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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 University of AberdeenFrom The Student RoomTSR Wiki > University > Choosing a University > University Guides > University of Aberdeen
 The University of Aberdeen is the 3rd oldest Scottish university and 5th oldest in the UK, located in the city of Aberdeen in the north of Scotland. Not only is it one of the oldest universities in the UK, but also in the world having originally been founded way back in 1495.
Recent Academic News'Academic Recruitment Campaign' It was announced in April 2009 that the University is spending £15 Million on a program to bring 70+ new academics to the University. "New Library" Construction is under-way with the new 10-story building due to open in 2011.
CampusThe University of Aberdeen is situated on the outer edge of the city in Old Aberdeen, around 20 minutes walk from the city centre. The main Campus is situated around the old cobbled High Street with the oldest buildings centrally located around a central grassy area. Getting to AberdeenAlthough the most Northern university, Aberdeen is by no means hard to get to (or away from!);
Train : 2 hrs 30min Bus : 3 hrs
Plane : ~1 hr 20mins Train : ~7 hrs Bus : 12 hrs FacilitiesLibrariesThe University of Aberdeen library services are currently on four sites. There is the Taylor library, the Medical library at Foresterhill, the special archives and the Queen Mother Library (QML) which is the main one. The QML is a large library with 6 storeys (including the basement) and is one of the few libraries in the UK to store over 1 million items. It was first built in 1978 and opened by the Queen Mother. The heavy demand section in the QML has multiple copies of the most often required text books. Books must be returned by 10am the day after you borrow them (unless you borrow on a Friday, in which case they are due back at 10am on the Monday) so you usually find that a copy is available. You may also renew these if they have not been requested. Other books are either standard loan or three day loan. The standard loan entitles you to keep the book until someone else wants it or until the end of Spring term. The three day loan books can be renewed over the phone or online up to 3 times.
New LibraryThe University of Aberdeen has plans for a new library. It is set to be a fantastic modern building, eight or nine storeys high and with plans to make it as environmentally friendly as possible. The structure of the new library will be a huge glass cube, making most use of natural light as possible and eliminating the need for air conditioning. The ground floor will be a meeting area to allow students to meet up, have a coffee and a chat and work on projects, etc. The budget available for the new library is £57 million. Estimated date of completion : 2011 IT and ComputingWith the introduction of RESNET and EDUROAM, the university now has a wireless campus, which is reportedly the largest in Europe. All areas in halls of residence, and all university buildings now have wireless connectivity, allowing you to connect to the internet, send documents to classroom print stations and access your files via ftp. Files belonging to you, stored on the university system can be access from any computer in the world, with a simple ftp (file transfer protocol) session. Full instructions are available. Proxy settings allow lecture notes, ebooks and various course material to be downloaded from anywhere. There are various computing rooms around campus, including at halls of residence and in the library. Many of these rooms have 24 hour access. New computing science and engineering students are supplied with a new laptop, pre-configured for use with the wireless service, and with course software, MS Office and course materials installed. A computing helpdesk is available on the phone, on email or by popping in to see them at various locations. SportsThe University of Aberdeen compete against RGU every year in the Granite City Challenge. A brand new sports centre was recently opened for the start of the 2009/10 academic year. It includes a state of the art gym, very large games hall, athletics track, and full-size indoor football pitch. There are also plans to build an Olympic standard swimming pool and a lot more.
Sports ClubsHuge selection of sports clubs available. The fencing club at university operates on a Monday evening for beginners and on a Wednesday evening for more experienced fencers. The club regularly travels to competitions around the UK. They compete in the BUSA fencing tournaments and continue to do well. The Lairig Mountaineering Club is ideal if you are an active hillwalker, just want to get out and about more or like the more adventurous side of mountaineering. Or why not try out the unusual sport of underwater hockey? The full list of sports clubs includes:
WelfareThe student association's advice and support offer students help with anything from giving free condoms to homesickness. Niteline is an anonymous, voluntary service which gives students someone to talk to from 8pm to 8am. You can call them up about anything, including pizza numbers, bus times or more serious issues you may be having. You can even call them up just for a chat. If (01224) 272829 is too hard to remember, you will find the number printed on the back of your student card. HealthcareThere is a GP practice located a few minutes walk from the University on King Street. There is also a GP (which most students register for) just off the spital on the way to the University. ShopsMain Campus - The high street has the 'Old Toon' Bakery and a newsagents who give discount to student subscriptions. The Hub is the main source of on-campus shopping. You will find the Union shop, selling university branded clothing, snacks and drinks, student bus tickets, and loads more. Also in the hub, there is a Subway and a large food court. BookEnds is a second hand book shop where students can buy (and sell their own) textbooks, CDs, DVDs and fiction books.
RestaurantsQismat - Located at Hillhead and open to 2-3am at the weekends. Provides Indian and fast food. (2 for 1 kebab nights are the best.) BanksRoyal Bank of Scotland is located on High Street on campus. Lloyds TSB is just across the road from campus. There are branches of most major UK banks within the city centre. TransportNumber 20 From Hillhead to Littlejohn Street in Town, which is 2 minutes walk from Union Street and Morrisons. Every 15 minutes during the day, and every 30 minutes at night time (After ~8pm) - There's also a nightbus at weekends every half hour up until after the clubs finish kicking out. Cheapest night bus in town at £1.30. Taxis at weekend are expensive (around £8-10 back to Hillhead) and have huge queues at the taxi ranks.
Major bus routes all over the city, including the airport. The colour-coded "overground" makes it easy to navigate, but the most used will be the red line numbers 1 and 2 (covers King Street into town) and the number 20 (from Hillhead Halls, through campus and into town, dropping you outside what was formerly the union and is now Fitzpatricks Irish Bar). Careers serviceThe University of Aberdeen Career Service offers comprehensive advice and support to all of the University's students, graduates and staff. It is housed in a purpose built location within the Hub on the main Kings College Campus. Specifically the Careers Office offers, amongst other services : Careers Resources, Guidance Interviews, IT resources and Vacancy information. Further information can be found at www.abdn.ac.uk/careers. Part-time jobsThe University of Aberdeen's Student Association runs a fantastic service called 'Job Link' which helps put students and local employers in contact. They track down the jobs and email them to you weekly. Religious facilitiesThe historic 15th Century King's College in Old Aberdeen is also home to King's College Chapel, with the University Chaplaincy Service just a few yards up the High Street. Sunday morning service is held in King's College Chapel and is open to all. The Chapel is one of the most intact examples of medieval architecture anywhere in Britain. Alumni Annual FundThe university employs student fund raisers to raise funds for the Alumni Annual Fund. Work involves calling graduates to update their details, chat to them about various projects and things going on in the university and asking if they would like to give to the fund. Money raised goes to fund various projects, such as student scholarships, the new library, medical research, sports clubs and facilities, and many more. Over £226,000 was raised during the 2006-2007 campaign, which makes the AAF one of the most successful campaigns in the UK.
Aberdeen Discussions
SocialBars, Pubs and clubsHillheadHillhead halls sees 'The Watering Hole' (or more commonly known among students as 'The Hole') fill up with students all through the academic year. Cheap pints, great atmosphere and loads of entertainment within a 2 minute walk of your room. What more could you ask for? Main CampusSt Machars on the High St is a small bar right next to Blackwells bookshop, a bit more of a locals/lecturers pub but still good for a toastie.
In TownWith over 10% of the population as students, Aberdeen's night life is very much based on what students want and need. You will find many great clubs, pubs and bars with great entertainment and promos. Most of the nightclubs in town have low prices for student nights through the week, with Wednesday being the main night of the week. Careful though, these prices and dress codes do shoot up at the weekend. EventsGranite City ChallengeEach year in Spring the University of Aberdeen and The Robert Gordon University compete against each other in a variety of different sports. The University of Aberdeen has successfully held on to the title since it began. Fresher's FayreOne of the largest events of its kind in Scotland. Housed within two very large marquee tents, over the two days you will find various stalls from all the sports clubs and societies, dishing out information on what they do. Most of the local business (bars, clubs, cinemas, shops, etc.) will be there for both days giving out vouchers, discount cards, T-Shirts, and various other freebies in the hope to lure you into their establishments. This year saw Rustlers cooking and handing out free products, Pizza Hut turning up with a huge pile of free pizza and bags-full of freebies to be grabbed from all over the place. With all that free food there was almost no need to visit the BBQ and bar! During the two days, the SA set up various free activities, including bouncy castle, climbing wall and some trippy space training thing. STV also joined us and showed a spot on the evening news. Torcher ParadeThe largest student, torch-lit parade in Europe hits Aberdeen once a year in April. Students from The University of Aberdeen, Robert_Gordon_University and Aberdeen College all clamber on board decorated lorries (the event originally used horses and carts due to the age of it), while dressed up and playing loud music. The parade earns loads of cash for the Students' Charities Campaign. The event has backing from huge local organisations, such as Unite and also Northsound radio who bring out a float of their own. Various lorry companies get involved, donating lorries for the night and drivers give up their times, a lot of whom bring their kids along for the ride. Thousands of local people line the streets to watch the parade go by, and throw their unwanted change at willing students. SuperteamsThousands of students get together in teams of six and compete in various events for the title of superteam. Events can include things like rock climbing, go-kart racing, paintballing and loads more. Accommodation FayreEvery year around March, Unite, Aberdeen City Council, and various other groups get together in the university. You can book viewings, find out about accommodation and pick up loads of freebies. Clubs and societiesAccommodationUniversityAccommodation is situated on three main sites (Hillhead, Crombie/Johnston, Elphinstone Road). All sites have 24 hour porter/security staff nearby, wireless internet access and laundry facilities. Catered and self-catered accommodation are provided. Check out the Aberdeen accommodation page for details of accommodation available at the university. Private sectorButchart NEW Student Union.Renovation has begun to turn the old sports facilities into a student union. Due to be completed for the 2010/11 academic year. The new union will provide space for, socialising groups to meet, bands to practice and student association offices. An application will be made for an alcohol licence. EnvironmentArchitectureThe old buildings of Kings College and New Kings are the heart of the University with Kings college dating to the formation of the university. In contrast to this you have buildings such as MacRobert and Fraser Noble, Built around the 1960s. All these buildings have been recently renovated and have state of the art interiors. Local areaMost of the University is situated in Old Aberdeen, the most picturesque part of Aberdeen with cobbled streets and old houses. Teaching qualityIn 2009 the university jumped up 24 places in the the world workings, to be placed 129th overall, which was the greatest increase in rankings for any UK university in the top 200. [1] Guardian Score = 66.10/100 The Times 2009 = Rank 33 - Total score 607/1000 Applying to AberdeenThinking of applying to Aberdeen? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here? Other Aberdeen ArticlesWhy not read these other Aberdeen University article? Links
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