Oxford University
The University of Oxford (formally The Chancellor Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford)[11] is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. It has no known date of foundation, but 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][12] 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 north-east to Cambridge where they established what became the University of Cambridge (see "town versus gown").[13] The two "ancient universities" are frequently jointly referred to as "Oxbridge". The history and influence of the University of Oxford has made it one of the most prestigious universities in the world.[14][15]
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.[16] All the colleges are self-governing institutions within the university, each controlling its own membership and with its own internal structure and activities.[17] Being a city university, it does not have a main campus and instead its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Most undergraduate teaching at Oxford is organised around weekly tutorials at the colleges and halls, supported by classes, lectures, seminars, and laboratory work provided by university faculties and departments.
The university was a centre of the Royalist party during the English Civil War (1642–1649), while the town favoured the opposing Parliamentarian cause.[40] From the mid-18th century onwards, however, the University of Oxford took little part in political conflicts.
Wadham College, founded in 1610, was the undergraduate college of Sir Christopher Wren. Wren was part of a brilliant group of experimental scientists at Oxford in the 1650s, the Oxford Philosophical Club, which included Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke. This group held regular meetings at Wadham under the guidance of the College's Warden, John Wilkins, and the group formed the nucleus which went on to found the Royal Society.
Oxford has an alumni network of over 250,000 individuals, including more than 120 Olympic medalists, 26 Nobel Prize winners, seven poets laureate, and over 30 modern world leaders (including Bill Clinton, Aung San Suu Kyi, Indira Ghandi and 26 UK Prime Ministers).
It has a friendly rivalry with Cambridge for the title of best university in the UK and is regularly ranked as being one of the top three universities in the world. Notable Oxford thinkers and scientists include Tim Berners-Lee, Stephen Hawking and Richard Dawkins.