About Us

We are Aberystwyth University, but you can call us Aber.

The University has a proud history rooted in and supported by the community. We are a research-led university committed to providing an excellent educational experience for our students. We are small enough to know our students as individuals and big enough to have an international reputation. We pride ourselves on being a vibrant academic community and we are privileged to live in a stunning natural environment as well as a historic seaside market town.

Professor Elizabeth Treasure
Vice-Chancellor

  1. We were established in 1872 after community and national fundraising efforts to establish the first Welsh university. We offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the Arts, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Physical Sciences and Social Sciences.
  2. We are home to 22 Academic departments and 19 Professional Services departments .
  3. We are community of 6,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 2,379 academic and professional services staff. We are also home to 1500 sheep, 400 dairy cows, 20 horses, 16 goats and 10 alpacas.
  4. We have over 1,709 hectares of land which makes us the biggest university in the United Kingdom (Higher Education Statistics Agency 2018).
  5. Aberystwyth University Penglais Campus and Accommodation is 1448m from the promenade and sea. A walk down-hill from Penglais Campus may take up to 10 minutes to reach the seafront, we'll let you time the journey back up hill.
  6. We were the first university in the world to establish a Department of International Politics. The Department was founded in 1919 as a response to the extreme violence of the First World War in which millions of people around the world lost their lives. The founding constituted an intellectual response to a global event with a normative end: understanding the diverse facets of world politics (politics, law, economics, ethics) in order to mitigate organised violence.
  7. Aberystwyth University has been home to royalty from all parts of the world, including His Royal Highness Prince Charles, Prince of Wales, who studied Welsh in 1969. His tutor was Professor Edward Millward who taught Welsh to Prince Charles ahead of his investiture as Prince of Wales. His time at Aber was recently portrayed in the Netflix series 'The Crown'. The episode entitled 'Tywysog Cymru' (Prince of Wales) was praised for using the Welsh language in much of its dialogue.
  8. Aberystwyth University has been home to international students for over a century. In fact, we welcomed the first international student in 1875, Nellie Owen from Utica, New York. Other prominent international students include, Iris De Freitas who studied here Law in 1918 and became the first female lawyer in the Caribbean. Find out more about our esteemed alumni community.
  9. 65% of all oats used in the UK have been developed at our Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS). You can read more on our Oats project here 
  10. Since 1872, our research has had an impact nationally and internationally. 95% of the University's research is of an internationally recognised standard or higher in the latest Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014). From combating climate change, improving food quality and food production, promoting human and animal health, to developing artificial intelligence and helping to advance space exploration, our researchers are at the forefront of innovation and the impact of our research has far-reaching international benefits.