This is UEA, Amy Palmer

This is UEA

Amy Palmer describes The University of East Anglia – a top 15 UK university, recognised as one of the best universities for student experience, graduate employment and research.

We are an internationally renowned university based in a campus that provides top quality academic, social and cultural facilities to over 15,000 students. Set in 320 acres of parkland just two miles from the centre of Norwich, the campus is like a mini-city, designed so that everything a student could need is no more than a few minutes away.

Our first-class student accommodation includes some award-winning architecture and beautiful Grade-II* listed buildings – the Ziggurats. UEA offers safe, comfortable and affordable accommodation and all students are guaranteed a room on campus in their first year (subject to conditions). In fact, UEA is in the Top 10 safest places to be a student (The Telegraph, 2017).

Sport and physical activity is an integral part of community life at UEA. Our £30 million Sportspark houses an Olympicsized swimming pool, a state-of-the-art fitness centre, and regularly hosts international sporting events. UEA also has the world famous Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts and hosts an International Literary Festival which has included famous names such as Ian McEwan, Kazuo Ishiguro and Anne Enright (all alumni of UEA’s Creative Writing course).

UEA is 10th in the UK for quality of research outputs (Times Higher REF 2014 analysis) and in the UK Top 25 for research quality (Times Higher REF 2014 analysis). We’re also in the top 1% of research citations in the world. The annual Highly Cited Researchers 2018 List identifies influential researchers who have demonstrated significant global influence through publication of multiple highly cited papers in the last decade. 1

Our research spans the global challenges we face today: from meeting the needs of an ageing population to understanding the unique and fragile environments we live in. Our community comes together from a range of fields and with different perspectives to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges together – whether it’s fighting microplastics in our oceans, understanding wars fought over natural resources or countering social injustice around the world.

We aim to inspire connected thinking and this is evident in our interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning. We call it Thinking Without Borders. In fact, more than 82% of our research is rated as world-leading or internationally excellent in the most recent UK Government’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014.

UEA sits in the heart of one of Europe’s largest collaborative research sites - Norwich Research Park. This unique park brings together the talents and expertise of Europe’s leading centres for research in food, health and the environment. Norwich Research Park includes the John Innes Centre, specialist in plant science, genetics and microbiology, and the Earlham Institute where biotechnology and computational science are

being used to tackle some of today’s most challenging biological questions.

At UEA, we welcome over 15,000 students to our campus each year from over 130 different countries, facilitating a rich and culturally diverse campus environment and the opportunity for students to develop cross-border, life-long relationships.

It is important to us that every student at UEA does well in their studies and enjoys student life. The Student Support Service at UEA offers a wide range of advice and guidance, from financial advice, to support via our Learning Enhancement Team. We have dedicated Disability and Wellbeing services that offer professional, proactive and approachable support, enabling students to participate fully in their university lives and beyond.

With over 250 societies, ranging from American Football to Quidditch, UEA offers a university experience like no other. Our Students’ Union (SU) is recognised as one of the most progressive in the country. The SU operates a host of facilities, off and on campus, including an advice centre, the Nick Rayns LCR and the Waterfront.

Our community stretches far beyond Norwich: we have over 200 global Study Abroad and Exchange partnerships which help us provide students with global opportunities and enhance diversity on our vibrant campus. We work with partner universities in Europe, Asia, Australia, America and many more.

We are a ‘University of Sanctuary’, offering scholarships and short courses for refugees settling in Norfolk. We also provide outreach programmes across the globe, taking UK higher education to schools. Our on-campus international students are involved in local outreach programmes through volunteering schemes and initiatives such as ‘Global Voices’, whereby students visit Norfolk school children.

UEA offers an unconventional approach to teaching and learning because we believe this leads to unconventional, brilliant thinking that makes a real impact in the world. In 2017, we were awarded the highest possible ranking a university can achieve, Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Gold.

96.3% of UEA UK graduates from full-time first degrees in 2016-17, who were available for work, were in work or further study six months after graduating. 2

At UEA, students have access to a wide range of potential employers, locally, nationally and globally, and the UEA’s CareerCentral offers help and support to find the right placement or internships. This support is continued for up to three years after a student has graduated. The UEA Internship Programme helps students to increase their workplace confidence and gain skills that can be applied in an exciting and innovative range of projects and sectors. The Programme is highly recommended by more than 96% of former interns, and 91% of graduate interns told us that their internship helped them secure their current job.

Students interested in starting their own business have access to one-to-one business coaching, mentoring, skills workshops and competitions delivered by industry experts. Our Enterprise Centre, one of the UK’s most sustainable buildings, serves as a regional hub for innovators and businesses.

We believe it’s the individuals that make UEA unique. We’ve a rich history of remarkable students, including Nobel Prize winners, geneticist Sir Paul Nurse and novelist Sir Kazuo Ishiguro. Our Alumni Association is a network of over 127,000 members worldwide and students can be confident that their experiences at UEA will give them the best start possible in their chosen career. Our graduates have gone on to work for major companies such as the BBC, Aviva, Apple, NATO, The Times, United Nations, The Cabinet Office and many more.

Ground breaking projects, meaningful ideas and research that changes the world. A lot happens at UEA: anything is possible when the right individuals get together – and this is just a taste of things to come.

References 1. https://www.uea.ac.uk/about/-/uea-researchers-on-highly-cited-list 2. Figures are based on a 78% response rate for UK full-time undergraduates to the DLHE survey