast an association with five Nobel Prizes, one for the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology:

• 1945 Nobel Prize in Medicine (join award) Prof. Howard Florey, for his work on penicillin.
• 1953 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Prof. Hans Adolf Krebs, "for the discovery of the citric acid cycle in cellular respiration"

As well as three to its world-renowned Department of Chemistry:

• 1967 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (joint award), Prof. George Porter (later Lord Porter), "for their work on extremely fast chemical reactions" (see Flash photolysis
• 1993 Nobel Prize in Physiology (joint award), Richard J. Roberts, "for the discovery that genes in eukaryotes are not contiguous strings but contain introns, and that the splicing of messenger RNA to delete those introns can occur in different ways, yielding different proteins from the same DNA sequence"
• 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (joint award), Sir Harry Kroto, "for their discovery of fullerenes").

Students and academics

The University of Sheffield's 25,000 students arrive mostly from the UK, but include some 3,700+ international students from 120 different countries that come to Sheffield not only for its world-class research and teaching quality but also for the city's renowned student and social scene and its relatively cheap costs of living. The university employs nearly 6,000 people, including almost 1,400 academic staff.

Students' Union, Sports and Traditions

Main article: University of Sheffield Union of Students

The University of Sheffield Union of Students is one of the largest students' unions in the UK, and was founded in 1956. It has two bars (Bar One (which has a book-able function room with its own bar, The Raynor Lounge) and The Interval), three club venues (Fusion, Foundry and Octagon), one off-campus public house (The Fox and Duck) and coffee shop (Coffee Revolution), various restaurants, shops, a supermarket, the cinema Film Unit, a fully functioning and student run theatre company (suTCo), a student radio station called Sure Radio, its own newspaper, The Steel Press, and about two hundred student societies, many sports teams and a turnover of around £8,000,000. The Union is also home to a variety of advice and support services and manages the successful USports sports facilities.



In addition to the student union-supported sports teams, Sheffield University Bankers Hockey Club play top-flight field hockey in the national first division. The annual Varsity Challenge takes place between teams from the University and its rival Sheffield Hallam University in over 30 events.

As part of rag week, University of Sheffield students used to take part in the Pyjama Jump[3] pub crawl, dressed only in nightwear in mid-winter: the men often to dress in nighties and the women in pyjamas. This event was banned in 1997 following the hospitalisation of several students.[4] The roleplaying society run a 24 hour roleplaying event on RAG weekend. Another rag week tradition is the Spiderwalk, a fifty mile trek through the city and the Peak District, the first half through the night. Although publication has been sporadic in recent years, Twikker, the Rag Magazine, is usually sold to raise funds. Sheffield's students are also very active when it comes to volunteering for good causes. The Union's "SheffieldVolunteering" scheme is one of the countries most active and well-recognised student volunteering schemes that has won various national acclaim over the years.

Notable alumni

See also .

Academia

• Prof. John Brooks, Vice-Chancellor, Manchester Metropolitan University (PhD Microbiology 1978)
• Prof. Paul Curran, Vice-Chancellor, Bournemouth University (Bsc Geography 1968)
• Prof. Tolu Olukayode Odugbemi, Vice-Chancellor, University of Lagos (Bsc Physics 1970 PhD 1973)
• Prof. Sir David Melville, Vice-Chancellor, University of Kent (Bsc Physics 1965 PhD 1970)
• Prof. Stuart Palmer FREng, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Warwick University
• Prof. Michael Sterling, Vice-Chancellor, University of Birmingham (BEng Electronic and Electrical Engineering 1967 PhD 1971)
• George Martin Stephen, High Master, St Pauls School PhD
• Prof. John Sutton, Sir John Hicks Professor of Economics, London School of Economics

Business

• Gareth Davis, CEO, Imperial Tobacco
• John Devaney, Chairman, Marconi PLC
• Penny Hughes, former president of Coca-Cola Enterprises (UK) (BSc(Hons) Chemistry
• Edward H Ntalami, Chief Executive, Capital Markets Authority, Kenya
• Sir Peter Middleton, Camelot Barclays Chairman
• Richard Simmons, CEO Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE)
• Steve Sunnucks, President of Gap
• Nigel Turner, CEO BMI

Law

• David Childs, Clifford Chance, Managing Partner (LLB Hons)
• Sir Alan Dawtry, Senior Civil Servant(LLB Hons)
• The Rt Hon. Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Lord Justice of Appeal (LLB Hons) PhD
• Shonaig Macpherson, IP Lawyer, Chairman of National Trust for Scotland (LLB Hons)
• Dame Julia Macur, High Court Judge (LLB Hons)
• Dame Anne Rafferty, High Court Judge (LLB Hons)
• Nigel Savage CEO, College of Law (LLM)
• Phil Wheatley, Director-General, HM Prison Service (LLB Hons)
• Dato' Arifin Zakaria, Federal Court Judge of Malaysia (LLB Hons)

Literature

• Nicci Gerrard, author
• Joanne Harris, author (later became faculty)
• Hilary Mantel author
• Jack Rosenthal, playwright
• John Thompson (poet) (1938–1976), Canadian poet

Media

• Stephen Daldry, film director
• John O'Leary, Times Higher Education Supplement editor
• Martin Fry, lead singer of ABC
• Eddie Izzard, comedian
• Linda Smith, comedian
• Rachel Shelley, actress (BA(Hons) English and Drama)

Pioneers

• Amy Johnson, pilot (BA(Hons) Economics, 1926)
• Helen Sharman, first British astronaut (BSc(Hons) Chemistry, 1984)

Politics

• Lord Ahmed Labour Peer
• David Blunkett MP, former Home Secretary (BA(Hons) Political Theory and Institutions, 1972)
• Baroness Taylor, Labour Peer
• Anne Margaret Main, Conservative MP for St Albans.
• Peter Adams, Canadian Politician
• Graham Eric Stringer Labour MP
• Kevin Barron Labour MP
• Lim Neo Chian, former Chief of Singapore Army
• Air Marshal Stuart Peach CBE, Chief of Defence Intelligence

Science

• Sir Donald Bailey, civil engineer and inventor of the Bailey bridge
• Sir Harold Kroto, Nobel Prize-winning chemist (BSc(Hons) Chemistry, 1961; PhD, 1961-1964)
• Sir Hans Kornberg, biochemist, Master of Christ's College Cambridge
• Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize-winning geneticist (BSc(Hons) Chemistry, 1965; PhD, 1968)
• Vanessa Lawrence, Ordnance Survey Director General

Sport

• David Davies, The Football Association Chief Executive
• Jessica Ennis, heptathlete
• Tony Miles, Britain's first chess grand master
• David Wetherall, footballer

Notable academics

• Francis Berry, poet and literary critic
• Sir Anthony Bottoms, Professor of Criminology
• Peter Blundell Jones, Professor in Architecture
• Sir Bernard Crick, former Professor of Politics
• Angela Carter, author (1976-1978)
• Sir Graeme Davies Vice-Chancellor, University of London
• Sir Gordon Duff Florey Professor of Molecular Medicine
• Charles Eliot, Vice-Chancellor
• Sir William Empson, poet (The School of English named its facilities after him)
• Joanne Harris, author (2000; was also a student)
• Lord Florey Nobel Prize winner, Joseph Hunter Professor of Pathology
• Peter Hill, world famous pianist and expert on the works of Olivier Messiaen
• Prof David Hughes (Astronomer), Award winning Astronomer. Asteroid 4205 is named in his honour.
• Dame Betty Kershaw, Dean of the School of Nursing
• Sir Ian Kershaw, historian
• Sir Hans Krebs, Nobel Prize-winning biochemist (1935-1954)
• Sir Colin Lucas, historian, Vice Chancellor Oxford University
• Stephen Laurence, philosopher and cognitive scientist
• Bob Hale (philosopher)
• David Marquand, politician
• Edward Mellanby, Professor of Pharmacology, discoverer of Vitamin D
• Lord Porter, Nobel Prize-winning chemist (1955-1966)
• Sir David Read Emeritus Professor of Plant Science
• Lord Renfrew, archaeologist
• William Sarjeant, geologist
• Sir Gareth Roberts Vice-Chancellor
• Sir J. Fraser Stoddart chemist
• Professor W E S Turner (1881-1963),Professor of Glass technology and founder of the Museum which bears his name
• Sir James Underwood, Joseph Hunter Professor of Pathology and Dean of the Faculty of Medicine.
• Sir John Wood Emeritus Professor of Law

Clubs & Societies

The Sheffield Students Motor Club existed from the mid 1960s to the early 1980s and membership was open to students and post-graduates from the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Polytechnic (now Sheffield Hallam University). The club organised twelve-car rallies and treasure hunts and two major annual rallies, the Rallye Escafeld and the Witchhunt rally. The club also ran the Mid Summer Venture Rally one year. Many of the members subsequently made their careers in the motor industry including Ford, Austin-Rover and Lotus. There was a reunion of members on 12th - 14th October 2001 in Sheffield and another one on 25th & 26th of September 2004. See also Sheffield Students Motor Club reunion

Histories

There are two official histories of the university

• Arthur W. Chapman (1955) The Story of a Modern University: A History of the University of Sheffield, Oxford University Press.
• Helen Mathers (2005) Steel City Scholars: The Centenary History of the University of Sheffield, London: James & James.

See also

• Sheffield Hallam University

References

External links

• University of Sheffield

•  • [ e] University of Sheffield
Chancellor: Sir Peter Middleton  Vice Chancellor: Prof. Bob Boucher Departments: Drama Studio  Sheffield Medical School  Campuses: Accommodation: Ranmoor  Tapton  Media: Sure Radio Categories:         Websites: University  Students' Union

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