The University of Oxford & Oxford Brookes University
The University of Oxford.
The University of Oxford is one of the cities most important institutions and indeed is one of the most famous centres of learning in the world. It is the oldest University in the English-speaking world and has 38 independent colleges as well as 6 permenant private halls. All students and most academic staff members are associated with a college.
First mentioned in 12th century records, Oxford's first colleges were University college (1249), Balliol college (1263) and Merton college (1264). Although the university of Oxford is not mentioned as an institution in records until the 12th century it is known that lectures were delivered as early as 1096 by teachers and scholars who settled in Oxford from mainland Europe.
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford is unique acting as both a college and a cathedral. It was originally the Priory Church of St Frideswide (the patron saint of Oxford and the University) before being extended and incorporated into Cardinal's College shortly before being refunded as Christ Church in 1546. Since this time it has functioned as the cathedral of the Diocese of Oxford.
Today many academics visit Oxford University from the world over for research or post-graduate work. The international presence of the University includes more than 44,000 alumni in 188 countries outside the UK, the world's largets University press and leading tropical medical research facilities.
The University of Oxford is open to tourists throughout the year allowing people from all over the world to see the colleges and site such as the Ashmolean Museum and the Radcliffe Camera.
The list of distinguished scholars at the University of Oxford is long and including many people who have made major contributions to British politics, the sciences, medicine and literature. More than fourty Nobel laureates and fifty world leaders have been affiliated with the University of Oxford.
Oxford Brookes University.
Oxford Brookes was originally known as the Oxford School of Art and which has been a centre of learning since 1865. The institution is the eighth largest employer in Oxfordshire providing in the region of 2500 jobs. Oxford Brookes University was responsible for pioneering the use of the modular degree course and is now renowned for architecture, art, economics, computer science, automotive engineering, history, modern languages and publishing.
The Oxford Brookes Department of Architecture is one of the largest in the UK and in 2006 was ranked second in the country. It is also highly regarded for Automotive & Motorsport Engineering with close links to the large car manufacturers in the area such as BMW & Honda. Indeed Formula One champion Fernando Alonso provides scholarships for masters degree students to study at the University.
Oxford Brookes University in 2003 was the first university in the world to be awarded Fairtrade status and in 2007 came fifth in the new environmental league table of universities receiving a first class rating for its environmental credentials.
There are three main campuses associated with Oxford Brookes as follows:
Headington Campus - located in Headington around the Gipsey Lane area. This site hosts the school of health and social care as well as the Students Union and main halls of residence.
Wheatley Campus - located seven miles outside the City of Oxford and hosts schools of Business, IT, Mathematics and Engineering.
Harcourt Hill Campus - situated on Harcourt Hill to the west of Oxford centre on the former site of Westminster college. This site hosts schools of education, philosophy, theology, Media & communication.
All three campuses offer a wide range of sports and recreational facilities to use by all of the students.
Tsinghua University and Munich Business School are associated with Oxford Brookes University.
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