The university is organised into six academic faculties composed of multiple schools and departments running over undergraduate courses, largely in the Tyndalls Park area of the city. Bristol is a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities, [16] the European-wide Coimbra Group [17] and the Worldwide Universities Network , of which the university's previous vice-chancellor, Eric Thomas , was chairman from to The earliest antecedent of the university was the engineering department of the Merchant Venturers' Technical College founded as a school as early as which became the engineering faculty of Bristol University.
The royal charter was gained in May , with undergraduates and other students entering the university in October Since the founding of the university itself in , it has grown considerably and is now one of the largest employers in the local area, although it is smaller by student numbers than the nearby University of the West of England. After the founding of the university college in , government support began in Funding from mergers with the Bristol Medical School in and the Merchant Venturers' Technical College in , [28] allowed the opening of a new medical school and an engineering school β two subjects that remain among the university's greatest strengths.
In December , the king granted such a charter and erected the University of Bristol. In , George Wills bought the Victoria Rooms and endowed them to the university as a students' union. At the point of foundation, the university was required to provide for the local community. This mission was behind the creation of the Department of Extra-Mural Adult Education in to provide courses to the local community.
This mission continues today; a new admissions policy specifically caters to the 'BS' postcode area of Bristol. Among the famous names associated with Bristol in this early period is Paul Dirac , who graduated in with a degree in engineering, before obtaining a second degree in mathematics in from Cambridge. For his subsequent pioneering work on quantum mechanics, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics.
Wills Physics Laboratory was opened by Ernest Rutherford. Sir Winston Churchill became the university's third chancellor in , serving the university in that capacity until It has since been restored, complete with oak panelled walls and a new organ.
