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The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading.

Established in 1892, receiving its Royal Charter in 1926, the University has a long tradition of research, education and training at a local, national and international level. It was awarded the Queen's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in both 1998 and 2005.

History

The University owes its origins to the Schools of Art and Science established in Reading in 1860 and 1870. These became part of an extension college of Christ Church College of the University of Oxford in 1892, which became known as University College, Reading.

The new college received its first treasury grant in 1901. Three years later it was given a site, in London Road, by the Palmer family of Huntley & Palmers fame. The same family's continued support enabled the opening of Wantage Hall in 1908 and the Research Institute in Dairying in 1912.

The college first applied for a Royal Charter in 1920 but was unsuccessful at that time. However a second petition, in 1925 was successful, and the charter was officially granted on March 17, 1926. With the charter, the University College became the University of Reading, the only new university to be created in England between the two world wars.

In 1947 the university purchased Whiteknights Park, which was to become its principal campus. In 1982 the university merged with Bulmershe College of Higher Education, in the process acquiring its third campus.University of Reading (2006). Bulletin newsletter dated March 16 2006.

Campuses

The University maintains over 1.6 km² of grounds. Whiteknights Campus, at 1.23 km², is the largest and includes Whiteknights Lake, conservation meadows and woodlands as well as most of the University's departments. The smaller London Road Campus is the original University site and is still home to the School of Continuing Education and the Great Hall, which plays host to the University graduation ceremonies. The Bulmershe Court Campus in Woodley is home to the Institute of Education and the School of Health and Social Care.

The University also owns 8.5 km² of farmland in the nearby villages of Arborfield, Sonning and Shinfield. These support a mixed farming system including dairy cows, ewes and beef animals, and host internationally renowned research centres of which the flagship is the Centre for Dairy Research.

Sport

The University is particularly successful at Rowing. This is due to their prime location in the Thames Valley and the superb facilities that the students enjoy.

Community

In the 2004-5 academic year, the university had 4,024 staff and 15,326 students. Probably the best known current member of the university community is the cyberneticist Professor Kevin Warwick.

Reading University Students' Union is the affiliated student organisation which represents the students' interests. With around 3,000 international students from 120 countries, the university adds considerably to Reading's dynamic multi-cultural environment.

Reading also has a large number of Junior Common Rooms that are independent from the Students' Union and the University.

Research and Business Development

The university had a research income of almost £24.5 million in 2003-4, of which around 10 percent of annual research income derived from industrial or commercial sponsors. Over £2 million of funding has been secured in 2004 for business development and the commercial activities at the University.

In the Research Assessment Exercise in 2001, five departments were awarded the top rate of 5* - Archaeology, English, Italian, Meteorology and Psychology and fifteen departments were awarded the rating of 5. The Department of Meteorology was awarded a distinguished Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in 2005 and is internationally renowned for its training and research in weather, climate and physical oceanography.

Reading was the first university to win a Queen's Award for Export Achievement in 1989. Since then several initiatives to link the academic and commercial communities have followed. Reading Enterprise Hub, one of a network of SEEDA sponsored business incubators, opened on campus in 2003.

Museums and Botanical Gardens

Reading University maintains four museums and a botanical garden. The largest and best known of these is the Museum of English Rural Life, which has recently relocated from a location on Whiteknights Campus to a site nearer the town centre on the London Road Campus. The Ure Museum of Greek Archaeology, the Cole Museum of Zoology, the University of Reading Herbarium RNG">//www.herbarium.rdg.ac.uk RNG and the Harris Garden are all located on the Whiteknights Campus.

Student accommodation

Student accommodation is provided in a number of halls of residence offering a mix of fully-catered and self-catering accommodation, along with other self-catering accommodation.

Bulmershe Hall is located on the Bulmershe Campus. Bridges, Childs, Wessex, Whiteknights, and Windsor Halls are located on the Whiteknights Campus. St. George’s, St. Patrick’s, Sherfield, Sibly, Wantage, and Wells Halls are located in the residential areas surrounding Whiteknights, as is the self-catering accommodation of the Reading Student Village, Hillside Court and Martindale Court.

St. David's and Mansfield Halls latterly formed part of Witan Hall (see below) on the London Road Campus, and are not currently in use. The former St. Andrews Hall closed in 2001, and is now the home of the Museum of English Rural Life.

St. George's Hall and The Reading Student Village are leased back to the University from UJC. The cost of leasing back the Student Village to the University, according to the University accounts, was £1.5 million for 2003/2004 and £1.3 million in 2002/2003.

Associated institutions

Formerly associated with Reading University was Gyosei International College, a Japanese/British bi-cultural institution established on part of the University's original London Road Campus. Subsequently the college's links with the Japan-based Gyosei organisation were broken, and it became a charitably funded institution called Witan Hall. Recently this has in turn been purchased by the University of Reading, and has ceased student recruitment.

The University of Reading Law faculty is also associated with Taylors College in Malaysia. Taylors College conducts a 'twinning' program whereby students complete half of their degree in Malaysia and the other half at the University of Reading. Malaysian Law students in Reading generally achieve a second class upper average, and have set a high standard for Malaysian Law students.

Located on Reading University's Whiteknights campus is The College of Estate Management (CEM). The College was founded in 1919 and granted its Royal Charter in 1922. It was originally based in London but moved to Reading in 1969, leading to the foundation of the Faculty of Urban and Regional Studies (URS) at the University. The College provides education and training for students and members of the property and construction professions worldwide through distance learning. Courses are delivered by the provision of printed material sent to students by post and through web-based learning.

Alumni

References

External links

Universities in England | University of Reading

Universität Reading

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "University of Reading".

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