Aberystwyth University

Aberystwyth University stands on the coast of Cardigan Bay in the town of Aberystwyth, Wales. Founded in 1872 as University College Wales, it became part of the University of Wales before regaining independence in 2007. The university has three faculties and seventeen departments, with nearly nine thousand students. Its main campus lies on Penglais Hill, while the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences operates from Gogerddan, a rural site two miles away. The coat of arms shows two red dragons and an open book, with the motto Nid Byd, Byd Heb Wybodaeth. The university is recognised for its long history and notable achievements. The Department of International Politics, founded in 1919, is the oldest in the world and has taught over seven hundred students from forty countries. It once hosted scholars such as E. H. Carr and Ken Booth. The Department of Computer Science created AberMUD, the first popular internet-based MUD, and graduated Oscar-winner Jan Pinkava. The E. G. Bowen map library holds eighty thousand maps and five hundred atlases. Visitors to the Penglais campus find modern buildings alongside the historic Old College, damaged by fire in 1885. The Hugh Owen Building houses the Department of Law and Criminology, which includes the Centre for Welsh Legal Affairs. The Llanbadarn Fawr campus contains the Aberystwyth Business School and the Department of Information Studies. The Arts Centre, International English Centre and Music Centre offer cultural activities across the university’s sites.