| University of Bradford | ||||||||||||||
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| Motto | Give invention light (from Shakespeare's Sonnet 38) |
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| Established | 1966 - gained University Status by Royal Charter 1957 - Bradford Institute of Technology |
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| Type | Public | |||||||||||||
| Endowment | £3.7m[1] | |||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Imran Khan[2] | |||||||||||||
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof Mark Cleary | |||||||||||||
| Students | 13,600[3] | |||||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 9,110[3] | |||||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 4,490[3] | |||||||||||||
| Location | Bradford, England, UK | |||||||||||||
| Former names | Bradford Institute of Technology | |||||||||||||
| Colours |
University of Bradford |
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| Affiliations | EQUIS AMBA University Alliance |
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| Website | http://www.brad.ac.uk/ | |||||||||||||
The University of Bradford (informally Bradford University) is a British public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The University received its Royal Charter in 1966, making it the 40th University to be created in Britain, but its origins date back to the early 1800s. There are two campuses: the main campus (which now, following recent development, includes the School of Health), located on Richmond Road and the School of Management, at Emm Lane.
The student population includes 10,045 undergraduate and 3,135 postgraduate students.[3] Mature students make up around a third of the undergraduate community. 22% of students are international students, and come from over 110 different countries. There were 14,406 applications to the university through UCAS in 2010 of which 3,421 were accepted. [4]
The University of Bradford was the first British University to establish a Department of Peace Studies in 1973 and is one of the largest university centres devoted exclusively to the study of peace and conflict, and the only such university centre in the UK. The Division has a world-class reputation as a centre of excellence in peace research, international relations, security studies, conflict resolution and development and peace studies. The university was also the first university outside London to offer part-time degree courses.
Constantly investing in its campus and facilities, the university is currently undergoing a £84 million redevelopment programme, including Student Central, which is now home to the brand new student union, social and study zones and bars. The School of Health Studies was recently moved from the Trinity Road Campus to the University's City Campus in Summer 2011, after major refurbishment, offering brand new state of the art facilities.
With a commitment to sustainable living, the university has won its campus the award for ‘Outstanding Contribution to Sustainable Development’ in The Times Higher Education Awards two years running. The Green, is an accommodation student village situated on-campus and has the highest ever BREEAM rating for any building.
The University of Bradford has a strong reputation for employability as all courses are designed with industry input. It is currently the number one university for graduate employment in the north of England and number two in the UK.[5] The 2010 survey showed that 91% of graduates went into employment or further study immediately after graduation.[6] The Sunday Times University Guide has ranked the university as the number 1 university in Yorkshire for graduate level jobs, making it number 16 in the UK.[7]
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The university's origins date back to the Mechanics Institute, founded in 1832, formed in response to the need in the city for workers with cutting-edge skills relevant to the workplace. In 1882, the institute became the Bradford Technical College. In 1957, the Bradford Institute of Technology, was formed as a College of Advanced Technology to take on the running of higher education courses. Construction of the Richmond Building, the largest building on campus, began in 1963. The Horton Building and Chesham building were subsequently added, on the opposite side of Richmond Road.
The Charter of Incorporation was granted in 1966, to create the University of Bradford; the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson became the university's first chancellor.
Expansion of the main campus continued in the 1980s, with the addition of the Library and Computer Centre, Communal Building, Pemberton Building and Ashfield Building. An extension to the Library and Computer Centre was completed in the mid-1990s. In 1996, the university joined with the former Bradford and Airedale College of Health, which then became the School of Health Studies within the university. The Department of Physics was closed in the 1980s. The Department of Mathematics was closed to new undergraduates in 1997, with the remaining postgraduate activities and lecture support being integrated into the Department of Computing as the Mathematics Unit. The Department of Mathematics has since been reopened within the School of Computing, Informatics and Media.[8]
In 1987, the University became one of the twelve founding members of the Northern Consortium.
In 2005, a £84 million redevelopment of the campus was announced, and a project to create the world's first 'Ecoversity' was formed. The university would strive to reduce its environmental footprint by reducing waste and using sustainable materials, and would imbue sustainability into everything that the institution does, including teaching. As part of this, Bradford became a Fairtrade University in December 2006.
As of the beginning of 2008, several of the redevelopment projects have been completed. The Richmond Building has been partially re-clad with extra insulation and a new atrium; designed by local, Saltaire based Architects Rance Booth & Smith; opened in December 2006, the roof of which uses ETFE - the same material used in the Eden Project.[9] The university's cancer therapeutics research centre was moved from a separate site on All Saint's Road onto the main campus, into a new building which also provides conference facilities; the buildings on the old site were demolished in February 2008.
Redevelopment of the sports facilities was completed Summer 2009,[10] and a new student village called "The Green" was constructed[11] which opened in September 2011. Of the existing halls owned by the university, those on the Laisteridge Lane site were sold to Corporate Residential Management in 2005, and Shearbridge Green Halls were demolished in December 2006. Longside Lane halls and Kirkstone Halls were demolished during the first half of 2009.
In September 2009, it was announced that the University was to merge with Leeds College of Music. The college had originally announced a merger with Leeds Metropolitan University in April 2009,[12] however, discussions broke down due to issues with the provision of further education courses at the college.[13] It was later announced that this merger would not go ahead due to financial constraints, although both institutions are committed to building up a working relationship and the University validates LCM's courses.[14]
The motto which appears on most current University of Bradford publications is Making Knowledge Work, which relates to the institution's focus on courses that lead to employment. The university announced in June 2007 it was to use this phrase as a trademark.[15] However, the motto inscribed beneath the official coat of arms is Give Invention Light, which is taken from Shakespeare's Sonnet 38.[16] It has also used the slogans Be Inspired and Confronting Inequality, Celebrating Diversity in recent promotional material.
The coat of arms was granted to the university along with its charter in 1966. As would normally be expected in heraldry, University of Bradford's coat of arms is packed with meaning.
The white Yorkshire rose on a red background signifies the West Riding of Yorkshire: the colour is used in the coat of arms of Bradford itself. The book on the shield symbolises a university. The seven clasps represent the quadrivium and trivium: the groups of four and three related studies which were the typical medieval university subjects. The horns symbolise the city of Bradford, taken from the legend of the Bradford Boar (of which more in the document below).
Above the shield, the closed helm shows that the arms belong to an organisation rather than an individual. The red and gold colours are the Bradford liveries. The torch symbolises enlightenment and progress, and is often used in heraldry for technological education. It contains seven sun-rays, the wavy symbolising heat and energy and the straight for light, showing natural forces tamed to serve humanity.
The falcons imply “aspiration and determination in technological studies”, as they were sacred to the sun-god Horus through their supposed ability to fly towards the sun without being dazzled. They also relate to the white falcon badge of the House of York, particularly favoured by Edward IV, who was lord of the Manor of Bradford.
“Give Invention Light” is a quotation from a Shakespearean sonnet, appropriate to a technological university.[17]
University of Bradford has a strong reputation for employability of its graduates. It's 2010 survey showed that 91% of graduates went into employment or further study immediately after graduation.[18]
In 2005, Bradford was ranked 7th, for graduate placement, by The Times Good University Guide; with the nursing and a number of ancillary medical courses placing 100% of their students, within 6 months of graduation.
The university has a powerful reputation for research and an international reputation for knowledge transfer. It is ranked in the Top 50 English Universities based on research funding (HEFCE 2009–10)[19]. The university prides itself on high-quality research-informed teaching and on the fact that its staff/student ratios are amongst the best in the country (The University of Bradford is in the 2nd quartile for Staff/student Ratios (SSR) in The Independent, The Times and The Guardian League Tables). Students are taught by academics from around the globe who are knowledge creators, and 80 per cent of those who submitted to the last Research Assessment Exercise are doing world-leading research. [20]
| 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995 | 1994 | 1993 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Times Good University Guide | 53rd | 57th | 49th[21] | 48th[22] | 47th[23] | 47th= | 47th[24] | 59th=[25] | 54th[26] | 56th | 54th | 54th | 52nd | 53rd | 52nd | 51st= | 50th= | 44th= | 32nd= | |
| Guardian University Guide | 84th | 74th | 63rd[27] | 44th[27] | 50th | 39th[28] | 31st[29] | 54th[30] | 69th[31] | |||||||||||
| Sunday Times University Guide | 54th | 52nd= | 52nd[32] | 52nd[32] | 52nd[33] | 50th[33] | 56th=[34] | 55th[34] | 54th[34] | 54th[34] | 50th[34] | 57th[34] | 58th[34]= | |||||||
| The Independent / Complets | 73rd | 61st | 57th | 50th[35] | 49th[35] | |||||||||||||||
| FT | 52nd[36] | 52nd[37] | 52nd[38] | 52nd[39] | ||||||||||||||||
| Daily Telegraph | 73rd | 61st | 49th[40] | 73rd[25]= |
The current chancellor is the former world-class cricketer and Pakistani politician Imran Khan, who was installed on 7 December 2005.[2] He took over from Baroness Lockwood, who had served since 1997. Prior chancellors have included, in reverse order, Trevor Holdsworth (1992–1997), John Harvey-Jones (1986–1991) and Harold Wilson (later Lord Wilson of Rievaulx) (1966–1985).
The current Vice-Chancellor (as of 1 June 2007) is Professor Mark Cleary. He joined the university from the University of Plymouth where he was the Acting Vice-Chancellor (Academic). He was due to start in his new position following Professor Chris Taylor's retirement on 1 May. However due to the sudden death of Professor Roland Levinsky, the vice-chancellor of Plymouth, his appointment was delayed until the summer.
He succeeded Professor Chris Taylor who held the post from 1 October 2001 to 30 April 2007, when he retired from the university. Taylor took over from Professor Colin Bell, who was Vice-Chancellor between 1998 and 2001 and who was later Vice-Chancellor at the University of Stirling. Bell died suddenly in April 2003 and the University of Bradford now holds an annual memorial lecture in his name discussing widening participation.
The university has a "leading-edge 100-seat PC cluster" for teaching, learning and computer-based assessment, and there is an art gallery, theatre and music centre. The university has recently invested £84m in the campus, including a major refurbishment of the laboratories in the school of life sciences, creation of a new MBA suite and library at the school of management, refurbishment of the student union building, Student Central, as well as the creation of a new accommodation student village, The Green.
The J B Priestley library is open 24 hours on weekdays and more limited hours around weekends, it has 530,000 volumes, more than 1,100 printed periodical titles and more than 7,000 electronic journals. In addition to the university library, there are two Waterstone’s book shops located on campus.
Membership at the University of Bradford’s Students’ Union, (UBU), is automatic upon confirmation of enrolment. The UBU has a union shop, several bars and advice services, a radio station, cinema and other entertainment facilities.
Students get to make use of the Unique Fitness and Lifestyle centre which is located on campus. Facilities at the Unique centre include a top of the range fitness suite, an indoor 25-metre pool and a climbing wall. There are more than 30 sports clubs which are provided by the UBU.
The Green, which opened September 2011, is a new £40 million purpose built student accommodation village. A blueprint for eco-friendly living, The Green has the highest ever BREEAM rating for any building, at 95.05% and also the first BREEAM 'Outstanding' student accommodation in the country. The Green has the highest ever BREEAM rating for any building, at 95.05% - the highest accredited award for sustainable building development and operation.
The University of Bradford Union (UBU) is run by an executive committee of six full-time sabbatical officers and up to six part-time executive officers, elected annually. The committee is unusual in not having a Union President: the post was abolished by Shumon Rahman in 2001, who was elected the Union's first Asian President in 2000.
The Union is located in the newly refurbished Student Central on campus, and is politically active (nominally to the left), running regular campaigns.
The largest student involvement in their Union comes in the forms of the sports clubs (through the Athletics Association, commonly known as the AA),[41] and the societies (through the Societies Federation).[42] There is a wide variety of both, and students are free to start their own societies.
The Student Union also has Ramair, one of the UK's longest running student radio stations, as well as a student newspaper and a film society / cinema that screen professional 35 mm cinema prints.
The diverse course available at the university have been divided into seven academic 'schools' which each cover a broad range of specialisms.
Six schools are based at the city campus, and share many facilities, whilst the School of Management is a short bus ride away.
The second-largest school in the university consists of the departments of Computing, Bradford Media School (BMS), Creative Technology (CT) and Mathematics. It was renamed from the School of Informatics to the School of Computing, Informatics & Media (SCIM) in 2009 when the department of Electronic Imaging and Media Communications (EIMC) was split to CT and BMS. SCIM offers over 40 undergraduate degrees and postgraduate study in various areas including computing, ICT, robotics, mathematics, media and television. The School has a very lively research culture with over 100 students registered for MPhil/PhD.
The School was originally known as the "Department of Computing" and subsequently as the "School of Computing and Mathematics", following the integration of mathematics activities after the decision to close the Department of Mathematics as a separate entity in 1997. Mathematics was revived as a separate department in 2009 and now offers a degree in Computational Mathematics.[43] The Department of Computing was one of the first in the UK to run an MSc course in Computing back in 1967. Undergraduate courses began in 1970. Most of the school's computing courses are accredited by the British Computer Society (BCS).
The EIMC department was founded in 1991 and developed its courses in conjunction with the School of Art, Design & Textiles at Bradford and Ilkley Community College (now known as Bradford College) and the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (now the National Media Museum). The first cohort of 37 students graduated in 1994. It was one of the first departments to offer BSc courses in media technology, going on to introduce some of the first animation and computer games degrees, and more recently expanding to offer a new range of similar BA courses. Previous graduates have gone on to become notable and high-profile members in their field.[44] Today, SCIM no longer works in association with the college, but has strengthened its relationship with the nearby National Media Museum. The school would still claim to be leading the field, albeit against increasing competition. None of its competitors has a collaboration with a brand-leading museum. In association with the Department of Computing, it obtained a research grade 4 at RAE 2001.
A non-linear Video editing / training suite is named in honour of the Shipley born film director Tony Richardson, and was opened by his daughter, the film actress Natasha Richardson in 1996. It currently operates using [Final Cut Pro]. In 2007 the School launched a partnership with East Coast Media at the Grimsby Institute and the National Media Museum to bid for Skillset Media Academy status, which was granted in 2008. Accreditation mainly covers courses in the Bradford Media School.
The school was renamed Informatics when Computing was joined by the EIMC department. A department of Cybernetics was established around the time of the Mathematics department's demise, and its courses and staff were merged with those in Computing and EIMC in 2005 for financial reasons.
A core part of the school is the Innovations Unit, which offers the expertise of specialists within SCIM to commercial and social enterprises. This collaboration is part of a Government initiative called Knowledge Transfer, which also includes partnerships with national and international companies. The IIU is also home to "Simula", which using knowledge transfer and resources for commercial projects including the school's motion capture suite for video games including Driver Parallel Lines, World Snooker Championships and GTR.
The university inherited several engineering courses from the Bradford Institute of Technology and some of these courses, such as Civil Engineering are still taught today. All of the engineering courses are accredited by their relevant institute.
The school also has a large number of both undergraduate and postgraduate design and technology courses. Its research areas include automotive engineering, polymers, telecommunications and advanced materials engineering.
From the establishment of the university in 1966, the individual branches of engineering were taught in separate departments. When reorganisation of the three faculties of the university took place, a single School of Engineering, Design and Technology was created and incorporated the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering, the Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering and the Department of Industrial Studies. The Department of Chemical Engineering was closed shortly before the creation of the new school.
Recently the school has had a number of initiatives to boost the number of women studying on its courses, the latest being called 'FAIRER' (Females Actively Involved in Rewarding Engineering Roles).
Formerly the Bradford and Airedale College of Health, this became part of the university in 1996; previously it was an associate college with the university validating its degrees and diplomas.[45] The School has moved to the main city campus, into the Horton A building which underwent major refurbishment in 2011. The Horton building was extended and another floor added to accommodate the School of Health Studies. The School of Health Studies was previously located on a separate site on Trinity Road, about 10 minutes walk from the main campus and near to St. Luke's Hospital.[46]
It specialises in courses in nursing, physiotherapy, midwifery, occupational therapy and radiography. A specialist drug therapy course is run by the department and there are also part-time courses in dementia care. The department's student demographics are largely female, with a higher proportion of mature students.
The School of Life Sciences has the highest number of students of all of the schools, with more than 2,000 students admitted to a variety of undergraduate courses in the areas of Biomedical Sciences, Chemical and Forensic Science, Clinical Sciences, Optometry, Pharmacy and Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences.
Headed by the Dean, Professor Richard Greene, the school has an academic staff of over 100, with a support staff also of more than 100. The majority of academic staff is actively involved in research, which is supported with laboratory and workshop facilities, and by a team of technicians.
As a result of their research, the Bradford School of Pharmacy (BSP) has developed highly successful spin-off companies: Bradford Particle Design, which was sold to an American organisation and which has recently changed the name to Nektar Therapeutics, and AGT (Advanced Gel Technology) and AGT Life Sciences. The BSP has also undergone planned expansion with the new Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation, which provides a hub for research across the School. The building incorporates a new Analytical Centre which is available for use by staff across the University.
The Bradford School of Optometry and Vision Science (BSOVS)[47] has its own Eye Clinic, situated on the nearby Science Park, providing Primary Care for the local community in conjunction with a student training facility. BSOVS also provides a variety of other clinical services (e.g. an Electro-diagnostic Unit opened October 2010) that people may be referred to by practitioners.
The Division of Chemical and Forensic Science runs a number of forensic science courses in conjunction with the Division of Biomedical Sciences and further undergraduate and postgraduate courses are being developed in the area of Biotechnology. The Division of Biomedical Sciences is also a major contributor to a new Clinical Sciences degree, which commenced in 2002. Although the Division of Clinical Sciences provides a degree in its own right, as importantly there is provision for students to transfer to Leeds Medical School's MBChB programme.
The Institute of Cancer Therapeutics has an excellent reputation for high calibre research and there is very close collaboration with staff from other divisions within the School. The ICT recently moved to a new on-campus building in October 2006.
The Division of Archaeological, Geographical and Environmental Sciences is located in refurbished, late 19th century mill buildings, housing extensive specialist facilities. Formerly a separate school, it was merged with Life Sciences in 2006.
Offers mostly part-time and specialist degrees, focusing on areas such as community regeneration and social studies. It also has a new Combined Studies degree and foundation year, and has for several years been noted for its research and teaching in Local and Regional Studies in which it also runs a part-time BA with Honours.
The Bradford School of Management is located 3 miles (4.8 km) away from the main campus on a 13-acre (53,000 m2) parkland campus, Emm Lane. It teaches courses in business, finance, accountancy, management and marketing. As of 2005 the department commenced teaching an accredited LLB Law degree.
It has a number of Masters degrees, MBA programmes and doctoral programmes running alongside undergraduate programmes.
Bradford University School of Management works with organisations such as Asda, the BBC and Emirates, as well as small businesses, providing management development, MBAs and research and graduate links.
Its research is both international and interdisciplinary and has five main research groups covering all the main areas of management, and co-operative links and exchange agreements with 20 universities in America, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Holland, Spain and Sweden.
School of Management has full Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) accreditation for DBA and PhD programmes, portfolio Association of MBAs accreditation for MBA programmes and EQUIS accreditation.
The School of Social and International Studies covers the areas of sociology, psychology, economics, international relations, history and english. It is also home to the world-renowned Division of Peace Studies, which was the first of its kind in the world,. The School offers a range of taught undergraduate and postgraduate courses and has a number of active research areas, especially in conflict resolution and European Studies. The school is actively engaged in the Programme for a Peaceful City initiative.
The recently launched centre for psychology studies has built up an impressive reputation in just a few years. Offering a psychology course for undergraduates, accredited by the British Psychological Society. In 2008, Professor, Lord Robert Winston officially opened new state of the art psychology laboratories, for teaching and research. One of the university's most popular courses, The National Student Survey ranked Psychology as being within the Top 5 in the UK with 94% Student Satisfaction. [48]
Its Languages department, formerly one of the university's flagship departments, closed recruitment to its undergraduate courses in 2006 and in 2008 did the same to its masters programme in Interpreting and Translation. The closure was blamed on fewer students taking languages as a GCSE or A-level subject and the subsequent loss of interest at degree-level.
The University were champions of University Challenge in 1979. It was less successful in 2004, achieving only 35 points: The joint 3rd lowest score ever recorded on the show.[49]
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