University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is based in Leicester, England, with almost twenty thousand registered students - about ten thousand of them full-time students, and seven thousand of them distance-learning students (the largest distance learning population of any UK university other than the Open University). The main campus is about a mile from the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park and Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College.

Related Topics:
Leicester - England - Open University - Victoria Park - Wyggeston and Queen Elizabeth I College

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was founded as Leicestershire and Rutland College in 1918. The site for the University was given by a local textile manufacturer, Thomas Fielding Johnson, in order to create a living memorial for those who lost their lives in World War I. This is reflected in the University motto 'Ut Vitam Habeant' - 'so that they may have life'. The central building, now known as the Fielding Johnson building and housing the University's administration, dates from 1837 and was formerly the Leicestershire and Rutland Lunatic Asylum.

Related Topics:
1918 - World War I

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Students were first admitted to the college in 1921. In 1927, after it became University College, Leicester, students sat the examinations for external degrees of the University of London. In 1957 the college was granted its Royal Charter, and has since then had the status of a University with the right to award its own degrees.

Related Topics:
1921 - 1927 - University of London - 1957 - Royal Charter

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The University is notable for its research, particularly in the areas of biochemistry and genetics. Genetic fingerprinting was developed at Leicester, and it has built space probes, most notably the Mars lander Beagle 2, in collaboration with the Open University.

Related Topics:
Biochemistry - Genetics - Genetic fingerprinting - Mars - Beagle 2 - Open University

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The University's Engineering Building was the first major building by important British architect James Stirling. It comprises workshops and laboratories at ground level, and a tower containing offices and lecture theatres. It was completed in 1963 and is notable for the way in which its external form reflects its internal functions.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The University won the first ever series of University Challenge, in 1963.

Related Topics:
University Challenge - 1963

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~