• Universities

Founded in 1845 as Queen's College Belfast, one of three Queen's Colleges in Ireland, it became an independent university in 1908 and is the ninth oldest university in the UK. Today, Queen’s is a member of the Russell Group, combining excellence in research and education with a student-centred ethos.Queen’s is ranked 8th in the UK for Research Intensity (REF 2014/ Times Higher Education) with over 75% of its research assessed as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ in REF 2014.Building on its disciplinary excellence, the University has created four flagship Global Research Institutes which bring leading academics together to tackle some of the greatest global challenges of our time in the areas of: Global Peace, Security and Justice; Cyber Security; Health Sciences; and Food Safety.Queen’s is ranked 21st in the world for international outlook (Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021) and ranked 9th in the world for research collaboration, Queen’s is globally connected and networked with strategic partnerships across the world. A partnership with China Medical University has led to the creation of the China Queen’s College (CQC) in Shenyang.Queen’s is ranked number one in the UK for commercialising research’ (Octopus Ventures Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking Report 2019 & 2020) with 2,700 people employed in 90 active spin out companies. It is also ranked number one in the UK for its participation in Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTP).External recognition includes the award of the Queen’s Anniversary Prize on seven occasions - the most recent being for world-class achievement in shared education and global cyber security. The University has also been honoured by Northern Ireland’s first Regius Professorship, awarded by Her Majesty The Queen for excellence in electronics and computer engineering.Based in the heart of Belfast, named the Number 1 region in the world to visit in 2018 (Lonely Planet, 2017), Queen’s is committed to enhancing its historic campus and the surrounding conservation area while providing 21st century facilities for education and research. Over the last 10 years the University has invested £350 million in developing world-class facilities with ambitious plans to invest a further £350 million over the next decade.Among the projects are a new purpose-built teaching facility at Queen’s Management School and a cutting edge state of the art simulation centre for Queen’s Medical, Pharmacy, Dentistry, and Nursing and Midwifery students.