The extension built on to the
Professional Services building on
Highfield Campus
The University of Southampton is a university situated in the city of
Southampton, on the south coast of England. The
university is a member of the Russell Group and of the Worldwide Universities Network.
In the most recent RAE assessment (2001), it has the only
engineering faculty in the country to receive the highest rating (5*) across all
disciplines.[3] According to The Times Higher Education Supplement, Southampton has the second largest
research income among British universities for the physical sciences and
mathematics, and the third largest research income for engineering and technology. The university places great emphasis on inter-disciplinary cooperation and on collaboration with
industry. This is most evident in the University's Centre for Enterprise and Innovation.
Location
The University's main buildings are situated on a large site on the Campus in
Highfield, but the university has other campuses elsewhere around the city: at
Boldrewood (biomedical sciences), Southampton
General Hospital and on the waterfront at the National
Oceanography Centre. It also has a campus in the nearby city of Winchester which is
the home of the university's School of Art, known as the Winchester School of
Art. The Avenue Campus houses most of the Humanities subjects taught at the
University, including History, English, Philosophy and Modern Languages. The Centre for Language Study is based at Avenue Campus.
Archaeology is also located there in a series of purpose-designed buildings (the most modern archaeology facilities of any
British university). Music is still taught on the Highfield Campus, near the Turner Sims Concert Hall.
Organisation
List of Faculties, Schools and Centres
- Faculty of Engineering, Science and Mathematics
- School of Chemistry
- School of Civil Engineering and the Environment (includes the centre for Environmental Sciences)
- School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS)
- School of Engineering Sciences (includes Aerospace Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Ship Science)
- School of Geography
- School of Mathematics
- School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES)
- School of Physics and Astronomy
- Institute of Sound and Vibration Research (ISVR)
- Optoelectronics Research Centre
- Transportation Research Group (TRG)
- National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (home of the
School of Ocean and Earth Science) (NOCS)
- Southampton E-Science Centre
- Faculty of Law, Arts and Social Sciences
- Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
- School of Biological Sciences
- School of Health Professions and Rehabilitation Sciences
- School of Medicine
- School of Nursing and Midwifery
- School of Psychology
- Health Care Innovation Unit
- Southampton Statistical Sciences Research Institute
- ESRC National Centre for Research Methods
School of Electronics and Computer Science
The School of Electronics and Computer Science, generally abbreviated "ECS", has been at the forefront of the Open Access movement. Professor Stevan Harnad speaks
around the world on the subject. ECS was the first academic institution in the world to adopt a self-archiving mandate (2001)
[1] and since then much
of its published research has been freely available on the Web [2]. It created the first and most widely used archiving software (EPrints) which is used worldwide by 213 known archives and continues to be evolved and supported from the School
[3].
Professional Campus planned for University’s Boldrewood site
The University of Southampton is planning to develop the UK’s first wholly integrated ‘professional campus’ in line with its
strategy to drive innovation in the economy through world-class research. The plans will see the transformation of the
University’s Boldrewood campus which will accommodate new facilities for the School of Management.[4]
Lloyd’s Register, an independent risk management organisation, will move its London
marine operations to the Boldrewood campus, to co-locate with the University’s School of Management.[5]
The practice of corporations and business schools sharing resources and facilities is well established in some countries but
this will be the first ‘professional campus’ in the UK. The Lloyd's Register Group is an organisation that works to enhance
safety and to approve assets and systems at sea, on land and in the air. It will maintain its building in the City of London as
the corporate office and governance of the Group will remain based there.
Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI)
The University of Southampton and the MIT recently announced
the launch of a long-term research collaboration that aims to produce the fundamental scientific advances necessary to guide the
future design and use of the World Wide Web.[6] The Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI),
headed by Professor Tim Berners-Lee, will generate a research agenda for understanding
the scientific, technical and social challenges underlying the growth of the Web. Of particular interest is the volume of
information on the Web that documents more and more aspects of human activity and knowledge. WSRI research projects will weigh
such questions as, how do we access information and assess its reliability? By what means may we assure its use complies with
social and legal rules? How will we preserve the Web over time?
From 2008, MIT Sloan School of Management and the University of
Southampton's School of Management will jointly offer an Executive MBA
in technological and internet management, which specifically aims to help engineers and technologists develop the business skills
necessary to turn their knowledge and ideas into commercial ventures.
History
The Staff Club and gardens. The centre of the western half of the Highfield campus is a landscaped garden with a variety of
trees, plants and sculptures.
The University of Southampton has its origin as the Hartley Institution which was formed in 1862 from a benefaction by
Henry Robertson Hartley (1777-1850). Hartley was the son of a local wine merchant.[7] On his death he left £103,000 to the Southampton Corporation on
condition that it was invested in such manner as might best promote the study and advancement of the sciences of Natural
History, Astronomy, Antiquities, Classical and Oriental Literature in the town, such as by forming a Public Library, Botanic
Gardens, Observatory, and collections of objects with the above sciences.
The city officials housed Hartley's books in a building in Southampton's High
Street, in the city centre. The Hartley Institution was borne out of this, and became a university college in 1902. In 1919 it
was renamed Hartley University College, and subsequently University College Southampton. Before 1952, the college's degrees were
awarded by the University of London.
Having outgrown the High Street premises, the college was set to move to greenfield
land near Highfield's Back Lane (now University Road). Although the new
main building was formally opened on 20 June 1914, the outbreak of
the First World War occurred before any lectures could take place there. The buildings were
handed over by the college authorities for use as a military hospital. In order to cope with the volume of casualties, wooden
huts were erected at the rear of the building. The college continued to use these after the war, eventually replacing the
makeshift extension with brick buildings. With the continuing expansion, an academic bookshop was built on the site of Church
Farm and the Students' Union complex and refectory were built on the site of Sir Sidney
Kimber's brickyard.
In 1952, the Queen granted the University of Southampton a Royal Charter to award
degrees in its own right. This conferred full university status and made Southampton independent of the University of London. Despite being one of the last of the "civic" universities, it grew rapidly
and gained a reputation for a strong academic approach. It expanded rapidly during the 1960s, when a number of new "plate glass"
universities were springing up; such as the University of Warwick,
University of York, University of East
Anglia and a number of others.
In 2005, a large fire destroyed part of the Mountbatten Building, holding optical fibre
research laboratories (the world-renowned Optoelectronics Research Centre, ORC) and the microchip fabrication laboratories. It is estimated that the costs for rebuilding the centre and
replacing the equipment will be around £50 million, making this what is believed to be the world's most destructive university
fire.[8] The ORC is currently housed in temporary buildings
while the centre is being rebuilt.[9]
Academic rankings
- Times Good University Guide 2008 - 14th [4]
- Sunday Times University Guide 2008 - 16th [5]
- Guardian University Guide 2008 - 13th [6][7]
- THES - QS World University Rankings 2006 - 141th[8]
- Academic Ranking of World Universities 2007 - 192th[9]
UK
|
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
| Times Good University Guide |
14 |
22[10] |
|
25[11] |
| Guardian University Guide |
13 |
n/a |
36[12] |
37[13] |
| Sunday Times University Guide |
16 |
n/a |
16[14] |
17[15] |
World
|
2008 |
2007 |
2006 |
2005 |
| THES - QS World University Rankings |
|
|
141 |
206[16] |
| Academic Ranking of World Universities |
|
192 |
190[17] |
193[18] |
Campus life
Architecture
The earliest buildings on the main (Highfield) campus date back to the
1910s; however, the centre of the campus is dominated by two imposing 1930s buildings by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott - constructed in red brick
- while the 1950s masterplan and the majority of the remaining buildings are by Sir Basil Spence in a light, Mies van der Rohe style. A
new masterplan for the Highfield campus was drawn up in 1998 by renowned architect Rick Mather
who has also contributed some of the newer buildings. The campus has expanded rapidly over the last decade, with many notable new
buildings including one designed by Norman Foster. The campus
retains an area of parkland in which are scattered 20th century sculptures by Barbara
Hepworth, FE McWilliams, Justin Knowles, Nick Pope and John Edwards.
Students' Union
-
The University of Southampton Students' Union (SUSU), is sited
in three buildings opposite the Hartley Library. One, the West Building, dates back to the 1940s
in a red brick style, complementing the Hartley Library opposite; the main building was built in the 1960s in the Basil Spence masterplan. This was extended with new nightclub and cinema facilities in 2002. The
newest building was built during the mid-1990's which includes the recently refurbished Union shop, on the ground floor, and
hairdressers and travel agency, both on the first floor. In May 2002 (after several attempts going back several years), it chose
to disaffiliate itself from the NUS, whom SUSU believed
to be 'political time-wasters' and 'bureaucratic'.[19]
The multiple award winning student radio station, Surge, broadcasts from new studios in the
main Union building. Surge broadcasts throughout the year on the 1287AM and the internet and once a year on 87.7FM. The student
newspaper, originally Wessex News, is now published once every three weeks as Wessex
Scene following a name change in 1996. Events are held in The Cube, the Union's nightclub, and in the Stag's
Head, the Union bar. National touring bands including Dirty Pretty Things, The Automatic and Fightstar play in the Garden
Court in the West Building.
Halls of Residence
The University provides accommodation for all first year students who require it. Places in halls are also available for
international and postgraduate students. Accommodation may be catered, self catered, have ensuite facilities, a sink in the room,
or access to communal bathroom facilities. Each of the large sites has a Junior Common Room system that runs social activities
and events throughout the term and supervises the running of the onsite bars.
The two main halls of residence are:
which includes:
-
- Chamberlain Hall
- Hartley Grove Courts
- Chancellors' Courts
- New Terrace
- Old Terrace
- South Hill Lodges
- Richard Newitt Courts
- Brunei House
- Beechmount House
- Gower building
- Small Halls, including Bencraft Court
The 16-storey extension to South Stoneham House
which includes:
-
- Connaught
- Montefiore 1,2,3 & 4
- South Stoneham House
which includes:
-
- Highfield Hall
- Bencraft Court
- Erasmus Park (serving the Winchester School of Art)
- Gateley Hall
- Romero Hall
- Shaftesbury Avenue Apartments
- St. Margaret's House
- Tasman Court
Notable academics
The University's Professor David Payne FRS CBE invented the optical amplifier, without which fibre optic cables would not
work over long distances. Professor Payne is also Chairman of SPI (Southampton Photonics, Inc.), a commercial company which is a spin-off of this research.[20] Former head of the School (then Department) of Electronics
and Computer Science, Professor Tony Hey CBE, is now Corporate Vice-President of
Microsoft UK.[21]
Another Southampton Professor, Martin Fleischmann, Professor of Electrochemistry,
came to notoriety in 1989 when, along with a research collaborator, he claimed to have produced cold fusion in a laboratory. Subsequent researchers were unable to substantiate his claims.[22] In 2004, the inventor of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, was appointed to the School
of Electronics and Computer Science as Professor of Computer Science.[23]
Notable alumni
In addition, Radio One DJ Scott Mills, though not an
alumnus, began his career on Southampton University's radio station, SURGE.
See also
References
- ^ a b c Table 0a - All
students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06. Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. Retrieved on 2007-03-31.
- ^ Library Services Retrieved on 2007-08-04
- ^ Results: 2001 RAE Institution : H-0160 University of Southampton Retrieved on 2007-08-04
- ^ University unveils vision for the UK's first 'professional campus'
- ^ Lloyd's Register announces plans to move Marine operations to Southampton
- ^ University of Southampton and MIT launch World Wide Web research collaboration
- ^ Mann, John Edgar & Ashton, Peter (1998). Highfield, A Village
Remembered. Halsgrove. ISBN 1-874448-91-4.
- ^ University pledges to rebuild fire damaged research facility
- ^ Update: fire at the University of Southampton
- ^ Times Good University Guide 2007
- ^ Times Good University Guide 2005
- ^ Guardian University Guide 2006
- ^ Guardian University Guide 2005
- ^ Sunday Times University Guide 2006.
- ^ Sunday Times University Guide 2005 from The Sunday Times on 2th October
2005.
- ^ THES - QS World University Rankings 2005
- ^ Academic Ranking of
World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2006
- ^ Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2005
- ^ Southampton
students opt out of NUS by Donald MacLeod Wednesday May 22, 2002
- ^ Board of directors at
SPI (Southampton Photonics, Inc.)
- ^ Microsoft Names Tony
Hey Corporate Vice President for Technical Computing
- ^ Fleischmann, M., S. Pons,
and M. Hawkins, Electrochemically induced nuclear fusion of deuterium. J. Electroanal. Chem., 1989. 261: p. 301 and errata in
Vol. 263.
- ^ Tim Berners-Lee, World Wide Web inventor, appointed Professor at University of
Southampton
News articles
External links
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