The essence of the University of Stirling is its great people: our graduates, staff, and students help shape the world. Founded by the 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 health and well-being, 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 programs that produce intellectually able graduates 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 a change agent, 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 globally, 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 the broader cultural and sporting opportunities available.
Stirling is 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 differences and respect students' and staff's right to hold differing views.
We do not 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 make 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 delivering an outstanding learning experience. Being open in all we do, communicating the University's work and worth to the broader world, and engaging people in delivering 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. We aim to unlock our students' and staff's full potential to use their knowledge and skills to shape the world positively. 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 recognized that society was being transformed. 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 center of the Stirling, the campus is the historical 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 remodeled 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 before 1146. The Airthrey Estate appears to have been held by the Crown until 1370 when it was granted to Sir John Here, Knight Keeper of the Castle of Stirling.
The land then passed into William, Lord Graham of Kincardine, to recognize 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 to support the royalist cause. By then, the manor house of Airthrey had been burned to the ground by Covenanters under the Marquess of Argyll.
John Hope of Hopetoun in 1678 purchased the estate, 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 around the edge of the estate. He was responsible for the early development of the landscape, including creating 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 Donald Graham bought it for £75,000. He built a large addition on the north side of the Castle in 1891, at the cost of £15,700 with impressive interior features such as a carved oak-paneled 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 a maternity hospital. 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.
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