University of Oxford
Coat of arms
Latin:
Universitas Oxoniensis
Motto
Dominus Illuminatio Mea
(Latin)
Motto
in English
"The Lord is my Light"
Established
c. 1096
[1]
Endowment
£4.775 billion (inc.
colleges) 2014-15
[2]
Chancellor
Chris Patten
Vice-Chancellor
Louise Richardson
[3][4]
Academic staff 1,791
[5]
Students
22,602 (December
2015)
[6]
Undergraduates
11,603 (2015)
[6]
Postgraduates
10,499 (2015)
[6]
Other students 500
[7]
Location
Oxford, England, UK
Colours
Oxford blue
[8]
Athletics
The Sporting Blue
Affiliations
IARU
Russell Group
Europaeum
EUA
Golden Triangle
G5
LERU
SES
Website
ox.ac.uk
The
University of Oxford (informally
Oxford University or simply
Oxford) is a
collegiate research university located in Oxford, England, United Kingdom. While
having no known date of foundation, there is evidence of teaching as far back as
1096,
[1]
making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the
world's second-oldest university in continuous operation.
[1][9]
It grew rapidly from
1167 when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of
Paris.
[1]
After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk in 1209, some
academics fled northeast to Cambridge where they established what became the
University of Cambridge.
[10]
The two "ancient universities" are frequently jointly
referred to as "Oxbridge".
The university is made up of a variety of institutions, including 38 constituent
colleges and a full range of academic departments which are organised into four
divisions.
[11]
All the colleges are self-governing institutions as part of the
university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure
and activities.
[12]
Being a city university, it does not have a main campus; instead,
all the buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Most
undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials at the self-
governing colleges and halls, supported by classes, lectures and laboratory work
provided by university faculties and departments.
Oxford is the home of the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the world's oldest and most
prestigious scholarships, which has brought graduate students to study at the
university for more than a century.
[13]
The university operates the world's oldest
university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world
[14]
and the
largest academic library system in Britain.
[15]
Oxford has educated many notable
alumni, including 28 Nobel laureates, 27 Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom,
and many foreign heads of state.
[16]