Former names
|
Leicester School of Art, Leicester Colleges of Art and Technology, Leicester Polytechnic |
---|---|
Motto | Excellentia et studium (Latin) |
Motto in English
|
Excellence and Zeal |
Type | Public |
Established | 1992 – gained University status 1870 – Leicester School of Art |
Endowment | £1.17 m (2015) |
Chancellor | Doreen Lawrence, Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon |
Vice-Chancellor | Dominic Shellard |
Students | 20,905 (2015/16) |
Undergraduates | 17,140 (2015/16) |
Postgraduates | 3,765 (2015/16) |
Location | Leicester, England |
Affiliations |
Association of Commonwealth Universities Universities UK |
Website | www |
THE (2016/17, national) |
70 | |
---|---|---|
THE (2016/17, world) |
601-800 | |
Complete (2018, national) |
82 | |
The Guardian (2018, national) |
94 | |
Times/Sunday Times (2017, national) |
67 |
Association of Commonwealth Universities
De Montfort University (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England.
In 2008, 70% of the university's research was deemed 'world leading' (40%), or 'internationally excellent' (30%) in the United Kingdom Research Assessment Exercise. The assessment also highlighted a particular strength in English literature, where its RAE score equalled the University of Cambridge. The university has the second highest number of National Teaching Fellows of all UK universities. The university ranked 53rd in the Times University rankings for young universities in 2016.
The university is organised into four faculties: Art, Design, and Humanities; Business and Law; Health and Life Sciences; and Technology (comprising Computing Sciences and Engineering). There is also the Institute of Creative Technologies which researches the intersections of art, science, technology and multidisciplinary working.
The university's origins are in the Leicester School of Art, established in 1870 on a voluntary basis. The school expanded in response to the changing needs of late 19th-century industry; leading to the introduction of subjects such as engineering, building and machine drawing. By 1897, it was clear the buildings being used were no longer suitable. £25,000 was raised to build 'a very handsome school that would be enormous credit to the town and ... so that it would answer its purpose for the next 100 years'. The building in question is the Hawthorn Building, which today still houses the sciences; in the shape of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences. At the time of the first phase its construction, there were 500 art students and 1,000 technical students. In 1903, a letter from Her Majesty's Inspector praised the success of the technical subjects. Increasing demand for courses prompted an extension to the Hawthorn Building in 1909. In 1919, further properties were rented. The Duchess of Atholl laid the foundation stone of Hawthorn's new west wing in 1927; by which time the establishment was known under by the joint name of The Leicester Colleges of Art and Technology.