University of Leeds

The University of Leeds (informally Leeds University, or simply Leeds) is a British Redbrick university located in the city of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Originally named The Yorkshire College, a successor to the Leeds School of Medicine, it became part of the Victoria University alongside Owens College (which eventually became the University of Manchester) and University College Liverpool (which became the University of Liverpool). In 1904, a royal charter was granted to the University of Leeds by King Edward VII.

The University is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities, of which the university's Vice-Chancellor Prof Michael Arthur is the current Chairman, and the N8 Group for research collaboration. The university is also a founding member of the Worldwide Universities Network, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association, the White Rose University Consortium, the Santander Network and CDIO and is also affiliated to the Association of MBAs, EQUIS and Universities UK.

The student population includes 24,510 undergraduate and 8,805 postgraduate students making the university the second largest single site university in the United Kingdom. From 2006 to present, the university has consistently been ranked second in the United Kingdom for the number of applications received, second only to the University of Manchester. The annual income for the institution for 2008-09 was £497.2 million, with an expenditure of £485.3 million. The university has financial endowments of £42.3 million (2008–09), ranking outside the top ten British universities by financial endowment. Nevertheless, Leeds was ranked 8th by The Guardian for total recurrent grants in 2009-10, amounting to £143.6 million whilst being ranked 9th for research-generated income in 2009-10, with a research income of £49.5 million, a 2.1% increase from 2008-09.

Described as "a top redbrick university and one of the giants of the British higher education system" by The Guardian newspaper, the university is ranked nationally between 16th (QS World University Rankings) and 27th (The Independent). Internationally, the university is ranked as the 34th best in Europe and globally ranked between 85th in the 2011 QS World University Rankings and 101st in the 2010(ARWU) In 2007, The Sunday Times released a 10 year average of their rankings, placing Leeds 26th out of 119 institutions from 1998 - 2007. Leeds was ranked 8th in the UK in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the best result in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and in 2010, Leeds was ranked as the 9th most targeted British university by graduate employers. Notable alumni include former Secretary of State Jack Straw, Piers Sellers (NASA astronaut) and multiple Nobel laureates.

Prior to formation
The university's history is linked to the development of Leeds as an international centre for the textile industry and clothing manufacture in the United Kingdom during the Victorian era. The university's roots can be traced back to the formation of Schools of Medicine in English Core Cities to serve the general public.

Prior to 1900, only five universities had been established in England and one in Wales. These consisted of the University of Oxford (founded somewhere between 1096–1201), University of Cambridge (founded c. 1201), University of London (founded in 1836), Durham University (founded in 1832), and the federal Victoria University (founded in 1880) whilst the University of Wales was later founded in 1893.

The Victoria University was established in Manchester in 1880 as a federal university for the North of England, this was consequential of the government's unwillingness to raise Owens College to university status and grant it a royal charter of its own. Owens College was the only member of the Victoria University from 1880 to 1884; from 1887 when Yorkshire College joined there were three member colleges.

Origins of the Leeds School of Medicine
In 1831, the Leeds School of Medicine was established, with the aim of serving the needs of the five medical institutions that had sprung up in the city. In 1874, the School was joined by the Yorkshire College of Science, an institution intended to provide education for the children of middle-class industrialists and merchants. Financial support from local industry was crucial in setting up the College and aiding the students. The University continues to recognise these elements of its history—for example, there is still a Clothworkers' Court on campus—to this day.

The College of Science was modelled on Owens College, Manchester, established in 1851 as a non-sectarian alternative to Oxford and Cambridge, where religious tests were applied and those outside the Church of England were not allowed to receive degrees or were barred from entry to the universities outright. Owens College, like the earlier University College London, applied no such tests and was open to Protestant Dissenters, Catholics and Jews (though not then to women).

While religious tests for students at Oxford and Cambridge ceased in the 1850s, Northern colleges continued to promote themselves as offering a different, distinct type of teaching. They took pride in the progressive and pragmatic nature of their scientific education looking to the technical colleges of Germany as examples; a field in which the ancient universities, with their focus on general and classical study, were felt to lag behind.

The Yorkshire College of Science began by teaching experimental physics, mathematics, geology, mining, chemistry and biology, and soon became well known as an international centre for the study of engineering and textile technology (due to the manufacturing and textile trades being strong in Northern England). When classics, modern literature and history went on offer a few years later, the Yorkshire College of Science became the Yorkshire College. In 1887, the College merged with the Leeds School of Medicine to form a college which later joined the Victoria University (established at Manchester in 1880) on 3 November 1887. Students in this period were awarded external degrees by the University of London.

Victoria University and Royal Charter
Leeds was given its first university in 1887 when the Yorkshire College joined the federal Victoria University on 3 November: the Victoria University had been established by royal charter in 1880; Owens College being at first the only member college. Leeds now found itself in an educational union with close social cousins from Manchester and Liverpool.

Unlike Owens College, the Leeds section of the Victoria University had never barred women from its courses. However, it was not until special facilities were provided at the Day Training College in 1896 that women began enrolling in significant numbers. The first female student to begin a course at the university was Lilias Annie Clark, who studied Modern Literature and Education.

The Victoria University was a short-lived concept, as the multiple university locations in Manchester and Liverpool were keen to establish themselves as separate, independent universities. This was partially due to the benefits a university had for the cities of Liverpool and Manchester whilst the institutions were also unhappy with the practical difficulties posed by maintaining a federal arrangement across broad distances. The interests of the universities and respective cities in creating independent institutions was further spurred by the granting of a charter to the University of Birmingham in 1900 after lobbying from Joseph Chamberlain.

Following a Royal Charter and Act of Parliament in 1903, the then newly formed University of Liverpool began the fragmentation of the Victoria University by being the first member to gain independence. The University of Leeds soon followed suit and was granted a royal charter as an independent body by King Edward VII in 1904.

The Victoria University continued after the breakup of the group, with an amended constitution and renamed as the Victoria University of Manchester (though "Victoria" was usually omitted from its name except in formal usage) until September 2004. On October 1, 2004 a merger with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology was enacted to form The University of Manchester.

Present day
During the 2009–10 academic year, over 32,800 students were attached to around 560 different first-degree programmes and approximately 300 postgraduate degree programmes. Whilst maintaining its strengths in the traditional subjects (for example more students studying languages and physical sciences than anywhere else in the UK), Leeds has also developed expertise in more distinctive and rare specialist areas such as Colour Chemistry, Fire Science, Nanotechnology and Aviation Technology with Pilot studies.

In December 2004, financial pressures forced the University's governing body (the Council) to decide to close the Bretton campus. Activities at Bretton were moved to the main University campus in the summer of 2007 (allowing all Bretton-based students to complete their studies there). There was substantial opposition to the closure by the Bretton students. The University's other satellite site, Manygates in Wakefield, also closed, but Lifelong Learning and Healthcare programmes are continuing on a new site next to Wakefield College.

In May 2006, the University began re-branding itself to bring together its visual identity to produce one consistent look. A new logo was produced, based on that used during the centenary celebrations in 2004, to replace the combined use of the modified University arms and the old Parkinson Building, which has been in use since 2004. The University arms will still be used in its original form for ceremonial purposes only. Individual department and service logos are also being phased out. Four university colours were also specified as being green, red, black and beige.

The University is committed to working with the private sector and invests heavily in realising the commercial potential of its academic developments. Leeds attracts the highest level of industrial funding of any university in the UK whilst also aiding the local Leeds community with over 2,000 university student volunteers. With 8,800 staff currently employed, the university is the third largest employer in Leeds and contributes around £800 million a year to the local economy with students adding a further £190 million through rent and living costs.

The University’s educational partnerships have included providing formal accreditation of degree awards to Leeds College of Art and Leeds Trinity University College, although the latter now has the power to award its own degrees. The College of the Resurrection, an Anglican theological college in Mirfield with monastic roots, has, since its inception in 1904, been affiliated to the University, and ties remain close. The University is also a founding member of the Northern Consortium

In August 2010, the university was one of the most targeted institutions by students entering the UCAS clearing process for 2010 admission, which matches under-subscribed courses to students who did not meet their firm or insurance choices. The university was one of nine Russell Group universities offering extremely limited places to "exceptional" students after the universities in Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Edinburgh and Oxford declared they would not enter the process due to courses being full to capacity.

On 12 October 2010, The Refectory of the Leeds University Union hosted a live edition of the Channel 4 News, with students, academics and economists expressing their reaction to the Browne Review, an independent review of Higher Education funding and student finance conducted by John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley. University of Leeds Vice-Chancellor and Russell Group chairman Professor Michael Arthur participated, giving an academic perspective alongside current vice-chancellor of Kingston University and former Pro Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Education at the University of Leeds, Sir Peter Scott. Midway through the broadcast a small group of protesters against the potential rise of student debt entered the building before being restrained and evacuated.

Development of campus
The University has 1230 acre of land in total, with the main campus taking up 98 acre. The main campus is located 1 mi north of Leeds city centre and compromises of a mixture of Gothic revival, art deco, brutalist and postmodern buildings, making it one of the most diverse university campuses in the country in terms of building styles and history. It is within walking distance of both the city centre and Headingley, a popular residential area for students wishing to live off campus. The main entrance to the campus for visitors by car is on Woodhouse Lane (A660), near the Parkinson Building. The former Woodhouse Cemetery is within the campus, now a landscaped area known as St George's Fields.

The Parkinson Building is a grade II listed art deco building and campanile named after the late Frank Parkinson, a major benefactor of the university who oversaw many new build projects from 1936 onwards. These commitments culminating in the official opening of The Parkinson Building (of which Parkinson donated £200,000 towards) on 9 November 1951. The tower of the building is a well-known landmark in the city of Leeds and is used in the university logo and as a university symbol. The campanile is the highest point of the building and stands at 57 metres (187 ft) tall, making it the 17th tallest building in the city of Leeds.

The Leeds University Business School is housed in the renovated 19th century buildings (known as the Maurice Keyworth Building), which used to belong to Leeds Grammar School on the Western side of the University of Leeds campus. The university have also constructed further modern buildings on the business school area of campus known as the Innovation Hub; costing £9.3 million. The building is a three storey building of 4350m² (gross capacity) with the third floor accommodating the Innovation Hub.

The university's Great Hall building is one of the most prominent buildings on campus alongside the Parkinson Building and the numerous brutalist buildings which are Grade II listed also. The Great Hall was built on a site of Beech Grove Hall Estate which was purchased in 1879 by the then Yorkshire College when joining the Victoria University. This was later demolished in 1884, to become the site of the Clothworkers buildings of the Baines Memorial Wing and the Great Hall. The buildings were designed by the renowned Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse R.A in red pressed brick and had dressings of Bolton Wood stone in a Gothic Collegiate style. The cost of the build cost £22,000 and was raised partially by public appeal and served as the university library until the opening of the Brotherton Library. The Great Hall is now primarily used for examinations, meetings and graduation ceremonies.

In June 2010, post-war buildings at the University of Leeds were recommended by English Heritage to become Grade II listed buildings. The modernist and brutalist buildings being recognised include the newly Grade II* listed Roger Stevens Building, whilst the EC Stoner Building, Computer Science Building, Mathematics/Earth Sciences Building, Senior Common room, Garstang Building, Irene Manton Building, Communications and Edward Boyle Library and Henry Price Building have been recognised as Grade II listed buildings. These additions join the already listed 1877 Great Hall and Bains Wing (designed and built by Alfred Waterhouse), the School of Mineral Engineering, the Brotherton Library and the Parkinson Building which are Grade II listed.

In addition to the main campus, there is also a satellite location at Wakefield. Until the 2006–07 academic year, some courses were taught at the Bretton Hall campus in West Bretton. The site closed in summer 2007 after which the courses taught there were relocated to the main campus in Leeds.

There is no railway station close to the main campus, however there are numerous bus routes which serve it. The proposed Leeds Supertram would have run past the campus. The currently proposed Leeds Trolleybus (northern line) will run past the campus, linking it with the city centre, Headingley and Lawnswood. The Leeds Inner Ring Road also lies close to the campus.

Modern expansion


The university has engaged in a wave of modern expansion since 2008, and has invested more than £300 million in transforming its campus over the coming years, resulting in new state-of-the-art educational, research, residential and leisure facilities with a further £80 million being spent to improve current assets. The programme of this expansion being one of the biggest capital investment projects in British higher education. Its over-arching vision is to provide staff and students with a world-class campus which is integral to the university's ambition and vision of securing a place among the world's top 50 universities.


 * Earth and Environment improvements included a phased refurbishment and construction of this £23 million development which is already completed. These renovations included refurbished laboratory space in the west wing which opened for staff and students in April 2009, and the completion of the remaining elements of the scheme, both new build and refurbished, followed in November 2009.


 * Charles Morris Hall student accommodation renovations started with the demolition of the previous Mary Ogilvie House, the existing 108 bed student accommodation block, and construction of a new 500-bed, £27.1 million building began in March 2009, the new halls were completed in the summer of 2010, with the first students moving in for the new academic year in September 2010.


 * The Childcare Centre building work has also been completed and led to the creation of a new 140 place staff/student childcare centre and a new landscaped green square on adjoining plot. Work on the £3.6 million project lasted approximately 12 months with the official opening in April 2010.


 * Swimming Pool and Fitness Centre improvements (known as The Edge) started in 2009 and consisted of the construction of the new £12.2 million swimming pool/gym complex on the south-western edge of campus. The facility was due for completion by the end of February 2010 however was delayed until being officially opened in May 2010.


 * The Law Building is a £12 million project which was completed in ealry 2011. Work on the project started September 2009 and completion was initially planned for late 2010. The new building is located on the western side of the university campus alongside the Leeds University Business School and is adjacent to the new Michael Marks Building which will feature the Marks & Spencer archives, including over 60,000 artifacts from London and Leeds (where the company was founded). This new collection of buildings will form the 'Professional' campus of the university, housing business, economics and law functions.


 * The Edward Boyle Library £28 million redevelopment of the library was approved by the University and a consultant design team appointed, with a view to work commencing late 2010. However, budget cuts have resulted in the project being put on indefinite hold.


 * Innovation City Leeds Plans for a £28 million 'Innovation City Leeds' building and bio-incubator which would help position the city as global hub for enterprise and innovation are subject to approval. If given the green light, work would be complete in late 2011.


 * Further developments of the campus which are in planning or design stages include the Energy Building, which will be a £15 million development with new build work expected to begin in late summer 2010, and due for completion by the end of 2011. The development is currently in the tender/design stage.

Rankings


Leeds is a leading research institution, and a member of the Russell Group, a group of research-orientated universities similar to the Association of American Universities in North America.

In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, the University was placed seventh nationally for the number of top-scoring researchers and eighth for 'research power' out of the 173 institutions taking part in the exercise. Just under 800 researchers at the university were given ratings of 5* or 5, meaning that 70 per cent of the university's researchers were working at the highest level on projects of international importance. The university received the highest 5* grade, denoting work at the forefront of international research, in six subjects. These consisted of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, English, Town and Country Planning (i.e. Transport), Food Science, and Italian.

The University of Leeds was ranked in 8th place in the UK in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, the best result in the Yorkshire and the Humber region and ranking behind only 3 universities not previously in the University of Oxford, University of Cambridge and University of London systems (#4 - University of Manchester, No. 5 - University of Edinburgh and No. 7 - University of Nottingham).

In 2010, Leeds was ranked as the 9th most targeted British university by graduate employers, a one place increase from 10th position in the previous 2009 rankings.

In the 2007 THE-QS World University Rankings (From 2010 two separate rankings will be produced by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS World University Rankings), Leeds was placed 16th in the UK, 27th in Europe and 80th in the world. More recent rankings show despite a drop to 104th in the 2008 world rankings, the university re-entered the top 100 at 99th place in 2009. In 2010, the university consolidated its position inside the top 100, whilst also rising 14 places in the QS World University Rankings, moving into 85th place. The university is currently working through a strategic plan which by 2015 aims to see the University of Leeds rank inside the world's top 50 universities.

In 2007, The Sunday Times released averages of all its tables over 10 years, ranking Leeds as 26th in the country from 1998 - 2007.

The University has an excellent reputation for teaching and provides a wide range of courses for students. The Guardian University Guide 2008 rated it top in the country for Dentistry and Chemical Engineering, while a majority of its courses were ranked in the top ten or twenty.

The University of Leeds Business School is regarded as one of the best in the UK. In its most recent ranking the school's MBA programme was placed 15th in Europe by The Economist. In the Financial Times' Global MBA ranking for 2008, the Leeds MBA was ranked 48th in the world.

The university also won the biennially awarded Queen's Anniversary Prize in 2009 for services to engineering and technology. The honour being awarded to the university’s Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) which for over forty years has been a world leader in transport teaching and research.

^ The THE–QS World University Rankings, 2009 was the last collaboration between the Times Higher Education (THES) and QS. As of 2010, both the THES and QS will publish their results independently, using their own methodologies.

Admissions
From 2006 to present, UCAS published statistics show that the university has been consistently ranked 2nd in the United Kingdom for applications received per year, second only to the University of Manchester. As of 2010, The Complete University Guide figures show the university currently receives 7.7 applications per place, with a student composition of 42% males to 58% females enrolled.

Previous figures published include The Independent Guide to UK Universities provided by Push which stated that the university received 8 applications per place, with a male to female ratio of 41:59 respectively for 2009. The figures also highlight that the university generally admits undergraduate students with 280-360 UCAS tariff points, the equivalent of a minimum of 3 A levels at grade B,B and C ranging to three straight A's or 2 A*'s and a C. The figures also showed that 16% of undergraduates gained First Class honours degree, 58% gaining a 2:1, 24% gaining a 2:2 and 3% gaining a 3rd.

Government published statistics (Unistats of 2010) further breakdown the admissions of students by UCAS tariff points with 30% being admitted with 280 to 319 points, 25% with 320 to 359, 20% with 360 to 399, 15% with 400 to 439, 5% with 440 to 479 and a further 5% with 480 to 519. The statistics also show 85% of undergraduates are admitted after completion of A levels with 15% of graduates gaining a First Class honours degree, 55% gaining a 2:1, 30% gaining a 2:2 and 5% gaining a 3rd.

Nobel Prize winners
Overall there have been 5 Nobel Prize Laureates who have been based at the university during a significant point in their career.


 * Sir William Henry Bragg, OM, KBE, PRS - For their services in the analysis of crystal structure by means of X-rays.
 * Archer John Porter Martin - For the invention of partition chromatography.
 * Lord George Porter of Luddenham, OM, FRS - For studies of extremely fast chemical reactions.
 * Wole Soyinka - Who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence and the first African to be honoured.
 * Richard Laurence Millington Synge - For the invention of partition chromatography.

Libraries


The university library is spread over four locations, and holds, in total, 2.78 million books, 26,000 print and electronic journals, 850 databases and 6,000 electronic books: making it one of the largest research libraries in the UK. The main arts, social sciences and law library is the Brotherton Library, located in the Parkinson Building. The main science, engineering and student library is the Edward Boyle Library, located in the centre of the campus. Medicine, dentistry and healthcare students are served by the Health Sciences Library, located in the Worsley building, and there is an extension of this library at St James's University Hospital.

The university library also houses numerous special collections, ranging from the 15th century through to the 20th century. Such collections include locks of hair from the influential Classical era composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Further collections held include William Shakespeare's First Folio (Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories. & Tragedies) published in 1623 and valued at around £15 million. The university also holds Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, first published 5 July 1687 and Oscar Wilde's manuscript of The Duchess of Padua from 1883.

The university librarians designed environmentally friendly bags after becoming concerned at the environmental effects of handing out so many plastic bags to students. The bags are imprinted with large white "Sshhh...!" on one side and the other side contains contact details for the library and the new University logo.

Computing
There are 9,000 personal computers available across the campus along with 150 Sun computers and servers, 8 high performance Sun servers and 256 supercomputers. There are 29 centrally managed computer clusters of varying sizes spread across the different sites, along with others managed by specific departments. Five of these clusters are available 24 hours a day.

Research facilities
Many of the academic departments have specialist research facilities, for use by staff and students to support research from internationally significant collections in university libraries to state-of-the-art laboratories. These include those hosted at the Institute for Transport Studies, such as the University of Leeds Driving Simulator which is one of the most advanced worldwide in a research environment, allowing transport researchers to watch driver behaviour in accurately controlled laboratory conditions without the risks associated with a live, physical environment.

With extensive links to the St James's University Hospital through the Leeds School of Medicine, the university operates a range of high-tech research laboratories for biomedical and physical sciences, food and engineering - including clean rooms for bionanotechnology and plant science greenhouses. The university is connected to Leeds General Infirmary and the institute of molecular medicine based at St James's University Hospital which aids integration of research and practice in the medical field.

The university also operate research facilities in the aviation field, with the Airbus A320 flight simulator. The simulator was devised with an aim to promote the safety and efficiency of flight operations; where students use the simulator to develop their reactions to critical situations such as engine failure, display malfunctioning and freak weather.

In addition to these facilities, many university departments conduct research in their respective fields.

NHS Hospitals
The University of Leeds's medical school is one of the largest in Europe with over 250 medical students being trained in each of the clinical years and over 1,000 teaching, research, technical and administrative staff. The school has centres of excellence split down into Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics (LIGHT), Leeds Institute of Health Sciences (LIHS), Leeds Institute of Medical Education (LIME) and The Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine (LIMM). In 2010-11 university guides, the Leeds School of Medicine was ranked as the 11th best medical school in the country by The Guardian and 14th by The Complete University Guide in association with The Independent.

The medical school has close links with the NHS and works closely with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, comprising 6 hospitals and numerous primary care training practices in Yorkshire and the Humber.

The Leeds General Infirmary and St James's University Hospital, Leeds are the main teaching hospitals in the West Yorkshire region with St James's University Hospital being one of the largest teaching hospitals in Europe. The main university campus is adjacent to the Leeds General Infirmary and is directly connected via the Worsley Building of the Leeds Medical School.

Leeds General Infirmary is one of the leading centres in the UK for neurosurgery, and one of only 10 centres in the UK for Paediatric cardiology. The hospital features a rooftop landing pad for the Yorkshire Air Ambulance Service which was utilised on September 20, 2006 when the Top Gear presenter Richard Hammond was treated at the hospital after suffering critical injuries as a result of a jet power car crash whilst filming at the airfield at ex-RAF Elvington near York. He was then moved to a BUPA hospital in Clifton, Bristol and has now fully recovered and appeared on Top Gear in February 2007.

Students Union
The Leeds University Union is an National Union of Students affiliated body, located on the main university campus. The union's main purpose is to support Leeds students through providing sociallising opportunities, societies and group support, help and advisory services and to aid students wishing to voulenteer, campaign and engage with the local communities. The Leeds University Union is also a founding member of The Aldwych Group, which represents the students' unions of the members of the Russell Group.

The building houses university merchandise shops, everyday sundries shops, banking facilities, hairdressers, beauticians, opticians, smoothie bars, noodle bars, curry take away bars, nightclubs and other amenities such as advice centres, job and career prospect support as well as elected representatives for the union and courses. The union is one of the largest student union operations in the UK.

The University Refectory is the University's main canteen during the day, serving a range of hot and cold food whilst in the evenings it is converted into one of Leeds's largest music venues, having a 2,100 person capacity for live events. Many famous bands and musicians have played at the University Refectory throughout their careers. These include The Who who recorded Live at Leeds at the venue (originally in 1970, and then returned in June 2006 to recreate the original show), Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, and more recently Muse (recorded and played on MTV), The Strokes, Bloc Party, Manic Street Preachers, K.T. Tunstall, Arctic Monkeys, The Coral and Paul Weller (comprehensive gig lists being available from the LUU site).

Leeds Student Newspaper
Leeds Student is the weekly student newspaper, published free every Friday during term-time and distributed around the University of Leeds. The articles are written by students, and are largely about local and student based issues. It is one of the country's most active university newspapers and regularly wins national student media awards. Leeds Student was formed in 1970 by the merger of the Leeds University Union newspaper (Union News) and the then Leeds Polytechnic Students Union newspaper, but in November 2005 Leeds Metropolitan University students voted to disaffiliate from Leeds Student, citing under-representation. Leeds Student was the 2009 winner of The Guardian Student Newspaper of the Year award and shortlisted for The Guardian Student Magazine of the Year. Former editors of the newspaper include Paul Vallely (The Independent) and Nicholas Witchell (BBC News).

Leeds Student Radio
Leeds University Union also operates the student radio station LSRfm.com, which currently holds the award for Best Student Station in the UK. LSRfm.com is widely active in the Leeds University Union and often provides live DJs for union events, such as every Thursday in the Terrace and every Friday in Old Bar. Between the 22nd February and the 22nd March 2010, LSRfm.com broadcast on FM Frequency (87.7 FM) for the first time in four years. Throughout the rest of the year it retains LSRfm.com as its website and streams audio regularly through this, as well as offering free podcasts. LSRfm.com has been extremely successful at the national Student Radio Awards in the past, this year winning Bronze and Silver for Best Journalistic, Bronze for Best Male Presenter, Silver for Best Scripted Programming, Gold for Best Student Radio Chart Show and Gold in the prestigious Best Station categories. In 2010, LSRfm.com's religious and spiritual show Faith In The City received national acclaim at the Christian Broadcast Council awards, receiving a 'CBC Loves' award for Best Christian Speech Radio Program. The LSRfm.com coordinator is not an elected position but is appointed through an interview process, with the successful candidate this year being James Palmer. LSRfm.com has a dedicated committee of around 20 members, and is one of the largest student stations in the country, boasting over 300 members.

Awards
Leeds University Union (LUU) won the award for the Higher Education Students' Union of the Year at the NUS Awards 2009. In 2008, the union was voted runner up for the award of Higher Education Students' Union of the Year however did win first prize for Equality and Diversity.

In 2008, the Leeds University Union became the first student union to achieve Gold Status in the Students’ Union Evaluation Initiative (SUEI). A feat only matched by the University of Sheffield Union of Students in mid 2010.

Leeds University Sport
The university has a strong reputation for sporting excellence and teams compete regularly at the highest levels of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league and is currently ranked 15th in the country, with aspirations to become a top ten institution out of the 157 universities and colleges competing. Each year the university supports over 20 elite athletes, providing a funding, support services and an interface with university academic departments, to ensure elite athletes have the infrastructure that allows them to compete at the highest level whilst studying. The university also offers sporting scholarships to elite athletes in conjunction with Npower whilst offering Olympic scholarships to prospects preparing to compete at future Olympic Games.

In addition to competing in the highest levels of the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league, the university competes annually in the Christie Cup, a competition dating back to 1886 which sees the former Victoria Universities of Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester participate in 28 different sports. After the rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge, the Christie's Championships is the oldest inter–university competition on the sporting calendar. The 125th edition was held at the University of Leeds in March 2011, the first competition to be staged at the university following the major investment in sporting provisions during 2010, the University of Leeds went on to win the competition on home soil.

The university is a member of the MCC University Centres of Cricketing Excellence alongside the University of Cardiff, University of Cambridge, University of Durham, University of Loughborough and University of Oxford, where talented young cricketers can further their academic education whilst receiving an expert levels of cricket coaching and competitive match play.

University of Leeds Sport offer a wide range of competitive and participation sports, which is utilised by the student and local population of Leeds who may use certain university facilities. Alongside fitness classes such as yoga and aerobics, the university offers over 36 different sporting clubs, including cricket, football, rugby union, hockey, basketball and badminton which have achieved league and cup wins in the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) league.

Whilst the university operated performance and elite level sports, there is an intramural recreational sport programme which is one of the largest of any Higher Education institution in Britain. The Leeds University Union has over 60 sports clubs which range from Cycling to Sailing, and they have the biggest snowsports club in England. Students of the University have also recently founded a Baseball team, becoming one of only 8 universities in the country to play the sport.

A £20 million spending plan was sanctioned with the aim to add facilities to the university's sporting provisions, including a 25 m, 8 lane swimming pool and a 200 station health and fitness centre (known as The Edge) which opened in May 2010. The Gryphon Sports Centre opened in 2008 after a £2.5 million refurbishment, and caters for racquet sports including badminton and squash whilst the Weetwood Playing Fields are utilised for football, rugby union, rugby league and hockey.

The University also offers a range of sporting opportunities for students to gain experience and develop their skills by volunteering within the local community. Volunteers can take up posts that include coaching, events organisation, stewarding and sports administration.

The University of Leeds is the host of the Internet Football Association's annual tournament WorldNET.

Accommodation


The university provides accommodation in either catered or self-catering rooms, mostly reserved for first year undergraduate students but also for international students, postgraduates, staff and undergraduates who have been unable to find alternative accommodation.

Four of the halls (Charles Morris Hall, Henry Price Building, Ellerslie Hall and Lyddon Hall) are on the campus, while other halls and self-catering accommodation are located throughout the city. Bodington Hall is approximately four miles north-west of the campus, Devonshire Hall is situated around half a mile off the main campus), and other accommodation includes Carr Mills, Clarence Dock, James Baillie Park, Leodis Residences, Lupton Residences, Montague Burton Residences, North Hill Court, Opal 3 Residences, Oxley Residences, Sentinel Towers, The Tannery, Shimmin and St Marks Residences.

In addition to providing university-owned accommodation, the university works with external accommodation providers such as Unite and Opal who provide private accommodation for both undergraduate students and postgraduates.

The university guarantees first year undergraduates, international undergraduates, undergraduate exchange students and international postgraduate students places in university-owned accommodation on condition that they meet the relevant application deadlines. In common with other institutions, it also runs schemes for students choosing Leeds as their firm or insurance choice through UCAS, with clearing students being supported once accepted.

Miscellaneous
The University's Disability Team (based within its Equality Service) arranges and provides academic support services for students who are deaf or have hearing impairments, are blind or partially sighted, have a specific learning difficulty (e.g. dyslexia), have a physical impairment or mobility difficulty, have a long-term medical condition or have a mental health difficulty. The University of Leeds is one of the few universities in the UK to include an on-campus Transcription Centre, managed in conjunction with the RNIB. The Transcription Centre produces information in a range of accessible formats (including braille, large print, e-text and audio formats) for blind and partially sighted students and staff members – both at Leeds and at other universities, colleges and schools.

The University of Leeds Conference Auditorium, located next to the Sports Hall, was once the original West Yorkshire Playhouse. It was refurbished in 2003 to become two lecture theatres; one for 320 and one for 550, making it the largest capacity facility on the University campus. The University's Muslim Prayer Room is located in the Conference Auditorium building and able to accommodate up to 300 people at any one time. The prayer room has undergone recent refurbishment after half a million pounds was allocated towards its development with joint efforts between Leeds University Union's Islamic Society, John Schless (former LUU Societies Officer) and the Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Arthur.

Faculties
The various schools, institutes and centres of the University are arranged into nine faculties, each with a dean, pro-deans and central functions:
 * Arts (English; History; Humanities; Institute for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies; Leeds Humanities Research Institute; Institute for Medieval Studies; School of Modern Languages and Cultures;)
 * Biological Sciences (Institute of Membrane and Systems Biology; Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology; Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology; Undergraduate School of Biological Sciences; Graduate School of Biological Sciences)
 * Business (Accounting and Finance; Economics; International Business; Management; Marketing; Work and Employment Relations)
 * Education, Social Sciences and Law (Education; Law; Politics and International Studies; Sociology and Social Policy; Graduate School)
 * Engineering (Civil Engineering; Computing; Electronic and Electrical Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering)
 * Environment (School of Earth and Environment; School of Geography; Institute for Transport Studies)
 * Mathematics and Physical Sciences (Chemistry; School of Food Science and Nutrition; Mathematics; Physics and Astronomy)
 * Medicine and Health (Leeds Dental Institute; School of Healthcare; School of Medicine; Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics; Leeds Institute of Health Sciences; Leeds Institute of Medical Education; Leeds Institute of Molecular Medicine; Institute of Psychological Sciences)
 * Performance, Visual Arts and Communications (Institute of Communications Studies; Design; School of Fine Art, History of Art & Cultural Studies; Music; Performance and Cultural Industries; Graduate School)

Governance

 * The Court serves as a mechanism for the University’s accountability to the wider community and to stakeholders, making sure that the University is well managed, properly governed and responsive to public and local interests and concerns. It is made up of mainly lay members.


 * The Council is the governing body of the University, consisting of mainly lay members along with representatives of staff and students. It is responsible for the proper management and financial solvency of the University, with major policy decisions and corporate strategy being subject to its approval.


 * The Senate is the principal academic authority of the University. It oversees academic management and sets strategy and priorities, including the curriculum and maintenance of standards.

International Partners
The university holds a number of formal links with institutions from around the world to share teaching and research and facilitate staff and student exchanges. Numerous European universities participate in the Erasmus Programme which permits learning across the many institutions in this region. Students at Leeds may choose from twinned European universities, with each faculty having particular university affiliations. The global partnerships spanning the continents include :

Africa
 * 🇪🇬 Tanta University, Egypt
 * 🇬🇭 University of Ghana, Ghana
 * 🇿🇦 Rhodes University, South Africa

Asia
 * 🇯🇵 Waseda University, Japan
 * 🇨🇳 Shanghai Theatre Academy, China
 * 🇨🇳 Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
 * 🇸🇬 National University of Singapore, Singapore
 * 🇹🇼 National Taiwan University, Taiwan
 * 🇭🇰 Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
 * 🇭🇰 City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
 * 🇭🇰 Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong
 * 🇭🇰 Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Australasia
 * 🇳🇿 Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand
 * 🇦🇺 University of Western Australia, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 University of Sydney, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 University of Queensland, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 University of Newcastle, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 University of New South Wales, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 University of Adelaide, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 Queensland University of Technology, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 Monash University, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 Griffith University, Australia
 * 🇦🇺 Australian National University, Australia

Canada
 * 🇨🇦 University of Western Ontario, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 University of Waterloo, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 University of Victoria, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 University of Toronto, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 University of Calgary, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 University of Alberta, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Université de Montréal, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Simon Fraser University, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Queen’s University, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 McMaster University, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 McGill University, Canada
 * 🇨🇦 Carleton University, Canada

Latin America
 * 🇲🇽 University of Guadalajara, Mexico
 * 🇲🇽 Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Mexico
 * 🇦🇷 Universidad Católica Argentina, Argentina
 * 🇨🇱 Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, Chile

United States of America
 * 🇺🇸 University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of South Carolina, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of North Texas, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of New Mexico, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of Nebraska, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of Mississippi, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of Kansas, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of Illinois, USA
 * 🇺🇸 University of California, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Pennsylvania State University, USA
 * 🇺🇸 North Carolina State University, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Juniata College, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Georgia Institute of Technology, USA
 * 🇺🇸 George Washington University, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Drexel University, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Colorado School of Mines, USA
 * 🇺🇸 Arizona State University, USA

Chancellor
The Chancellor of the University acts as a ceremonial figurehead and sits on the University Court. Leeds has had six Chancellors since gaining its royal charter in 1904. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor Michael Arthur. The first Chancellor of Leeds was George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon, the son of Frederick Robinson, 1st Viscount Goderich, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

The current Chancellor is Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg of Wigton.

Vice-Chancellor
The Vice-Chancellor of the University acts as the chief executive. The current Vice-Chancellor is Professor Michael Arthur, who was formerly Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences at the University of Southampton and is the present chair of The Russell Group. A number of former Vice-Chancellors have had university buildings or halls of residences on the campus named after them. Examples of such dedications include The Edward Boyle Library, Bodington Hall (accommodation named in honour of the first Vice-Chancellor) and The Roger Stevens Building.

Alumni


Leeds' alumni include the former Secretary of State Jack Straw, the politicians Sayeeda Warsi, Ken Hind, Clare Short, Paul Truswell, Eric Illsley, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, former President of Mongolia and Bekele Geleta, Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (Canadian, Ethiopian Oromo).

Alumni from the media and related areas include political cartoonist Steve Bell, Deputy Director General of the BBC Mark Byford, world music broadcasters Andy Kershaw and Liz Kershaw, former Chairman and CEO of ITN Mark Wood, BBC News journalist Nicholas Witchell, foreign correspondent Mark Brayne, television presenter Jenni Falconer and Sky Sports News presenter Georgie Thompson.

Alumni from the arts include singers Leslie Cheung, Corinne Bailey Rae, Little Boots and Katie White of The Ting Tings, DJ/Producer Rusko (musician), musicians Mark Knopfler OBE of the band Dire Straits and Simon Rix, bassist of Leeds based band the Kaiser Chiefs. Film director Shona Auerbach, impersonator Alistair McGowan, screenwriter Jeremy Dyson and poet Tony Harrison are also alumni of the university. Prominent authors Wole Soyinka and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o have also attended the University. Trompe-l'œil chalk artist Julian Beever also counts amongst alumni, studying fine art at Leeds.

Former students in the field of science and technology include NASA astronaut Piers Sellers, Nobel Prize winner and President of the Royal Society George Porter OM, FRS, researcher into breast cancer and the development of cancer drug Tamoxifen V. Craig Jordan OBE and Edmund Happold, founder of Buro Happold.

Alumni from the humanities and social sciences include the philosopher, university lecturer and author Professor Paul Crowther.

Other notable alumni include England rugby union player Tom Palmer, Bradford City A.F.C. midfielder David Syers, English cross country runner, triathlete and two-time ITU Triathlon World Champion Alistair Brownlee and younger brother Jonathan Brownlee, Guinness World Record holding ocean rower and polar explorer and Conservative Member of Parliament for North Warwickshire Daniel Byles, Table Tennis national champion Jamie Hulley, former head of the Court of Appeal Sir Christopher Rose, former Doctor and serial killer Harold Shipman, Subir Raha, former executive director and managing director of Indian Oil Corporation and Oil and Natural Gas Corporation respectively, Jayant Krishna, Principal Consultant of Tata Consultancy Services and Chelsy Davy, former girlfriend of Prince Harry of Wales.

Chris Pine, American Hollywood actor, studied as a year abroad student during his junior year (English) at the University of Leeds. He is most famous for portraying Captain James T. Kirk in the 2009 film Star Trek, in the role that was once made famous by William Shatner.

Honorary graduates
Since the university was granted its own Royal Charter in 1904, the university have awarded honorary degrees (honoris causa) to notable individuals as part of their yearly graduation ceremonies. The degree awarded itself can vary but is typically a doctorate or, less commonly, a master's degree, and may be awarded to someone who has no prior connection with the university.

Other history
The university campus is the final resting place of Pablo Fanque, Britain’s first black circus proprietor and operator of England’s premier circus for 30 years during the Victorian era. Pablo Fanque, born William Darby, and his wife, Susannah Darby were buried in Woodhouse Cemetery, now St. George’s Field, on the campus of the University of Leeds. The monument that Fanque erected in his wife's memory, and a smaller modest monument in his memory still stand. Fanque saw fame again in the 20th century, when John Lennon made mention of him in The Beatles song, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! on the album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. On October 8, 2010, the Leeds University Union, as part of the university’s annual Light Night celebration, unveiled a commemorative blue plaque at Fanque's and Darby’s gravesite.