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Queen's University Belfast

Coordinates: 54°35′3″N 5°56′5″W / 54.58417°N 5.93472°W / 54.58417; -5.93472
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Queen's University Belfast
Ollscoil na Banríona
File:QueensUbelfast crest.png
Established1849
ChancellorKamalesh Sharma
Vice-ChancellorProfessor Peter Gregson
Students24,560[1]
Undergraduates19,165[1]
Postgraduates5,395[1]
Address
University Road
Belfast
BT7 1NN
,
Belfast
,
County Antrim
,
Northern Ireland

54°35′3″N 5°56′5″W / 54.58417°N 5.93472°W / 54.58417; -5.93472
CampusUrban
AffiliationsRussell Group
TIME
Utrecht Network
UI
UUK
Websitehttp://www.qub.ac.uk
corporate logo

Queen's University Belfast (Template:Lang-ga) is a university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB. The university was chartered in 1845, and opened in 1849 as "Queen's College, Belfast", but has roots going back to 1810 and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.[2]

Queen's is a member of the Russell Group of the UK's 20 leading research intensive universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association, Universities Ireland and Universities UK. The university offers academic degrees at various levels and across a broad subject range, with over 300 degree programmes available.[3] The university's current President and Vice-Chancellor is Professor Peter Gregson, and its Chancellor is the current Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Kamalesh Sharma.

The University also forms the focal point of the Queen's Quarter area of the city, one of Belfast's four cultural districts.

History

Queen's University Belfast has its roots in the Belfast Academical Institution, which was founded in 1810 and remains as the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.[2] The present university was first chartered as "Queen's College, Belfast" in 1845, when it was associated with the simultaneously founded Queen's College, Cork and Queen's College, Galway as part of the Queen's University of Ireland - founded to encourage higher education for Catholics and Presbyterians, as a counterpart to Trinity College, Dublin, then an Anglican institution.[2] Queen's College, Belfast opened in 1849.[2] Its main building, the Lanyon Building, was designed by the English architect, Sir Charles Lanyon. At its opening, it had 23 professors and 343 students.[citation needed]

War Memorial and main entrance

The Irish Universities Act, 1908 dissolved the Royal University of Ireland, which had replaced the Queen's University of Ireland in 1879, and created two separate universities: the current National University of Ireland and Queen's University of Belfast.[2]

Queen's has been led by a distinguished line of Vice-chancellors, including Sir David Keir, Lord Ashby of Brandon, Dr Michael Grant, Sir Arthur Vick, Sir Peter Froggatt, Sir Gordon Beveridge, and Sir George Bain, the current Vice Chancellor is Professor Peter Gregson.[2]

The university's Chancellors have included Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 9th Earl of Shaftesbury, Field Marshall Alan Brooke, 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Eric Ashby, Baron Ashby and George J. Mitchell.[citation needed] The incumbent is Kamalesh Sharma.[4]

Parliamentary representation

Main article: Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency)
Main article: Queen's University of Belfast (Northern Ireland Parliament constituency)

The university was one of only eight United Kingdom universities to hold a parliamentary seat in the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster until such representation was abolished in 1950. The university was also represented in the Parliament of Northern Ireland from 1920–1968, where its graduates elected four seats.

Academic life

Ashby building, Stranmillis

In addition to the main campus not far from the centre of Belfast, the university has two associated university colleges, these being St Mary's and Stranmillis both also located in Belfast. Although offering a range of degree courses, these colleges primarily provide training for those wishing to enter the teaching profession. The university has formal agreements with other colleges in Northern Ireland and operates several outreach schemes to rural areas.

While the university refers to its main site as a campus,[5] the university's buildings are in fact spread over a number of public streets in South Belfast, centring around University Road, University Square and Stranmillis Road, with other departments located further afield.

On June 20, 2006 the university announced a £259 million investment programme focusing on facilities, recruitment and research.[6] One of the outcomes of this investment has been a new university library, opened in July 2009.[7]

Schools

Academics at Queen's are organised into twenty schools across three faculties. Each school operates as a primary management unit of the university and the schools are the focus for education and research for their respective subject areas.[8]

  • School of Biological Sciences
  • School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
  • School of Education
  • School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
  • School of English
  • School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology
  • School of History and Anthropology
  • School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts
  • School of Law
  • Queen's University Management School
  
  • School of Mathematics and Physics
  • School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  • School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences
  • School of Music and Sonic Arts
  • School of Nursing and Midwifery
  • School of Pharmacy
  • School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering
  • School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy
  • School of Psychology
  • School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work

Institutes

Several institutes are also associated with Queen's. Located close to the main campus is the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's which offers training to law graduates to enable them to practise as solicitors or barristers in Northern Ireland, England & Wales and the Republic of Ireland.

The Institute of Theology consists of several colleges with a Christian emphasis, including St Mary's (Catholic), Union Theological College (Presbyterian) as well as Baptist and Methodist colleges in Belfast. In all five colleges teach any programmes with a theological emphasis on behalf of the university; the university may confer theology degrees but cannot teach the subject itself.

View of the university's David Keir Building from the Ashby Building, an 11-storey engineering tower block

Reputation

Queen's University Belfast was admitted to the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities in November 2006.[9][10]

  • The UK wide research assessment exercise (RAE), announced in December 2008, showed Queen’s has 11 subject areas ranked within the top 10 in the UK and 24 in the top 20. With almost 800 staff submitted, every area had research assessed as world leading.
  • In its independent 2009 league tables The Guardian newspaper placed the university at number 46 out of 117 institutes of higher education within the United Kingdom, a drop of 17 places compared to 2008 .[11][12]
  • In its independent 2009 league tables The Times placed the university at equal 31st out of 113 ranked universities in its Good University Guide.[13]
  • In its independent 2008 league tables The Sunday Times placed Queen's at number 37 of 119 in its University Guide 2006 League Table, up two places from the previous year.[14]
  • In 2007 the Times Higher-QS World University rankings placed Queen's at number 88 out of the top 150 universities in Europe[15] and commented that Queen's 'is a leader in innovation and education with an international academic reputation'.[16]
UK University Rankings
2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993
Times Good University Guide 32nd.[17] 31st.[13] 33rd[18] 32nd[19] 31st 33rd[20] 32nd 23rd[21] 26th 33rd 33rd 43rd 41st 39th= 48th= 52nd= 48th= 48th=
Guardian University Guide 46th 29th[22] 28th 27th[23] 33rd[24] 46th[25] 40th[26]
Sunday Times University Guide 37th[27] 36th 37th[28] 39th[28] 34th[29] 33rd[29] 34th[29] 32nd[29] 35th[29] 35th[29] 38th[29]
Daily Telegraph 28th=[30] 15th= 15th[31]
FT 36th[32] 37th[33] 33rd[34] 27th[35]
Independent - Complete University Guide 34th[36] 28th[36]

Admissions and students

Entrants to Queen's have, on average, 359 A/AS-level points and there are currently 5.3 applications per place.[37] The Sunday Times has described the Queen's admissions policy as "among the most socially inclusive in Britain and Northern Ireland".[37] 99.5 per cent of first degree entrants are from state schools,[38] although this is mainly due to the lack of private schools in Northern Ireland.

The total student population is 24,560, of whom 19,165 are undergraduates and 5,395 postgraduates. Of the undergraduate population, 18,145 are from the UK, 640 from elsewhere in the European Union and 380 are from outside the EU. The figures for postgraduates are 4,115 from the UK, 650 from elsewhere in the EU, and 630 from the rest of the world, mainly from China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong.[1]

Queen's was established as a non-sectarian institution, with the aim of attracting both Protestant and Catholic students. While the university does not publish data on the religion affiliation of its students, Rupert Taylor, who conducted his PhD research on the university during The Troubles, argued in an article published in 1988 that "Whilst in the past, especially before the Second World War, Catholics were under-represented this is not currently the case". Taylor cites data showing that Catholic representation amongst undergraduates rose from 21.9 per cent in 1958/59 to 27.4 per cent in 1968/69 and 42.5 per cent in 1978/79.[39] By the late 1990s, 54 per cent of Queen's students were Catholics, compared to a 48 per cent share of the Northern Ireland population aged 18–25.[40] The growing share of Catholics in the student population is in part due to the tendency of middle-class Protestants to go to university in Great Britain rather than Northern Ireland.[39]

Student life

Students' Union

Main article: Queen's University Belfast Students' Union
The Students' Union building

The Students' Union at Queen's (QUBSU) is located opposite the Lanyon Building on University Road, and is provided for under the University's Statutes. All students at the University are automatic members of the Union, making it one of the largest Unions on a single campus in Ireland and the UK. It is administered by the Students' Representative Council (SRC) (elected every October, on a Faculty basis) and an Executive (elected in March), who manage the operations of the Union in conjunction with several full time staff.

Union Services

A range of services are provided by the Students' Union following its reopening in March 2007 after a £9 million redevelopment, including an Advice Centre with full-time staff to help with issues such as money problems, accommodation and welfare. Commercial services are also provided for by the Union and include a shop, canteen and coffee franchise. There are also four pubs within the building, the biggest of which, the Mandela Hall, hosts concerts and the Shine nightclub.

David Keir building, Stranmillis

Clubs and Societies

More than fifty sporting clubs and over 100 non-sporting societies are recognised by the Student's Union Council and therefore eligible to apply for an annual grant from the University.[41] The QUB boathouse, home of Queen's University Belfast Boat Club (QUBBC) and Queen's University of Belfast Ladies Boat Club (QUBLBC), is located on the River Lagan near Stranmillis. The Dragonslayers Gaming Society hosts one of Ireland's largest games conventions, Q-Con, in June of each year, and cultural groups such as An Cumann Gaelach and the Ulster-Scots Society are also present. The Queen's University Mountaineering Club is notable for producing three Everest summiteers including Ireland's first, Dawson Stelfox.[42] Dr Roger McMorrow and Dr Nigel Hart also summited in May 2007, and were subsequently jointly announced Queen's University Graduates of the year for 2006/07[43] for their role in rescuing a young Nepalese climber left for dead near the summit.[44]

Housing

Queen's provides housing for both undergraduates and postgraduates, although because of the compact size of Northern Ireland many students chose to live at home and commute to the university. In 2005/06, 36 per cent of Queen's students lived in private accommodation within Belfast, 29 per cent lived with parents or guardians, 20 per cent in private accommodation outside of Belfast, and 10 per cent lived in university maintained accommodation.[45]

The university provides accommodation on a purpose-built 'student village' called Elms Village, which has its own bar and shop, located on the Malone Road, south of the main campus, as well as in a number of houses in the South Belfast area, including at College Gardens and on Mount Charles.[46]

Cultural life

The university hosts the annual Belfast Festival at Queen's and the Belfast Film Festival, and in 2007 is holding the Irish Student Drama Association Festival. It runs Northern Ireland's only arthouse cinema, Queen's Film Theatre, and an art gallery, the Naughton Gallery at Queen's, which is a registered museum. In 2008 the Naughton Gallery was awarded the prestigious Times Higher Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Arts. Housed in the Lanyon building is a marble statue of the great Physicist Galileo, portrayed sitting down, as he was also a Philosopher. It has been said that rubbing the statue's outstretched right foot brings the student good luck.

Sport

File:Cavan vs Queens - 2009.jpg
The QUB Gaelic football team (green) in action against Cavan in the 2009 Dr. McKenna Cup
File:QUB 1958 Sigerson team.jpg
The first QUB side to win the Sigerson Cup (1958)

Queen's Physical Education Centre (abbreviated to and known widely as the PEC) recently went through an extension program was awarded 'Best Building 2007' by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Northern Ireland.[47] It is one of the largest sports centres in the British Isles. This building houses many squash courts, several climbing walls and is home to QUB's senior men's and women's basketball teams.

The University Playing Fields, also known as Malone Playing Fields, is located just over 2 miles (3.2 km) from the main campus, comprising 17 pitches for rugby, association football, Gaelic football, hockey, hurling, camogie and cricket. In addition, there are three netball courts, nine tennis courts and an athletics arena where the Mary Peters Track is situated.

Queen's Gaelic football team have won several Sigerson Cups, most recently in 2007.[citation needed] The university's association football team, Queen's University Belfast A.F.C., play in the Irish Second Division. Queen's snooker team has won the British intervarsity title on a record eight occasions.[48]

Notable alumni and academics

Main article: List of Queen's University Belfast people
Queen's University Belfast

Queen's has a large number of now-famous alumni, including the current President of Ireland Mary McAleese; Nobel Prize winners poet Seamus Heaney and politician Lord Trimble; former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland Lord Faulkner of Downpatrick; Lords Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, Lord Hutton and Lord Kerr of Tonaghmore; former Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Lord Alderdice and former and current Northern Ireland ministers Sir Reg Empey, Mark Durkan, Nigel Dodds and Conor Murphy, and former Irish Free State minister and prominent Sinn Féin member Eoin MacNeill. Former Provisional IRA member and hunger striker Laurence McKeown attended the university and obtained a Ph.D following his release from prison.

Other ilumni include poet Paul Muldoon; actors Liam Neeson, Simon Callow and Stephen Rea; crime novelist Brian McGilloway; broadcaster Nick Ross; scientists John Stewart Bell, Frank Pantridge and Thomas Henry Flewett. Other alumni include John Bodkin Adams, Trevor Ringland and David Cullen (2007 winners of the Arthur Ashe for Courage Award), David Case (Air Commodore, the highest ranking Black officer in the British Armed forces) and Tim Collins (former Commanding Officer of the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment).

Notable academics who have worked at Queen's include Professor Paul Bew, Baron Bew, Professor Sir Bernard Crossland, Professor Tony Hoare, Professor Michael Mann and Professor John H. Whyte. Writer Philip Larkin was a sub-librarian at the university.

Queen's participates in the European Union's ERASMUS programme, allowing undergraduate students to study for a period at universities in Austria, Finland, Iceland, Portugal, Belgium, France, Italy, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Poland and Switzerland.[49] Queen's is also part of the Utrecht Network which works towards the internationalisation of higher education. The university also has exchange programmes with the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia, and two universities in Canada: Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta.[50] Ching Yun University in Jhongli City, Taiwan, lists Queen's as a 'sister institution'.[51] The university is also a member of the Top Industrial Managers for Europe (T.I.M.E.) Association.

Queen's takes part in the British Council's Business Education Initiative study-abroad scheme sending a number of undergraduate students to study business and related subjects at participating higher-education institutions in the United States.[52][53]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06". Higher Education Statistics Agency online statistics. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "History of Queen's". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  3. ^ "Teaching Quality". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-03-04.
  4. ^ "Queen's appoints new chancellor". BBC News. 2009-07-09. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
  5. ^ See http://www.qub.ac.uk/home/TheUniversity/Location/Maps/MainCampus/, for example.
  6. ^ "Queen's invests £259 million in 'world-class future'". Queen's University Belfast. 2006-06-20. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
  7. ^ "New library update – 27 July 2009". Library News. Queen's University Belfast. 2009-07-27. Retrieved 2009-08-10.
  8. ^ "Schools & Departments". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  9. ^ "The Russell Group appoints first Director General and expands membership to 20 top research universities". Russell Group. November 2006. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  10. ^ "Queen's to join UK 'ivy league'". BBC News. 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2008-03-01.
  11. ^ "University Guide 2009". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  12. ^ "Rankings with performance scores". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  13. ^ a b "Good University Guide 2009". The Times. Retrieved 2008-08-18.
  14. ^ The Sunday Times University Guide 2006; accessed September 29th 2006
  15. ^ "Times Higher Education - QS World University Rankings 2007 - European Top 150". QS Top Universities. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  16. ^ "Queen's University of Belfast". QS Top Universities. Retrieved 2008-08-28.
  17. ^ "Good University Guide 2010"
  18. ^ "The Times Good University Guide 2008". The Times. Retrieved 03-11-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  19. ^ "The Times Good University Guide 2007 - Top Universities 2007 League Table". The Times. Retrieved 03-11-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ "The Times Top Universities". The Times. Retrieved 03-11-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  21. ^ "Times Good University Guide 2003 - Ignore the 2002 typo in the doucument" (PDF).
  22. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  23. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  24. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  25. ^ "University ranking by institution 2004". The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-01-19.
  26. ^ "University ranking by institution". The Guardian 2003 (University Guide 2004).
  27. ^ "The Sunday Times Good University Guide League Tables". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 03-11-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  28. ^ a b "The Sunday Times University League Table" (PDF). The Sunday Times. Retrieved 03-11-2007. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  29. ^ a b c d e f g "University ranking based on performance over 10 years" (PDF). Times Online. 2007. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  30. ^ "University league table". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2007-10-29.
  31. ^ "The 2002 ranking - From Warwick". Warwick Uni 2002.
  32. ^ "The FT 2003 University ranking". Financial Times 2003.
  33. ^ "FT league table 2001". FT league tables 2001.
  34. ^ "FT league table 1999-2000" (PDF). FT league tables 1999-2000.
  35. ^ "FT league table 2000". FT league tables 2000.
  36. ^ a b http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/single.htm?ipg=6524
  37. ^ a b Sunday Times University Guide, Queen's University Belfast, 10 September 2006, accessed 16 January 2007
  38. ^ "More state pupils in universities". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-07-24.
  39. ^ a b Taylor, Rupert (1988). "The Queen's University of Belfast: The liberal university in a divided society". Higher Education Review. 20 (2): 27–45.
  40. ^ Clarkson, Leslie A (2004). A University In Troubled Times: Queen's, Belfast, 1945-2000. Dublin: Four Courts Press.
  41. ^ Clubs and Societies, Queen's University website; accessed 15 July 2007
  42. ^ "Mr Dawson Stelfox". Open University. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  43. ^ "Graduate & Student of the Year winners". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  44. ^ "BBC: NI doctors in Everest rescue drama". BBC News. 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  45. ^ "Supplementary Document 1: Housing Market Analysis, Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs): Subject Plan for Belfast City Council Area 2015" (PDF). The Planning Service. p. 14. Retrieved 2007-08-26.
  46. ^ "Where to stay at Queen's" (PDF). Queen's Accommodation and Hospitality. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  47. ^ "Queen's Physical Education Centre scoops top building award". Queen's Sport. 2007-06-08. Retrieved 2007-12-27.
  48. ^ Championship roll of honour
  49. ^ "ERASMUS partners 2007-08". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  50. ^ "University exchange programmes". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  51. ^ "清雲科技大學與外國學校(含學術機構)簽署學術交流合作協約". Ching Yun University. Retrieved 2008-03-09.
  52. ^ "Prospective students". British Council Northern Ireland. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  53. ^ "Business Education Initiative". Queen's University Belfast. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
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