University of Stirling

The essence of the University of Stirling is its great people: our graduates, staff and students are helping to shape the world. Founded by Royal Charter in 1967, the University of Stirling was the first genuinely new university in Scotland for over 400 years. We retain our pioneering spirit and a passion for innovation and excellence in all we do.

We aim to be at the forefront of research and learning that helps to improve lives. Working with academic, commercial, public, private and voluntary sector partners, Stirling is one of the UK’s leading research universities in the fields of health and wellbeing, the environment and people, culture and society, enterprise and the economy, and sport.

Students are at the heart of what we do and we provide one of the best all round student experiences in the UK. In learning and teaching, we work with our student community to deliver high quality programmes that produce intellectually able graduates who are highly sought after by employers. We are ambitious for our students, and our flexible learning opportunities enable them to explore and discover new subjects and interests.

There is a vibrant and growing postgraduate community and we welcome students, researchers and staff from around the world. This gives our research and teaching a global outlook, while remaining relevant to our Scottish culture and economy. The University of Stirling is an international university with a global reputation for high-quality teaching and research. We are an agent for change, connecting people, innovating and transforming the lives of our students, staff and the global communities we serve.

Stirling is numbered among the top 100 new universities in the world; a reputation that has been gained through the quality of our research, the impact it has had on society, and the skills and competencies of our graduates. Our distinctiveness comes from our academics collaborating across disciplines to generate different perspectives to address key world issues. Graduates of the University are well equipped to play a leading role in society due to knowledge, initiative and resilience developed as part of their educational experience, and from the wider cultural and sporting opportunities available.

Stirling is a place where everyone is treated with respect and where ability – not background – is valued. We are open with one another and support people with specific needs; we acknowledge difference, and respect the right of students and staff to hold differing views.

We don’t settle for second best. We strive for excellence in all we do, and work actively to support students and staff to perform at the very highest level. By doing so, our teaching and research makes a real and demonstrable impact on the economy, environment and society in Scotland and beyond. Leading the way globally in our areas of research expertise and through the delivery of an outstanding learning experience. Being open in all we do, communicating the work and worth of the University to the wider world and engaging people in the delivery of our vision. Growing the University in innovative ways, embedding sustainability and making it a role-model for the sector.

Developing people and helping society through the pursuit and understanding of knowledge. Transforming the lives of our students and staff by giving them opportunities to reach their full potential.
Creating global citizens to identify and meet the changing needs of society. At Stirling we take pride in providing education with a purpose and conducting research that makes a difference to society. Our aim is to unlock the full potential of our students and staff, so that they can use their knowledge and skills to shape the world in a positive way. Our ambitions for the future, set out in this Strategic Plan, can be achieved through our collective will, passion and commitment.

The University of Stirling’s story starts with its first Chancellor, Lord Robbins, a visionary who recognised that society was being transformed and it needed men and women skilled in navigating change. For almost 50 years the University of Stirling has been delivering the vision he first articulated. Our Strategic Plan 2016-2021, identifies a set of overarching institutional objectives that will help us focus on the practical steps needed to achieve our ambitious goals over the next five years.

The University itself stands on an estate with a rich and varied history. At the centre of the Stirling campus is the historic building of Airthrey Castle. Still in active use today as the home of the University's School of Law, the 18th-century castle, extended and remodelled in late Victorian times, has a fascinating history.

The first recorded reference to the name of Airthrey is in a Charter of King David of Scotland, which must have been granted prior to 1146. The Airthrey Estate appears to have been held by the Crown until 1370, when it was granted to Sir John Herice, Knight Keeper of the Castle of Stirling.

The land then passed into the hands of William, Lord Graham of Kincardine, to recognise the gallantry he showed at the Battle of Sauchieburn. After being made Earl of Montrose, he was killed at the Battle of Flodden Field in 1513. Airthrey remained in the Montrose family until the fifth Earl was executed at Edinburgh in 1650 for his support of the royalist cause. By then, the manor house of Airthrey had been burned to the ground by Covenanters under the Marquess of Argyll.

The estate was purchased by John Hope of Hopetoun in 1678, then passed in 1706 to Ralph Dundas, whose son John Dundas built the house at Airthrey in 1748. Next, the estate was bought by Captain Robert Haldane of Plean in 1759, and his great-nephew Robert commissioned the extravagant design by Robert Adam that forms the southern half of the current building.

Robert Haldane also built the stone wall that extends nearly four miles round the edge of the estate, and was responsible for the early development of the landscape, including the creation of the loch. However, once the house was built he sold it, with the estate, in 1798 to Sir Robert Abercrombie for £46,000. Sir Robert immediately set about improving the estate, and was responsible for moving the village of Logie to a new site in Causewayhead, and also "discontinued the village of Pathfoot".

The estate continued to be held by members of the Abercrombie family until 1889 when it was bought by Donald Graham for £75,000. He built a large addition on the north side of the castle in 1891, at a cost of £15,700 with impressive interior features such as a carved oak panelled hall, alabaster plaques, white marble fireplaces and intricately carved Eastern doors.

It remained with the Graham family until it was handed over to the Secretary of State for use as a maternity hospital, and many hundreds of children were born here between 1939 and 1968. By that time, the University of Stirling had come into being, and the Castle was taken over in 1969 to become an integral part of University life.