University of Salford

The University of Salford is a public research university located in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, 1 mile (1.6 kilometres) west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, became a College of Advanced Technology in 1956 and gained university status in 1967, following the Robbins Report into higher education.

It has 26,155 students (2023/24) and is in 160 acres (65 hectares) of parkland on the banks of the River Irwell.

The university's origins can be traced to the opening in 1896 of the Royal Technical Institute, Salford, a merger of Salford Working Men's College (founded in 1858) and Pendleton Mechanics' Institute (founded in 1850). The Royal Technical Institute received royal letters after the then-Duke and Duchess of York (later King George V and Queen Mary) officiated at its opening ceremony, an event commemorated in the university's Redbrick Peel Building and which allowed 'Royal' to be appended to the name of the institute.

At the start of the 20th century, mechanical engineering, chemical works, textiles and construction dominated the industrial scene in Salford. This heavily influenced the choice of subjects offered in the nine departments initially opened. These were Engineering, Electrical Engineering & Applied Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, Building, Dyeing, Spinning & Weaving, Domestic, and Art. Some 1,240 students registered for the first session in these departments. There were originally 19 members of staff.

In 1921 the institute was renamed the Royal Technical College, Salford. In 1958 the institution split into two organisations: the remaining Royal Technical College and a breakaway institution, Peel Park Technical College. This changed its name first in 1961 to Salford Technical College, before becoming the Salford College of Technology in 1970, and finally University College Salford in 1992.

The Royal Technical College became a CAT in 1956, and became known as the Royal College of Advanced Technology. In 1963, the government completed an inquiry into the state of higher education in the United Kingdom and produced the Robbins Report, which paved the way for the Royal College of Advanced Technology (and other Colleges of Advanced Technology) to assume university status by Royal Charter.

The Royal College of Advanced Technology became the University of Salford on 10 February 1967, when Queen Elizabeth II handed over the institution's Royal Charter. A multistorey chemistry tower was built in the 1960s between the Peel Building and the Salford Library, Museum and Art Gallery, but it was pulled down in the 1980s due to the damage it was causing to the foundations of these nearby buildings. The first Vice-Chancellor was Clifford Whitworth, after whom the university's main library is named. The first Chancellor was Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who remained the university's chancellor until 1991. Prince Philip took a keen interest in the university and he visited the university's award-winning acoustics laboratories in 2008. The breakaway University College Salford merged with the University of Salford in 1996, to form a single institution.^{[citation needed]}

On 5 September 2016, Salford was represented for the third time on University Challenge and faced the Open University. The all male team, who sported the poet John Cooper Clarke as a mascot lost 210 to 115 points.