University of Alberta, Canada

Spread over five campuses in Edmonton, UoA is internationally reputed for its research excellence. equipped with 400 research laboratories, it offers 370 undergrad and postgrad programmes

The University of Alberta (UoA, estb. 1908), which celebrated its centenary last year, is ranked among the world’s foremost teaching and research universities. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University’s 2008 rankings of the world’s top 500 varsities rank UoA 106th, while the US-based magazine Newsweek in its Top 100 Global University 2006 rankings places this Canadian public university 55th worldwide and 35th in North America. Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta (a province of western Canada), and Henry Marshall Tory, its first president, UoA offers over 370 undergraduate and postgrad programmes across 18 faculties to 35,000 students, including 2,531 foreign students from over 130 countries.

“The university’s stated vision is to inspire the human spirit through outstanding achievement in learning, discovery, and citizenship in a creative community, building one of the world’s great universities for the public good. We have anchored our vision in four cornerstones: talented people; learning, discovery, and citizenship; connecting communities; and transformative organisation and support,” says Sri Lanka born Dr. Indira V. Samarasekera, president of the university.

Spread across five campuses in Edmonton, UoA is internationally reputed for its research excellence. With its 400 research laboratories, the university leads the country with 28 professors who have been conferred national 3M teaching fellowships — Canada’s highest award for undergraduate teaching excellence.

Edmonton. The administrative capital of Alberta, the province of Canada which boasts the majestic Rocky Mountains, Edmonton (pop.1 million) is a major economic centre and hub of Canada’s oil and gas industry. Diverse and multicultural with hundreds of ethnic restaurants, the city is also known as Canada’s festival city hosting 30 carnivals annually. There are 460 parks in the city, more than a hundred outdoor skating rinks, and a subway transport system. The city also boasts north America’s largest shopping and entertainment complex — West Edmonton Mall — with more than 800 stores, 110 restaurants, the World Waterpark, movie theatres and other world-class attractions.

Though Edmonton records an average winter temperature of -18oC and heavy snowfall during the months of November-March, the city is one of the sunniest places in Canada, with 17 hours of daylight in the summer and up to ten hours in winter. The average summer temperate is 17oC.

Campus facilities. UoA has five campuses, with the main North campus located centrally in Edmonton on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River valley. Spread across 88 hectares, the North campus hosts over 90 buildings, with 80 student services, numerous computer labs, student residences, 24-hour study spaces, athletics facilities and a variety of shops and restaurants. There is a major transit and subway station on the main campus providing convenient access to the city centre.

Ten minutes from the North campus is the South campus which houses a “living laboratory” of eight hi-tech agri-food research and teaching facilities, land plots, as also two world-class sports facilities and a residential complex. Located in Camrose, 60 minutes south-east of Edmonton, UoA’s third campus — Augustana — offers liberal arts-focused education. Situated just south of downtown Edmonton, Campus Saint-Jean is the University of Alberta in French, offering French-medium education, unique in western Canada.

The newest UoA campus — Enterprise Square — is in the former Bay Building, a historic landmark in the heart of downtown Edmonton which houses the faculty of extension, the Alberta Family Business Institute, and the School of Business Executive Education and Lifelong Learning programmes.

UoA’s 11 libraries make up Canada’s second largest research library system. The libraries house 6 million-plus volumes and students have access to more than 410,000 full-text electronic journals and over 600 electronic databases. The university also offers a wide range of sports facilities including Foote Field, a prime venue for football, soccer, field hockey, and track and field events. Moreover the university boasts over 300 student clubs and associations which host over 500 campus recreation activities through the year.

Admission. The minimum eligibility criterion for admission into U of A’s undergraduate degree programmes is completion of Plus Two/ class XII with an average of 75-85 percent and a first class bachelor’s degree for postgraduate programmes. Proof of proficiency in the English language is also required. Though the admission committee accepts students with 75 percent plus in English in the CBSE and CISCE class XII board exams, it’s advisable to submit TOEFL or IELTS test scores. Moreover some academic programmes may prescribe additional admission requirements.

All admission applications must be accompanied with an application fee of CAD$100 (Rs.4,000) and certified copies of marks sheets and other transcripts. The admission deadline is May 1 for entry in the term beginning this September. For further information contact the University of Alberta, 505 College Plaza, 8215-112 Street, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2C8 Canada. Tel: 1.780.492.1100; e-mail: admissions.international@ualberta.ca; website: www.ualberta.ca.

Accommodation. All first-year foreign students are guaranteed on-campus accommodation which ranges from furnished, traditional dormitory style rooms to unfurnished apartments, townhouses and houses. On the main north campus, the Lister Centre offers furnished dormitory rooms and a meal plan while HUB offers unfurnished apartments, and International House single furnished dormitory rooms. There are also many off-campus housing options available around the campus.

Degree programmes. The UoA offers over 200 undergraduate and over 170 postgrad programmes across 18 faculties (see box).

Summiya Yasmeen