University of Glasgow

The University of Glasgow was founded in 1451 AD by a charter or papal bull from Pope Nicholas V, at the suggestion of King James II, giving Bishop William Turnbull, a graduate of the University of St Andrews, permission to add a University to the city’s Cathedral. It is the second-oldest university in Scotland after St Andrews and the fourth-oldest in the English-speaking world. The universities of St Andrews, Glasgow and Aberdeen were ecclesiastical foundations, while Edinburgh was a civic foundation. As one of the Ancient Universities of the United Kingdom, Glasgow University is one of only eight institutions to award undergraduate master’s degrees in certain disciplines.

The University’s teaching quality was assessed in 2009 to be among the top 10 in the United Kingdom, along with its reputation as a “research powerhouse”, whose income from annual research contracts also placing among the top 10 the UK. The university overall generates a total income of over £450,000,000 per year- also amongst the top 10 in the UK. The University is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities and was a founding member of the organization, Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting worldwide standards for higher education. The university currently has fifteen Regius Professorships, nearly twice the number held by the next nearest, Oxford.

In the QS World University Rankings Glasgow climbed from 59th overall in 2011to 54th in 2012, then to 51st in 2013.

The University is currently spread over a number of different campuses. The main one is the Gilmorehill campus, in Hillhead. As well as this there is the Garscube Estate in Bearsden, housing the Veterinary School, Observatory, Ship model basin and much of the University’s sports facilities, the Dental School in the city centre, the section of mental health and well being at Gartnavel Royal Hospital on Great Western Road, the Teaching and Learning Centre at the South Glasgow University Hospital, and the Crichton campus in Dumfries (operated jointly by the University of Glasgow, the University of the West of Scotland and the Open University). The University has also established joint departments with the Glasgow School of Art and in naval architecture with the University of Strathclyde.