Cranfield University

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Cranfield University is an English University based on three campuses at Shrivenham, in Oxfordshire, and Cranfield and Silsoe in Bedfordshire. It is principally an institution for postgraduate study.

The University was formed in 1946 as the College of Aeronautics at the air force base RAF Cranfield. The Cranfield Institute of Technology was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1969, superseding the College of Aeronautics, giving the institution its own degree-awarding powers. Since then the National College of Agricultural Engineering at Silsoe has also been incorporated and an academic partnership with the Royal Military College of Science (RMCS) at Shrivenham was established (The RMCS has now changed to the Defence College of Management and Technology.) The Royal Charter was changed in 1993 to change the institution's name to Cranfield University.

Cranfield is the only UK university to own and operate its own airport, which is located next to the campus. The airport, with an 1800m runway, is used by Cranfield's own research aircraft in the course of its famous aerospace teaching and research, as well as by various flying schools.

During the 2006-2007 academic year, the activities on the Silsoe campus are being moved to the main Cranfield campus. As a result, there is a substantial building programme underway, which includes the provision of departmental buildings and additional accommodation units for students.

From 2002 to 2006 Cranfield University Technology Park was the home of the NCSL Networked Learning Group^[1].

Cranfield University has currently five academic schools: