Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established by royal charter in 1964, one of several new universities created in the 1960s.
The university was initially based in St Leonard’s Gate in the city centre, before starting a move in 1967 to a purpose-built 300 acres (120 ha) campus at Bailrigg, 4 km (2.5 mi) to the south. The campus buildings are arranged around a central walkway known as the Spine, which is connected to a central plaza, named Alexandra Square in honour of its first chancellor, Princess Alexandra.
Lancaster is a residential collegiate university; the colleges are weakly autonomous. The eight undergraduate colleges are named after places in the historic county of Lancashire, and each have their own campus residence blocks, common rooms, administration staff, and bars.
Lancaster is ranked in the top thirteen in all three national league tables, and received a Gold rating in the Government’s inaugural (2017) Teaching Excellence Framework. The annual income of the institution for 2018/19 was £317.9 million of which £42.0 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £352.7 million.[1] Along with the universities of Durham, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Sheffield and York, Lancaster is a member of the N8 Group of research universities. Elizabeth II, Duke of Lancaster, is the visitor of the university. The current chancellor is Alan Milburn, since 2015.
Academic Departments
The university is divided into four faculties. Each faculty is led by a Dean, and each academic department by a Head of department.
- Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
- Department of Educational Research
- Department of English Literature and Creative Writing
- Department of History
- Lancaster Institute for the Contemporary Arts (LICA)
- (Art, Design, Film, Theatre)
- Department of Languages and Cultures (DeLC)
- (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish)
- Lancaster University Law School
- Department of Linguistics and English Language
- Department of Politics, Philosophy and Religion
- Department of Sociology
- Faculty of Health and Medicine
- Division of Biomedical and Life Sciences
- Division of Health Research
- Lancaster Medical School
- Faculty of Science and Technology
- Department of Chemistry
- School of Computing and Communications (SCC)
- Department of Engineering
- Lancaster Environment Centre
- (Biological Sciences, Environmental Science, Geography)
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics
- Natural Sciences
- Department of Physics
- Department of Psychology
- Lancaster University Management School
- Accounting and Finance
- Centre for Education, Training and Development (CETAD)
- Department of Economics
- Department of Entrepreneurship, Strategy and Innovation
- Department of Leadership and Management
- Department of Management Science
- Department of Marketing
- Department of Organisation, Work and Technology
The various administrative and technical departments that exist outside of the four faculties are collectively known as Professional Services, and include Facilities, Admissions, and the Library.