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University of Stirling

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The University of Stirling is a campus university created in 1967 located on the outskirts of Stirling, Scotland, midway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Contents

Campus

The campus (which is around 3 miles (5km) from the centre of Stirling, but is much closer to the town of Bridge of Allan) was formerly the estate of the 18th century Airthrey Castle (which the university retains as a conference centre). It is regularly described as one of the most beautiful campuses in the world, and nestles at the foot of the Ochil Hills in a 300 acre (1.2 km²) estate centred around the Airthrey Loch. The loch serves as a venue for boating and fishing activities, and portions are sequestered for academic research into marine life and aquaculture.

The University caters for nearly 9000 students (around a third of whom live on-campus), and is also home to the MacRobert Arts Centre which is a small theatre and cinema complex, located on the main campus of the university. The Centre is open both to members of the University community and to members of the general public.

The university is also home to the Scottish Institute of Sport.

Looking out over Airthrey Loch on the main campus of The University of Stirling
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Looking out over Airthrey Loch on the main campus of The University of Stirling

Organization

The University is organized academically into four faculties: There is also a Division of Academic Innovation and Continuing Education (DAICE).

Teaching

From its inception, Stirling has offered modular degree programmes allowing flexibility and choice. Stirling was the first UK university to introduce the acclaimed system of semesters, rather than having three terms. The first semester lasts from mid-September to Christmas and the second from mid-February to the end of May. Programmes are also offered in the evening and through the Summer Academic Programme.

There are now over 250 combinations of undergraduate degree, and a new law degree is to be added to the 2005 course portfolio. The university is principally known for its arts and social science courses, where most of its top teaching and research assessments are to be found.

The university has always been highly rated for teaching. Excellent teaching ratings for economics, sociology, religious studies, business studies, psychology and English show Stirling's strengh in the arts and social sciences. Among the sciences, environmental science also reached this feat, its success reflected in the new school of Biological and Environmental Sciences, with substantially refurbished facilities for both teaching and research. All but one of the subjects assessed for teaching quality were rated at least "highly satisfactory" (source: The Times Higher Education Supplement).

Research

There is a range of specialist research centres including: The University has research excellence in many academic disciplines. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, Stirling witnessed a dramatic upturn in its research performance, with more than half of the University’s research-active academics now working in subjects in the highly rated category of 5 (which indicates that the majority of the research in these areas is deemed to attain levels of at least national excellence, with a high proportion meeting international standards of excellence). The 5-rated subjects include: accountancy, finance and law; aquaculture; film and media studies; English studies; French; history; psychology; philosophy; social work; religious studies. Other subject areas were also highly rated: biological sciences; business and management; economics; education; German; sports studies.

The University's funding for research following the 2001 RAE increased more than any other pre 1992 university in Scotland, and was amongst the largest increases in the UK. The University has a developing track record in externally funded research, attracting grants and awards from bodies such as the Research Councils, central and local government, the European Union, and charitable sources. It conducts high quality research ranging from basic through strategic to applied, making a vital contribution to the economic, social and cultural life of Scotland and beyond.

Airthrey Loch frozen over on a snowy day
Enlarge
Airthrey Loch frozen over on a snowy day

Sport centres and departments

The University of Stirling has one of the best sport facilities in the UK and One of only 16 universities in the country with 5 star sports facilities (Sunday Times, 2003). It boasts its own golf course, and a host of other sporting facilities is located in and around the University. The Gannochy Sports Centre on the University campus is recognised as a Tennis Centre of Excellence, and also has an indoor swimming pool, badminton and squash courts, sports halls and playing fields available for student, staff and public use. The campus has been selected as the headquarters for the Scottish Institute of Sport and a new 50m pool has been created as part of the National Swimming Academy.

Stirling University Students' Association (S.U.S.A)

The students of the University are represented by S.U.S.A (Stirling University Students' Association) and was named "Best Students' Union in Scotland" (Bar Entertainment and Dance Association, 2003). ). Until recently, the Student union website had a very active online community through the forums allowing many issues to be raised and discussed. However, following the council meeting on the 2nd of May 2006, The outgoing Sabattical officers, in their last act before leaving office, decided to close the forums for no obvious reason. Fortunately some students unhappy about this have set up an unofficial forum community at http://www.stirlinguni.com where many of the existing online community have migrated across. SUSA is based on-campus in the Robbins Centre. It is responsible for providing services to students and representing students to organisations including the University itself. On its premises in the Robbins it runs several venues - Studio, Glow and Long-Bar.

The Highland and Western Isles campus

As well as the main campus in Stirling, the University also has campuses in Inverness, Highland and Stornoway, Western Isles which specialise in Nursing and Midwifery. The Highland campus site is on the outskirts of Inverness and within the grounds of the Raigmore Hospital (NHS) Trust. The site has purpose built teaching accommodation and student flats. There is also the Highland Health Sciences Library on this campus, which caters for both the student/staff body of the University as well as the NHS employees of Highland Health Board and its associated Trusts.

The Western Isles campus is located in Stornoway and the teaching accommodation is an integral part of the recently built Lewis Hospital. This is a small campus site that also has student accommodation within the environs of the Lewis Hospital.

Ratings

Notable faculty and alumni

Faculty

Alumni

Arts Politics Sport: Other:

External links

Universities in Scotland

Aberdeen | Abertay | Dundee | Edinburgh | Glasgow | Glasgow Caledonian | Heriot-Watt | Napier | Paisley | Robert Gordon | St Andrews | Stirling | Strathclyde

 

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