University of Edinburgh

Established in 1582, the University of Edinburgh is known to be the sixth oldest university in Scotland. It is an open institution. Earlier, it was known as the Tounis College and later on, it was named as the University of Edinburgh in 1583. And, in the same year, the university commenced its first classes. The university is the fourth Scottish university which was developed as an institution by the Royal Charter. By the 18th century, it became the best open institute in Scotland. In 1875, a medical school was built within the premises and the halls were constructed in the medical buildings through a large number of funds contributed by the then famous politician, William McEwan. The building was designed and built by the architect, Anderson.

The university comprises of five campuses, namely Central area, King's building, and BioQuarter, Western General, and Easter Bush. The Central area campus is the oldest site and it comprises the School of Social Science and Humanities, School of Computing and Informatics, and the School of Law along with the main library. This campus also organizes the Edinburgh International Festival every year. The King's building campus houses the research centers of science and engineering. Also, it features the Centre for Systems Biology along with three libraries, namely Darwin Library, James Clerk Maxwell library, and Robertson Engineering and Science Library. Moreover, it is home to some of the renowned research centers like the National e-Science Centre, Scottish Microelectronic Centre, Scottish Institute for enterprises, and the Environmental Research Centre.

Further, BioQuater Campus features medical faculties and research institutes. In addition, this campus has a medical library and two large lecture theatres. The Western General is one of the main teaching hospitals affiliated to the University of Edinburgh's Medical School. It is located two miles from the University's Central Area and five miles from BioQuarter. The Easter Bush Campus is located eight miles to the south of Edinburgh city center near Penicuik. It incorporates both The Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Roslin Institute

The university offers various subjects that are divided into three colleges which give students opportunities to choose amongst the courses as per their interest. The categories are Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and the College of Science and Engineering. The University of Edinburgh is notably a member of Russell Group, Coimbra Group, as well as LER Universities. Students get great opportunities to work with professionals and gain practical knowledge about the field. They are also taken for industrial visits along with the faculty members. In addition, the library at the university is known to be the largest library in Scotland and holds up to a collection of about 2.5 million books and journals. Over 2,800 journals are regularly indexed and some 7,000 book and chapter records are included each year.

The University of Edinburgh’s list of alumni includes Bill Gates (Founder of Microsoft Corporation), Neil Armstrong (First person to walk on the moon), Justin Trudeau (23rd Prime Minister of Canada), A.P.J Abdul Kalam (11th President of India), Tony Hayward (Former CEO of BP), Piers Sellers (Renowned Astronaut), Ian Charleson (Famous Actor), and Irinia Bokovo (9th Director-General of UNESCO).