Cambridge University, UK

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY (University of Cambridge)

University of Cambridge
From wikipedia,

Cambridge University Official Website

The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the world's most prestigious universities.

The University grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed, early records suggest, in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with local townsfolk there.

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of English society, the two universities also have a long history of rivalry with each other.



Cantabrigian is the formal adjective meaning "of Cambridge University" which is also used as a term for the university's members (abbreviated as Cantab. in post-nominal letters for alumni)

History

Early history

Roger of Wendover wrote that Cambridge University could trace its origins to a crime committed in 1209. Although not always a reliable source, the detail given in his contemporaneous writings lends them credence. Two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities with the assent of

the King.

In protest at the hanging, the University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension, and scholars migrated to a number of other locations, including the pre-existing school at Cambridge (Cambridge had been recorded as a “school” rather than university when John Grim held the office of Master there in 1201). These post-graduate researchers from Oxford started Cambridge’s life as a university in 1209. Cambridge’s status as a university is further confirmed by a decree in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX which awarded the ius non trahi extra (a form of legal protection) to the chancellor and universitas of scholars at Cambridge.

After Cambridge was described as a studium generale in a letter by Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII in 1318, it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to come and visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.

Foundation of the Colleges

Cambridge’s colleges were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels. The hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garrett Hostel Lane.

Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse in 1284, Cambridge’s first college. Many colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but colleges continued to be established throughout the centuries to modern times, although there was a gap of 204 years between the founding of Sidney Sussex in 1596 and Downing in 1800. The most recent college established is Robinson, built in the late 1970s.

In medieval times, colleges were founded so that their students would pray for the souls of the founders. For that reason they were often associated with chapels or abbeys. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 with the dissolution of the monasteries. King Henry VIII ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law and to stop teaching “scholastic philosophy”. In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law and towards the classics, the Bible, and mathematics.

Academics

A 'School' in the University of Cambridge is a broad administrative grouping of related subjects, each covering a specified group of Faculties. Each has an elected supervisory body - The Council of the School - comprising representatives of the constituent Faculties and Departments in each School.

There are six Schools:

Arts and Humanities
Biological Sciences, including Veterinary Medicine
Clinical Medicine
Humanities and Social Sciences
Physical Sciences
Technology

Teaching and research in Cambridge is organised by Faculties. The Faculties have different organisational sub-structures which partly reflect their history and partly their operational needs, which may include a number of Departments and other institutions. In addition, a small number of bodies entitled Syndicates have responsibilities for teaching and research, exercising powers similar in effect to those of Faculty Boards. Examples are Cambridge Assessment, the University Press, and the University Library.

Nobel Prizes

The University of Cambridge has more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution.

• 82 affiliates of the University of Cambridge have won the Nobel Prize since 1904.
• Affiliates have won in every category, with 29 Nobel prizes in Physics, 23 in Medicine, 19 in Chemistry, seven in Economics, two in Literature and two in Peace.
• Trinity College has 31 Nobel Prize winners, the most of any college at Cambridge.
• Dorothy Hodgkin is the first (and only) woman from Cambridge to win a Nobel Prize, for her work on the structure of compounds used in fighting anaemia.
• In 1950, Bertrand Russell became the first person from Cambridge to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, for his 1946 work, 'A History of Western Philosophy'.
• Frederick Sanger, from St John's and fellow of King's, is one of only four individuals to win a Nobel Prize twice. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958 and 1980.
• In 1991, Harvard University created its own spoof of the Nobel Prize, called the 'Ig Nobel Prize'. Ten prizes are awarded each year for 'for achievements that make people laugh, and then make them think'. The University of Cambridge has had no winners.

Cambridge University ranked 2nd (tied with Oxford University) in the 2007 
THES-QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University ranked 3rd in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University ranked 2nd in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University ranked 1st in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University, UK

CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY (University of Cambridge)

University of Cambridge
From wikipedia,

Cambridge University Official Website

The University of Cambridge (often Cambridge University), located in Cambridge, England, is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world and has a reputation as one of the world's most prestigious universities.

The University grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed, early records suggest, in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with local townsfolk there.

The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of English society, the two universities also have a long history of rivalry with each other.



Cantabrigian is the formal adjective meaning "of Cambridge University" which is also used as a term for the university's members (abbreviated as Cantab. in post-nominal letters for alumni)

History

Early history

Roger of Wendover wrote that Cambridge University could trace its origins to a crime committed in 1209. Although not always a reliable source, the detail given in his contemporaneous writings lends them credence. Two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities with the assent of

the King.

In protest at the hanging, the University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension, and scholars migrated to a number of other locations, including the pre-existing school at Cambridge (Cambridge had been recorded as a “school” rather than university when John Grim held the office of Master there in 1201). These post-graduate researchers from Oxford started Cambridge’s life as a university in 1209. Cambridge’s status as a university is further confirmed by a decree in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX which awarded the ius non trahi extra (a form of legal protection) to the chancellor and universitas of scholars at Cambridge.

After Cambridge was described as a studium generale in a letter by Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII in 1318, it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to come and visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.

Foundation of the Colleges

Cambridge’s colleges were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels. The hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garrett Hostel Lane.

Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse in 1284, Cambridge’s first college. Many colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but colleges continued to be established throughout the centuries to modern times, although there was a gap of 204 years between the founding of Sidney Sussex in 1596 and Downing in 1800. The most recent college established is Robinson, built in the late 1970s.

In medieval times, colleges were founded so that their students would pray for the souls of the founders. For that reason they were often associated with chapels or abbeys. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 with the dissolution of the monasteries. King Henry VIII ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law and to stop teaching “scholastic philosophy”. In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law and towards the classics, the Bible, and mathematics.

Academics

A 'School' in the University of Cambridge is a broad administrative grouping of related subjects, each covering a specified group of Faculties. Each has an elected supervisory body - The Council of the School - comprising representatives of the constituent Faculties and Departments in each School.

There are six Schools:

Arts and Humanities
Biological Sciences, including Veterinary Medicine
Clinical Medicine
Humanities and Social Sciences
Physical Sciences
Technology

Teaching and research in Cambridge is organised by Faculties. The Faculties have different organisational sub-structures which partly reflect their history and partly their operational needs, which may include a number of Departments and other institutions. In addition, a small number of bodies entitled Syndicates have responsibilities for teaching and research, exercising powers similar in effect to those of Faculty Boards. Examples are Cambridge Assessment, the University Press, and the University Library.

Nobel Prizes

The University of Cambridge has more Nobel Prize winners than any other institution.

• 82 affiliates of the University of Cambridge have won the Nobel Prize since 1904.
• Affiliates have won in every category, with 29 Nobel prizes in Physics, 23 in Medicine, 19 in Chemistry, seven in Economics, two in Literature and two in Peace.
• Trinity College has 31 Nobel Prize winners, the most of any college at Cambridge.
• Dorothy Hodgkin is the first (and only) woman from Cambridge to win a Nobel Prize, for her work on the structure of compounds used in fighting anaemia.
• In 1950, Bertrand Russell became the first person from Cambridge to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, for his 1946 work, 'A History of Western Philosophy'.
• Frederick Sanger, from St John's and fellow of King's, is one of only four individuals to win a Nobel Prize twice. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1958 and 1980.
• In 1991, Harvard University created its own spoof of the Nobel Prize, called the 'Ig Nobel Prize'. Ten prizes are awarded each year for 'for achievements that make people laugh, and then make them think'. The University of Cambridge has had no winners.

Cambridge University ranked 2nd (tied with Oxford University) in the 2007 
THES-QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University ranked 3rd in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University ranked 2nd in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

Cambridge University ranked 1st in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

California Institute of Technology, USA

California Institute of Technology

The California Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Caltech) is a private, coeducational research university located in Pasadena, California, in the United States. Caltech maintains a strong emphasis on the natural sciences and engineering. Caltech also operates and manages the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)'s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), an autonomous-space-flight complex that oversees the design and operation of most of NASA's space-probes. Caltech is a small school, with only about 2100 students, but is ranked in the top 10 universities worldwide by metrics such as citation index, Nobel Prizes, and general university rankings.

History

Caltech began as a vocational school founded in Pasadena in 1891 by local businessman and politician Amos G. Throop. The school was known successively as Throop University, Throop Polytechnic Institute, and Throop College of Technology, before acquiring its current name in 1921. Caltech and the Polytechnic School, a private, college-preparatory academy across the street, were part of the same institution until 1907.

Astronomer George Ellery Hale played an important role in Caltech's early development, helping to mold the school into a major scientific institution. Hale joined Throop's board of trustees after coming to Pasadena in 1907 as the first director of the Mount Wilson Observatory. At a time when scientific research in the United States was still in its infancy, Hale saw an opportunity to create in Pasadena an institution for serious research and education in engineering and the natural sciences. Hale succeeded in attracting private gifts of land and money that were used to build well-equipped, modern laboratory facilities. He then convinced two of the leading American scientists of the time, physical chemist Arthur Amos Noyes and experimental physicist Robert Andrews Millikan, to join Caltech's faculty and assist in establishing the college as a center for science and technology.




In 1917 Hale hired architect Bertram Goodhue to produce a master plan for the 22-acre (89,000 m²) campus. Goodhue conceived the overall layout of the campus and designed the physics building, Dabney Hall, and several other structures, in which he sought to be consistent with the local climate, the character of the school, and Hale's educational philosophy. Goodhue's designs for Caltech were also influenced by the traditional Spanish mission architecture of Southern California.

Caltech remains, to this day, a small and highly focused university, with approximately 900 undergraduates, 1300 graduate students, and over 1000 faculty members (including 293 professors, 104 emeritus professors, 66 permanent research faculty, 87 visiting faculty, and over 500 postdoctoral scholars). A private institution, Caltech is governed by its Board of Trustees.


As of 2006, Caltech has 31 Nobel laureates to its name. This figure includes 17 alumni, 14 non-alumni professors, and 4 professors who were also alumni (Carl D. Anderson, Linus Pauling, William A. Fowler, and Edward B. Lewis). The number of awards is 32, because Pauling received prizes in both Chemistry and Peace. With fewer than 25,000 alumni in total, nearly one in a thousand have received the Nobel Prize — a ratio unmatched by any other university. Five faculty and alumni have received a Crafoord Prize from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, while 47 have been awarded the U.S. National Medal of Science, and 10 have received the National Medal of Technology.Other distinguished researchers have been affiliated with Caltech as postdoctoral scholars (e.g., Barbara McClintock, James D. Watson, and Sheldon Glashow) or visiting professors (e.g., Albert Einstein and Edward Witten).

The Spitzer Science Center (SSC), located on the Caltech campus, is the data analysis and community support center for NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.
The SSC, part of the Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC), works in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Academics

Caltech is divided into six divisions, each of which offer several degree programs, plus a number of interdisciplinary programs. The six divisions are:
Division of Biology
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering
Division of Engineering and Applied Science
Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences
Division of Humanities and Social Sciences
Division of Physics, Mathematics, and Astronomy

California Institute of Technology ranked 7th in the 2007 THES-QS World University ranking

California Institute of Technology ranked 5th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
California Institute of Technology ranked 10th in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking

California Institute of Technology ranked 9th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

Calgary University, Canada

University of Calgary

The University of Calgary is a research-intensive public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The University is composed of 24,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students.

Initially the Calgary Branch of the University of Alberta in the first half of the 20th century, the University of Calgary separated from the University of Alberta, and was founded in 1966. The University of Calgary, or "U of C", is composed of 16 faculties including a teachers' college, law school, and medical school. In 2008 the University of Calgary opened a veterinary school bringing the number of faculties to 17. The campus is in the north-west quadrant of Calgary.

The University of Calgary is one of the top research-intensive universities in Canada with seventh most Canada Research Chairs.
It is a member of the G13 (Group of Thirteen), Association of Commonwealth Universities, International Association of Universities, and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The university has a sponsored research revenue of $282 million, with total revenues exceeding $800 million. Being in Calgary, with Canada's highest concentration of engineers and geoscientists, both the Faculty of Science, Department of Geosciences and the Schulich School of Engineering maintain ties to the petroleum and geoscience industry
Academics
he University of Calgary has a full complement of academic programs ranging from pure science to social science in areas such as psychology and economics, to several options in the field of health sciences. With access to several professional schools, including the Haskayne School of Business, the Schulich School of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, students keep their options open, and discover their own personal passion. The U of C also encourages multi-disciplinary programs, meaning students can combine their interest areas and create an education that suits them.

The University of Calgary has 17 faculties with more than 60 departments and more than 30 research institutes and centres. The 17 faculties are: Law; Nursing (Calgary); Nursing (Qatar); Social Work; Communication and Culture; Education; Environmental Design; Fine Arts; Haskayne School of Business; Humanities; Kinesiology; Medicine; Schulich School of Engineering; Science; Social Sciences; Veterinary Medicine; Graduate Studies; and Continuing Education.

The university recently opened a campus in Doha, Qatar, offering internationally accredited nursing degrees to students in the Middle East. University of Calgary-Qatar will work with the Hamad Medical Corporation to offer world-class clinical nursing education to educate nurses for clinical specialties and to develop a sustainable nursing workforce. Graduates from the Qatar program will meet the same Canadian and international standards for nursing as students from the Calgary campus.

Canada’s fifth veterinary school and the first newly created program in more than 20 years—the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine—opened its doors to students in September 2008. This innovative four-year doctor of veterinary medicine program leverages the principles of integration, collaboration and technology to offer a multi-species/multidisciplinary core as well as three specialized curricular streams: food production, population medicine and investigative medicine.

The Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine are located on the south campus adjacent to the Foothills Hospital. The Kananaskis Field Station, located a short drive from the city on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, and the Rothney Astrophysical Observatory, located in the foothills south of the city, represent satellite institutes of the university.
Faculty
The faculties are:
Faculty of Communication and Culture
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Environmental Design
Faculty of Fine Arts
Faculty of Graduate Studies
Haskayne School of Business
Faculty of Humanities
Faculty of Kinesiology
Faculty of Law
Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Nursing
Schulich School of Engineering
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Social Sciences
Faculty of Social Work
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
University of Calgary ranked 166th in the 2007 THES-QS World University Ranking

University of Calgary ranked 170th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
University of Calgary ranked 149th in the 2009 THES-QS World University Ranking
University of Calgary ranked 165th in the 2010 QS World University Ranking

Brown University, USA

Brown University

Brown University

History

Brown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island. Founded in 1764 as the College of Rhode Island, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in New England and the seventh-oldest in the United States. It is a member of the Ivy League. Pembroke College, Brown University's all women's college, merged with The College, in 1971.

Brown was the first college in the nation to accept students regardless of religious affiliations. The school also has the oldest undergraduate engineering program in the Ivy League (1847) and once had the only History of Mathematics department in the world (housed in the same building as Egyptology).

The Brown "New Curriculum," instituted in 1969, eliminates distribution requirements and mandatory A/B/C grades (allowing any course to be taken on a "satisfactory/no credit" basis). Moreover, there are no pluses (+) or minuses (-) in the grading system.

Since 2001, Brown's current and 18th president has been Ruth J. Simmons, the first African American president and second female president of an Ivy League institution, as well as the first permanent female president of Brown.

The school colors are seal brown, cardinal red, and white. Brown's mascot is the bearand the sports teams are called the Brown Bears. The costumed bear mascot named "Bruno" makes appearances at athletic games. The use of a bear as the University's mascot dates back to 1904. People associated with the University are known as Brunonians or, in informal tone or jocularity, Brownies.

Admission to Brown is extremely competitive, with an overall admissions rate of 13.8% for the class of 2010. The class of 2011 has an admittance rate of 13.5%. The regular decision acceptance rate for the Class of 2010 was 12.6%, and the regular decision acceptance rate of the Class of 2011 was 12.3%.Brown does not accept the Common Application.

More than one-third of the members of the Class of 2010 scored above 750 on the verbal or math sections of the SAT I: Reasoning Test Approximately 15 percent of the students in the Class of 2010 graduated number one or number two in their high school classes. Students come from all 50 states, as well as 65 countries.

Brown's financial aid program awards approximately $70 million each year in the form of scholarships, jobs, and loans. Over 50% of students receive some form of financial aid.

In the 2008 U.S. News & World Report college rankings, Brown ranked fourteenth in the nation among "National Universities" (tied with Johns Hopkins University and Northwestern University), and the lowest of the eight Ivy League universities. Over a decade ago, in 1995, US News & World Report ranked Brown second in excellence in undergraduate teaching.

According to a study entitled "Revealed Preference Ranking," (date needed), Brown ranks seventh in the country when students are choosing which of the schools to which they are admitted to attend. Brown ranks fifth when the Revealed Preference Ranking method focuses on students interested in humanities and social studies and lower in the sciences and mathematics. A notable fact is that Brown ranks ahead of all the Ivy League schools other than Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

According to a 2007 Princeton Review survey of colleges, Brown is the fourth most selective college in America, and Brown's students are the happiest.

92 to 95% of Brown students are admitted to one of their top three law school choices, similar to all other Ivy League schools. As with the other Ivies, for business schools the figure is nearly 100%. Finally, Brown consistently ranks in the top 5 colleges in the country in terms of the percentage of students accepted into medical school.

Academics

The College

The College offers two different baccalaureate degrees: bachelor of arts (A.B.) and bachelor of science (Sc.B.) in various types of Major and Minor.

Founded in 1764, The College is the oldest school of Brown University. Nearly 6,000 undergraduate students are currently enrolled in the university, and approximately 80 concentrations are offered. The most popular concentrations are Biology, History, and International Relations. Brown is one of the few schools in the United States with a major in Egyptology available and the only school in the world with a History of Math major. Undergraduates can also design an independent concentration if the existing standard programs do not fit their interests.

Graduate School

Established in 1887, The Graduate School currently houses over 1,500 students studying over 50 disciplines. Eight different master's degrees are offered as well as Ph.D. degrees in over 40 subjects ranging from Applied Mathematics to Public Policy.

Alpert Medical School

The University's medical program started in 1811, but the school was suspended by President Wayland in 1827 after the program's faculty declined to live on campus (a new requirement under Wayland). In 1975, the first M.D. degrees from the new Program in Medicine were awarded to a graduating class of 58 students. In 1991, the school was officially renamed the Brown University School of Medicine, then renamed once more to Brown Medical School in October 2000.

In January 2007, self-made entrepreneur Warren Alpert donated $100 million to Brown Medical School on behalf of the Warren Alpert Foundation, tying Sidney Frank for the largest single monetary contribution ever made to the University. In recognition of the gift, the faculty of Brown University approved changing the name of the Brown Medical School to The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. It is currently ranked 31st among U.S. medical schools in research and 23rd in primary care according to US News and World Report. Admissions to Alpert is one of the most competitive in the nation, with only less than 2% of those applying through the Standard Route accepted in 2008 (5,902 applications for 94 spots).

The medical school is known for its eight-year Program in Liberal Medical Education (PLME), which was started in 1984 and is one of the most selective programs in the nation. Each year, approximately 60 high school students matriculate into the PLME out of an applicant pool of about 1,600. Since 1976, the Early Identification Program (EIP) has encouraged Rhode Island residents to pursue careers in medicine by recruiting sophomores from Providence College, Rhode Island College, the University of Rhode Island, and Tougaloo College. In 2004, the school once again began to accept applications from premedical students at other colleges and universities via AMCAS like most other medical schools. The medical school also offers combined degree programs leading to the M.D./Ph.D., M.D./M.P.H. and M.D./M.P.P. degrees.

Brown University ranked 32nd in the 2007 THES-QS World University ranking

Brown University ranked 27th in the 2008 THES-QS World University ranking
Brown University ranked 31st in the 2009 THES-QS World University ranking
Brown University ranked 39th in the 2010 QS World University ranking