UK.Jobs.Universities.Hotels

2011-05-26T00:02:00.001-07:00

The University of London is a federal university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes.As such, the University of London is the largest university in the UK by number of full-time students, with 135,090 campus-based students and over 45,000 in the University of London International Programmes.
The university was first established by a Royal Charter in 1836, which brought together in federation London University (now University College London) and King's College (now King's College London), to establish today's federally-structured University of London.
Graduates of the University of London often use the post-nominal letters 'Lond.' or, more rarely, 'Londin.' (both from Londiniensis) after their degree abbreviations (see post-nominal abbreviations).

Founded in 1836, the University at first comprised just two colleges: University College London, which previously had no official chartered status and did not apply religious tests to its students, and King's College, which had been chartered since 1829 and which admitted only members of the Church of England. Both King's (founded 1829) and University College London (founded 1826) pre-date the University of London, which initially served solely as an examining body for the constituent colleges.
In 2002, Imperial College and UCL mooted the possibility of a merger. This raised a question mark over the future of the University of London and the autonomy of smaller colleges within it. Subsequently considerable opposition from academic staff of both UCL and Imperial led to a rejection of the merger.
On 9 December 2005, Imperial College became the first college to make a formal decision to leave the university. Its council announced that it was beginning negotiations to withdraw from the university in time for its own centenary celebrations, and in order to be able to award its own degrees. On 5 October 2006, the University of London accepted Imperial's formal request to withdraw from the federation.Imperial became fully independent on 9 July 2007, as part of the celebrations of the college's centenary.

The Times Higher Education Supplement announced in February 2007 that the London School of Economics, University College London and King's College London all plan to start awarding their own degrees, rather than degrees from the federal University of London as they have done previously, from the start of the new academic year (starting in Autumn 2007). Although this plan to award their own degrees does not amount to a decision to formally leave the University of London, the THES suggests that this 'rais[es] new doubts about the future of the federal University of London'. However, the University continues to grow and, in 2005, admitted the Central School of Speech and Drama.
As of April 1, 2010, London Business School has formally ceased awarding University of London affiliated degrees. It was decided on 13th May 2011, after a consultation and development process, that the School of Pharmacy, University of London would merge with University College London (UCL).
The University of London owns a considerable central London estate of 180 buildings in Bloomsbury, near
The constituent colleges of the University of London are currently divided as follows, in alphabetical order:

Birkbeck, University of London (BBK) [entered in 1920]
The Central School of Speech and Drama (CSSD) [entered in 2005]
Courtauld Institute of Art [created and admitted in 1932]
Goldsmiths, University of London (GUL) [entered in 1904]
Heythrop College (HEY) [entered in 1971]
Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) [entered in 2003]
Institute of Education (IoE) [entered in 1909]
King's College London (KCL) [founding college]
London Business School (LBS) [created and admitted in 1964]
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) [entered in 1900]
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) [entered in 1924]
Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL) [entered in 1915]
Royal Academy of Music (RAM) [entered in 2003]
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL) [entered in 1900]
Royal Veterinary College (RVC) [entered in 1915]
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) [created and entered in 1916]
St George's, University of London, formerly St George's Hospital Medical School (SGUL) [affiliated in the 19th Century]
The School of Pharmacy, University of London [entered in 1949]
University College London (UCL) [founding college]
University of London Institute in Paris (ULIP) [entered in 1969]

Some of the University's colleges have their main buildings on the estate. The Bloomsbury Campus also contains eight Halls of Residence and Senate House, which houses the Senate House Library, the chancellor's official residence and previously housed the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, now part of University College London (UCL) and housed in its own new building. Almost all of the School of Advanced Study is housed in Senate House and neighbouring Stewart House.
The University also owns many of the squares which formed part of the Bedford Estate, including
The nine largest institutions of the federal university, usually termed the colleges, are Birkbeck, Goldsmiths, King's College London, the London Business School, Queen Mary, Royal Holloway, the School of Oriental and African Studies, London School of Economics and Political Science and University College London (UCL). Formerly a constituent college, the Imperial College London left the University of London in 2007.

Most decisions affecting the constituent colleges and institutions of the University of London are made at the level of the colleges or institutions themselves. The University of London does retain its own decision-making structure, however, with the Collegiate Council and Board of Trustees, responsible for matters of academic policy. The Collegiate Council is made up of the Heads of Colleges of the University.

2011-05-22T02:06:00.000-07:00

Queen's University Belfast is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university's official title, per its charter, is the Queen's University of Belfast. It is often referred to simply as Queen's, or by the abbreviation QUB. The university was chartered in 1845, and opened in 1849 as "Queen's College, Belfast", but has roots going back to 1810 and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.

Queen's is a member of the Russell Group of the UK's 20 leading research intensive universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association, Universities Ireland and Universities UK. The university offers academic degrees at various levels and across a broad subject range, with over 300 degree programmes available.

Schools

Academics at Queen's are organized into twenty schools across three faculties.

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering ,School of Education, School of Electronics, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science , School of English, School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, School of History and Anthropology, School of Languages, Literatures and Performing Arts , School of Law, Queen's University Management School , School of Mathematics and Physics, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering , School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences , School of Music and Sonic Arts , School of Nursing and Midwifery , School of Pharmacy , School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering , School of Politics, International Studies and Philosophy , School of Psychology, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, School of Biological Sciences

Several institutes are also associated with Queen's :

- Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's - The Institute of Theology

Queen's University Belfast was admitted to the Russell Group of UK research-intensive universities in November 2006.In the prestigious 2010 QS World University Rankings, Queen's University Belfast was ranked 197th moving up 4 places from 2009. This places the University on a trajectory well short of reaching the target set by Vice-Chancellor Peter Gregson of being a "Global Top 100" by 2013.

Cardiff University

2011-05-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing the best university education in Wales. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, almost 60 per cent of all research at Cardiff University was assessed as world-leading or internationally excellent – 4* and 3* the top two categories of assessment. Ranked number 122 of the world's top universities, Cardiff University celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2008. Before August 2004, the university was officially known as University of Wales, Cardiff.

‎The Aberdare Report of 1881 recommended the foundation of university colleges in North Wales and South Wales to complement the already established University College, Wales (now the University of Wales, Aberystwyth), in Aberystwyth.In 1931, the School of Medicine, which had been founded as part of the College in 1893 when the Departments of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, Pharmacology were founded, was split off to form the University of Wales College of Medicine. In 1972, the College was renamed University College, Cardiff.

In 2005, The Wales College of Medicine, which is part of the University, launched the North Wales Clinical School in Wrexham in collaboration with the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education in Wrexham and the University of Wales, Bangor and with the National Health Service in Wales. The university also has a popular Centre for Lifelong Learning which has been teaching a wide range of courses to the public for over 125 years. In June 2010, the University launched three new Research Institutes, each of which offers a new approach to a major issue. They are the Cancer Stem Cell Research Institute, the Sustainable Places Research Institute, and the Neurosciences & Mental Health Research Institute.
Cardiff University has a long standing tradition of providing the best education in Wales, as shown in its five year standing as the best centre of excellence in Wales in the Sunday Times League Tables. Cardiff is also the only university in Wales to be a member of the Russell Group of Research Intensive Universities.

Times Higher Education ranked Cardiff University 99th in the top 100 universities in the world in 2007, although by 2008 it had dropped 34 places to number 133 Cardiff has two Nobel Laureates on its staff, Professor Sir Martin Evans and Professor Robert Huber. A number of Cardiff University staff have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society, these include Graham Hutchings FRS, professor of Physical Chemistry and Director of the Cardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry and Professor Ole Holger Petersen CBE FRS, MRC Professor and Director of Cardiff School of Biosciences.

Liverpool University

2011-05-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

The University of Liverpool is a teaching and research university in the city of Liverpool, England. It is a member of the Russell Group of large research-intensive universities and the N8 Group for research collaboration. Founded in 1881 (as a University College) it is also one of the six original "red brick" civic universities. The university has produced eight Nobel Prize winners and offers more than 230 first degree courses across 103 subjects. It has an annual turnover of £340 million, including £123 million for research.

The University was established in 1881 as University College Liverpool, admitting its first students in 1882.In 1884, it became part of the federal Victoria University. In 1894 Oliver Lodge, a professor at the University, made the world's first public radio transmission and two years later took the first surgical X-ray in the United Kingdom.The Liverpool University Press was founded in 1899, making it the third oldest university press in England. Students in this period were awarded external degrees by the University of London.

Following a Royal Charter and Act of Parliament in 1903, it became an independent university with the right to confer its own degrees called the University of Liverpool. The next few years saw major developments at the university, including Sir Charles Sherrington's discovery of the synapse and Professor William Blair-Bell's work on chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer. In the 1930s to 1940s Professors Sir James Chadwick and Sir Joseph Rotblat made major contributions to the development of the atomic bomb. From 1943 - 1966 Allan Downie, Professor of Bacteriology, was involved in the eradication of smallpox.

Liverpool has the sixth largest financial endowment of any UK university, valued at £110m, according to the Sutton Trust. It is a member of the Russell Group of Universities and a founding member of the Northern Consortium. The University has over 23,000 registered students, with almost 18,000 full-time registered students.

The University has a broad range of teaching and research in both arts and sciences, and has a large medical school, which is associated with the neighbouring Royal Liverpool University Hospital. In September 2008, Sir Howard Newby took up the post of Vice-Chancellor of the University, following the retirement of Sir James Drummond Bone.

The University is mainly based around a single urban campus approximately five minutes walk from Liverpool City Centre, at the top of Brownlow Hill and Mount Pleasant. The main site is divided into three faculties: Health and Life Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; and Science and Engineering. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital (Leahurst) and Ness Botanical Gardens are based on the Wirral Peninsula. There was formerly a research station at Port Erin on the Isle of Man until it closed in 2006. The Johnston Laboratories, a pathology research facility of repute during much of the 20th century, is now the biochemistry department of the university.

There are :

- Harold Cohen Library

- Sydney Jones Library

- Liverpool Law School

- Liverpool Medical School

- Liverpool Dental School

- School of Veterinary Science

- Liverpool Management School

- School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology

- Biosciences

- Engineering

- English Language Unit

- Online Programmes

- Centre for Manx Studies

- University accommodation

Liverpool fc

2011-05-21T10:44:00.000-07:00

Liverpool Football Club is an English professional football club from Liverpool, England, and plays in the Premier League. Liverpool has played at Anfield since the club's foundation in 1892 and was admitted to the Football League a year later.

The second most successful club in the history of English football, Liverpool have won 18 league titles, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups. Liverpool is the most successful English club in European competition, having won five European Cups, the last in 2005, and three UEFA Cups. The club currently rank third in Europe and sixth in the world with the most international titles won.

The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The first was the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985, where charging Liverpool fans caused a wall to collapse, resulting in the death of 39 Juventus supporters. In the 1989 Hillsborough Disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in a crush against perimeter fencing.

Liverpool has long-standing rivalries with neighbours Everton and with Manchester United. The team's home colours have been entirely red since 1964 when manager Bill Shankly changed them from a red shirt and white shorts. The club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Because of their successful history, Liverpool is often featured when football is depicted in British culture and has appeared in a number of media "firsts". The club appeared in the first edition of the BBC's Match of the Day, which screened highlights of the team's match against Arsenal at Anfield on 22 August 1964. Liverpool was also the subject of television's first colour football transmission, which showed the club's match against West Ham United live.Liverpool fans feature in the Pink Floyd song "Fearless", in which they sang excerpts from "You'll Never Walk Alone". To mark the club's appearance in the 1988 FA Cup Final, Liverpool released a song known as the "Anfield Rap", featuring John Barnes and other members of the squad.

A documentary-drama on the Hillsborough Disaster written by Jimmy McGovern was screened in 1996. It features Christopher Eccleston as Trevor Hicks, whose story formed the focus of the script. Hicks, who lost two teenage daughters in the disaster, went on to campaign for safer stadia and helped to form the Hillsborough Families Support Group. The club features in the film The 51st State (also known as Formula 51). Ex-hitman Felix DeSouza (Robert Carlyle) is an avid fan of the team and the last scene of the film takes place at a match between Liverpool and Manchester United.The club was featured in a children's television show called Scully; the plot revolved around a young boy, Francis Scully, who tried to win a trial with Liverpool. The show featured prominent Liverpool players of the time such as Kenny Dalglish.

2011-05-21T02:16:00.000-07:00

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands county of England. It is the most populous British city outside London, with a population of 1,028,701 (2009 estimate),and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the United Kingdom's second most populous urban area with a population of 2,284,093 (2001 census).Birmingham's metropolitan area, which includes surrounding towns to which it is closely tied through commuting, is also the United Kingdom's second most populous with a population of 3,683,000.

By 1791 it was being hailed as "the first manufacturing town in the world". Birmingham's distinctive economic profile, with thousands of small workshops practising a wide variety of specialised and highly-skilled trades, encouraged exceptional levels of creativity and innovation, and provided a diverse and resilient economic base for an industrial prosperity that was to last into the final quarter of the 20th century.Its resulting high level of social mobility also fostered a culture of broad-based political radicalism, that under leaders from Thomas Attwood to Joseph Chamberlain was to give it a political influence unparalleled in Britain outside London, and a pivotal role in the development of British democracy.
Today Birmingham is a major international commercial centre, ranked as a gamma− world city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network;and an important transport, retail, events and conference hub.

With a city GDP of $90bn (2008 estimate, PPP), its urban economy is the second largest in the UK and the 72nd largest in the world.Birmingham's three universities and two university colleges make it the largest centre of higher education in the United Kingdom outside London,and its major cultural institutions, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, enjoy international reputations.
People from Birmingham are known as 'Brummies', a term derived from the city's nickname of 'Brum'. This may originate from the city's dialect name, Brummagem,which may in turn have been derived from one of the city's earlier names, 'Bromwicham'. There is a distinctive Brummie dialect and accent, both of which differ from the adjacent Black Country.

Liverpool

2011-05-21T01:43:00.000-07:00

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880. Liverpool is the fourth largest city in the United Kingdom (third largest in England) with a population of 435,500, and lies at the centre of the wider Liverpool Urban Area, which has a population of 816,216.

Historically a part of Lancashire, the urbanisation and expansion of Liverpool were both largely brought about by the city's status as a major port. By the 18th century, trade from the West Indies, Ireland and mainland Europe coupled with close links with the Atlantic Slave Trade furthered the economic expansion of Liverpool. By the early 19th century, 40% of the world's trade passed through Liverpool's docks, contributing to Liverpool's rise as a major city.

Inhabitants of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians but are also colloquially known as "Scousers", in reference to the local dish known as "scouse", a form of stew. The word "Scouse" has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Liverpool's status as a port city has contributed to its diverse population, which, historically, were drawn from a wide range of peoples, cultures, and religions, particularly those from Ireland. The city is also home to the oldest Black African community in the country and the oldest Chinese community in Europe.

The popularity of The Beatles and the other groups from the Merseybeat era contributes to Liverpool's status as a tourist destination; tourism forms a significant part of the city's modern economy. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, in 2008.

Several areas of the city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. Referred to as the Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City, the site comprises six separate locations in the city including the Pier Head, Albert Dock and William Brown Street and includes many of the city's most famous landmarks.

Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool F.C. and Everton F.C.. Matches between the two clubs are known as the Merseyside derby.

Manchester

2011-05-21T01:14:00.000-07:00

Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. In 2009, its population was estimated to be 483,800, making it the seventh-most populous local authority district in England. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas; the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester had an estimated population of 2,600,100, the Greater Manchester Urban Area a population of 2,240,230, and the Larger Urban Zone around Manchester, the second-most-populous in the UK, had an estimated population in the 2004 Urban Audit of 2,539,100.The demonym of Manchester is Mancunian.

Manchester is situated in the south-central part of North West England, fringed by the Cheshire Plain to the south and the Pennines to the north and east. The recorded history of Manchester began with the civilian vicus associated with the Roman fort of Mamucium, which was established c. AD 79 on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers Medlock and Irwell. Historically, most of the city was a part of Lancashire, although areas south of the River Mersey were in Cheshire. Throughout the Middle Ages Manchester remained a manorial township, but began expanding "at an astonishing rate" around the turn of the 19th century as part of a process of unplanned urbanisation brought on by a boom in textile manufacture during the Industrial Revolution.

The urbanisation of Manchester largely coincided with the Industrial Revolution and the Victorian era, resulting in it becoming the world's first industrialised city.As the result of an early-19th century factory building boom, Manchester was transformed from a township into a major mill town, borough and was later granted honorific city status in 1853.

Manchester was the site of the world's first railway station, hosted the first meeting of the Trades Union Congress and is where scientists first split the atom and developed the first programmable computer. It is known for its music scene and its sporting connections. Manchester was the host of the 2002 Commonwealth Games, and its sports clubs include two Premier League football teams, Manchester City and Manchester United,both of whom hold English football blue ribbon competitions of the FA Cup and the Premier League respectively. Manchester is the third-most visited city in the United Kingdom by foreign visitors and the most visited in England outside London.

London School of Economics LSE

2011-05-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

The London School of Economics and Political Science (informally the London School of Economics or LSE) is a high profile public research university specialising in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb and George Bernard Shaw, LSE joined the University of London in 1900 and degrees were issued to its students from 1902 onwards. Despite its name LSE conducts teaching and research across the entire range of the social sciences, including accounting and finance, anthropology, economics, geography, history, international relations, law, media and communications, philosophy, politics, psychology, social policy and sociology.

LSE is based in Westminster, central London, on the boundary between Covent Garden and Holborn. It has around 8,700 full-time students and 1,300 academic staff and had a total income of £203 million in 2008/09, of which £20.3 million was from research grants and contracts. LSE's library, the British Library of Political and Economic Science, contains over 4.7 million volumes and is the world's largest social and political sciences library. LSE was found to have the highest percentage of world-leading research of any British university in the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise.

LSE is among the world's most selective universities and in 2008 it had the lowest undergraduate admissions rate of any university in Britain. It has a highly international student body,and at one time had more countries represented by students than the United Nations has members. LSE has produced many notable alumni in the fields of law, economics, business, literature and politics. There are currently 16 Nobel Prize winners amongst LSE's alumni and current and former staff, as well as 34 world leaders and numerous Pulitzer Prize winners and fellows of the British Academy.

LSE is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs , the European University Association,the G5, the Global Alliance in Management Education, the Russell Group and Universities UK.It forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of British universities.

Edinburgh University

2011-05-02T04:44:00.000-07:00

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, the capital city of Scotland, United Kingdom and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The prestigious University is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the iconic buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the University.

It was the fourth university to be established in Scotland and is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in Europe, having been consistently placed amongst the leading universities in the world. Edinburgh receives approximately 47,000 applications every year, making it the third most popular university in the UK by volume of applicants.Entrance is intensively competitive, with 12 applications per place in the last admissions cycle.The University played an important role in leading the city of Edinburgh to its reputation as a chief intellectual centre during the Age of Enlightenment, and helped give the city the nickname of the Athens of the north.

Graduates of the university include some of the major figures of modern history, including the naturalist Charles Darwin, physicist James Clerk Maxwell, philosopher David Hume, economist Adam Smith, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Gordon Brown, Deputy President of the British Supreme Court Lord Hope, surgeon and pioneer of sterilisation Joseph Lister, signatories of the American declaration of independence John Witherspoon and Benjamin Rush, inventor Alexander Graham Bell, first president of Tanzania Julius Nyerere, and a host of famous authors such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson, J. M. Barrie, Sir Walter Scott, and J. K. Rowling. The University is also associated with 9 Nobel Prize winners.

University of Oxford

2011-05-02T03:59:00.000-07:00

The University of Oxford (informally Oxford University, or simply Oxford) is a university in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although the exact date of foundation remains unclear, there is evidence of teaching there as far back as the 11th century. The University grew rapidly from 1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris.In post-nominals, the University of Oxford was historically abbreviated as Oxon. (from the Latin Oxoniensis), although Oxf is nowadays used in official University publications.

After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some academics fled north-east to Cambridge, where they established what became the University of Cambridge. The two ancient English universities have many common features and are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to their cultural and practical associations, as a historic part of British society, the two universities have a long history of rivalry with each other.Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly essay-based tutorials at self-governing colleges and halls, supported by lectures and laboratory classes organized by University faculties and departments. League tables consistently list Oxford as one of the UK's best universities, and Oxford consistently ranks in the world's top 10.

For more than a century, it has served as the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, which brings students from a number of countries to study at Oxford as postgraduates or for a second bachelor's degree.

Oxford is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities, the Coimbra Group, the G5, the League of European Research Universities, and the International Alliance of Research Universities. It is also a core member of the Europaeum and forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of British universities.

St Andrews University

2011-05-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

The University of St Andrews, informally referred to as St Andrews, is the oldest university in Scotland, and the third oldest in the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world after Oxford and Cambridge.

The University is situated in the town of St Andrews, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It was founded between 1410 and 1413, when a Papal Bull was issued by the Avignon Antipope Benedict XIII. In post-nominals the University of St Andrews was historically abbreviated as St And (from the Latin Sancti Andreae).

Academically, St Andrews is considered one of the United Kingdom's best universities. Over the past five years, domestic league tables have tended to place it amongst the top ten institutions in the nation.St Andrews has a diverse student body due to a high intake of international students, with over 15% of the current student body coming from North America.Throughout its more recent history, St Andrews has maintained strong links with leading academic institutions in the United States and Canada. Duke of Cambridge, when he recently returned to launch its 600th Anniversary Campaign, described the University of St Andrews as by ‘far and away the best University in the world’.World-class reputation in teaching and research consistently place St Andrews as the top university in Scotland and is currently ranked as high as number 3 in the UK, according to annual league tables produced by The Times, Sunday Times and The Guardian (see Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom).

The Times Higher Education World Universities Ranking named St Andrews among the world’s Top 20 Arts and Humanities universities in 2010.St Andrews has a diverse student body and cosmopolitan character due to its over 30% intake of international students from well over 100 countries, with 15% of the current student body coming from North America.Throughout its more recent history, St Andrews has maintained strong links with leading academic institutions in the United States and Canada, including members of the Ivy League.

NFL

2011-04-29T00:56:00.000-07:00

The recently introduced regular season games played in the UK as part of the NFL International series is not the first time that pro football from across the Atlantic has touched down on these shores. During the 1980’s American Football enjoyed unprecedented levels of success within the United Kingdom, largely thanks to the television station Channel 4. They became the first channel to broadcast NFL games on terrestrial television shortly after launching in 1982, giving British sports fans the opportunity to witness the excitement that American Football had to offer.

As a result, the popularity of American Football in the UK and Ireland enjoyed huge growth throughout the decade, with many supporters adopting teams from the NFL to follow on TV each week. Due to the success of teams like the San Francisco 49ers and Washington Redskins during the decade, many British fans still follow these teams now as a result of the early TV coverage of the sport.As the popularity of the sport continued to grow, the NFL introduced the American Bowl series in 1986. The American Bowl involved a number of NFL teams playing a pre season game played outside of the USA for the first time, allowing, fans from new markets for the sport to enjoy the live game day experience.

Countries who hosted American Bowl games included the United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, Germany and Spain.The last American Bowl game played in Europe was in 1997 when the Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Chicago Bears at Croke Park in Dublin. A total of nine American Bowl games took place between 1986 and 1997 in the UK and Ireland involving 14 NFL Franchises.

English

2011-04-28T05:16:00.000-07:00

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, via the British Empire, and of the United States since the mid-20th century, it has been widely dispersed around the world, become the leading language of international discourse, and has acquired use as lingua franca in many regions.It is widely learned as a second language and used as an official language of the European Union and many Commonwealth countries, as well as in many world organizations. It is the third most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish.

Historically, English originated from the fusion of languages and dialects, now collectively termed Old English, which were brought to the eastern coast of Great Britain by Germanic (Anglo-Saxon) settlers by the 5th century – with the word English being derived from the name of the Angles.A significant number of English words are constructed based on roots from Latin, because Latin in some form was the lingua franca of the Christian Church and of European intellectual life. The language was further influenced by the Old Norse language due to Viking invasions in the 8th and 9th centuries.The Norman conquest of England in the 11th century gave rise to heavy borrowings from Norman-French, and vocabulary and spelling conventions began to give the superficial appearance of a close relationship with Romance languages to what had now become Middle English.

The Great Vowel Shift that began in the south of England in the 15th century is one of the historical events that mark the emergence of Modern English from Middle English.Owing to the significant assimilation of various European languages throughout history, modern English contains a very large vocabulary. The Oxford English Dictionary lists over 250,000 distinct words, not including many technical or slang terms, or words that belong to multiple word classes.

Salary UK

2011-04-28T03:30:00.000-07:00

Before you agree to a job offer you should know that in United Kingdom there is a minimum salary which should be paid, that depends on your age. (doesn’t apply if you are doing voluntary work though…)

For example if your age is between 16 and 17 the minimum salary for you is £3.40 per hour. If you are the age of a student which is 18-21 you have to be payed at least £4.60 per hour, and finally if you are over 22 your minimum should be £5.52 per hour.In some companies that provide accommodation the minimum wage can be smaller, this is called accommodation offset.

Regarding the maximum salary you would like to ask. The sky is the limit but to be more realistic here are some annual salary medians for different positions in London:

Personal assistant – £26.352
Software engineer, developer – £31.500
IT consultant – £39.515
IT project manager – £45.000

Jobs UK

2011-04-28T03:17:00.000-07:00

The kick-off step to your job search is developing a concise and correct CV, which briefly describes your profile and experience to your employer, while also not missing out on anything that is essential. A CV with errors or typos can lead to its rejection, even though you may be qualified for a position applied for.

The following are a few tips on how to prepare a CV that earns you a job interview call. When you start compiling your CV, it is highly recommended that you collect all your personal, academic and professional documents and keep them within an arm’s length. This will help you to confirm all the important data and figures by consulting them whenever you need, and you would be able to exhibit accurate information.An important factor is not just to update your old CV while applying for a new position, especially if it has been a while that you hunted for a job. Rather you should tailor your CV to the requirements of the position you are applying for. Also, you should state a broad career objective, which should not be self-centred and must be in coherence with the position you are applying for.A concise summary of your professional career should be presented in the chronological order, that is, by mentioning the most recent organization and the position held at the top. You should honestly and correctly mention the period during which you worked for your past organizations, as any misinformation may get exposed. However, it is important to fill the gaps that you may have experienced between jobs. There is nothing wrong with them, since they are a common case during this time of recession, but mentioning how you utilized the time in developing a skill related to your work, for example, can be of use.Your CV should be achievement oriented. You should include all the essential achievements that you have made that are relevant to the job applied for.

Mentioning your relevant skills is also very important. Likewise, leaving out all the irrelevant detail from your CV is as much important as it will help make your CV to the point and concise.An important fact is not to mention unnecessary personal information that can potentially set you up in a position of bias. Although it is both unethical and illegal for employers to either select or reject on the basis of bias, but still it is not advisable to mention particulars like race, religion, age or hobbies. This is also true because such factors also have very little to do with the work you have to perform.Most of the HR managers out-rightly reject CVs with even the slightest of errors related to spelling, grammar and formatting. Consistency errors in formatting can be as damaging. Always proofread your CV and ask a couple or more of your friends to read the CV for you. A lot of errors will be screened out during this process.Therefore, being concise, correct, while also being highly effective in communicating what you want and what the employer look for in you is the recipe for developing a successful CV.

Carfiff

2011-04-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. According to recent estimates, the population of the unitary authority area is 336,200, while the wider metropolitan area has a population of over 1.4 million, almost half of the total Welsh population. Cardiff is a significant tourism centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 14.6 million visitors in 2009.

The city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. The Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside of the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys, Penarth and Radyr. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.Cardiff was made a city in 1905, and proclaimed capital of Wales in 1955. Since the 1990s Cardiff has seen significant development with a new waterfront area at Cardiff Bay which contains the Senedd building, home to the Welsh Assembly and the Wales Millennium Centre arts complex. Current developments include the continuation of the redevelopment of the Cardiff Bay and City Centre areas with projects such as the International Sports Village, a BBC drama village, and a new business district in the city centre. Cardiff is the largest media centre in the U.K. outside of London.

Sporting venues in the city of Cardiff include the Millennium Stadium (the national stadium for the Wales national rugby union team and the Wales national football team), SWALEC Stadium (the home of Glamorgan County Cricket Club), Cardiff City Stadium (the home of Cardiff City football team and Cardiff Blues rugby union team), Cardiff International Sports Stadium (the home of Cardiff Amateur Athletic Club) and Cardiff Arms Park (the home of Cardiff Rugby Club). The city is also HQ of the Wales Rally GB and was awarded with the European City Of Sport in 2009 due to its role in hosting major international sporting events.

Belfast

2011-04-25T01:38:00.000-07:00

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland, as well as the second largest city on the island of Ireland. It is the seat of devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly.The city forms part of the largest urban area in Northern Ireland, and the main settlement in the province of Ulster.

The city of Belfast has a population of 267,500 and lies at the heart of the Belfast urban area, which has a population of 483,418. The Larger Urban Zone, as defined by the European Union, has a total population 641,638. Belfast was granted city status in 1888.

Historically, Belfast has been a centre for the Irish linen industry (earning the nickname "Linenopolis"), tobacco production, rope-making and shipbuilding: the city's main shipbuilders, Harland and Wolff, which built the ill-fated RMS Titanic, propelled Belfast on to the global stage in the early 20th century as the largest and most productive shipyard in the world. Belfast played a key role in the Industrial Revolution, establishing its place as a global industrial centre until the latter half of the 20th century.Industrialisation and the inward migration it brought made Belfast, if briefly, the largest city in Ireland at the turn of the 20th century and the city's industrial and economic success was cited by Ulster unionist opponents of Home Rule as a reason why Ireland should shun devolution and later why Ulster in particular would fight to resist it.Today, Belfast remains a centre for industry, as well as the arts, higher education and business, a legal centre, and is the economic engine of Northern Ireland. The city suffered greatly during the period of disruption, conflict, and destruction called the Troubles, but latterly has undergone a sustained period of calm, free from the intense political violence of former years, and substantial economic and commercial growth.

Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, notably around Victoria Square. Belfast is served by two airports: George Best Belfast City Airport in the city, and Belfast International Airport 15 miles (24 km) west of the city. Belfast is also a major seaport, with commercial and industrial docks dominating the Belfast Lough shoreline, including the famous Harland and Wolff shipyard. Belfast is a constituent city of the Dublin-Belfast corridor, which has a population of three million, or half the total population of the island of Ireland.

Edinburgh

2011-04-24T16:02:00.000-07:00

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland and the seventh-most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30-square-mile (78 km²) rural area.Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea.

Edinburgh is the seat of the Scottish Parliament. The city was one of the major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, earning it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city. In May 2010, it had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23% of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK. In the 2009 mid year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 477,660.The city is well-known for the annual Edinburgh Festival, a collection of official and independent festivals held annually over about four weeks from early August. The number of visitors attracted to Edinburgh for the Festival is roughly equal to the settled population of the city.

The most famous of these events are the Edinburgh Fringe (the largest performing arts festival in the world), the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo, and the Edinburgh International Book Festival. Other events include the Hogmanay street party, Burns Night and the Beltane Fire Festival. Edinburgh attracts 1 million overseas visitors a year, making it the second most visited tourist destination in the United Kingdom, after London.

London

2011-04-24T04:17:00.000-07:00

London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its founding by the Romans, who called it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 17th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.

London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's largest financial centre alongside New York, has the largest city GDP in Europe and is home to the headquarters of more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest companies. It has the most international visitors of any city in the world. London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education institutions in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the Summer Olympics three times. London has a diverse range of peoples, cultures and religions, and more than 300 languages are spoken within its boundaries. In July 2007 it had an official population of 7,556,900 within the boundaries of Greater London, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union. The Greater London Urban Area is the second largest in the EU with a population of 8,278,251, while London's metropolitan area is the largest in the EU with an estimated total population of between 12 millionand 14 million. London contains four World Heritage Sites: the Tower of London; Kew Gardens; the site comprising the Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and St. Margaret's Church; and the historic settlement of Greenwich (in which the Royal Observatory marks the Greenwich Meridian (0° longitude) and GMT).

Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, 30 St Mary Axe ("The Gherkin"), St Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square. London is home to numerous museums, galleries, libraries, sporting events and other cultural institutions including the British Museum, National Gallery, British Library, Wimbledon and 40 theatres. London's Chinatown is the largest in Europe. The London Underground network is the oldest underground railway network in the world and the most extensive after the Shanghai Metro.

Northen Ireland Universities

2011-04-20T00:57:00.000-07:00

Universities in Northern Ireland offer best possible education to their students. The Northern Ireland Executive's Department of Education (DE) is responsible for Northern Ireland education policy except for the higher education In Northern Ireland and further education sector.

The Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) is responsible for higher education in Northern Ireland. Universities in Northern Ireland offer courses as full-time or part-time courses; vocational courses; recreational or degree level courses.

Some best universities in Northern Ireland also provide funds for students who are unable to arrange for funds to pursue education. Queen's University Belfast and The University of Ulster are Universities in Northern Ireland which areapproved for the purposes of the Fund.

Courses offered in these universities in Northern Ireland that fall into any of the following categories are approved courses under the Fund for Students with Disabilities.

Courses offered by these Northern Ireland Universities are:

Full-time Honours Bachelor Degree entered into on the basis of progression from an Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma
Full-time Honours Bachelor Degree entered into on the basis of progression from an Ordinary Bachelor Degree or National Diploma
Full-time undergraduate courses of a minimum duration of two years

List of Northern Ireland UniversitiesGiven below is the list of Northern Ireland Universities. We hope this list of universities in Northern Ireland will be a great help for you.

Belfast Institute of Further and Higher Education
Castlereagh College of Further Education
Green Mount College of Agriculture and Horticulture
Northern Ireland Bio-Engineering Centre
Queen's University
St. Mary's University College
Stranmillis College
Upper Bann Institute
Universities in Antrim
Universities in Armagh
Universities in Down
Universities in Fermanagh

Scotland Universites

2011-04-19T00:34:00.000-07:00

There are fifteen higher education institutions in Scotland which have university status, out of a total of 115 such institutions within the United Kingdom.There are also a further four autonomous higher education institutions which do not have university status.University status in the United Kingdom is conferred by the Privy Council, which takes advice from the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

In Scotland, the minister with higher education responsibilities is the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning of the Scottish Government.Scottish universities are funded by the Scottish Government, through a non-departmental public body, the Scottish Funding Council,while support funding for students is provided by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland. In 2008, over 240,000 students were enrolled at Scottish universities.Universities Scotland is the representative body which works to promote Scotland's universities, as well as six other higher education institutions.The oldest university in Scotland is the University of St Andrews, established in 1413, with the universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen also dating back to the 15th century. These "ancient universities" were established by papal bulls, but in the 16th century royal charter became the standard method of foundation. The first of these established the University of Edinburgh, which became Scotland's fourth university at a time when her more populous neighbour, England, had only two.

The number of universities doubled during the 1960s, with three existing colleges gaining university status, and the University of Stirling being established as Scotland's only "plate glass university". Several former polytechnics or central institutions followed in the 1990s, after the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. The newest is the University of the Highlands and Islands, which attained university status in 2011. Besides the campus-based universities, the distance-learning Open University plays a role in the Scottish university sector, teaching 40% of Scotland's part-time undergraduates.

Flag of the United Kingdom

2011-04-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland uses as its national flag the royal banner known as the Union Flag or, popularly, Union Jack. The current design of the Union Flag dates from the union of Ireland and Great Britain in 1801. It consists of the red cross of Saint George (patron saint of England), edged in white, superimposed on the Cross of St Patrick (patron saint of Ireland), which are superimposed on the Saltire of Saint Andrew (patron saint of Scotland). Wales, however, is not represented in the Union Flag by Wales' patron saint, Saint David.
Its correct proportions are 1:2. However, the version officially used by the British Army modifies the proportions to 3:5, and additionally two of the red diagonals are cropped.

Wales

2011-04-17T13:05:00.000-07:00

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has apopulation of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km² (8,023 sq mi).Wales has over 1,200 km (746 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Generally mountainous, its highest mountains are in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia (Eryri), which contains Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest peak.

During the Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. A distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was recognised as king of Wales in 1057. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales. The castles and town walls erected to ensure its permanence are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales, in the early 15th century. Wales was subsequently annexed by England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 since when, excluding those matters now devolved to Wales, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century.

Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (The Welsh Language Society) in 1962. The National Assembly for Wales, created in 1999 following a referendum, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters.

Scotland

2011-04-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland includes over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres.

Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.The Kingdom of Scotland was an independent sovereign state until 1707, although it had been in a personal union with the kingdoms of England and Ireland since James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English and Irish thrones in 1603. On 1 May 1707, Scotland entered into an incorporating political union with England to create the united Kingdom of Great Britain.This union resulted from the Treaty of Union agreed in 1706 and enacted by the twin Acts of Union passed by the Parliaments of both countries, despite widespread protest across Scotland. Scotland's legal system continues to be separate from those of England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and Scotland still constitutes a distinct jurisdiction in public and in private law.

The continued existence of legal, educational and religious institutions distinct from those in the remainder of the UK have all contributed to the continuation of Scottish culture and national identity since the Union.Although Scotland is no longer a separate sovereign state, issues surrounding devolution and independence continue to be debated. After the creation of the devolved Scottish Parliament in 1999, the first pro-independence Scottish Government was elected in 2007 when the Scottish National Party formed a minority administration.