University College London Totally Explained

Everything about University College London totally explained

University College London (UCL) is the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London, and is one of the university's two original founding colleges. It is also the first British University to have been founded on a secular basis, and the first to admit students regardless of race, class, religion or gender. With over 25,000 staff and students, UCL is the largest college of the University of London, and is larger than most other universities in the United Kingdom. It is a member of the elite Russell Group of Universities, a part of the 'G5' sub-group of super-elite UK universities, and a part of the Golden Triangle.
UCL consistently ranks among the top five university institutions in the UK league tables, among the top three multi-faculty universities, and is currently in the top 10 universities globally, with an annual turnover of nearly £600 million. In 2005, UCL was granted the power to award its own degrees, and currently offers its students the choice between a UCL or a University of London degree. The current provost of UCL is Professor Malcolm Grant.

Geography and location

University College London (UCL) is located in Bloomsbury, central London. The main campus is located on Gower Street, although there are also other UCL buildings to be found throughout London. The Gower Street campus includes the UCL science and main libraries, the language departments, the history departments, the Bloomsbury theatre, the biology and physics departments, and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. A further set of buildings based around neighbouring Gordon Street and Gordon Square includes the Institute of Archaeology, the chemistry department, the Bartlett School of The Built Environment and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.
The area around UCL is occupied by a constellation of other renowned institutions, including the British Museum, the British Library, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the British Medical Association, and other University of London schools and institutes, including the School of Oriental and African Studies, Birkbeck, University of London, the Institute of Education and the School of Advanced Study.
The nearest London Underground station to the main campus is Euston Square. Other nearby stations are Warren Street, Russell Square and Goodge Street, as well as Euston railway station.

History

UCL was founded in 1826 under the name "London University", as a secular alternative to the religious universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The philosopher Jeremy Bentham is considered to be the spiritual father of UCL, as he played a major role in the development of the College. It is often considered to be the third oldest English university though this is disputed.
It became University College London in 1836 and acquired degree-awarding powers, when it joined with King's College London to create the new University of London. In 1907 the University of London was reconstituted and many of the colleges, including UCL, lost their separate legal existence. This continued until 1977 when a new charter restored UCL's independence.

Academic Reputation

	2009	2008	2007	2006	2005
Times Good University Guide	8^th	6^th	5^th		6^th
Guardian University Guide	5^th	5^th		4^th	7^th
Sunday Times University Guide		5^th		5^th	5^th
Daily Telegraph		8^th	6^th

	2007	2006	2005
THES - QS World University Rankings	9 ^th	25^th	28^th
Academic Ranking of World Universities	25^th	26^th	26^th

In specific areas of biomedical science UCL scores very highly. For example, UCL Neuroscience is ranked second in the world, and first in Europe, based on neuroscience and behaviour publications and citations assessed by Thomson ISI Essential Science Indicators, with more than twice as many publications and citations as any other European institution. Thomson ISI Essential Science indicators rank UCL first in Europe for clinical medicine.

Alumni and academics

UCL alumni include both 'the Great and the Good', ranging from Mahatma Gandhi and Alexander Graham Bell, to Ricky Gervais and all four members of the band Coldplay. Important authors include Robert Browning, Raymond Briggs, GK Chesterton and Trevor Lock. Scientists and engineers include Francis Crick, John Ambrose Fleming, Joseph Lister, Roger Penrose, Colin Chapman, evolutionist John Maynard Smith and the aforementioned Bell. Politicians figure highly in the lists, notably the first and former prime ministers of Japan (Hirobumi Ito and Junichiro Koizumi respectively) and Chaim Herzog, the former President of Israel. Moreover, the founding father of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta was a UCL graduate. Prominent UCL law graduates include the former Chief Justices of England (Lord Woolf), Hong Kong (Sir Yang Ti-liang), India (Justice A.S. Anand) and Ghana (Samuel Azu Crabbe); as well as the Attorneys-General of England (Lord Goldsmith; Patricia Scotland), Singapore (Tan Boon Teik; Chao Hick Tin) and Gambia (Hassan Bubacar Jallow). Many leading journalists attended UCL including three former editors of The Economist, most notably Walter Bagehot, and two editors of The Times Literary Supplement. A number of entertainers feature too, including Justine Frischmann, Jack Peñate and Jonathan Ross.
UCL has the highest number of academics of any university in the UK. Currently among UCL academics there are 35 fellows of the Royal Society, 22 Fellows of the British Academy, and 77 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences. 20 Nobel prizes have been awarded to UCL academics and students (ten of which were in Physiology & Medicine) as well as three Fields Medals. All five of the naturally occurring noble gases were discovered at UCL by Sir William Ramsay, who was chair of chemistry.

UCL buildings, departments and collections

UCL operates in many separate buildings. Whilst most of the buildings are concentrated in the Bloomsbury area of Central London (near Euston station), others can be found as far away as Old Street. Some of the buildings have been acquired through mergers with other colleges, and others have been newly built. The newest include the Engineering Wing on Malet Place and the Andrew Huxley Building within the Gower Street Site.
UCL's newest buildings include the London Centre for Nanotechnology on Gordon Street and a new building for the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (formerly at Senate House) which was opened (by Princess Anne and the President of the Czech Republic, Václav Klaus) in October 2005 on Taviton Street. The Institute of Ophthalmology opened a new wing in 2005 funded by the Wellcome Trust.

UCL Library

The UCL library is divided across several sites within the UCL campus and across Bloomsbury. Access to each library is gained by the use of an electronic swipe card through electronic security barriers. The libraries are linked together by a networking catalogue and request system called 'eUCLid'. The largest collection of material is held in the 'Main Library' which is in the UCL Main Building. The 'Main library' contains UCL's collections relating to arts and humanities, history, economics, public policy and law. The Flaxman Gallery, a collection of sculptures and paintings by artist John Flaxman is located inside the 'main library' in the Octagon building under UCL's central dome.
   The second largest library - the 'UCL Science library' occupies a building known as the 'DMS Watson building' on Malet Place. It contains UCL's books and journals related to Engineering, Mathematics, anthropology, geography and Science. It is adjacent to the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, access of which is currently made through the library. Other libraries within UCL include the 'Cruciform library' (medical science), the 'Environmental Studies library' (architecture and planning) and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies library on Taviton Street.
   UCL's 'Special Collections' contain UCL's collection of historical or culturally significant works. It is one of the foremost university collections of manuscripts, archives and rare books in the UK. It includes collections of medieval manuscripts and early printed books, as well as significant holdings of 18th century works, and highly important 19th and 20th century collections of personal papers, archival material, and literature, covering a vast range of subject areas. Archives include the Latin American archives, the Jewish collections and the George Orwell Archive. Collections are often displayed in a series of glass cabinets in the Cloisters of the UCL Main Building.
   The most significant works are housed in the 'Strong Rooms'. The special collection includes first editions of Newton's Principia, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species and James Joyce's Ulysses . The earliest book in the collection is 'The crafte to lyve well and to dye well', printed in 1505.

Notable buildings and departments

The UCL Main Building, including the Octagon, Quad, Cloisters and the Wilkins building designed by Architect William Wilkins
1-19 Torrington Place
Alexandra House (17 Queen Square) Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit
The Bartlett centre for Architecture and planning
Bedford Way Buildings, home to UCL Geography and Psychology, and the Institute of Education
Bentham House (Endsleigh Street), home to the University College London Law Faculty
Chadwick House
Christopher Ingold Building (Gordon Street), where the Chemistry department is based
Cruciform Building — a red-brick building notable for being built in a cross shape (Medicine)
DMS Watson Science Library, named after D. M. S. Watson, a former professor of zoology
Drayton House
Engineering Building (Malet Place) renamed to Roberts building in 2005
Foster Court (Languages)
Institute of Archaeology (Gordon Square)
Jill Dando Institute
London Centre for Nanotechnology (Gordon Street)
Malet Place Engineering Building (completed in 2005, primarily Computer Science and Medical Physics departments)
Medawar (named after Peter Medawar)
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St. Mary, Surrey, is home to the UK's largest space research group
PAMELA
Pearson Building (Quad), Geography
Rockefeller Building (Science)
SSEES, the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, which has recently moved in a new buinding on Taviton Street
The Slade School of Art, home to UCL's art department since 1868
University College Hospital (recently re-built)
UCLU (Gordon Street)
UCL Bloomsbury Theatre (Gordon Street)
The Robin Building (Tavistock Square), home to the Department of Political Science, the newest department of the college and The Constitution Unit
Wates House (Endsleigh Gardens)

Museums and other collections

UCL is responsible for several museums and collections in a wide range of fields across the arts and sciences:

Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology: one of the leading collections of Egyptian and Sudanese archaeology in the world. Open to the public on a regular basis.

Grant Museum of Zoology And Comparative Anatomy: a diverse Natural History collection covering the whole of the animal kingdom. Includes rare dodo and quagga skeletons. A teaching and research collection, it's named after Robert Edmund Grant, UCL's first professor of comparative anatomy and zoology from 1828, now mainly noted for having tutored the undergraduate Charles Robert Darwin at the University of Edinburgh in the 1826-1827 session. Open at limited fixed times and by appointment.

Geology Collections: founded around 1855. Primarily a teaching resource and may be visited by appointment.

Art Collections: these date from 1847 when a collection of sculpture models and drawings of the Neo-classical artist John Flaxman was presented to UCL. There are over 10,000 pieces dating from the 15th century onwards including drawings by Turner, etchings by Rembrandt, and works by many leading 20th century British artists. The works on paper are displayed in The Strang Print Room, which has limited regular opening times. The other works may be viewed by appointment.

Institute of Archaeology Collections: Items include prehistoric ceramics and stone artefacts from many parts of the world, the Petrie collection of Palestinian artefacts, and Classical Greek and Roman ceramics. Visits by appointment only.

Ethnography Collections: This collection exemplifying Material Culture, holds an enormous variety of objects, textiles and artefacts from all over the world. Visits by appointment only.

Galton Collection: The scientific instruments, papers and personal memorabilia of Sir Francis Galton. Housed in the department of biology. Visits by appointment only.

Science Collections: Diverse collections primarily accumulated in the course of UCL's own work, including the operating table on which the first anaesthetic was administered. Items may be a viewed by appointment.
UCL is developing a new facility called The Institute for Cultural Heritage, which will allow public access to its collections to be greatly improved. UCL Library's Special Collections, will also move into the new building. The Institute for Cultural Heritage will feature permanent galleries for the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, galleries devoted to the Art and Library Special Collections, a gallery for temporary exhibitions from the other collections, lecture theatres and study rooms. Planning permission was granted in 2004, building work began in 2007 and it's scheduled to open in 2009.

Medicine and UCL Hospital

The Royal Free and University College Medical School offers degrees in medicine which take six years to complete. UCL has offered courses in medicine since 1825 but the current medical school is a merger of two other schools, that took place in 1998 . Whittington Hospital and Royal Free Hospital Clinical medicine is primarily taught at three hospitals in London; University College Hospital, The Royal Free Hospital and The Whittington Hospital. University College Hospital is one of central London's largest NHS hospitals and is part financed by the university. UCL's hospital facilities are located around Bloomsbury but the main hospital facility, including accident and emergency, is located on Euston Road. In 2004 work began to rebuild the main hospital, most of the work is now finished with the final extension due for completion by 2008. UCL also operates its own medical research company called UCL Biomedica.

Students' accommodation

Many UCL students are accommodated in the college's own halls of residence or other accommodation, such as those below:

Arthur Tattersall House (115-131 Gower Street)

Astor College (99 Charlotte St)

Campbell House East and West (Taviton Street)

Ifor Evans & Max Rayne Student Residences (109 Camden Road)

Frances Gardner House and Langton Close (Gray's Inn Road)

John Tovell House (89 & 93-7 Gower Street)

John Dodgson House (Bidborough Street)

Ramsay Hall Student Residence (Maple Street)

Schafer House Student Residence (Drummond Street)

James Lighthill House (Pentonville Road)

Goldsmid House will close in 2008, as the land is to be developed into offices, shops and apartments due to its prime location on Oxford Street. The building is named after Sir F.H. Goldsmid, a treasurer of the University in the 19th century. Most students in college or university accommodation are first-year undergraduates. The majority of second and third-year students and postgraduates find their own accommodation in the private sector. UCL students are also eligible to apply for places in the University of London intercollegiate halls of residence, such as Connaught Hall. There is also limited UCL accommodation available for married students and those with children at Bernard Johnson House, Hawkridge, Neil Sharp House and the University of London's Lilian Penson Hall.

University College London Union

The union, founded in 1893, has a credible claim to be England's oldest students' union. Today the union exists to provide a wide range of services to UCL students. It is run by elected student officers, and supports a range of services, including numerous clubs and societies, sports facilities, and an advice service, as well as a number of bars, cafes and shops.

King's College rivalry

Main Article Student Rags UCL has a long-running, mostly friendly rivalry with King's College London. UCL is often referred to by students from the latter using nicknames such as the "Godless Scum of Gower Street", in reference to a comment made at the founding of KCL, which was based on Christian principles. UCL students and staff also refer to King's as "Strand Polytechnic" in a similar attitude. Historically the university rivalry was known as 'Rags'.
KCL's mascot, "Reggie", was lost for many years in the 1990s. It was recovered after being found dumped in a field, restored at the cost of around £15,000 and placed on display in the students' union. It is in a glass case and filled with concrete to prevent theft, particularly by UCL students who once castrated it. (KCL, to be fair, had also stolen one UCL mascot, Phineas). It is often claimed that KCL students played football with the embalmed head of Jeremy Bentham. Although the head was indeed stolen, the football story is a myth which is denied by official UCL documentation about Bentham found next to his display case (his Auto Icon) in the college cloisters. The head is now kept in the college vaults.

Ethical investment policy

UCL's ethical investment policies exclude direct investment in tobacco companies. The policies don't exclude investment in arms companies. In 2006 Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) revealed that UCL was the largest known university investor in arms companies in the UK. UCL currently invests £1,591,627 in the companies Cobham plc and the Smiths Group (both of which manufacture components for military aircraft and other weapons systems). This sum amounts to 1.7% of UCL's total investment assets.

Filming at UCL

Due to its position within London and the historical nature of the UCL Main Building and quad, UCL has been used as a location for film and television recording.

Gallery

Image:UCL-94335430-M.jpg|Ramsay Hall of Residence, Maple Street, London Image:UCL-94339958-M.jpg|The College Cloisters inside the UCL Main Building Image:UCL-94339714-M.jpg|The UCL Quad, part of the main campus, in front of the UCL Main Building Image:UCL-94340542-M.jpg|The Jeremy Bentham common room inside the UCL Main Building Image:UCL Portico Building.jpg|The UCL Main Building is the centre of the UCL campus]] Image:UCL Portico Building2.jpg|The UCL Main Building at night Image:UCL Portico Building3.jpg|The UCL Main Building in snow]] Image:UCL Bedford Way.jpg|UCL Bedford Way - The building houses the psychology department and some of the geography department. It adjoins the Institute of Education]] Image:UCL Frances Gardner House.jpg|An example of student accommodation - UCL's Newest Hall of Residence — Frances Gardner House in Kings Cross Image:UCL Flaxman Gallery and sculpture.jpg|The Flaxman Gallery, a collection of sculptures and paintings by artist John Flaxman is located inside the 'main library' in the Octagon building under UCL's central dome]] Image:UCL Flaxman Gallery and Jeremy Bentham.jpg|Jeremy Bentham overseeing the construction of UCL in the Flaxman gallery inside the 'main library']] Image:UCL Gower Street.jpg|UCL Entrance on Gower Street and the Cruciform Building opposite]] Image:UCL Institute of Archaeology.jpg|UCL Institute of Archaeology, on Gordon Square]] Image:UCL School of Slavonic Studies.jpg|UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies, on Taviton street]] Image:University College Hospital - New Building - London - 020504.jpg|The new building and tower of University College Hospital, seen from Euston Road]] Image:UCL Schafer House.jpg|Schafer House a hall of residence of University College London. It accommodates 369 students. It was opened in 1995.]] Further Information

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