• Universities

Dalhousie University is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was established in 1818 by George Ramsay, the ninth Earl of Dalhousie and Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia (later, the Governor General of Canada), whose aim was to create a higher education institution accessible to all.As a proud Scot, Ramsay modelled his College on the University of Edinburgh, using his own money in its construction.The university began awarding degrees in 1866. Today, the institution that’s affectionately known as ‘Dal’ to its 19,000 students, offers over 200 degree programs across 13 faculties located in Nova Scotia, on Canada’s eastern coast.Dalhousie’s academic portfolio covers a wide range of subjects, including sciences, medicine, law, engineering and the arts. The university is also home to an agricultural campus, which includes a working farm an hour away from Dalhousie’s Halifax campuses, 1000 acres of research fields, and several gardens and greenhouses. All Dalhousie undergrads have access to experiential learning opportunities in their programs—from co-ops to field-based learning—with nearly 90% of students taking advantage of them.Throughout the 20th century, the university gradually expanded. In 1997, it merged with the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS), also in Halifax, to build on its research capacity into applied technologies, this also led to the development of a new Faculty of Computer Science. Dalhousie attracts more than C$180 million annually in external research funding.Notable graduates of the university include three former Canadian prime ministers, the Nobel Prize-winning astrophysicist Arthur B McDonald, Kathryn Sullivan, the first to both walk in space and travel to the deepest part of the ocean.