University of Bristol

The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had been in existence since 1876. Bristol Medical School, founded in 1833, was merged with the University College in 1893, and later became the university's school of medicine.

The university is organised into three academic faculties composed of multiple schools and departments running over 200 undergraduate courses, largely in the Tyndall's Park area of the city. It had a total income of £1.06 billion in 2023–24, of which £294.1 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £768.7 million. It is the largest independent employer in Bristol. Current academics include 23 fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences, 13 fellows of the British Academy, 43 fellows of the Academy of Social Sciences, 13 fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 48 fellows of the Royal Society. The University of Bristol's alumni and faculty include 13 Nobel laureates.

Bristol is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities, the European-wide Coimbra Group and the Worldwide Universities Network, of which the university's previous vice-chancellor, Eric Thomas, was chairman from 2005 to 2007. In addition, the university holds an Erasmus Charter, sending more than 500 students per year to partner institutions in Europe. It has an average of 6.4 (Sciences faculty) to 13.1 (Medicine & Dentistry Faculty) applicants for each undergraduate place.

The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College (founded as a school as early as 1595) which became the engineering faculty of Bristol University. The university was also preceded by Bristol Medical School (1833) and University College, Bristol, founded in 1876, where its first lecture was attended by only 99 students.

The university was able to apply for a royal charter due to the financial support of the Wills and Fry families, who made their fortunes in tobacco plantations and chocolate respectively (while there was no funding from Edward Colston). A 2018 study commissioned by the university estimated 85% of the philanthropic funds used for the institution's foundation "depended on the labour of enslaved people".

The royal charter was gained in May 1909, with 288 undergraduates and 400 other students entering the university in October 1909. Henry Overton Wills III became its first chancellor. The University College was the first such institution in the country to admit women on the same basis as men. However, women were forbidden to take examinations in medicine until 1906.

There shall be from henceforth for ever in Our said City of Bristol a University...

Since the founding of the university itself in 1909, it has grown considerably and is now one of the largest employers in the local area, although it is smaller by student numbers than the nearby University of the West of England.