The University grew out of an association of scholars in the city of Cambridge that was formed, early records suggest, in 1209 by scholars leaving Oxford after a dispute with local townsfolk there. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are often jointly referred to as "Oxbridge." In addition to cultural and practical associations as a historic part of English society, the two universities also have a long history of rivalry with each other.Academically, Cambridge is consistently ranked in the world's top 5 universities. It has produced 83 Nobel Laureates to date, more than any other university in the world according to some counts.
History
Roger of Wendover wrote that the University of Cambridge could trace its origins to a crime committed in 1209. Although not always a reliable source, the detail given in his contemporaneous writings lends them credence.
Two Oxford scholars were convicted of the murder or manslaughter of a woman and were hanged by the town authorities with the assent of the King. In protest at the hanging, the University of Oxford went into voluntary suspension, and scholars migrated to a number of other locations, including the pre-existing school at Cambridge (Cambridge had been recorded as a “school” rather than university when John Grim held the office of Master there in 1201). These exile Oxford scholars (post-graduate researchers by present day terminology) started Cambridge’s life as a university in 1209.
Cambridge’s status was enhanced by a charter in 1231 from King Henry II of England which awarded the ius non trahi extra (a right to discipline its own members) plus some exemption from taxes, and a bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX that gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom.
After Cambridge was described as a studium generale in a letter by Pope Nicholas IV in 1290, and confirmed as such in a bull by Pope John XXII in 1318, it became common for researchers from other European medieval universities to come and visit Cambridge to study or to give lecture courses.
Foundation of the Colleges
Cambridge’s colleges were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself. The colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels. The hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane.
Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse in 1284, Cambridge’s first college. Many colleges were founded during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, but colleges continued to be established throughout the centuries to modern times, although there was a gap of 204 years between the founding of Sidney Sussex in 1596 and Downing in 1800. The most recent college established is Robinson, built in the late 1970s. However, Hughes Hall only achieved full university college status in April 2007, making it the newest full college.
In medieval times, colleges were founded so that their students would pray for the souls of the founders. For that reason they were often associated with chapels or abbeys. A change in the colleges’ focus occurred in 1536 with the dissolution of the monasteries. King Henry VIII ordered the university to disband its Faculty of Canon Law and to stop teaching “scholastic philosophy”. In response, colleges changed their curricula away from canon law and towards the classics, the Bible, and mathematics.
Reputation
Historically, Cambridge University has had an extremely strong reputation for both mathematics and the sciences.
According to UCAS, Cambridge and Oxford are the most academically selective universities in the United Kingdom—there is a special national admissions process which sets Oxbridge apart from other British universities. Traditionally, Cambridge applicants have had to fill the Cambridge Application Form (CAF) in addition to the UCAS process, although this ended for entry in 2009, being replaced with a more standard supplementary information form, in line with other universities in the UK.
In the last two British Government Research Assessment Exercise in 2001 and 2008 respectively,[48] Cambridge was ranked first in the country. In 2005, it was reported that Cambridge produces more PhDs per year than any other British university (over 30% more than second placed Oxford).In 2006, a Thomson Scientific study showed that Cambridge has the highest research paper output of any British university, and is also the top research producer (as assessed by total paper citation count) in 10 out of 21 major British research fields analysed (Imperial College came second, leading in 3 fields). Another study published the same year by Evidence showed that Cambridge won a larger proportion (6.6%) of total British research grants and contracts than any other university (coming first in three out of four broad discipline fields).
The university is also closely linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster in and around Cambridge, which forms the area known as Silicon Fen or sometimes the “Cambridge Phenomenon”. In 2004, it was reported that Silicon Fen was the second largest venture capital market in the world, after Silicon Valley. Estimates reported in February 2006 suggest that there were about 250 active startup companies directly linked with the university, worth around US$6 billion.
In the 2007 THES-QS rankings, Cambridge was ranked 2nd amongst world universities, behind Harvard. It came in first in the international academic reputation peer review, first in the natural sciences, first in biomedicine, first in the arts & humanities, fourth in the social sciences, and sixth in technology. In the 2008 Academic Ranking of World Universities compiled by Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Cambridge was placed 4th amongst world universities. A 2006 Newsweek ranking which combined elements of the THES-QS and ARWU rankings with other factors that purportedly evaluated an institution's global "openness and diversity" suggested that Cambridge was ranked 6th in the world overall. In all these surveys, Cambridge was the highest ranked non-US institution.
In the 2008 Sunday Times University Guide, Cambridge was ranked first for the 10th straight year since the guide's first publication in 1998. In the 2008 Times Good University Guide, Cambridge topped 37 of the guide's 61 subject tables, including Law, Medicine, Economics, Mathematics, Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry and has the best record on research, entry standards and graduate destinations amongst UK universities. Cambridge was also awarded the University of the Year award.
In the 2009 The Times Good University Guide Subject Rankings, Cambridge was ranked top (or joint top) in 34 out of the 42 subjects which it offers. The overall ranking placed Cambridge in 2nd behind Oxford. The 2009 Guardian University Guide Rankings also place Cambridge 2nd in the UK behind Oxford.
About the Schools, Faculties & Departments
The Councils of the Schools
The term 'School' in Cambridge usually indicates an administrative grouping of related subjects. There are six Schools:
Arts and Humanities
Biological Sciences, including Veterinary Medicine
Clinical Medicine
Humanities and Social Sciences
Physical Sciences
Technology
Each of these bodies covers a specified group of Faculties. Each has an elected supervisory body - The Council of the School - comprising representatives of the constituent faculties and departments in each School.
About Faculties
Teaching and research in Cambridge is organised by Faculties. In addition, a small number of bodies entitled Syndicates also have responsibilities for teaching and research, and exercise powers similar in effect to those of Faculty Boards. The Faculties and Syndicates cover the whole of the academic programme in the University, each being responsible for a broad subject area.
Faculty Boards are responsible to the General Board; other Boards and Syndicates are responsible either to the General Board (if primarily for academic purposes) or to the Council.
Departments
The Faculties have different organisational sub-structures which partly reflect their history and partly their operational needs. Administratively, work of a large Faculty is divided into separate Departments.
Cambridge University was ranked 3rd in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking
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