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[ataraxia]

I've been invited for an interview at Lancaster University and am just wondering if anyone has any info to share about the university. My understanding is that it is a well-regarded university, with a decent research profile. I also gather than Lancaster itself is a bit dull, but cheap and near some quite beautiful countryside. If anyone else has any more info to share I would of course be very grateful.

[scotia]

Lancaster is one of a group of universities founded in the 1960s. It is probably a 'solid' rather than 'stellar' university by UK standards, but this still makes it a good university. It has a reputation for excellence in some research areas; four departments gained the top 5* rating in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (Management, Physics, Statistics, Sociology) and several other departments gained scores of 5. Of course this may all change later this year with the 2007 RAE. It was ranked 21st in The Times University rankings for the UK in 2007. The rankings includes factors such as student satisfaction, staff-student ratios, library and other facilities as well as research. It is one of the smaller campus-based universities, and has recently undergone a major building project.

Lancaster itself is a small city by UK standards - if you are a big city person you probably would find it boring. Driving just a few miles up the M6 motorway brings you to the Lake District, in my view the most beautiful part of England (I like mountains and lakes). The Forest of Bowland is nearer to Lancaster and is a pretty area, and the Yorkshire Dales National Park is also readily accessible. If you prefer big cities a number of staff commute from Manchester (about an hour by train and the same by car outside the rush hour).

Housing in Lancaster is cheap compared to some areas of the UK, but I don't think of it as particularly cheap for North West England.

[snape]

I've been there a few times. It is a really nice place. The campus (pretty much a community in its own right) is about three miles out of town (there are regular buses between the town and the campus). It is not too far from the seaside resort of Morcombe.

[anonymity_in_the_uk]

Lancaster is in the '94 group' of Unis. - smaller, research intensive institutions, which lack the clout of the 'Russell Group' (sort of Ivy league - tho' I'll probably get slapped down for the comparison) but which still take research seriously.

They do have some very good departments - Sociology at Lancaster is one of only two 6* (i.e. 5* in both of the previous RAE exercises) departments in the UK.

I used to live in that part of the country: stunning scenary/walking/coast nearby-ish/etc. but lancaster is a small town. Very pretty, but small. Buying a house would be affordable on an academic salary.

[ataraxia]

thanks to all for that helpful info. This sort of confirms my impressions. If I remember right, I saw the Times Higher Ed supplement listing the research dimension of Lancaster as 6th or 7th in the UK (the university as a whole ranked lower, but that was because it didn't do as well on other dimensions). Of course, who knows how accurate such rankings are.

[orienteer]

For the RAE nerds among us, Lancaster Management School  - not where I work - is in fact a 6* department, one of only two in the UK in Business and Management (the other is LBS). So there it is stellar.

Me, I dream of the stars but have feats of clay.

[ataraxia]

Again, thanks to everyone for the info.

ataraxia.