University of Leicester

The University of Leicester is a public research university in Leicester, England. It opened in 1921 as University College Leicester, a living memorial to the dead of the First World War, and received its royal charter in 1957. The compact campus lies immediately south of the city center. Its defining research facts include Alec Jeffreys's 1984 development of genetic fingerprinting on the faculty and the university's 2012 identification of the remains of Richard III.

Academic work is organized in colleges of science and engineering; life sciences; social sciences, arts and humanities; and a medical school. Graduate students use hospital partnerships around Leicester Royal Infirmary, space-science groups linked to the National Space Centre, and archaeology and museum-studies units. Genetics, space science, museum studies, and history are established strengths.

Enrollment is about 20,000, with a substantial graduate share and an international share of about a quarter, from more than 100 countries. Faculty include geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys. Alumni include comedian and writer Bob Mortimer.

Graduate study includes taught master's degrees, research MPhil and PhD awards, and medical professional training. Supervision is by a principal investigator or thesis committee, with taught modules on many master's routes. The calendar follows the English academic year, with a main autumn intake. Doctoral studentships, research-council awards, and teaching assistantships fund a share of research students. The campus is walkable from Leicester city center, so laboratories, the library, and city archives sit close together.

In the Grad School Navigator directory, University of Leicester lists 8 graduate programs across 7 subjects: 6 master's programs and 2 doctoral programs, with the widest choice in art, business & management and communication, media & journalism. University of Leicester holds rank 253 in the GSN Overall University Ranking.