This term Lancaster University have won a series of awards and accolades. The accolades include climbing into the top 10 of the Times Higher Education’s ‘100 under 50’ rankings, as well as retaining the National Student Housing Survey’s Best University Halls award for the fourth consecutive year.
Lancaster University’s 10th place position in the Times Higher Education’s ‘100 under 50’ rankings makes it the highest UK University on the list, higher than the University of Warwick (12th place), University of Essex (22nd place) and Brunel University (29th place). The ‘100 under 50’ rankings aims to rank the top 100 higher education institutions which are under 50 years old. The rankings intend to provide “a glimpse into the future, showcasing not those institutions with centuries of history, but the rising stars which show great potential.”
In reaction to Lancaster’s 10th-place position, Lancaster University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark E. Smith said: “This is a great result for us as we celebrate Lancaster’s 50th anniversary.”
“Lancaster is a dynamic, young and forward looking university which has seen incredible success in just 50 years,” Smith said. “Lancaster has confirmed its place among the world’s elite institutions with its consistent high placing in all major league tables.”
Lancaster has also retained its award for the Best University Halls at the National Student Housing Survey. It is the fourth consecutive year Lancaster have won the award, this year beating runners-up Imperial College and the University of Exeter to retain the accolade. Lancaster also performed well in the National Student Housing Survey’s other awards, with the Grizedale Townhouses receiving the award for Best Learning Environment and Fylde College Residences coming runner-up in the same category. Lancaster was also one of several institutions to receive the International Accommodation Quality Mark.
In addition to the University’s accolades, it has been announced that the Faculty of Health and Medicine and the Department of Physics are to be awarded an Athena SWAN Silver award each. The Athena SWAN Silver awards are aimed at encouraging women in science and technology careers. In total there were 125 submissions for the 2014 Athena SWAN Silver awards, which will be presented at Durham University on July 10th.
The Faculty of Health and Medicine’s Dr Jane Owen-Lynch said: “We’re very pleased that this award has gone to the Faculty of Health and Medicine in the face of strong nationwide competition. This demonstrates the commitment of the Faculty towards advancing women’s careers in STEMM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and Medicine].”
