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The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in continuous operation. It grew rapidly from 1167, when Henry II banned English students from attending the University of Paris. After disputes between students and Oxford townsfolk, some Oxford academics fled northeast to Cambridge, where, in 1209, they established the University of Cambridge. The two English ancient universities share many common features and are jointly referred to as Oxbridge.

The University of Oxford is made up of 43 constituent colleges, consisting of 36 semi-autonomous colleges, four permanent private halls and three societies (colleges that are departments of the university, without their own royal charter), and a range of academic departments which are organised into four divisions. Each college is a self-governing institution within the university, controlling its own membership and having its own internal structure and activities. All students are members of a college. The university does not have a main campus, but its buildings and facilities are scattered throughout the city centre. Undergraduate teaching at Oxford consists of lectures, small-group tutorials at the colleges and halls, seminars, laboratory work and occasionally further tutorials provided by the central university faculties and departments. Postgraduate teaching is provided in a predominantly centralised fashion.

Oxford operates the Ashmolean Museum, the world's oldest university museum; Oxford University Press, the largest university press in the world; and the largest academic library system nationwide. In the fiscal year ending 31 July 2023, the university had a total consolidated income of £2.92 billion, of which £789 million was from research grants and contracts.

Oxford has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including 31 prime ministers of the United Kingdom and many heads of state and government around the world. As of October 2022,^[update] 73 Nobel Prize laureates, 4 Fields Medalists, and 6 Turing Award winners have matriculated, worked, or held visiting fellowships at the University of Oxford, while its alumni have won 160 Olympic medals. Oxford is the home of numerous scholarships, including the Rhodes Scholarship, one of the oldest international graduate scholarship programmes. (Full article...)

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Bodley's Librarian is the head of the Bodleian Library, the main library at the University of Oxford. Both are named after the founder, Sir Thomas Bodley (pictured). The university's library was established in about 1320 but had declined by the end of the 16th century, so in 1598 Bodley offered to restore it. The first librarian, Thomas James, was selected in 1599, and the Bodleian opened in 1602. Bodley wanted the librarian to be diligent, a linguist, unmarried, and not a parish priest, although James persuaded him to dispense with the last two requirements. In all, 25 people have served as Bodley's Librarian, some less well than others: John Price (who held the post from 1768 to 1813) was accused of "a regular and constant neglect of his duty". The first woman, and the first foreign librarian, to run the Bodleian was Sarah Thomas (2007–13). The current librarian is Richard Ovenden. (Full article...)

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Richard Barrons (born 1959) is a general in the British Army, currently Commander, Joint Forces Command. After studying Philosophy, Politics and Economics at The Queen's College, Oxford, his early army career was spent in various staff and field posts, serving his first tour of duty in the Balkans in 1993. After a tour in Northern Ireland, he became a Military Assistant to the High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina and then to the Chief of the General Staff. Between 2000 and 2003, Barrons served again in the Balkans, in Afghanistan during the early days of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), and in Basra, Iraq. As a brigadier in 2003, Barrons served his second tour in Northern Ireland, this time as a brigade commander. In 2005, he was appointed to Assistant Chief of Staff, Commitments. He was promoted to major general in 2008 and deployed to Iraq for the second time, with responsibility for joint operations. He then served briefly with the NATO Allied Rapid Reaction Corps before heading an ISAF reintegration unit in Afghanistan to provide incentives for Taliban soldiers to surrender. He later became Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operations). (Full article...)

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Worcester College, to the west of the city centre, dates back to 1283 as Gloucester College, a college for Benedictine monks which was closed in about 1539 during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Some of the buildings, known as "the cottages", are from the time of Gloucester College and are among the oldest residential buildings in Oxford. After a gap of about 20 years, Gloucester Hall was established, which became Worcester College in 1714 following a benefaction from Sir Thomas Cookes of Worcestershire. The chapel (which Oscar Wilde called a "perfect" piece of "simple decorative and beautiful art"), hall, and library were rebuilt in the 18th century; some of the designs were by George Clarke, who left his collection of books and manuscripts to the college. Further buildings have been constructed on the main college site, which has extensive grounds, and elsewhere in Oxford. Worcester College has about 400 undergraduates and 170 graduate students. Professor Jonathan Bate was appointed as the college's Provost in 2011. Alumni include the author Richard Adams, the composer Rachel Portman, the actress Emma Watson and the businessman Rupert Murdoch. (Full article...)

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Credit: Mtcv

Unlike most other colleges at Oxford, the dining hall at Wolfson College does not have a separate High Table for the college's Fellows. Instead, they dine alongside the students, who are all carrying out postgraduate work.

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Did you know

Articles from Wikipedia's "Did You Know" archives about the university and people associated with it:

... that the members of the Council of Keble College, Oxford (council member Henry Herbert, 4th Earl of Carnarvon pictured) had power to move the college away from Oxford?
... that British lawyer and activist of the Indian independence movement Eardley Norton was instrumental in establishing an UK-chapter of the Indian National Congress?
... that in 1996, the University of Glasgow renamed its Chair of Drama after former professor James Fullarton Arnott?
... that while Nicholas Fitzherbert was abroad, two priests were arrested in his father's house and hanged, drawn and quartered?
... that the equipment designed by the physicist Gwyn Jones to liquefy small amounts of helium for work at temperatures near absolute zero was made from parts of a motorcycle engine?