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University of Abertay Dundee
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The University of Abertay Dundee is a small university located in the Scottish city of Dundee. Though it has only been a university since 1994 it has a history dating back to 1888. It has developed a reputation as an institute for more vocational courses with computer games technology and forensic psychobiology two areas it is commended in.
Facilities
Libraries
The Abertay Library opened in 1998 and has lots of books (surprisingly!) Spread over 4 floors, there is plenty of space to study, with around 30-40 computers on each floor (around 250 total apparently!), along with rooms for group work. There are also spaces set aside for laptops, where you can connect to the wireless network and plug in your laptop if the battery is low. You can usually find more space to study on the upper floors, as the lift is reserved for disabled people, so few people make it to the top. The University also has electronic libraries, with journals and e-books for viewing, so you can access some stuff from home.
The Library has pretty good opening times:
- During Semester 1 (Start of year until Early November) it is open from 8:30am to 9pm Monday-Thursday until the end of the Autumn term, and 8:30am to 7pm on Fridays, and 10am-5pm over the weekend.
- During Semester 1's Exam Period this extends to midnight Monday-Thursday, 10pm on Friday and Sunday.
- After Christmas Vacation the Library is open the same hours as during Semester 1 Exam's and this remains until Semester 2 Exam's where the building remains open until 2am Monday-Thursday.
IT and Computing
As Abertay has a large computing department, the Computing at Abertay is pretty good, they offer webmail, a portal (intranet type thing) and web access to your files on the servers. There is also a wireless network across the campus, including the Student Union which is also in the process of being installed at some accommodation blocks owned by the University. However there is a websense internet filter in place, which can be rather irritating.
Sports
Welfare
Healthcare
Dundee has a number of health centres that are always welcome to take on student patients. Student services in the main building can provide a list of these for you, although one might even be included in your registration pack.
For emergencies, Dundee has Ninewells, one of the UK's foremost teaching hospitals. Ninewells is easy to reach from the town centre; it's the western-most terminus for most bus services. However, be warned; queues are normally big at weekends.
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| Established:
| 1994 (from Dundee Institute of Technology, founded in 1888)
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| Location:
| Dundee, UK
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Address:
| Bell Street,
Dundee, DD1 1HG | |
| Telephone:
| 01382 308080
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| Website:
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| SU/Guild website:
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| UCAS Code:
| A40
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| Type:
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| | ||
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| Total students:
| 4125
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| Undergrad:
| 3490
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| Postgrad:
| 635
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| Part-time:
| ||
| International:
| 26%
| |
| Mature:
| 39%
| |
| Male:female
| 50:50
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| Staff:
| ||
| Typical offers:
| 120-400
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| Applicants per place:
| 5
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Shops
Abertay has a Blackwell's Book Store inside the University and a general purpose shop in the Union directly across the street which sell's a wide variety of things such as Sandwiches, Pens, Pencils, Batteries through to Lab Coats and Abertay branded clothing. There is also a Tesco Metro about 5 minutes walk away in the city centre, along with a LIDL 5 minutes in the opposite direction. About a mile from the Alloway Halls, which is situated reasonably far from campus, is an Asda, and there is a Morrison's open round the corner (open roughly 8am-8pm). There is also a Tesco Extra off the Kingsway which can be reached on the number 14 bus from Alloway, and a Tesco Extra off South Road (in the area of Charleston, to the West of the city), which can be reached by the no. 14 bus from Alloway, and the 17, 28 & 29 buses from the City Centre. Students staying in Heathfield Halls can use the University of Dundee's union shop, which has the essentials. For Students in more central accommodation blocks (Opal, Old Mill, The Hub) they are mostly located around a 24 hour Shell garage which will be your source of your favoured Energy Drinks during those end of year all night study sessions.
Restaurants
The Lounge bar of the Student Union, "Bar One" serves good food cheaply for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast, toast, pancakes or rolls with Bacon, Sausage, Black Pudding etc are available, along with a full breakfast. For lunch, 2 specials will be offered daily, along with a staple baguettes, wraps, paninis and burgers. Bar One serves food from 9am til 7.30pm, the full menu can be found here although you have to go to the Union to find out the specials.
There is also a Wetherspoons pub, a Lloyds pub, and a number of fast food restaurants that's only a five minute walk from the union. The Overgate and Forum shopping centres both have Greggs bakers. Additionally, there is a small shop up Bell Street (not far beyond Dundee Business School) called Brodies, which sells sandwiches, rolls and baguettes made to order - be aware however that they get quite busy around 1pm when Dundee High School students come out for lunch.
The streets running form the High Street towards the river (Union St, Commercial St, Castle St) all have a good selection of posher restaurants for when the parents come to visit! These include Papa Joe's and a nice Italian.
Banks
There is a free to use ATM in the student union, although this is broken or empty quite often. There is a Lloyds TSB, with ATM's, round the corner next to the Wetherspoon pub, as well as a Halifax/Bank Of Scotland branch opposite the Tesco Metro. There are also other high street banks in the city centre, along with Building Societies such as Dunfermline and Nationwide. For those staying in the Courthouse, there is a Natwest almost directly opposite. There is no HSBC in Dundee.
Transport
There are regular buses around Dundee, and from Alloway Halls there is a bus every 7-8 minutes during the day. A DaySaver ticket can be purchased on the bus for £3.00 allowing unlimited travel on Travel Dundee buses throughout the day, or a student ticket can be purchased for the term, working out at £8.40 per week, allowing unlimited travel on Travel Dundee buses for the duration of it.
Careers service
Abertay has a Careers Development Centre, though it is somewhat overworked, the staff there hold drop in sessions in particular near graduation, as well as researching internships and other opportunities for students, there are also workshops on things such as CV Writing through the year.
Part-time jobs
With Dundee being a town very mcuh geared towards students, there's a lot of part time jobs to be had in bars and clubs! The student union hires at the start of the first semester, as well as the end of semester three for positions for semester one and the summer.
Dundee also has a number of call centres willing to hire students and fit hours around classes.
Religous facilities
Abertay has a chaplaincy service, as well as a Christian Union, who meet every Thursday at 5pm in the chapel. There is also a Mosque within walking distance of the University.
Abertay Dundee Discussions
| Latest relevant discussions | Last post/replies |
|---|---|
| Computer Arts 2013! |  7 Hours Ago Replies: 14 |
| anyone going to Abertay in 2013??? | 2 Days Ago Replies: 12 |
| Opal 1/Parker Street | 1 Week Ago Replies: 6 |
| Who's going to Abertay? |  1 Week Ago Replies: 375 |
| Jobs in Dundee | 1 Week Ago Replies: 2 |
| Starting in Sept 2013 |  1 Week Ago Replies: 16 |
| Go to University of Abertay Dundee forum Post new thread | |
Social
As Dundee has the highest ratio of students per head of population in Scotland there is plenty to do.
Bars, Pubs and clubs
Abertay Union contains 2 bars, as well as the earlier mentioned Bar One there is also the Sports Bar, usually the more popular of the 2 the bar will (unsurprisingly) regularly show sports games on the various TVs as well as the Projector screen in the bar, as well as this it has 4 American Pool Tables and 1 British Pool Table, a variety of gambling machines, a jukebox and as of very recently 2 dart boards to keep you entertained during the night.
The city is littered with other bar's although I can't personally give any recommendations, the convienience of the union stubs my curiousity.
In terms of clubs, Abertay Union has a small nightclub called the Hideout in the basement, unfortunately outside of Fresher's Week this isn't used all that much at the moment, every fortnight Carbon will play there and there are occasional gigs by local bands, or Battle of the Band contests. Outside of Abertay there are plenty of clubs just around the corner, generally the most popular are Fat Sams and Liquid, although it comes down to personal preference which you go to, less mainstream music can be heard at nearby Kage and Underground night clubs with many students also going a bit further afield to Dundee Union.
Events
Clubs and societies
Abertay has a large number of societies and sports tea's which the Student's Association actively supports and encourages wherever possible, the Union hosts a Fresher's and Re-fresher's Fayre every year with the purpose of encouraging student's to sign on to Society's that interest them, it is a relatively simple matter to start a society of your own should you and your friends find something thats lacking.
A list of current societies can be found at the Abertay Union website here.
Accommodation
Accommodation policy
Abertay focuses primarily on providing Halls of Residence to first year students, encouraging later year's to seek out Private Accommodation, should any student first or otherwise require assistance finding accommodation the University's Accommodation Office offers to assist on the matter where possible.
Facilities
Between the various accommodation blocks there is a fair mix of facilities - ranging from fairly cheap to very expensive you can have single or double rooms, with or without en-suites, in mixed or same sex flats, a few studio flats are even available, most sites offer somewhere to store bikes securely however car parking facilities can be a problem with many using the nearby multi-storey car park.
Residences
- Alloway Halls
- Lyon Street
- Meadowside
- Victoria Chambers
- Opal1
Private sector
There are a few private hall's of residence on offer in Dundee, the main ones being the Hub and Old Mill, as well as this you should have no problem finding private flats outside of halls, as renting flats seems to have caught on a very profitable enterprise in Dundee with so many student's and there are plenty of landlords or agencies looking specifically for student tenants.
Student Centre
The Student Centre was a recent build that was apparently desperately needed for the University
It comprises of on the ground floor, a shop and coffee shop (Aroma) area, with funky little chairs and sofas and a Reception desk which will often sell tickets for Events at the Union.
The first floor houses the main bar and BlueSpace, an open area for sports clubs, special events, etc. On the second floor the sports bar which has great views over Dundee Law and pool tables and gaming machines, and is normally the busiest of the two bars, especially during sports events.
On the top floor is the Hannah Maclure Centre, an exhibition area and cinema, the cinema usually shows a variety of popular films over Freshers Week at the moment 2 Film Society's operate in the cinema, one showing very cultural film's, the other showing classics of another sort.
The 2nd floor is also home to the University's Student's Association, a separate entity from the Union but the 2 go hand in hand.
The best thing about the badly needed student centre is that it is right across the road from the main University buildings and the library! It feels like a real university community now.
Prices
- Half Pint of Coke: 60p
- Pint of Coke: £1.00
- Vodka & Coke: £1.60
- Double Vodka & Coke: £2.00
- Jack Daniels & Coke: £2.50
- Soup: £1.30
- Burger & Chips: £3.20
- Cheese Burger & Chips: £3.40
- Chicken Burger & Chips: £3.40
- Fish & Chips: £3.50
- Beef Stew & Rice: £3.50
- Chips: £1.20
- Curly Fries: £1.40
- Baguette with 1 filling: £2.00
Students Association
As a very new University, Abertay has a small students association, consisting of 2 sabbatical officers, the President and Vice-President, supported by 6 Student Executives, who are part-time assistants and students of the University.
The Students Association plays a strong role in the Abertay community, consistently working to ensure that the University and Union is acting in the interest of the students, as well as an open-office policy the Association's Sabbaticals and Executives are usually all keen to receive email's containing your concerns and work with Class Rep's and Society's regularly through the SRC Meetings.
Elections for all of the SA roles, including the full time positions of President and Vice-President are held at the end of each year with every member of the SA (which is every current student of the University) eligible to vote, this usually occurs online and recently transferred to using the University's Portal system.
Environment
Architecture
Local area
Teaching quality
Research
Abertay is Scotland's top-rated university for research in environmental sciences and also has particular research strengths in computer games, psychology, and urban water systems. Industrial relevance and value to the local and national economies are a feature of all the university's research aims.
Specialist Centres
- Embreonix
- SIMBIOS
- Scottish Economic Research (SER)
- The Scottish Institute of Wood Technology
- Urban Water Technology Centre
- Abertay Centre for the Environment
- Food Innovation@abertay
- Partnership for Research in Interdisciplinary Simulation and Modelling (Prism)
- UK National Centre for Excellence in Computer Games Education
Applying to Abertay?
Thinking of applying to Abertay? Why not read some Personal Statements which were used for applying here?
Other Abertay Articles
Why not read these other Abertay Articles?
