Royal Holloway, University of London

Telephone: +44 (0)1784 434 455
Fax: +44 (0)1784 437 520
www: http://www.rhul.ac.uk

Profile of Royal Holloway

There's even more to Royal Holloway than meets the eye. Famous for our Founder's Building, one of the most spectacular university buildings in the world, the College also enjoys an international reputation for the highest quality teaching and research across the sciences, arts and humanities.

Since Queen Victoria presided over the grand opening ceremony in 1886, the College has continued to grow in size and status, building on the excellence of our scholarship and the talents of our students. Today, a combination of distinctive character, academic vision and membership of the University of London has established Royal Holloway among the top ten research-led university institutions in the country.

Royal Holloway is renowned for having a friendly environment - home for a vibrant community of 6,600 undergraduate and postgraduate students of all ages and backgrounds and from more than 120 countries. Our spacious 135 acre campus provides an impressive range of modern academic and social facilities in a parkland setting in Surrey, close to London and the UK's major communications network.

Research

Royal Holloway has earned a world-class reputation for developing original research. Our students join a community in which academic staff are working at the frontiers of their subjects, and degree courses, interdisciplinary programmes and specialist research centres reflect current thinking and the latest developments.

Research is enhanced by successful relationships and collaborations with industry and commerce. Royal Holloway continues to play an important role in the economic and cultural profile of the South East region, and in South West London. Thriving business partnerships provide a platform for productive links between the College, multinational corporations and local enterprises. Through WestFocus, a new partnership between higher education, the local community, and businesses in South & West London and the Thames Valley, the College encourages the exchange of knowledge and skills available in the region.

Brief History

Royal Holloway College was founded by the Victorian entrepreneur, Thomas Holloway as a college for the higher education of bright young women. Almost 100 years later, Royal Holloway merged with Bedford College, another pioneering institution founded in 1849 by Elizabeth Jesser Reid. The colleges became part of the University of London before the turn of the century, when the University first awarded degrees to women, and both began to admit male undergraduates from 1965.

The relocation of Bedford to the Royal Holloway campus in 1985 has built on the strengths of both to create a first-class academic environment for generations to come.

Facilities

The campus is the focal point of student life, and home to student residences and restaurants, the college shop, bookshop, bank, health centre, chapel, careers centre, a superb new sports complex and playing fields, and a Students' Union giving students an active social scene and over 100 clubs and societies.

Students appreciate the convenience of living in halls of residence which provide comfortable accommodation within easy reach of academic departments and all main facilities. Academic resources include a library with half a million books and subscriptions to 4,500 journals, computer centre, a Language Centre and an Electron Microscopy Unit.

Location

Royal Holloway's location on the A30 between the village of Englefield Green and the town of Egham is just 19 miles from the centre of London, minutes from the M25 and M3, M4 and M40. London Heathrow Airport is just 7 miles away, and trains from Egham to Waterloo (and Eurostar) take just 35 minutes. College buses run to and from Egham station during term time.

Hospitality

Royal Holloway's campus environment offers the best of both worlds - friendly and relaxed on the one hand, dynamic and busy on the other. The College has its own in-house catering department, offering students, staff and visitors high quality catering which has been developed over the years to provide the finest service.

Throughout the year visitors are welcomed to a varied programme of public lectures, concerts and open days, and pre-arranged guided tours of the Picture Gallery - home to Thomas Holloway's famous collection of Victorian art.

Our facilities and services are not only enjoyed by the College community and visitors, but also by a range of corporate and other external parties. Forging these relationships and links with private sector institutions and industries also helps to ensure the continued development of Royal Holloway.