|
|
Join The Student Room TodayBe part of the UK's largest and fastest growing student community. It's free to join and a lot of fun - Get inspired, express your ideas, interact and share Queen Mary, University of LondonFrom The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > Queen Mary, University of London  IntroductionSituated two miles from the City Of London to the west and two miles from Canary Wharf to the south, Queen Mary, University of London is one of the UK's leading research-focused higher education institutions with some 15,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. Amongst the largest of the colleges of the University of London, Queen Mary’s 3,000 staff deliver world class degree programmes and research across 21 academic departments and institutes, within three sectors: Science and Engineering; Humanities, Social Sciences and Laws; and the School of Medicine and Dentistry. Among the top 150 universities in the world according to the Times Higher Education, Queen Mary is also ranked 11th in the UK according to the Guardian analysis of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, and has been described as ‘the biggest star among the research-intensive institutions’ by the Times Higher Education.  The College has a strong international reputation, with around 20 per cent of students coming from over 100 countries. Queen Mary has an annual turnover of £220 million, research income worth £43 million, and generates employment and output worth over £600 million to the UK economy each year. Queen Mary, as a member of the 1994 Group of research-focused universities, has made a strategic commitment to the highest quality of research, the best possible educational, cultural and social experience for its students, and a thriving community outreach programme. A new state-of-the-art learning resource centre with 24-hour access opened in 2003, and a new student village with 2,000 en-suite rooms followed in 2004. More residences and an arts quarter, containing research facilities, a conference centre, drama studio and teaching space, were completed in 2006. And in September 2008, a £6-million, state-of-the-art, health and fitness centre was also unveiled on the College’s Mile End campus. A £15-million Humanities building is due to open in spring 2010 and a biosciences innovation centre is already under construction, next door to the £44-million Blizard Building – the striking new home of Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, in Whitechapel.
 University's HistoryQueen Mary's roots lie in four historic colleges: Queen Mary College, Westfield College, St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College and the London Hospital Medical College. The University's first two main faculties were engineering and chemistry, expanding into Arts prior to the University of London admission in 1907. The founding buildings at Queen Mary, the People’s Palace and the Queen’s Hall, were built to bring education to the Victorian masses of the East End. Queen Victoria opened the Queen's Hall, in 1887, one year after the opening of the People's Palace. After a fire destroyed the hall completely in 1931, it was rebuilt, and renamed the Queen's Building in 1956 by the late HM Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mother). The Queens' Building is now the main administrative building on campus and is the main entrance to the College. The People's Palace today houses the Skeel Lecture theatre and the Great Hall where College ceremonies, including graduation, take place. East London was heavily bombed during WWII and was vacated by students, whom moved to Girton College, Cambridge and Clare College, Cambridge, University of Cambridge between 1939 and 1945. During that period, the university was occupied by army troops, intent on keeping the world’s busiest docks (The Docklands) from the invading Nazis. It was only after WWII that the college began a rapid expansion programme. The Humanities and Physics departments, were acquisitions made by the university after the area was heavily bombed. As further departments were added, it was also suggested in 1968 that the St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College (SBHMC) and The London Hospital Medical College (LHMC), be associated with the university. The university started teaching medicine off site in 1989, and then fully merged with the SBHMC and the LHMC in 1995 to form Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The arts-based Westfield College and scientific Queen Mary also came together in 1989, but it took time to mould the new institution and overcome financial difficulties. The sale of Westfield’s Hampstead base released the necessary capital to begin to modernise the Mile End Road campus. Already London University’s fourth largest unit, Queen Mary is expected to carry on growing. It is one of London’s designated points of expansion in the sciences, although its strength is more obvious on the arts side, which boasts a number of high-profile academics. AccommodationThe College has recently been involved in a multi-million pound project to expand the number of dwellings to cater for a burgeoning student population. Queen Mary is now unique amongst London's universities in being able to offer the only self-contained campus in the capital, with the 2,000-bed Westfield Student Village. The award-winning development has a restaurant, launderette, central reception and 24-hour security on one site, creating a really lively community for students to enjoy. 
Westfield Student DevelopmentThe College's Westfield Student Village, situated in the north-east corner of the Mile End Campus, boasts en-suite, self-catering housing for 1195 students, staff and academic visitors in six contemporary buildings, designed to create a village community feel. A shop, laundrette, café bar, 200-seat restaurant and central reception (staffed 24 hours a day), and a communal area situated adjacent to the Regents canal, form part of the Village development. Rooms are arranged in flats and maisonettes housing between four to 11 students. Electronic card-access is featured on the main entrances to each building. Due to the popularity of the development and additional facilities, prices are of the highest range within the university, per week. Prices may fluctuate year on year, and it best to view the actual fees listed for confirmation on QM webpage 1. Sir Christopher France House Situated on the bank of the Regents canal, flats in this building have been built to a higher specification than the rest of the village development, being larger in size, with full en-suite facilities including a bath and access to the College's internal phone network. Maurice CourtPositioned at the rear of Creed and Beaumont Courts, Maurice Court is a closed mews very close to The Royal London Hospital (Mile End). It is a four-storey building comprising of 12 maisonettes and 18 flats for up to 173 postgraduate students. Creed CourtPositioned opposite Sir France House and adjacent to Beaumont Court, Creed Court is a four-storey building providing housing for 124 first year associate and foundation students in 10 maisonettes and 12 flats. Pooley House Pooley House is an eight-storey building, located at the far end of the campus, providing housing for 378 first year, associate and foundation students in 48 flats. The largest building in the village development, it has three main entrances with lift access to all floors (for students who are spending too much time in Drapers). Beaumont CourtLocated opposite Sir France House and adjacent to Creed Court, Beaumont Court is a four-storey building providing housing for 167 first year, associate and foundation students in maisonettes and flats. A convenience store is located on the ground floor. It is known for the generous storage space it provides, and the international flavour. Many students from America are located in Beaumont. Lynden HouseSituated to the left hand side of Pooley House, Lynden House is a four-storey building comprising of flats for 24 first year, associate and foundation students. Richard Feilden HouseOpened in 2007, Richard Feilden House is the newest dwelling in the Village and situated opposite the Walter Beasant Building. Six storeys in height, it provides housing for 200 first year, associate and foundation students. The Curve, a 200-seat stylish restaurant, launderette and Student Union office situated on the ground floor. Manyard and Varey HousesMaynard & Varey Houses are situated in Westfield Way at the eastern end of the Mile End campus directly opposite the College's new Chemistry and IT Resource Centre. The residences consist of two identical five-storey buildings, housing 200 first year undergraduate, associate and foundation students in single study bedrooms with lift access to all floors. Communal recreation rooms are offered within each flat, but shared bathrooms are what fundamentally separate these properties from the new village development. Prices are at the budget end of the spectrum for general university accommodation. Lindop HouseLindop House is a residential development situated directly opposite the Queens' Building. The seven-storey residence, offering splendid views of Canary Wharf, provides on-campus housing for 74 first year undergraduate, mostly medics, and foundation students in single rooms in 11 six-person flats and 2 four-person flats. Lift access is available to six floors.  All rooms are electrically heated, each with computer network connections, wash-hand basins and card-access to the main entrances to the building. Each flat has shared bathroom, kitchen facilities. There is a launderette on the ground floor. Postgraduate HallsSituated just off the Mile End Road, Stocks Court provides housing for 125 postgraduate students. This four-storey residence is less than five minutes walk from the College's main campus at Mile End and is under a minutes' walk from Stepney Green tube station. All rooms are single with washbasins, computer network connections and are grouped into four-six bedroom flats with each flat sharing bathroom, shower, toilet and a kitchen/dining room. The residence has a laundry with coin-operated washing and drying machines as well as a common room with TV facilities and a cycle storage area. Hatton HouseHatton House is situated in Westfield Way at the eastern end of the Mile End campus. This three-storey residence consists of 34 single study bedrooms housing postgraduates and has two rooms specifically designed for wheelchair disabled students. Rooms are furnished to a high standard and have full en-suite facilities. All rooms are centrally heated with computer network connections and refrigerators; kitchen and dining facilities are shared. Hatton features card-access entry to each of the building's four entrances. Coin operated laundry facilities are available in an adjacent building. Chapman, Chesney and SelincourtThese four residences are situated in Westfield Way at the eastern end of the Mile End campus adjacent to the Regents Canal. They provide 94 single en-suite rooms for final year undergraduate and new postgraduate students and are split into seventeen five-six bedrooms flats and one three bedroom flat (with two rooms specifically designed for wheelchair disabled residents). All rooms are centrally heated with in-room computer network connections, card-access entry to the buildings and each flat has its own shared kitchen/dining area. Coin operated laundry facilities are available in an adjacent building. Floyer HouseFloyer House, Philpot St, which houses 145 medical and dental students and medical based postgraduates, is located close to the London Hospital and Dental Institute at the College's Whitechapel campus. Each flat shares bathroom, shower, toilet and kitchen/dining facilities. All rooms are centrally heated and equipped with washbasins, refrigerators and in-room computer network connections. Floyer features card-access entry to the buildings and the residence has a large TV/common room, coin-operated laundry, ironing rooms, gym, cycle storage facilities and an enclosed garden. Dawson HallDawson Hall is located only yards from Barbican tube station in the City of London and is set around lawns and trees on the College's Charterhouse campus, close to St Bartholomew's Hospital. This seven-storey residence with lift access to the first six floors provides centrally heated single rooms (half with wash-hand basins) with in-room computer network connections, for 207 medical and dental students and medical based postgraduates. Students share kitchen, bathroom and toilet facilities. The residence also has access to a coin operated laundry, TV and recreation room and a keep fit gym run by the Medical School Student's Association. Student LifeStudent UnionQueen Mary Student Union (QMSU) is one of the most active in the country. And having recently undergone a multimillion pound refurbishment, QMSU is now better than ever. QMSU is split into three sites: the main site in Mile End and the Students’ Association in Whitechapel and Charterhouse Square. For more detailed information on the Union’s activities, visit www.qmsu.org [1]. The Union has some great sports facilities. A brand new state-of-the-art health and fitness centre, which opens in early 2008, boasts a cardio vascular zone, dedicated stretching areas, free weights area, two fitness studios, a ladies-only gym, a squash court and sports hall. The Students’ Union also supports a huge range of sports clubs – everything from the traditional team sports like hockey, football, rugby to the more unusual, such as cheerleading, ultimate Frisbee and Kickboxing. Students interested in football, rugby or cricket use Queen Mary’s pitches in Chislehurst, while the Hockey and Netball clubs use the facilities at the local Mile End Stadium, and the College’s boat club trains at the London Regatta Centre. All team sports compete in both the British University Sports Association (BUSA) and the University of London leagues and do very well. Queen Mary also has its own glossy magazine The Cub; nominated in recent years as one of the best student publications in the country. As part of the revamp of Union facilities, The Drapers’ Bar, on the Mile End campus, has undergone a £650,000 refurbishment making it one of the best student entertainment venues in the country. Religious FacilitiesQueen Mary has a truly multicultural student population reflecting not only the ethnic mix of East London, but also its international scholars. There are many different faith communities and places of worship near the Mile End campus – from churches, mosques and synagogues to temples and a Buddhist prayer centre. The college encourages religious understanding and co-operation, and every effort is made to meet the practical needs of students, whatever their faith. The Student Union includes many active student-led religious societies and the College provides multi-faith prayer rooms equipped with washing facilities. St Benet’s, the College chaplaincy, is a weekday workplace church on the Mile End campus in addition to a multi-faith prayer room adjacent to the Student Union. BankBarclays Bank is located on the Mile End campus, and branches of Barclays and National Westminster are situated close to the School of Medicine and Dentistry at Whitechapel. Please note, however, that the queues for these cash machines can be very long. Budgen’s offers cash-back at its tills if you spend £1 minimum in store. The cash machine inside Budgen’s is more costly, charging £1.75 per transaction. Shops on CampusAs of September 2006 a new bookshop opened on campus to replace the previous Waterstones, whilst offering identical books, but with the addition of more chocolate goodies and drinks. There is also a medicine and dentistry bookshop in the BLSA building at Whitechapel for the medics and dentistry students. Eating on CampusThere are plenty of cafeterias around campus, with Café Amici being a laid back therapeutic place to enjoy a sandwich and hot chocolate. The Curve has a deli with hand-filled sandwiches, fresh pre-packed salads, jacket potatoes and a variety of ready-to-go hot and cold deli foods and drinks; an eatery offering delicious international hot and cold dishes. During the week, The Curve also serves a selection of breakfast options including a traditional English breakfast; the Starbucks Coffee Bar offers customers a wide selection of coffees, teas and snacks. Bar Med offers a range of freshly prepared food including burgers, salads and pasta dishes. The Muslim resident chef ensures that all Bar Med dishes are Halal compliant. In the morning, Bar Med is the ideal place to get hot Piacetto coffee and a fresh pastry. Bar Med also has a fully licensed bar. The recently refurbished Senior Common Room Staff Bar welcomes all staff and postgraduate students and offers a wide range of drinks and snacks including a selection of wines. Prices are inexpensive and highly competitive. At lunchtime seating is available for staff bringing their own food to work. The Senior Common Room Lounge offers all staff and postgraduate students a selection of hot beverages, light snacks, sandwiches and soft drinks. World Marché delivers flavours from around the world and includes the Chef’s Theatre where global foods will be cooked before your eyes. Options include Costa coffee, pastries, tapas, salads, paninis and sandwiches The Pantry offers freshly made ciabattas, salads, hot specials of the day, jacket potatoes, a selection of cakes and fresh fruit. Enjoy fresh ground Costa coffee, refreshing frappés or a real fruit smoothie in Ground. Grab a bite to eat, with toasted premium handmade paninis, flat breads and indulgent treats! Start the day with Costa coffee, a smoothie or brunch in Draper’s Bar. During the day a wide range of handmade gourmet burgers and platters to share with friends are available. Village Shop the campus convenience store offers a range of pre-packed sandwiches, wraps, muffins etc. Infusion offers a wide selection of pre-packed sandwiches, wraps, muffins etc. Serve yourself ground coffee also available. On the Whitechapel campus, Nucleus offers breakfast, lunch and snack options including: a wide range of coffees, muffins and croissants, wholesome freshly baked made-to-order baguettes, and delicious desserts including cheesecakes and Italian tortes. The Coffee Clinic offers freshly ground coffee, a wide variety of fresh sandwiches and wraps, cakes, muffins and confectionery. The GriffInn offers a variety of hot food options at lunchtime. Beigal Bunnies offer a variety of hot and cold fillings in a beigel. Two hot dishes are offered daily - one meat and one vegetarian. Homemade cakes, confectionery and hot and cold drinks are also available. Library The library is most likely have all books required for your modules although more advanced research may be needed for specialised areas of your dissertation or essay, hence the reason why Queen Mary is affiliated with the University of London. Senate House is an almost frightening and flamboyant building with imposing architecture. It is exceptionally good for Humanities subjects and you can also work there without so much as hearing a pin drop. It is situated next to UCL and Birkbeck, University of London. If you fancy a more lavish and comfortable environment, may I enlighten you to the British library situated between Euston and King’s Cross. Membership is required, but filling out forms and getting the relevant paperwork is worthwhile to gaining access to their reading rooms. Books are pristine and you can find some near obsolete material. However, the universities library is open term time up until midnight 6 days a week, and onwards after the university closes for the summer period at reduced time periods for the benefit of postgraduates and medics. Medics also have their own architecturally pleasant looking libraries at Charterhouse Square and the Royal London; lucky devils.  IT & Learning Environments TransportLondon Underground, The Tube The main Medical and Dental School campus is situated in Whitechapel, at the rear of the Royal London Hospital and is reachable via Whitechapel tube station, which is a five-minute walk. The East London line serves the station from New Cross in the south to Whitechapel terminal in the North (although this is East London). The tube line will be extended from West Croydon southwards to Dalston northwards in time for the [[2012 Olympic Games. 2. The District and Hammersmith lines also serve Whitechapel. The Medical and Dental School is also based at St. Bartholomew's Hospital and Charterhouse Square campus which are both within five minutes walk from Barbican tube station on the Hammersmith & City, Circle and Metropolitan lines. The Dockland Light Railway (DLR) also comes close to Queen Mary, with a five-minute bus journey from Bow station. Over-ground TrainsNo over-ground trains come close enough to walking distance from Queen Mary; however, Bethnal Green and Limehouse are bus journeys away and are within close proximity. However, this is London, and the time it takes to get to one of the two stations is most likely closer than most other main towns distance to their own railway station. London is a lot more compact than other cities, and a five-minute walk down the road is considered too far for some students; coughing again. London has several main terminal stations, and the closest to Queen Mary is Liverpool Street (2no stations away by Central Line from Mile End) and Fenchurch Street (4no stops away by Distrct to Tower Hill) stations based on the Eastern side of The City. Liverpool Street station will take you to suburban Essex and Anglia. Fenchurch Street will take you to Thurrock and towards southern Essex. For northen cities and towns, Kings Cross & St Pancras and Euston are slightly further on adjoining the Hammersmith & City Line which routes direct to Mile End. All main terminal stations are direct from Mile End except Waterloo, which will incur a line change. London offers a travel card for passengers, and it is advisable to purchase a ticket if you live within zones one to six. Beyond the designated zones, prices dramatically increase, but still may work out cheaper if you intend travelling to and from the university. You can use an Oyster card on only a few London overground stations, most of which are within zones 1-2. The train operator normally notifies passengers within the station by way of a poster. BusesMany buses come within about a one-minute walk to and from the university, with only three buses actually stopping directly outside. The number 25 bus is frequent serving day and night. Don’t look at timetables; just wait a couple of minutes and three will come along at once. The 25 bus is popular and serves the West End of London all the way to Ilford in North East London. The 205 which goes to Liverpool Street, Kings Cross and beyond, but Mile End is the last stop. Both the 25 and 205 run 24-hours-a-day. The only other bus to stop outside, which is rather infrequent, is the 339, which serves from Old Ford to Shadwell next to the Thames. There too many buses to mention, but you can also expect destinations such as Canary Wharf, The City of London, Canning Town, Stratford, Hackney and Highbury to also be reachable. A 10-minute walk down the road either way will provide you with further unlimited destinations. All destinations are within the typical one to six zones and can be used in conjunction with a daily, weekly, monthly or annual travel card. However, I suggest you look into the Oyster Card system and read whether or not it can benefit you. Its complex at first, but once you have worked the system out you can save a packet from your standard travel card, which costs £6.30 for a one to six zone card after 9:30am and £12.30 before 9:30am. The price slightly decreases if you use fewer zones. Zone six is quite far out and is generally on the buffer zone of London just prior to the M25 motorway. CabsAlthough not inner city, you can still expect to flag down a black cab on the way into the City or West End. Do expect to pay approx £5.00 to the City and about £10-15 to the West End. Black cabs are not cheap. VehiclesAs a beloved car owner myself, I have tried everything to ascertain a permit by bribing the lecturers and even asking the local residents, all to no avail. So don’t try it. However, if you're mega rich, which some students are, then you can park in Bancroft Way opposite the Student Union for £3.00 per hour outside a pay and display meter. However, these are very limited and as such, even if you are prepared to pay, you may end up finding yourself neglected of a space. Evening parking is easier and free of charge outside the university and along Bancroft way. You can find the university from central London by following signs for Whitechapel (A11) just off the CC ring road (A1202); QM being impossible to miss as the Maths department will be prominent with fully illuminated logo and signage 30 metres in the air about two miles along the A11. Driving from the east would incur the A13 from the North Circular (A406) until you have just passed the India Dock. You should see a sign for the A1205 and Mile End. Follow this road until the next main traffic light and turn a left at the green painted environmental bridge. Queen Mary is 200 yards on your right hand side. Attractions As you would expect from any urban London university, Queen Mary is close to all attractions with it being 15 minutes from the West End (Leicester Square), five-to-10 minutes from the City (Monument and St Pauls Cathedral), 10 minutes from Canary Wharf and 10 minutes from Tower Bridge. London is not as big as some people think when you have an enormous transport infrastructure, which serves every single place in London. RankingsThe results of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, announced in December 2008, confirmed Queen Mary’s place in the very top group of research-led universities. According to tables published in Times Higher Education, Queen Mary has been ranked 13th in the country out of the 132 institutions which submitted for the exercise. The Guardian places Queen Mary even higher, 11th in the UK. The THE comments “the biggest star among the research-intensive institutions was Queen Mary, University of London, which went from 48th in 2001 to 13th in the 2008 Times Higher Education table, up 35 places.” Queen Mary is ranked fourth amongst University of London multi-faculty colleges, 10 places ahead of King’s College London, which was ranked 22nd in the country. Queen Mary is ranked ahead of several Russell Group institutions, including Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham, Birmingham, Southampton, Liverpool and Newcastle. Queen Mary has also excelled in several subject groups, being in the top five in many, including: Cancer studies (ranked 4th equal ahead of Oxford, Imperial, KCL and UCL). Epidemiology and public health (ranked 3rd ahead of Oxford, UCL and Bristol) Health Services Research (ranked 4th ahead of Oxford, UCL and KCL). Dentistry (ranked 2nd ahead of KCL and UCL) Pre-clinical and human biological sciences (ranked 4th ahead of KCL, Bristol and Nottingham) English Language and Literature (ranked 2nd ahead of UCL, Oxford and Cambridge) Linguistics (ranked 1st ahead of UCL, Oxford and Cambridge) Drama, dance and performing arts (ranked 1st for Drama, but 2nd equal in the unit of assessment with the department ahead of us not being entered for Drama) Geography (ranked 1st equal with Bristol, Cambridge, Durham and Oxford) Queen Mary is also in the top 10 in: Other hospital-based clinical subjects Russian, Slavonic and East European Studies Iberian Languages (Hispanic Studies), Metallurgy and Materials Economics and Econometrics In addition, Queen Mary has made substantial achievements in many other extremely competitive subjects, including History, Computer Science and Electronic Engineering. Business and Management, despite being a new department that was not entered at all in 2001, has equalled the Cass Business School at City University in the THE RAE ranking. Mile End AreaThe university campus is approximately half-a-mile in size from east to west and covers most of the distance from Mile End tube to Stepney Green tube stations. The east side of Queen Mary is banked alongside the Regents Canal, which flows all the way to the Limehouse basin in Canary Wharf and to Regents Park and beyond westbound. Regents canal is a tributary of the River Thames. Within close vicinity to the university are two public parks that the canal runs through, Mile End Park and Victoria Park. Students occupy most of the universities surroundings at term time.
 Safety & CrimeThere is an enormous misconception about the university's surroundings and safety of the area. As an existing student myself and one whom has managed plenty of buildings within the area for over five years, I can categorically deny any suggestion of crime being rife in comparison to any other London Borough or town. As the university is located in an urban area and approx two miles from the City Of London, the population is dense and crime figures are generally higher than suburban boroughs. We can always expect boroughs such as Westminster, Camden, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Islington to be the worse for crime. Such is the case, Queen Mary happens to be in an area safer than most inner London universities, and one of the safest London universities overall [2]. Useful LinksQueen Mary, University of London References1. QM Accommodation Fees Queen Mary Discussions
Applying to Queen MaryThinking of applying to Queen Mary? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other Queen Mary ArticlesWhy not read these other Queen Mary Articles? Links |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|