About Newcastle University

Newcastle University today

Newcastle University is one of the great civic universities in the UK and holds a special position culturally, socially and economically in the North East of England. Newcastle is a vibrant city and popular with students from the UK and abroad. The University is a member of the Russell Group of research intensive universities. It undertakes multi-disciplinary research in many areas with high scientific, economic and social impact and the quality of its teaching is high across a broad range of subjects. Recently the University has grown more rapidly than comparable institutions with a current income in excess of £300 million, over 18,400 students and more than 4,800 staff. There are major and exciting initiatives and capital investments in the pipeline that will further enhance its international profile.

Newcastle and Gateshead today

Newcastle and the neighbouring authority of Gateshead have worked in partnership in a major programme of urban regeneration with a strong focus on the arts and forging a place that attracts and retains creative people. Key arts venues include the internationally renowned concert hall complex The Sage Gateshead and BALTIC, the Centre for Contemporary Art. This programme has attracted significant additional private sector commercial, hotel and housing investments and a new breed of entrepreneurs taking advantage of urban amenities and ready access to the Northumberland National Park and stunning coastline. Newcastle Airport has excellent international connections and Newcastle/Gateshead is now a popular destination for tourists, business visitors and as a location for national and international conferences. As a result of these developments, employment opportunities in professional, business and public services are growing strongly. The expansion of the University continues to play a key role in this regeneration.

For further information visit www.visitNewcastleGateshead.com and www.northeastengland.co.uk.

History of Newcastle University

Newcastle University can trace its origins to a School of Medicine and Surgery (later the College of Medicine), established in Newcastle in 1834, and to Armstrong College, which was founded in the city in 1871 for the teaching of physical sciences.

These two colleges formed one division of the federal University of Durham , the Durham Colleges forming the other division. The Newcastle Colleges merged to form King's College in 1937 and, in 1963, when the federal University was dissolved, King's College became the University of Newcastle upon Tyne .

Sustained expansion since 1945 has resulted in the development of a modern University campus, around the original Armstrong College buildings, on a 45-acre site in the centre of Newcastle . The University has recently embarked on an exciting new phase of expansion with a number of new developments, some linked to the Newcastle Science City initiative, including the former brewery site in the centre of Newcastle and the General Hospital site in the city's west end.

Recent re-structuring

During 2002, the University undertook a major restructuring exercise with the aims of:

  • building on its existing strengths and allowing new ones to emerge;
  • creating a leaner, fitter institution;
  • commanding a position within the top universities in the UK in terms of teaching and research.

At the heart of the restructuring was the formation of fewer but larger academic units. Three new Faculties were created, each headed by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and 27 new Schools were formed from the 75 Departments which previously existed. Overall management is now the responsibility of the Executive Board chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. A headroom fund has been created enabling the appointment of 56 new chairs and £90 million investment in modernising the University estate.

Faculties

Newcastle University is divided into 3 Faculties. They are the:

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

(for more information please go to www.ncl.ac.uk/hss);

Faculty of Medical Sciences

(for more information please go to http://medical.faculty.ncl.ac.uk);

Faculty of Science, Agriculture and Engineering

( for more information please go to www.ncl.ac.uk/sage).

Principal Officers

The Principal Officers of Newcastle University are responsible to Council for the efficient and effective management of the University. Their roles are overarching across the business of the University and each Officer is assigned individual responsibilities. In terms of academic structure, each of the three Faculties is headed by a Pro-Vice-Chancellor, who is assisted by a Dean of Research, a Dean of Postgraduate Studies, a Dean of Undergraduate Studies, and a Dean of Business Development (and for the Faculty of Medical Sciences, a Dean of Clinical Medicine). There is also a Dean of Cultural Affairs who, while based in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, has a University-wide role, and a Faculty support team headed up by a Faculty Head of Administration.

The Principal Officers group includes, with current titles and incumbents, the following:

  • The Rt Hon Lord Patten of Barnes (Chancellor);
  • Mrs Olivia Grant, OBE, DL (Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council);
  • Professor Chris Brink (Vice-Chancellor);
  • Professor John Goddard, OBE (Deputy Vice-Chancellor);
  • Professor Ella Ritchie (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Learning and Teaching);
  • Professor Trevor Page (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, External Affairs and Research Liaison – retires July 2008);
  • Professor Tony Stevenson (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Planning and Resources);
  • Professor Oliver James (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Medical Sciences – retires May 2008);
  • Professor Christopher Day (Pro-Vice-Chancellor Elect, Medical Sciences with effect from 1 April 2008);
  • Professor Gerry Docherty (Acting Pro-Vice-Chancellor Humanities and Social Sciences);
  • Professor Charles Harvey (Pro-Vice-Chancellor Elect, Humanities and Social Sciences with effect from 1 April 2008);
  • Professor Oliver Hinton (Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Science, Agriculture and Engineering);
  • Dr John Hogan (Registrar);
  • Mr Howard Farnhill (Bursar/Director of Finance).

Research excellence

The 2001 Research Assessment Exercise confirmed Newcastle as one of the UK's leading research universities, with 29 of its subject areas receiving the highest grades of 5 or 5*, denoting international excellence. Research income from grants and contracts reached £65.8m (year ended 31 July 2007).

The University is building on this recognition by developing a number of powerful interdisciplinary University Research Institutes and Research Centres.

Research Institutes

While a wealth of subject-based research is carried out in the 27 Schools, the University has fourteen University Research Institutes to pursue interdisciplinary research across School and Faculty boundaries.

The Research Institutes include: Ageing & Health, Arts, Social Sciences & Humanities, Cancer Research, Cell & Molecular Biosciences, Cellular Medicine, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Sir Joseph Swan Institute for Energy Research (SWAN), Health and Society, Human Genetics, Informatics, Nanotechnology, Neurosciences, Stem Cells and Policy & Practice.

These Institutes bring together a critical mass of RAE grade 5/5* interdisciplinary staff and provide exciting opportunities for research and training, giving significant additional capability to the University's long-term research base.

As well as attaining international excellence, the University is committed to ensuring its research serves a social and economic purpose. One way in which this commitment to a combination of research excellence and relevance to society is manifest is through the Newcastle Science City (www.ncl.ac.uk/sciencecity) initiative, described in more detail below.

Teaching and learning

Teaching and Learning at Newcastle University takes place across a very broad range of subjects and it has distinctive strengths in both undergraduate and postgraduate provision. The University achieves particularly strong outcomes as measured by employability and enterprise. The quality of its current provision has been positively endorsed by the QAA's Institutional Audit of 2005 and the National Student Survey, which demonstrated that the overwhelming majority of students were happy with the quality of their degree courses. Our future Teaching and Learning strategies will focus on teaching informed by research at all levels of the curriculum:

  • Giving students the skills and knowledge to operate in the global market place;
  • Offering curricula relevant to the needs of society and the economy;
  • Providing an international dimension to all student learning;
  • Providing high quality student services, which support the core Teaching & Learning experience.

Regional agenda

In 2005, Gordon Brown, who was then Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that Newcastle , together with York , Manchester , Birmingham , Bristol and Nottingham, would be Science Cities, with the objective of establishing Britain as the optimal place in the world for science-led business and to integrate science and technology policy and expenditure with physical regeneration.

The University formed a partnership with Newcastle City Council and One NorthEast, the regional development agency, to take forward the Science City initiative. In August 2005, the partnership submitted a detailed proposal to the Treasury, setting out the key areas of science upon which Newcastle will focus: stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, ageing and health, molecular engineering (consisting of chemical engineering, chemistry, physics, engineering and nanotechnology) and energy and the environment.

A prime site in Newcastle city centre has since been acquired for £33million and the partnership is aiming to raise additional funding to redevelop it as “Science Central”, a new type of urban science park where business and science work in close proximity. A campus for Ageing and Vitality is also under development at a former hospital site where the Partnership is supporting the bringing together of the University's research, Health Service delivery and business.

New ground is also being broken in the Northern Way initiative, which was launched in parallel with the Science Cities, to stimulate regional development and narrow the economic gap between Northern and Southern England . The University is a member of the consortium of northern research intensive universities ( Newcastle , Durham , York, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester , Liverpool and Lancaster – N8) which has launched the Northern Science Initiative research programme focussed on science exploitation relevant to the economic development of the North.

On the main University campus, a Cultural Quarter is being developed on a site opposite the Civic Centre. This embraces the newly renovated University theatre operated in partnership with Northern Stage, the Great North Museum that will house a wide range of University and other collections (a £26million project supported by various funders including the Heritage Lottery Fund), a digital media laboratory (Culture Lab), a Northern Writers' Centre, the Students Union, King's Hall concert venue and Courtyard restaurant.

A new music building on the campus is currently being designed with planned occupation in January 2009 to provide state of the art practice and studio facilities. Finalising a new city centre location for the Business School to enable it to meet its challenging vision for the future as a node between science and business remains a key strategic priority for the University.

The University is also the accountable body for the association of North East universities (Universities for the North East) and plays a key role in the collaborative projects undertaken in partnership with the universities of Durham , Northumbria , Sunderland and Teesside and the Open University in the North.

The international agenda

In addition to increasing the number of overseas students taught in Newcastle , the University is developing a broader international strategy. This is designed to strengthen the Newcastle base and contribute to the economic development of the region. Key components include:

  • A stronger international dimension within individual degree programmes;
  • A knowledge transfer operation in Singapore ;
  • Strategic alliances with leading research based institutions overseas;
  • An ‘in country' teaching programme in medical education in a rapidly expanding nation in South East Asia ;
  • A strategic partnership with INTO to increase the number of international students, particularly at undergraduate level.

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