University of Liverpool facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
University of Liverpool

Coat of arms
Motto	Latin: Haec otia studia fovent
Motto in English	These days of peace foster learning
Type	Public
Established	1881 – University College Liverpool 1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University 1903 – royal charter
Endowment	£182.7 million (2023)
Budget	£673.2 million (2022/23)
Chancellor	Wendy Beetlestone
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Tim Jones
Visitor	The Lord President of the Council ex officio
Academic staff	3,110 (2021/22)
Administrative staff	3,385 (2021/22)
Students	28,680 (2021/22)
Undergraduates	22,265 (2021/22)
Postgraduates	6,415 (2021/22)
Location	Liverpool , England
Campus	Urban
Colours	The University
Affiliations	AACSB AMBA EQUIS EUA N8 Group Russell Group UASR URA Universities UK

The University of Liverpool (often called UOL) is a large public research university located in Liverpool, England. It started as a college in 1881. In 1903, it received a special permission called a Royal Charter to give out its own degrees. It's known as one of the original "red brick" universities, which are older universities built in industrial cities.

The university has three main groups of subjects, called faculties, with 35 different departments and schools. It's a founding member of the Russell Group, which is a group of top research universities in the UK. It's also part of the N8 Group for research teamwork.

Many famous people have studied or worked here, including ten Nobel Prize winners. The university offers over 230 different first-degree courses in 103 subjects. It was the first university in the UK to create departments for studying the ocean, city design, architecture, and biochemistry. In 2006, it became the first UK university to open its own independent university in China, called Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

History of the University

How the University Started

The University of Liverpool began in 1881 as University College Liverpool. Its first students joined in 1882. In 1884, it became part of the larger Victoria University.

An important moment happened in 1894 when Oliver Lodge, a professor at the university, made the world's first public radio transmission. Just two years later, he took the first surgical X-ray in the UK. The Liverpool University Press, which publishes books, was started in 1899. This makes it the third-oldest university publisher in England. At this time, students received their degrees from the University of London.

Becoming an Independent University

The Victoria Building was the first building made just for the university. It opened in 1892 and inspired the name "red brick university."

The Quadrangle, a peaceful area at the University of Liverpool.

In 1903, the university received a royal charter and a special law from Parliament. This allowed it to become an independent university, the University of Liverpool, and give out its own degrees. The years that followed saw many important discoveries. Sir Charles Sherrington discovered the synapse, which is how nerve cells communicate. William Blair-Bell worked on chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

Later, in the 1930s and 1940s, Sir James Chadwick and Sir Joseph Rotblat made big contributions to the development of the atomic bomb. From 1943 to 1966, Professor Allan Downie helped to get rid of smallpox around the world.

In 1994, the university became a founding member of the Russell Group. This group includes twenty top universities known for their research. In 2004, it also helped start the N8 Group for research teamwork. In the 21st century, scientists and engineers from the University of Liverpool helped build the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. They worked on two of the four detectors there.

The university has had ten Nobel Prize winners who were either students or teachers there. These winners received awards for their work in science, medicine, economics, and peace.

Campus and Buildings

The Foundation Building, one of the main offices at the university.

The Yoko Ono Lennon Centre, a new building opened in 2022.

Abercromby Square, where many university departments are located.

The university's main campus is in the city of Liverpool, about a five-minute walk from the city centre. It covers 100 acres and has 192 buildings. These buildings include 69 lecture halls, 114 teaching areas, and many research labs.

The main campus is split into three faculties: Health and Life Sciences; Humanities and Social Sciences; and Science and Engineering. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital (Leahurst) and Ness Botanical Gardens are located on the Wirral Peninsula, a short distance away.

There are 51 student housing buildings on or near the campus, offering 3,385 rooms for students. Students can choose between rooms with meals provided or self-catering options. The most famous building on campus is the original "red brick" building, the Victoria Building. It opened in 1892 and has been restored to become the Victoria Gallery and Museum. It has a cafe and activities for school visits.

In 2011, the university decided to invest £660 million to improve the 'Student Experience'. Part of this money was used to build new student housing. For example, Vine Court opened in 2012. There are also new facilities for Veterinary Science and a refurbished Liverpool Guild of Students building. New Central Teaching Laboratories for subjects like physics and chemistry opened in 2012.

In 2013, the University of Liverpool opened a smaller campus in London. This campus offers master's degree programs focused on different careers.

Central Teaching Hub

The Central Teaching Hub is a large building with many uses. It has updated lecture halls and teaching labs for Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Sciences. It was finished in 2012. The main part, the 'Central Teaching Laboratory', has a big open area inside. It contains seven separate labs that can hold 1,600 students at one time. There are also flexible teaching spaces, a computer centre, and shared study areas.

Being Environmentally Friendly

In 2008, the University of Liverpool was ranked as one of the greenest universities in Britain by the Green League, supported by WWF. This was a big improvement from the year before.

The university earned points for its efforts in areas like transport, waste management, and reducing emissions. Liverpool received the highest possible awards for its environmental policy, staff, audits, fair trade status, and waste recycling. It also scored well in reducing carbon emissions, recycling water, and using sustainable energy.

Liverpool was the first UK university to create its own system for saving power on desktop computers. Many other universities have now started using this system. The university has also found ways to save power when using powerful computers for complex tasks.

How the University is Organized

Liverpool Guild of Students

The University of Liverpool is considered one of the top 1% of universities worldwide. It is a founding member of the Russell Group and the Northern Consortium.

It is a university focused on research, with 33,000 students studying over 450 different programs. These programs cover 54 subject areas. The university teaches and researches a wide range of subjects in both arts and sciences. The University of Liverpool School of Medicine, started in 1835, is now one of the largest medical schools in the UK. It also works closely with the nearby Royal Liverpool University Hospital.

The university has a students' union called the Liverpool Guild of Students. This group helps represent the interests of the students.

University Leaders

The main leader of the university is the Chancellor. Here are some of the people who have been Chancellor:

The person in charge of the university's day-to-day operations is the vice-chancellor. Here are some of the people who have been Vice-Chancellor:

University Faculties

Since 2009, the university's teaching departments have been grouped into three main faculties:

Academic Information

How Students Join

The University of Liverpool is quite selective. In 2014, it ranked 40th in Britain for the average UCAS points of students who joined. The university offers admission to about 83.1% of people who apply. This is the 7th highest rate among the Russell Group universities.

In the 2016–17 school year, about 72% of students were from the UK, 3% from the EU, and 25% from other countries. The student body was made up of 55% female students and 45% male students.

University Rankings and Reputation

University of Liverpool's national league table performance over the past ten years

The University of Liverpool is highly regarded. In the Complete University Guide 2013, it was ranked 31st out of 124 universities in the UK. The Times Good University Guide 2008 ranked it 34th. In 2010, The Sunday Times ranked it 29th out of 122 universities nationwide.

Globally, the university also performs well. In 2011, the QS World University Rankings placed it 123rd in the world. The 2018 U.S. News & World Report ranked Liverpool 129th globally.

In the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF), which checks the quality of research in UK universities, Liverpool was ranked joint 25th. This shows its strong reputation for research. Subjects like Chemistry, Computer Science, and Archaeology were ranked among the top 10 in the UK for their excellent research. The Computer Science department was even ranked 1st in the UK for its top-quality research.

Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University

North Campus, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

In 2006, the University of Liverpool made history by becoming the first UK university to open an independent university in China. This was a partnership with Xi'an Jiaotong University, creating Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU). It was the world's first university created by a partnership between a British and a Chinese research university.

The campus is in Suzhou Industrial Park, near Shanghai. XJTLU focuses on science, engineering, and management. Students who complete their studies there receive a degree from both the University of Liverpool and XJTLU. All teaching at XJTLU is in English.

Student Life

University Housing

Crown Place halls of residence.

The university offers many different places for students to live, both on campus and in student villages nearby. As part of a large investment to improve student facilities, the university has built three new on-campus halls and updated existing ones.

Here are some of the places students can live for the 2019/2020 school year:

On-campus

• Crown Place
• Philharmonic Court
• Vine Court
• Dover Court
• Tudor Close
• Melville Grove

Off-campus

Greenbank Student Village

• Derby & Rathbone Halls
• Roscoe & Dorothy Kuya Halls

In 2021, "Gladstone Halls" was renamed after Dorothy Kuya, a leading communist and anti-racist leader.

Sports at the University

University of Liverpool's Sports Centre

The University of Liverpool has a strong tradition in sports. Its sports program, called Sport Liverpool, offers over 50 different sports. These include popular sports like football, rugby, cricket, and hockey, as well as unique ones like windsurfing, lacrosse, and cheerleading.

Many sports have both male and female teams. Most teams compete nationally through BUCS, which organizes competitions for 154 universities in 47 sports. This often involves traveling to different places across the country.

Two other important competitions are the Christie Championships and the Varsity Cup. The Christie Cup is a competition between Liverpool, Leeds, and Manchester universities. The Varsity Cup is a popular local competition between Liverpool John Moores University and the University of Liverpool.

Famous Alumni

Helen Marnie

Barham Salih, former Prime Minister of Iraqi Kurdistan and President of Iraq.

Tung Chee Hwa, first Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

Nobel Prize Winners from Liverpool

Charles Scott Sherrington

Charles Glover Barkla

Ten people who worked or studied at the University of Liverpool have won the Nobel Prize.

• Sir Ronald Ross (won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1902) for his work on malaria.
• Charles Barkla (won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1917) for finding out about the electromagnetic properties of X-rays.
• Sir Charles Sherrington (won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1932) for his research on neurons (nerve cells).
• Sir James Chadwick (won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1935) for discovering neutrons.
• Sir Robert Robinson (won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1947) for his research on plant pigments and natural compounds.
• Har Gobind Khorana (won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1968) for his work on understanding the genetic code and how it helps make proteins.
• Rodney Porter (won the Nobel Prize in Physiology/Medicine in 1972) for finding out the structure of antibodies.
• Ronald Coase (won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1991) for his ideas about transaction costs and property rights in economics.
• Joseph Rotblat (won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995) for his efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons.
• Martin Lewis Perl (won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1995) for discovering a particle called the tau lepton.

Images for kids

• 

  North Campus, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

See also

In Spanish: Universidad de Liverpool para niños

• Liverpool Knowledge Quarter
• Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
• Royal Liverpool University Hospital
• Liverpool University School of Architecture
• List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
• Cayman Islands Law School
• Liverpool Life Sciences UTC