The University of Glasgow is the fourth oldest university in the English-speaking world. Founded in 1451, it has spent the last half-millennium earning an international reputation for research innovation, making connections with experts in global business, and inspiring thinkers, from eminent scientist and engineer Lord Kelvin to the father of economics, Adam Smith. Building on such vast experience, it’s no surprise that Glasgow is in the top 1% of the world’s universities today (Times Higher Education Supplement World Rankings).

Ranked in the top ten in the UK for research and, along with Oxford and Cambridge, a member of the elite Russell Group of 20 major research universities, Glasgow provides an education that inspires respect from employers and satisfaction from students. The University offers an exceptional breadth of undergraduate student choice, together with a rapidly expanding range of postgraduate courses.

Throughout its history, Glasgow has assisted countless innovators towards ground-breaking discoveries. In 1881, the first domestic residence in the world to be fully lit by electricity was created on the University campus. Glasgow has supported the talents of six Nobel laureates, and today the University’s students and academics are still developing innovative solutions to current problems, whether finding ways to purify water in developing countries or taking vital steps towards the creation of solar fuel.

Glasgow’s research strengths are diverse and growing. In 2006-7, research awards reached £103m, placing the institution in the top ten in the UK. With a 2,500-strong research staff committed to translating the discoveries they make into real benefits for industry, Glasgow assisted more than 270 companies with commercial research, filed 36 new patents and granted 20 new intellectual property licences last year alone.

The University of Glasgow has been building on more than 550 years of teaching excellence to provide an education that inspires respect from employers and satisfaction from students. In 2008 Glasgow’s commitment to teaching and learning excellence has been acknowledged with impressive advances in rankings across the league tables of The Guardian, The Times and The Independent. The University’s leap of 10 places in the Times Higher Education Supplement World Rankings was also larger than any other institution in the UK in 2008.

The Faculty of Engineering has been delivering world-class engineering education for more than 150 years.  With a range of engineering degrees fully accredited by the relevant UK professional institutions, it is a University that is setting new standards in engineering education.  The University of Glasgow has a long history of mechanical engineering, dating back to James Watt in the 1760s and William Macquorn Rankine in the 1870s. The first chair of engineering in the UK was established at Glasgow in 1840.

The University welcomes more than 15,000 undergraduates, 4,900 postgraduates and around 5,000 adult learners each year. Finding community within diversity, the University’s students come from more than 120 countries around the world to build friendships and networks that last a lifetime.

Facts and figures
1. The University of Glasgow is in the Top 1% of the world’s universities today according to the Times Higher Education Supplement World Rankings.

2. University of Glasgow is one of the top 100 universities in the world (Times Higher World University Rankings 2009).

3. The teaching quality has been independently rated as among the top ten in the UK.

4. The University is a major research powerhouse, with annual research contract income in the top ten of UK universities.

5. Established in 1451, the university is the fourth oldest university in the UK. Their alumni include Lord Kelvin and Adam Smith as well as, more recently, authors Christopher Brookmyre and William Boyd, actor Gerard Butler and round-the-world yachtswoman Emma Richards. 

6. Alongside universities including Oxford, Cambridge and King’s College London, the University of Glasgow is a member of the prestigious Russell Group of major research-led universities in UK and a founder member of Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting worldwide standards for higher education.