University of Lincoln


The University of Lincoln is a public research university in Lincoln, England, with origins dating back to 1861. It gained university status in 1992 and its present name in 2001. The main campus is in the heart of the city of Lincoln alongside the Brayford Pool. There are satellite campuses across Lincolnshire in Riseholme and Holbeach and graduation ceremonies take place in Lincoln Cathedral.

History

19th and 20th centuries

The University of Lincoln developed out of several educational institutions, including Hull School of Art, Hull Technical Institute, the Roman Catholic teacher-training Endsleigh College, Hull Central College of Commerce, and Kingston upon Hull College of Education. These merged in 1976 into Hull College of Higher Education, with a change of name to Humberside College of Higher Education in 1983, absorbing several courses with international reputations and recruitment established by Grimsby College of Technology in fishing, food and manufacturing, which were delivered across both sites.
In 1992 it was one of many UK institutions to become full universities, as the University of Humberside.
The university developed a new campus to the southwest of Lincoln city centre, championed as a key regeneration policy by the new coalition administration of Lincolnshire County Council, on a site overlooking the Brayford Pool. Links with Grimsby College were severed and the university's campuses in Hull closed. It was renamed the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside in January 1996, entering its first 500 Lincoln based students in September 1996.
Queen Elizabeth II opened the university's main Lincoln campus, the first new city-centre campus built in the UK for several decades. Over £375 million has been invested at Brayford Pool, transforming a city-centre brownfield site, revitalising the area and attracting investment from the retail, leisure and property sectors. Economists estimate that the university has created at least 3,000 new jobs in Lincoln and generates more than £250 million a year for the local economy – doubling previous local economic growth rates, which Rob Parker, who led the council that pushed the redevelopment project through, cited facilitating the university campus as his greatest achievement in politics.

21st century

With another change of name to the University of Lincoln in October 2001, the university moved its main campus from Hull to Lincoln in 2002.
On 28 October 2004, the National Centre for Food Manufacturing at Holbeach was reopened by John Hayes, Member of Parliament for South Holland and the Deepings, after redevelopment as a specialist food-science technology park. The consolidation involved the University of Lincoln acquiring the Leicester-based De Montfort University's schools in Lincolnshire: the Lincoln School of Art in uphill Lincoln, and the Lincolnshire School of Agriculture's sites at Riseholme, Caythorpe and Holbeach. Caythorpe was later closed and its activities moved to Riseholme. Courses held in Grimsby were also moved to Lincoln at that time.
Through the late 1990s, the university's sites in Hull were scaled down as the focus shifted towards Lincoln. In 2001 this process took a step further when it was decided to move the administrative headquarters and management to Lincoln and to sell the Cottingham Road campus in Hull, the former main campus, to its neighbour, the University of Hull. The site now houses the Hull York Medical School. Until 2012 the university maintained a smaller campus, the Derek Crothall Building, in Hull city centre. Another campus and student halls in Beverley Road, Hull, were also sold for redevelopment.
In 2012 all agricultural further education provisions were transferred from Riseholme College to Bishop Burton College. Bishop Burton College has now moved into a new, purpose-built site at the Lincolnshire Showground with only limited use of the Riseholme Campus which from 2021 has mainly reverted to the University of Lincoln. Development of the site has not been decided but the university has purchased the recently vacated Lawress Hall a former training, conferencing and wedding venue on an adjacent site which was formerly owned by the Government.
March 2021 saw the new Lincoln Medical School open in time for the 2021/2022 academic year. The building, on the Brayford Pool campus, features lecture theatres, trainee observation theatres and a library dedicated to medical research, allied health care, pharmacy, chemistry and biology textbooks. It is run as a partnership with the University of Nottingham Medical School.

Organisation and administration

Academic Colleges and schools

The University of Lincoln is structured as a college and school-based system. There are two colleges involved in research and teaching, each headed by a pro-vice-chancellor:

The College of Health and Science

The College of Science is located across the Brayford, Riseholme and Holbeach campuses. The College offers subjects including agri-food technology, chemistry, computer science, engineering, food manufacturing, geography, biomedical and life sciences, mathematics, medicine, nursing and other health disciplines, pharmacy, physics, psychology, sport and exercise science, and social work and social care.
The School of Engineering became the first such school founded in the UK for over 20 years, opening in 2011 under collaboration with Siemens. The Isaac Newton Building, designed by Architects Allies and Morrison, incorporates Siemens Industrial Turbo-machinery Lincoln as a co-located its product-training facility.
The Department of Geography offers programmes accredited by the Royal Geographical Society. The Department of Life Sciences offers an animal behaviour clinic.
The School of Mathematics and Physics opened in September 2014 and was inaugurated in September 2016 by Efim Zelmanov. Physics programmes are accredited by the Institute of Physics.. In 2024 the School of Mathematics and Physics has merged into the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, which also includes subjects such as Engineering and Computer Science.
Lincoln Medical School was established in 2018 in partnership with the University of Nottingham offering registration with the General Medical Council. It is housed in the purpose built Ross Lucas Medical Sciences Building consisting of consultation rooms, a prosection anatomy suite, and a bio-medical and health sciences library.
The School of Pharmacy offers programmes accredited by the General Pharmaceutical Council. The college incorporates JBL Science a commercial research organisation.
The National Centre for Food Manufacturing is located at the Holbeach campus, with microbiology labs, product development kitchens and sensory suites.
Lincoln Institute for Agri-food Technology is based at the Riseholme campus from the 18th-century grade II listed Riseholme Hall, alongside a working farm with livestock including the Lincoln Red cattle and Lincoln Longwool sheep.
The Sarah Swift Building houses the School of Psychology and the School of Health and Social Care. It has a range of dedicated facilities in these fields, including psychology laboratories and a mock hospital ward.
The Health and Wellbeing Hub offers post-registration programmes and continuing professional development for qualified health and social care practitioners, accredited by the Health and Care Professions Council and the Nursing and Midwifery Council.
The School of Sports and Exercise Science is based in the Human Performance Centre which houses labs containing treadmills and ergometers, gas and lactate measuring equipment, motion detection, impact analysis, and an endless pool.

College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities

The College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities undertakes research and has a range of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes including Architecture, Design, Media, Journalism, Performing Arts, History, English, Business, Education, Law, Politics and Social Science. The college is the home to Siren Radio, a community radio station broadcasting on 107.3 FM and online, and the Lincoln Performing Arts Centre, a 446 seat venue, which opened in 2008.
The School of Film, Media and Journalism is home to the Media Archive for Central England. Lincoln Sound Theatre was opened in 2010 by the visiting professor Trevor Dann.
The School of Humanities and Heritage incorporates Lincoln Conservation, the university's conservation and material analysis consultancy, works with clients including the Historic Royal Palaces and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The School of Architecture and the Built Environment offers Royal Institute of British Architects accredited programmes. Courses are available in Hong Kong at the School for Higher and Professional Education.
The Lincoln International Business School, based in the David Chiddick Building, offers undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral-level programmes. As a member of AACSB it is noted for a cross-functional approach to business education and diverse methods of delivery. Courses feature accreditation from the Chartered Management Institute, Chartered Institute Of Professional Development and Chartered Institute Of Logistics And Transport. It also offers distance learning and executive education aimed at working professionals, and students can participate in a student managed investment fund.

Governance

Vice-chancellors

Neal Juster was installed as vice-chancellor of the university in October 2021, having previously served as deputy vice chancellor at the University of Glasgow. His background is in mechanical engineering where he was pro vice-principal, dean of the faculty of engineering at the University of Strathclyde and senior lecturer in the department of mechanical engineering, University of Leeds. The following have served as vice-chancellor of the university:
  • 1989–2001: Roger King
  • 2001–2009: David Chiddick
  • 2009–2021: Mary Stuart
  • 2021–present: Neal Juster