1.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
2.
Public university
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A public university is a university that is predominantly funded by public means through a national or subnational government, as opposed to private universities. Whether a national university is considered public varies from one country to another, in Egypt, Al-Azhar University opened in 975 AD as the second oldest university in the world. In Nigeria Public Universities can be established by both the Federal Government and by State Governments, students are enrolled after completing the 8-4-4 system of education and attaining a mark of C+ or above. They are also eligible for a low interest loan from the Higher Education Loan Board and they are expected to pay back the loan after completing higher education. South Africa has 23 public tertiary institutions, either categorised as a traditional university or a comprehensive university. Almost entire national universities in Brunei are public universities and these are major universities in Brunei, University of Brunei Darussalam Brunei Technological University Sultan Sharif Ali Islamic University There are 40 public universities in Bangladesh. The University Grant Commission is the body for all the public universities in Bangladesh. The universities do not deal directly with the government, but with the University Grants Commission, recently many private universities are established under the Private University Act of 1992. In mainland China, nearly all universities and research institutions are public and currently, the public universities are usually run by the provincial governments, there are also circumstances where the municipal governments administer the universities. Some public universities are national, which are administered by the central government. Private undergraduate colleges do exist, which are vocational colleges sponsored by private enterprises. The majority of universities are not entitled to award bachelors degrees. Public universities usually enjoy higher reputation domestically, eight institutions are funded by the University Grants Committee. The Academy for Performing Arts also receives funding from the government, the Open University of Hong Kong is also a public university, but it is largely self-financed. The Shue Yan University is the private institution with the status of a university. There are public and private institutes in Indonesia. The government provide public universities, institutes, high schools and academies in each province, the private educational institution usually provided by religious organizations, public organizations, and some big companies. In India, most universities and nearly all research institutions are public, There are some private undergraduate colleges, mostly engineering schools, but a majority of these are affiliated to public universities
3.
Swiss franc
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The franc is the currency and legal tender of Switzerland and Liechtenstein, it is also legal tender in the Italian exclave Campione dItalia. The Swiss National Bank issues banknotes and the federal mint Swissmint issues coins, the smaller denomination, a hundredth of a franc, is a Rappen in German, centime in French, centesimo in Italian, and rap in Romansh. The ISO code of the used by banks and financial institutions is CHF, although Fr. is used by most businesses and advertisers. Given the different languages used in Switzerland, Latin is used for inscriptions on the coins. In 1798, the Helvetic Republic introduced a currency based on the Berne thaler, the Swiss franc was equal to 6 3⁄4 grams of pure silver or 1 1⁄2 French francs. This franc was issued until the end of the Helvetic Republic in 1803, in order to solve this problem, the new Swiss Federal Constitution of 1848 specified that the federal government would be the only entity allowed to make money in Switzerland. This was followed two years later by the first Federal Coinage Act, passed by the Federal Assembly on 7 May 1850, the franc was introduced at par with the French franc. It replaced the different currencies of the Swiss cantons, some of which had been using a franc which was worth 1 1⁄2 French francs. In 1865, France, Belgium, Italy, and Switzerland formed the Latin Monetary Union, the currency was devalued by 30% following the devaluations of the British pound, U. S. dollar and French franc. In 1945, Switzerland joined the Bretton Woods system and pegged the franc to the U. S. dollar at a rate of $1 =4.30521 francs and this was changed to $1 =4.375 francs in 1949. The Swiss franc has historically considered a safe-haven currency with virtually zero inflation. However, this link to gold, which dates from the 1920s, was terminated on 1 May 2000 following a referendum. By March 2005, following a gold selling program, the Swiss National Bank held 1,290 tonnes of gold in reserves which equated to 20% of its assets. In November 2014, the referendum on the Swiss Gold Initiative which proposed a restoration of 20% gold backing for the Swiss franc was voted down, in March 2011 the franc climbed past the US$1.10 mark. In June 2011 the franc climbed past US$1.20 as investors sought safety amidst the continuation of the Greek sovereign-debt crisis, demand for francs and franc-denominated assets was so strong that nominal short-term Swiss interest rates became negative. In response to the announcement the franc fell against the euro, to 1.22 francs from 1.12 francs, the intervention stunned currency traders since the franc had long been regarded as a safe haven. The franc fell 8. 8% against the euro,9. 5% against the dollar and it was the largest plunge of the franc ever against the euro. The SNB had previously set an exchange rate target in 1978 against the Deutsche mark and maintained it, although at the cost of high inflation
4.
Rector (academia)
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A rector is a term used in non-English-speaking countries for a university chancellor. In the sphere of academia, it is the highest academic official of universities and in certain other institutions of higher education. The term and office of a rector are called a rectorate, the title is used widely in universities in Europe. And is very common in Latin American countries and it is also used in Brunei, Turkey, Russia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Indonesia, Israel and the Middle East. In some universities, the title is phrased in an even loftier manner and this term is generally not used in English-speaking countries. In England and elsewhere in Great Britain, the head of a university is referred to as a chancellor. This pattern has been followed in the Commonwealth, the United States, in Scotland, many universities are headed by a chancellor, with the Lord Rector designated as an elected representative of students at the head of the university court. The head of a university in Germany is called a president, rector magnificus or rectrix magnifica, in Dutch universities, the rector magnificus is the most publicly prominent member of the board, responsible for the scientific agenda of the university. In the Netherlands, the rector is, however, not the chair of the university board, the chair has, in practice, the most influence over the management of the University. In some countries, including Germany, the position of teacher in secondary schools is also designated as rector. In the Netherlands, the rector and conrector are used commonly for high school directors. This is also the case in some Maltese secondary schools, in the Scandinavian countries, the head of a university or a gymnasium is called a rektor. In Sweden and Norway, this term is used for the heads of primary schools. For example, in Portugal, the rector of the University of Coimbra, the heads of Czech universities are called the rektor. The rector acts in the name of the university and decides the universitys affairs unless prohibited by law, the rector is nominated by the University Academic Senate and appointed by the President of the Czech Republic. The nomination must be agreed by a majority of all senators. The vote to elect or repeal a rector is secret, the term of office is four years and a person may hold it for at most two consecutive terms. The rector appoints vice-rectors, who act as deputies to the extent the Rector determines, Rectors salaries are determined directly by the Minister of Education
5.
Postgraduate education
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In North America, this level is generally referred to as graduate school. The organization and structure of education varies in different countries. This article outlines the types of courses and of teaching and examination methods. There are two types of degrees studied for at the postgraduate level, academic and vocational degrees. The term degree in this means the moving from one stage or level to another. University studies took six years for a degree and up to twelve additional years for a masters degree or doctorate. The first six years taught the faculty of the arts, which was the study of the seven liberal arts, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music theory, grammar, logic, the main emphasis was on logic. Once a Bachelor of Arts degree had been obtained, the student could choose one of three faculties—law, medicine, or theology—in which to pursue masters or doctors degrees. Because theology was thought to be the highest of the subjects, the main significance of the higher, postgraduate degrees was that they licensed the holder to teach. In most countries, the hierarchy of postgraduate degrees is as follows, in Scottish Universities, the Master of Philosophy degree tends to be by research or higher masters degree and the Master of Letters degree tends to be the taught or lower masters degree. In many fields such as social work, or library science in North America. Professional degrees such as the Master of Architecture degree can last to three and a years to satisfy professional requirement to be an architect. Professional degrees such as the Master of Business Administration degree can last up to two years to satisfy the requirement to become a business leader. These are often divided into academic and professional doctorates. An academic doctorate can be awarded as a Doctor of Philosophy degree or as a Doctor of Science degree, a doctorate is the terminal degree in most fields. In the United States, there is distinction between a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Doctor of Science degree. In the second half of the 19th century, however, US universities began to follow the European model by awarding doctorates, in the UK, an equivalent formation to doctorate is the NVQ5 or QCF8. Most universities award degrees, usually at the postgraduate level
6.
Doctorate
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There are a variety of doctoral degrees, with the most common being the Doctor of Philosophy, which is awarded in many different fields, ranging from the humanities to the scientific disciplines. The term doctor derives from the Latin docere meaning to teach, the doctorate appeared in medieval Europe as a license to teach Latin at a university. Its roots can be traced to the church in which the term doctor referred to the Apostles, church fathers. The right to grant a licentia docendi was originally reserved to the Catholic church, the Third Council of the Lateran of 1179 guaranteed the access—at that time largely free of charge—of all able applicants. This right remained a bone of contention between the authorities and universities that were slowly distancing themselves from the Church. The right was granted by the pope to the University of Paris in 1213 where it became a universal license to teach, according to Keith Allan Noble, the first doctoral degree was awarded in medieval Paris around 1150. The so-called professional, vocational, or technical curriculum of the Middle Ages included only theology, law, the doctorate of philosophy developed in Germany in the 17th century. The term philosophy does not refer solely to the field or academic discipline of philosophy, but is used in a sense in accordance with its original Greek meaning. In most of Europe, all fields were traditionally known as philosophy, the doctorate of philosophy adheres to this historic convention, even though the degrees are not always for the study of philosophy. D. University doctoral training was a form of apprenticeship to a guild, the traditional term of study before new teachers were admitted to the guild of Masters of Arts was seven years, matching the apprenticeship term for other occupations. Originally the terms master and doctor were synonymous, but over time the doctorate came to be regarded as a higher qualification than the masters degree, University degrees, including doctorates, were originally restricted to men. The use and meaning of the doctorate has changed over time, for instance, until the early 20th century few academic staff or professors in English-speaking universities held doctorates, except for very senior scholars and those in holy orders. After that time the German practice of requiring lecturers to have completed a research doctorate spread, universities shift to research-oriented education increased the doctorates importance. Today, a doctorate or its equivalent is generally a prerequisite for an academic career. Professional doctorates developed in the United States from the 19th century onward, the first professional doctorate to be offered in the United States was the M. D. The MD became the standard first degree in medicine during the 19th century, the MD, as the standard qualifying degree in medicine, gave that profession the ability to set and raise standards for entry into professional practice. The modern research degree, in the shape of the German-style Ph. D. was first awarded in the U. S. in 1861, in the UK, research doctorates initially took the form of higher doctorates, introduced from 1882 onwards. The PhD spread to the UK from the US via Canada, following the MD, the next professional doctorate, the Juris Doctor, was established by Chicago University in 1902
7.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
8.
University
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A university is an institution of higher education and research which grants academic degrees in various academic disciplines. Universities typically provide undergraduate education and postgraduate education, the word university is derived from the Latin universitas magistrorum et scholarium, which roughly means community of teachers and scholars. Universities were created in Italy and evolved from Cathedral schools for the clergy during the High Middle Ages, the original Latin word universitas refers in general to a number of persons associated into one body, a society, company, community, guild, corporation, etc. Like other guilds, they were self-regulating and determined the qualifications of their members, an important idea in the definition of a university is the notion of academic freedom. The first documentary evidence of this comes from early in the life of the first university, the University of Bologna adopted an academic charter, the Constitutio Habita, in 1158 or 1155, which guaranteed the right of a traveling scholar to unhindered passage in the interests of education. Today this is claimed as the origin of academic freedom and this is now widely recognised internationally - on 18 September 1988,430 university rectors signed the Magna Charta Universitatum, marking the 900th anniversary of Bolognas foundation. The number of universities signing the Magna Charta Universitatum continues to grow, the university is generally regarded as a formal institution that has its origin in the Medieval Christian setting. The earliest universities were developed under the aegis of the Latin Church by papal bull as studia generalia and it is possible, however, that the development of cathedral schools into universities was quite rare, with the University of Paris being an exception. Later they were founded by Kings or municipal administrations. In the early period, most new universities were founded from pre-existing schools. Many historians state that universities and cathedral schools were a continuation of the interest in learning promoted by monasteries, the first universities in Europe with a form of corporate/guild structure were the University of Bologna, the University of Paris, and the University of Oxford. The students had all the power … and dominated the masters, princes and leaders of city governments perceived the potential benefits of having a scholarly expertise develop with the ability to address difficult problems and achieve desired ends. The emergence of humanism was essential to understanding of the possible utility of universities as well as the revival of interest in knowledge gained from ancient Greek texts. The rediscovery of Aristotles works–more than 3000 pages of it would eventually be translated–fuelled a spirit of inquiry into natural processes that had begun to emerge in the 12th century. Some scholars believe that these represented one of the most important document discoveries in Western intellectual history. Richard Dales, for instance, calls the discovery of Aristotles works a turning point in the history of Western thought and this became the primary mission of lecturers, and the expectation of students. The university culture developed differently in northern Europe than it did in the south, Latin was the language of the university, used for all texts, lectures, disputations and examinations. Professors lectured on the books of Aristotle for logic, natural philosophy, and metaphysics, while Hippocrates, Galen, outside of these commonalities, great differences separated north and south, primarily in subject matter
9.
Switzerland
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Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a federal republic in Europe. It consists of 26 cantons, and the city of Bern is the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western-Central Europe, and is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland is a country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km2. The establishment of the Old Swiss Confederacy dates to the medieval period, resulting from a series of military successes against Austria. Swiss independence from the Holy Roman Empire was formally recognized in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The country has a history of armed neutrality going back to the Reformation, it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815, nevertheless, it pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. In addition to being the birthplace of the Red Cross, Switzerland is home to international organisations. On the European level, it is a member of the European Free Trade Association. However, it participates in the Schengen Area and the European Single Market through bilateral treaties, spanning the intersection of Germanic and Romance Europe, Switzerland comprises four main linguistic and cultural regions, German, French, Italian and Romansh. Due to its diversity, Switzerland is known by a variety of native names, Schweiz, Suisse, Svizzera. On coins and stamps, Latin is used instead of the four living languages, Switzerland is one of the most developed countries in the world, with the highest nominal wealth per adult and the eighth-highest per capita gross domestic product according to the IMF. Zürich and Geneva have each been ranked among the top cities in the world in terms of quality of life, with the former ranked second globally, according to Mercer. The English name Switzerland is a compound containing Switzer, a term for the Swiss. The English adjective Swiss is a loan from French Suisse, also in use since the 16th century. The name Switzer is from the Alemannic Schwiizer, in origin an inhabitant of Schwyz and its associated territory, the Swiss began to adopt the name for themselves after the Swabian War of 1499, used alongside the term for Confederates, Eidgenossen, used since the 14th century. The data code for Switzerland, CH, is derived from Latin Confoederatio Helvetica. The toponym Schwyz itself was first attested in 972, as Old High German Suittes, ultimately related to swedan ‘to burn’
10.
Swiss Federal Council
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While the entire council is responsible for leading the federal administration of Switzerland, each Councillor heads one of the seven federal executive departments. The position of Federal President rotates among the seven Councillors on a yearly basis, when the Constitution was written, constitutional democracy was still in its infancy, and the founding fathers of Switzerland had little in the way of examples. While they drew heavily on the U. S, Constitution for the organisation of the federal state as a whole, they opted for the collegial rather than the presidential system for the executive branch of government. This accommodated the long tradition of the rule of collective bodies in Switzerland, today, only three other states, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andorra and San Marino, have collective rather than unitary heads of state. However the collegial system of government has found widespread adoption in modern democracies in the form of government with collective responsibility. Nonetheless, some significant developments deserve to be mentioned here, the 1848 Constitution was one of the few successes of the Europe-wide democratic revolutions of 1848. In Switzerland, the movement was led – and the new federal state decisively shaped – by the Radicals. After winning the Sonderbund War against the Catholic cantons, the Radicals at first used their majority in the Federal Assembly to fill all the seats on the Federal Council and this made their former war opponents, the Catholic-Conservatives, the opposition party. Only after Emil Weltis resignation in 1891 after a referendum on railway nationalisation did the Radicals decide to co-opt the Conservatives by supporting the election of Josef Zemp. The process of involving all political movements of Switzerland into the responsibility of government continued during the first half of the 20th century. It was hastened by the FDPs and CVPs gradually diminishing voter shares and these were the Social Democratic Party on the Left and the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents on the Right. In due course, the CVP received its seat in 1919 with Jean-Marie Musy. In 1943, during World War II, the Social Democrats were also included with Ernst Nobs. During that time, the FDP and CVP very slowly but steadily kept losing voter share to the SVP and SP, respectively, which overtook the older parties in popularity during the 1990s. The governmental balance was changed after the 2003 elections, when the SVP was granted a Council seat for their leader Christoph Blocher that had belonged to the CVPs Ruth Metzler. This led to a split of the SVP in 2008, the SVP regained its second seat on the Council in 2015, when Widmer-Schlumpf decided to resign after the SVPs large election gains in the 2015 election, being replaced by Guy Parmelin. Women gained suffrage on the level in 1971. They remained unrepresented in the Federal Council for three legislatures, until the 1984 election of Elisabeth Kopp
11.
Oxbridge
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Oxbridge is a portmanteau of the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Although both universities were founded more than eight centuries ago, the term Oxbridge is relatively recent, in William Thackerays novel Pendennis, published in 1849, the main character attends the fictional Boniface College, Oxbridge. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, this is the first recorded instance of the word, virginia Woolf used it, citing Thackeray, in her 1929 essay A Room of Ones Own. By 1957 the term was used in the Times Educational Supplement, when expanded, the universities are almost always referred to as Oxford and Cambridge, the order in which they were founded. Both were founded more than 800 years ago, and continued as Englands only universities until the 19th century, between them they have educated a large number of Britains most prominent scientists, writers and politicians, as well as noted figures in many other fields. Each has a collegiate structure, whereby the University is a co-operative of its constituent colleges. Both universities have many buildings of great beauty and antiquity, and are sited on level terrain ideal for cycling and they are the top-scoring institutions in cross-subject UK university rankings, so they are targeted by ambitious pupils, parents and schools. Entrance is extremely competitive and some schools promote themselves based on their achievement of Oxbridge offers, combined, the two universities award over one-sixth of all English full-time research doctorates. Oxford and Cambridge have common approaches to undergraduate admissions, until the mid-1980s, entry was typically by sitting special entrance exams. Camford was also used in the Sherlock Holmes story The Adventure of the Creeping Man, other words have been derived from the term Oxbridge, though none has achieved widespread recognition. The term Loxbridge is sometimes seen, and was adopted as the name of the Ancient History conference now known as AMPAH
12.
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
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Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Times Higher Education magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarelli Symonds to publish the joint THE–QS World University Rankings from 2004 to 2009 before it turned to Thomson Reuters for a new ranking system. It is considered as one of the most widely observed university measures together with Academic Ranking of World Universities and it is praised for having a new improved methodology but undermining non-English-instructing institutions and being commercialized are the major criticisms. Times Higher Education chose to partner with educational and careers advice company QS to supply the data, the publication developed a new rankings methodology in consultation with its readers, its editorial board and Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters will collect and analyse the data used to produce the rankings on behalf of Times Higher Education, the first ranking was published in September 2010. In fact, the surveys of reputation, which made up 40 percent of scores, and its clear that our research measures favored the sciences over the humanities. He went on to describe previous attempts at peer review as embarrassing in The Australian, The sample was too small. THE published its first rankings using its new methodology on 16 September 2010, the Globe and Mail in 2010 described the Times Higher Education World University Rankings to be arguably the most influential. The inaugural 2010-2011 methodology contained 13 separate indicators grouped under five categories, Teaching, research, citations, international mix, the number of indicators is up from the Times-QS rankings published between 2004 and 2009, which used six indicators. A draft of the methodology was released on 3 June 2010. The names of the categories and the weighting of each was modified in the final methodology, the overall ranking score was calculated by making Z-scores all datasets to standardize different data types on a common scale to better make comparisons among data. The reputational component of the came from an Academic Reputation Survey conducted by Thomson Reuters in spring 2010. The survey gathered 13,388 responses among scholars statistically representative of global higher educations geographical, the magazines category for industry income – innovation came from a sole indicator, institutions research income from industry scaled against the number of academic staff. The magazine stated that it used this data as proxy for high-quality knowledge transfer, the Times stated that articles published in 2009–2010 have not yet completely accumulated in the database. The magazine announced on 5 September 2011 that its 2011–2012 World University Rankings would be published on 6 October 2011, at the same time, the magazine revealed changes to the ranking formula that will be introduced with the new rankings. The methodology will continue to use 13 indicators across five categories and will keep its fundamental foundations. Teaching and research will each remain 30 percent of the overall score, however, a new international outlook – staff, students and research will be introduced and will make up 7.5 percent of the final score. One 2011–2012 indicator, the public research income, will be dropped
13.
Imperial College London
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Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom. Its founder, Prince Albert, envisioned an area comprised of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall, the Imperial Institute was opened by his wife, Queen Victoria, who laid the foundation stone in 1888. Imperial College London was granted a charter in 1907. In the same year, the joined the University of London. The curriculum was expanded to include medicine after merging with several medical schools. In 2004, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Imperial College Business School, Imperial is organized through faculties for Science, Engineering, Medicine, and Business. The main campus is located in South Kensington, the universitys emphasis is on emerging technology and its practical application. Imperials contributions to society include the discovery of penicillin, the development of fibre optics, Imperial is consistently ranked among the top universities in the world. In 2017, it ranked 8th in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 9th in the QS World University Rankings, in 2015, Imperial was also ranked the most innovative university in Europe, and in 2017 as the 5th most international university in the world. Staff and alumni include 15 Nobel laureates,2 Fields Medalists,70 Fellows of the Royal Society,82 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and 78 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences. The Great Exhibition in 1851 was organised by Prince Albert, Henry Cole, Francis Fuller and other members of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce. The Great Exhibition made a surplus of £186,000 used in creating an area in the South of Kensington encouraging culture and education for everyone. Its founder, Prince Albert, envisioned an area composed of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall. Several royal colleges and the Imperial Institute merged to form what is now Imperial College London, as a result of a movement earlier in the decade, many politicians donated funds to establish the college, including Benjamin Disraeli, William Gladstone and Robert Peel. It was also supported by Prince Albert, who persuaded August Wilhelm von Hofmann to be the first professor, William Henry Perkin studied and worked at the college under von Hofmann, but resigned his position after discovering the first synthetic dye, mauveine, in 1856. It is considered the highest honour given in the chemical industry. The Royal School of Mines was established by Sir Henry de la Beche in 1851, developing from the Museum of Economic Geology and he created a school which laid the foundations for the teaching of science in the country, and which has its legacy today at Imperial. The Royal College of Science was established in 1881, the main objective was to support the training of science teachers and to develop teaching in other science subjects alongside the Royal School of Mines earth sciences specialities
14.
Albert Einstein
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Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist. He developed the theory of relativity, one of the two pillars of modern physics, Einsteins work is also known for its influence on the philosophy of science. Einstein is best known in popular culture for his mass–energy equivalence formula E = mc2, near the beginning of his career, Einstein thought that Newtonian mechanics was no longer enough to reconcile the laws of classical mechanics with the laws of the electromagnetic field. This led him to develop his theory of relativity during his time at the Swiss Patent Office in Bern. Briefly before, he aquired the Swiss citizenship in 1901, which he kept for his whole life and he continued to deal with problems of statistical mechanics and quantum theory, which led to his explanations of particle theory and the motion of molecules. He also investigated the properties of light which laid the foundation of the photon theory of light. In 1917, Einstein applied the theory of relativity to model the large-scale structure of the universe. He was visiting the United States when Adolf Hitler came to power in 1933 and, being Jewish, did not go back to Germany and he settled in the United States, becoming an American citizen in 1940. This eventually led to what would become the Manhattan Project, Einstein supported defending the Allied forces, but generally denounced the idea of using the newly discovered nuclear fission as a weapon. Later, with the British philosopher Bertrand Russell, Einstein signed the Russell–Einstein Manifesto, Einstein was affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, until his death in 1955. Einstein published more than 300 scientific papers along with over 150 non-scientific works, on 5 December 2014, universities and archives announced the release of Einsteins papers, comprising more than 30,000 unique documents. Einsteins intellectual achievements and originality have made the word Einstein synonymous with genius, Albert Einstein was born in Ulm, in the Kingdom of Württemberg in the German Empire, on 14 March 1879. His parents were Hermann Einstein, a salesman and engineer, the Einsteins were non-observant Ashkenazi Jews, and Albert attended a Catholic elementary school in Munich from the age of 5 for three years. At the age of 8, he was transferred to the Luitpold Gymnasium, the loss forced the sale of the Munich factory. In search of business, the Einstein family moved to Italy, first to Milan, when the family moved to Pavia, Einstein stayed in Munich to finish his studies at the Luitpold Gymnasium. His father intended for him to electrical engineering, but Einstein clashed with authorities and resented the schools regimen. He later wrote that the spirit of learning and creative thought was lost in strict rote learning, at the end of December 1894, he travelled to Italy to join his family in Pavia, convincing the school to let him go by using a doctors note. During his time in Italy he wrote an essay with the title On the Investigation of the State of the Ether in a Magnetic Field
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Architecture
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Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other physical structures. Architectural works, in the form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements, Architecture can mean, A general term to describe buildings and other physical structures. The art and science of designing buildings and nonbuilding structures, the style of design and method of construction of buildings and other physical structures. A unifying or coherent form or structure Knowledge of art, science, technology, the design activity of the architect, from the macro-level to the micro-level. The practice of the architect, where architecture means offering or rendering services in connection with the design and construction of buildings. The earliest surviving work on the subject of architecture is De architectura. According to Vitruvius, a building should satisfy the three principles of firmitas, utilitas, venustas, commonly known by the original translation – firmness, commodity. An equivalent in modern English would be, Durability – a building should stand up robustly, utility – it should be suitable for the purposes for which it is used. Beauty – it should be aesthetically pleasing, according to Vitruvius, the architect should strive to fulfill each of these three attributes as well as possible. Leon Battista Alberti, who elaborates on the ideas of Vitruvius in his treatise, De Re Aedificatoria, saw beauty primarily as a matter of proportion, for Alberti, the rules of proportion were those that governed the idealised human figure, the Golden mean. The most important aspect of beauty was, therefore, an inherent part of an object, rather than something applied superficially, Gothic architecture, Pugin believed, was the only true Christian form of architecture. The 19th-century English art critic, John Ruskin, in his Seven Lamps of Architecture, Architecture was the art which so disposes and adorns the edifices raised by men. That the sight of them contributes to his health, power. For Ruskin, the aesthetic was of overriding significance and his work goes on to state that a building is not truly a work of architecture unless it is in some way adorned. For Ruskin, a well-constructed, well-proportioned, functional building needed string courses or rustication, but suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say, This is beautiful, le Corbusiers contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said Architecture starts when you carefully put two bricks together. The notable 19th-century architect of skyscrapers, Louis Sullivan, promoted an overriding precept to architectural design, function came to be seen as encompassing all criteria of the use, perception and enjoyment of a building, not only practical but also aesthetic, psychological and cultural
16.
Civil engineering
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Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering, Civil engineering takes place in the public sector from municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector from individual homeowners through to international companies. Engineering has been an aspect of life since the beginnings of human existence, during this time, transportation became increasingly important leading to the development of the wheel and sailing. The construction of pyramids in Egypt were some of the first instances of large structure constructions, the Romans developed civil structures throughout their empire, including especially aqueducts, insulae, harbors, bridges, dams and roads. In the 18th century, the civil engineering was coined to incorporate all things civilian as opposed to military engineering. The first self-proclaimed civil engineer was John Smeaton, who constructed the Eddystone Lighthouse, in 1771 Smeaton and some of his colleagues formed the Smeatonian Society of Civil Engineers, a group of leaders of the profession who met informally over dinner. Though there was evidence of some meetings, it was little more than a social society. In 1818 the Institution of Civil Engineers was founded in London, the institution received a Royal Charter in 1828, formally recognising civil engineering as a profession. The first private college to teach engineering in the United States was Norwich University. The first degree in engineering in the United States was awarded by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1835. The first such degree to be awarded to a woman was granted by Cornell University to Nora Stanton Blatch in 1905, throughout ancient and medieval history most architectural design and construction was carried out by artisans, such as stonemasons and carpenters, rising to the role of master builder. Knowledge was retained in guilds and seldom supplanted by advances, structures, roads and infrastructure that existed were repetitive, and increases in scale were incremental. Brahmagupta, an Indian mathematician, used arithmetic in the 7th century AD, based on Hindu-Arabic numerals, Civil engineers typically possess an academic degree in civil engineering. The length of study is three to five years, and the degree is designated as a bachelor of engineering. The curriculum generally includes classes in physics, mathematics, project management, design, after taking basic courses in most sub-disciplines of civil engineering, they move onto specialize in one or more sub-disciplines at advanced levels. In most countries, a degree in engineering represents the first step towards professional certification. After completing a degree program, the engineer must satisfy a range of requirements before being certified. Once certified, the engineer is designated as a engineer, a chartered engineer
17.
Mechanical engineering
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Mechanical engineering is the discipline that applies the principles of engineering, physics, and materials science for the design, analysis, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the design, production and it is one of the oldest and broadest of the engineering disciplines. The mechanical engineering field requires an understanding of areas including mechanics, kinematics, thermodynamics, materials science, structural analysis. Mechanical engineering emerged as a field during the Industrial Revolution in Europe in the 18th century, however, Mechanical engineering science emerged in the 19th century as a result of developments in the field of physics. The field has evolved to incorporate advancements in technology, and mechanical engineers today are pursuing developments in such fields as composites, mechatronics. Mechanical engineers may work in the field of biomedical engineering, specifically with biomechanics, transport phenomena, biomechatronics, bionanotechnology. Mechanical engineering finds its application in the archives of various ancient, in ancient Greece, the works of Archimedes deeply influenced mechanics in the Western tradition and Heron of Alexandria created the first steam engine. In China, Zhang Heng improved a water clock and invented a seismometer, during the 7th to 15th century, the era called the Islamic Golden Age, there were remarkable contributions from Muslim inventors in the field of mechanical technology. Al-Jazari, who was one of them, wrote his famous Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices in 1206 and he is also considered to be the inventor of such mechanical devices which now form the very basic of mechanisms, such as the crankshaft and camshaft. Newton was reluctant to publish his methods and laws for years, gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz is also credited with creating Calculus during the same time frame. On the European continent, Johann von Zimmermann founded the first factory for grinding machines in Chemnitz, education in mechanical engineering has historically been based on a strong foundation in mathematics and science. Degrees in mechanical engineering are offered at universities worldwide. In Spain, Portugal and most of South America, where neither B. Sc. nor B. Tech, programs have been adopted, the formal name for the degree is Mechanical Engineer, and the course work is based on five or six years of training. In Italy the course work is based on five years of education, and training, in Greece, the coursework is based on a five-year curriculum and the requirement of a Diploma Thesis, which upon completion a Diploma is awarded rather than a B. Sc. In Australia, mechanical engineering degrees are awarded as Bachelor of Engineering or similar nomenclature although there are a number of specialisations. The degree takes four years of study to achieve. To ensure quality in engineering degrees, Engineers Australia accredits engineering degrees awarded by Australian universities in accordance with the global Washington Accord, before the degree can be awarded, the student must complete at least 3 months of on the job work experience in an engineering firm. Similar systems are present in South Africa and are overseen by the Engineering Council of South Africa
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Chemistry
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Chemistry is a branch of physical science that studies the composition, structure, properties and change of matter. Chemistry is sometimes called the science because it bridges other natural sciences, including physics. For the differences between chemistry and physics see comparison of chemistry and physics, the history of chemistry can be traced to alchemy, which had been practiced for several millennia in various parts of the world. The word chemistry comes from alchemy, which referred to a set of practices that encompassed elements of chemistry, metallurgy, philosophy, astrology, astronomy, mysticism. An alchemist was called a chemist in popular speech, and later the suffix -ry was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as chemistry, the modern word alchemy in turn is derived from the Arabic word al-kīmīā. In origin, the term is borrowed from the Greek χημία or χημεία and this may have Egyptian origins since al-kīmīā is derived from the Greek χημία, which is in turn derived from the word Chemi or Kimi, which is the ancient name of Egypt in Egyptian. Alternately, al-kīmīā may derive from χημεία, meaning cast together, in retrospect, the definition of chemistry has changed over time, as new discoveries and theories add to the functionality of the science. The term chymistry, in the view of noted scientist Robert Boyle in 1661, in 1837, Jean-Baptiste Dumas considered the word chemistry to refer to the science concerned with the laws and effects of molecular forces. More recently, in 1998, Professor Raymond Chang broadened the definition of chemistry to mean the study of matter, early civilizations, such as the Egyptians Babylonians, Indians amassed practical knowledge concerning the arts of metallurgy, pottery and dyes, but didnt develop a systematic theory. Greek atomism dates back to 440 BC, arising in works by such as Democritus and Epicurus. In 50 BC, the Roman philosopher Lucretius expanded upon the theory in his book De rerum natura, unlike modern concepts of science, Greek atomism was purely philosophical in nature, with little concern for empirical observations and no concern for chemical experiments. Work, particularly the development of distillation, continued in the early Byzantine period with the most famous practitioner being the 4th century Greek-Egyptian Zosimos of Panopolis. He formulated Boyles law, rejected the four elements and proposed a mechanistic alternative of atoms. Before his work, though, many important discoveries had been made, the Scottish chemist Joseph Black and the Dutchman J. B. English scientist John Dalton proposed the theory of atoms, that all substances are composed of indivisible atoms of matter. Davy discovered nine new elements including the alkali metals by extracting them from their oxides with electric current, british William Prout first proposed ordering all the elements by their atomic weight as all atoms had a weight that was an exact multiple of the atomic weight of hydrogen. The inert gases, later called the noble gases were discovered by William Ramsay in collaboration with Lord Rayleigh at the end of the century, thereby filling in the basic structure of the table. Organic chemistry was developed by Justus von Liebig and others, following Friedrich Wöhlers synthesis of urea which proved that organisms were, in theory
19.
Forestry
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Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, using, conserving, and repairing forests and associated resources to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human and environment benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands, the science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences. A practitioner of forestry is known as a forester, other terms are used a verderer and a silviculturalist being common ones. Silviculture is narrower than forestry, being concerned only with forest plants, Forest ecosystems have come to be seen as the most important component of the biosphere, and forestry has emerged as a vital applied science, craft, and technology. Forestry is an important economic segment in various industrial countries, the preindustrial age has been dubbed by Werner Sombart and others as the wooden age, as timber and firewood were the basic resources for energy, construction and housing. The development of forestry is closely connected with the rise of capitalism, economy as a science and varying notions of land use. Roman Latifundiae, large estates, were quite successful in maintaining the large supply of wood that was necessary for the Roman Empire. Large deforestations came with respectively after the decline of the Romans, however already in the 5th century, monks in the then Byzantine Romagna on the Adriatic coast, were able to establish stone pine plantations to provide fuelwood and food. This was the beginning of the massive forest mentioned by Dante Alighieri in his 1308 poem Divine Comedy, the use and management of many forest resources has a long history in China as well, dating back to the Han Dynasty and taking place under the landowning gentry. A similar approach was used in Japan and it was also later written about by the Ming Dynasty Chinese scholar Xu Guangqi. In Europe, land rights in medieval and early modern times allowed different users to access forests. The notion of commons refers to the traditional legal term of common land. The idea of enclosed private property came about during modern times, however, most hunting rights were retained by members of the nobility which preserved the right of the nobility to access and use common land for recreation, like fox hunting. Systematic management of forests for a yield of timber is said to have begun in the German states in the 14th century, e. g. in Nuremberg. Typically, a forest was divided into sections and mapped. Large firs in the black forest were called „Holländer“, as they were traded to the Dutch ship yards, large timber rafts on the Rhine were 200 to 400m in length, 40m in width and consisted of several thousand logs. The crew consisted of 400 to 500 men, including shelter, bakeries, ovens, timber rafting infrastructure allowed for large interconnected networks all over continental Europe and is still of importance in Finland. The notion of Nachhaltigkeit, sustainability in forestry, is connected to the work of Hans Carl von Carlowitz
20.
Mathematics
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Mathematics is the study of topics such as quantity, structure, space, and change. There is a range of views among mathematicians and philosophers as to the exact scope, Mathematicians seek out patterns and use them to formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proof, when mathematical structures are good models of real phenomena, then mathematical reasoning can provide insight or predictions about nature. Through the use of abstraction and logic, mathematics developed from counting, calculation, measurement, practical mathematics has been a human activity from as far back as written records exist. The research required to solve mathematical problems can take years or even centuries of sustained inquiry, rigorous arguments first appeared in Greek mathematics, most notably in Euclids Elements. Galileo Galilei said, The universe cannot be read until we have learned the language and it is written in mathematical language, and the letters are triangles, circles and other geometrical figures, without which means it is humanly impossible to comprehend a single word. Without these, one is wandering about in a dark labyrinth, carl Friedrich Gauss referred to mathematics as the Queen of the Sciences. Benjamin Peirce called mathematics the science that draws necessary conclusions, David Hilbert said of mathematics, We are not speaking here of arbitrariness in any sense. Mathematics is not like a game whose tasks are determined by arbitrarily stipulated rules, rather, it is a conceptual system possessing internal necessity that can only be so and by no means otherwise. Albert Einstein stated that as far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, Mathematics is essential in many fields, including natural science, engineering, medicine, finance and the social sciences. Applied mathematics has led to entirely new mathematical disciplines, such as statistics, Mathematicians also engage in pure mathematics, or mathematics for its own sake, without having any application in mind. There is no clear line separating pure and applied mathematics, the history of mathematics can be seen as an ever-increasing series of abstractions. The earliest uses of mathematics were in trading, land measurement, painting and weaving patterns, in Babylonian mathematics elementary arithmetic first appears in the archaeological record. Numeracy pre-dated writing and numeral systems have many and diverse. Between 600 and 300 BC the Ancient Greeks began a study of mathematics in its own right with Greek mathematics. Mathematics has since been extended, and there has been a fruitful interaction between mathematics and science, to the benefit of both. Mathematical discoveries continue to be made today, the overwhelming majority of works in this ocean contain new mathematical theorems and their proofs. The word máthēma is derived from μανθάνω, while the modern Greek equivalent is μαθαίνω, in Greece, the word for mathematics came to have the narrower and more technical meaning mathematical study even in Classical times
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University of Zurich
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The University of Zurich, located in the city of Zürich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 26,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the colleges of theology, law, medicine. Currently, the university has seven faculties, Philosophy, Human Medicine, Economic Sciences, Law, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Theology, the university offers the widest range of subjects and courses of any Swiss higher education institution. It was the first university in Europe to be founded by the rather than a monarch or church. Eventually, the authorities offered Strauss a pension before he had a chance to start his duties, the university allowed women to attend philosophy lectures from 1847, and admitted the first female doctoral student in 1866. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was added in 1901, the second-oldest such faculty in the world, in 1914, the university moved to new premises designed by the architect Karl Moser on Rämistrasse 71. The university is scattered all over the city of Zurich, members of the university can use several libraries, including the ETH-library, and the Zurich Central Library, with over 5 million volumes. In 1962, the faculty of science proposed to establish the Irchelpark campus on the Strickhofareal, the first stage the construction of the university buildings was begun in 1973, and the campus was inaugurated in 1979. The construction of the stage lasted from 1978 to 1983. The campus also houses the anthropological museum Anthropologisches Museum, and the cantonal Staatsarchiv Zürich, the Institute and Museum for the History of Medicine is part of the university. The University of Zurich as a whole also ranks in the top ten of Europe, notably in the fields of bioscience and finance, there is a close-knit collaboration between the University of Zurich and the ETH. Their faculty of medicine is six years. Shanghai Jiao Tong University Ranking 54th globally and 15th in Europe, THES – QS World University Rankings 61st globally and 14th in Europe. QS World University Rankings 2014 57th globally, professional Ranking of World Universities 32nd globally and 10th in Europe. University Ranking by Academic Performance 2010 52nd globally and 1st in Switzerland, according to Handelsblatt, the Department of Economics was ranked first in the German-speaking area and in 2009 the faculty of Business Administration was ranked third in the German-speaking area. Bachelor courses are taught in Swiss Standard German, but use of English is increasing in many faculties, the only bachelors program taught entirely in English is the English Language and Literature program. All Master courses at the Faculty of Science are held in English, in some highly competitive and international programs, such as the Master of Science in Quantitative Finance, all lectures are held in English. Associated with the university are 12 Nobel Prize recipients, primarily in Physics, corpus Córporum, digital library created and maintained by the University’s Institute for Greek and Latin Philology
22.
Cantons of Switzerland
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The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte, with the Napoleonic period of the Helvetic Republic the term canton/cantone/Kanton was fully established. From 1833, there were 25 cantons, which became 26 after the secession of the canton of Jura from Bern in 1979. The term canton, now used as English term for administrative subdivisions of other countries, originates in French usage in the late 15th century, from a word for edge. After 1490, canton was increasingly used in French and Italian documents to refer to the members of the Swiss Confederacy, English use of canton in reference to the Swiss Confederacy dates to the early 17th century. It was increasingly replaced by Stand after 1550, the French term canton was not adopted into German usage prior to 1648, and after that only in occasional use. The prominent usage of Ort and Stand only gradually disappeared in German-speaking Switzerland with the Helvetic Republic, only with the Act of Mediation of 1803 did German Kanton become an official designation, retained in the Swiss Constitution of 1848. The term Stand remains in usage and is reflected in the name of the upper chamber of the Swiss Parliament. Republic Some cantonal constitutions provide for a formal name of the state. Most of Romandys cantons and Ticino call themselves république/Repubblica officially, at least within their constitutions, for example, the canton of Geneva refers to itself formally as the République et canton de Genève. Though they were part of the Holy Roman Empire, they had become de facto independent when the Swiss defeated Emperor Maximillian in 1499 in Dornach. The old system was abandoned with the formation of the Helvetic Republic following the French invasion of Switzerland in 1798, the cantons of the Helvetic Republic had merely the status of an administrative subdivision with no sovereignty. The Helvetic Republic collapsed within five years, and cantonal sovereignty was restored with the Act of Mediation of 1803, the status of Switzerland as a federation of states was restored, at the time including 19 cantons. Three additional western cantons, Valais, Neuchâtel and Geneva, acceded in 1815, the process of Restoration, completed by 1830, returned most of the former feudal rights to the cantonal patriciates, leading to rebellions among the rural population. The Liberal Radical Party embodied these democratic forces calling for a new federal constitution and this tension, paired with religious issues escalated into armed conflict in the 1840s, with the brief Sonderbund War. The victory of the party resulted in the formation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The cantons retained far-reaching sovereignty, but were no longer allowed to maintain standing armies or international relations. Each canton has its own constitution, legislature, government and courts, most of the cantons legislatures are unicameral parliaments, their size varying between 58 and 200 seats
23.
College and university rankings
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College and university rankings are rankings of institutions in higher education ordered by various combinations of various factors. Rankings have most often conducted by magazines, newspapers, websites, governments. In addition to ranking entire institutions, organizations perform rankings of specific programs, departments, various rankings mostly evaluating on institutional output by research. Some rankings evaluate institutions within a country, while others assess institutions worldwide. The subject has produced much debate about rankings usefulness and accuracy, the expanding diversity in rating methodologies and accompanying criticisms of each indicate the lack of consensus in the field. The variety of academic rankings provide an overview and insightful overlook of different academic institutions on composite capabilities in academia. For rankings of United States universities in particular, see Rankings of universities in the United States, several organizations produce worldwide university rankings, including the following. The ranking is funded by the Chinese government and its purpose was to measure the gap between Chinese and world class universities. In the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities there are no Chinese universities in the first 100 of 500 places, ARWU rankings have been cited by The Economist magazine. It has been lauded for being consistent and transparent based on an article, the education ministers of France, Norway and Denmark traveled to China to discuss and find ways to improve their rankings. ARWU does not rely on surveys and school submissions, among other criteria, ARWU includes the number of articles published by Nature or Science and the number of Nobel Prize winners and Fields Medalists. Harvard has topped the ranking for years, one of the primary criticisms of ARWUs methodology is that it is biased towards the natural sciences and English language science journals over other subjects. This Saudi Arabia-based consulting organization has published rankings of world universities since 2012. This university ranking is owned by the French consulting company and rating agency SMBG and it ranks masters and MBA in its 9 geographical regions. G-factor ranks university and college web presence by counting the number of only from other university websites. G-factor is an indicator of the popularity or importance of each universitys website from the perspectives of other institutions. The annual U. S. News Best Global Universities rankings were produced to provide insight into how universities compare globally. The Best Global Universities rankings also provide insight into how U. S. universities – which U. S. News has been ranking separately for more than 30 years – stand globally
24.
Academic Ranking of World Universities
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Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as Shanghai Ranking, is an annual publication of university rankings by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. The publication currently includes worlds overall and subject league tables, alongside independent regional Greater China Ranking, ARWU is regarded as one of the three most influential and widely observed university measures, alongside QS World University Rankings and Times Higher Education World University Rankings. It is praised for its objective methodology but draws some condemnation for narrowly focusing on raw power, undermining humanities. ARWU is praised by media and institutions for its methodology. A survey on higher education published by The Economist in 2005 commented ARWU as the most widely used annual ranking of the research universities. In 2010, The Chronicle of Higher Education called ARWU the best-known, EU Research Headlines reported the ARWUs work on 31 December 2003, The universities were carefully evaluated using several indicators of research performance. Chancellor of University of Oxford, Chris Patten and former Vice-Chancellor of Australian National University, Ian Chubb, said and it looks like a pretty good stab at a fair comparison. And The SJTU rankings were reported quickly and widely around the offer an important comparative view of research performance. Philip G. Altbach named ARWUs consistency, clarity of purpose, whilst ARWU has originated in China, the ranking have been praised for being unbiased towards Asian institutions. Like all other rankings, ARWU has criticism and it is condemned for relying too much on award factors thus undermining the importance of quality of instruction and humanities. A2007 paper published in the journal Scientometrics found that the results from the Shanghai rankings could not be reproduced from raw data using the described by Liu. A2013 paper in the journal finally showed how the Shanghai ranking results could be reproduced. In a report from April 2009, J-C, billaut, D. Bouyssou and Ph. Vincke analyse how the ARWU works, using their insights as specialists of Multiple Criteria Decision Making. The ARWU researchers themselves, N. C Liu and Y Cheng, think that the quality of universities cannot be measured by mere numbers. They suggest that university and college rankings should be used with caution, ARWU has been criticised by the European Commission as well as some EU member states for favour Anglo-Saxon higher education institutions. It is also criticised in France for its use as a motivation for fusing universities into larger ones, indeed, number of publications or award winners will mechanically add as universities are grouped, independently of research quality. The weighting of all the other remains unchanged, thus the grand total of 70%. There are two categories in ARWUs disciplinary rankings, broad subject fields and specific subjects, the methodology is similar to that adopted in the overall table, including award factors, paper citation, and the number of highly cited scholars
25.
Physics
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Physics is the natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion and behavior through space and time, along with related concepts such as energy and force. One of the most fundamental disciplines, the main goal of physics is to understand how the universe behaves. Physics is one of the oldest academic disciplines, perhaps the oldest through its inclusion of astronomy, Physics intersects with many interdisciplinary areas of research, such as biophysics and quantum chemistry, and the boundaries of physics are not rigidly defined. New ideas in physics often explain the mechanisms of other sciences while opening new avenues of research in areas such as mathematics. Physics also makes significant contributions through advances in new technologies that arise from theoretical breakthroughs, the United Nations named 2005 the World Year of Physics. Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences, the stars and planets were often a target of worship, believed to represent their gods. While the explanations for these phenomena were often unscientific and lacking in evidence, according to Asger Aaboe, the origins of Western astronomy can be found in Mesopotamia, and all Western efforts in the exact sciences are descended from late Babylonian astronomy. The most notable innovations were in the field of optics and vision, which came from the works of many scientists like Ibn Sahl, Al-Kindi, Ibn al-Haytham, Al-Farisi and Avicenna. The most notable work was The Book of Optics, written by Ibn Al-Haitham, in which he was not only the first to disprove the ancient Greek idea about vision, but also came up with a new theory. In the book, he was also the first to study the phenomenon of the pinhole camera, many later European scholars and fellow polymaths, from Robert Grosseteste and Leonardo da Vinci to René Descartes, Johannes Kepler and Isaac Newton, were in his debt. Indeed, the influence of Ibn al-Haythams Optics ranks alongside that of Newtons work of the same title, the translation of The Book of Optics had a huge impact on Europe. From it, later European scholars were able to build the devices as what Ibn al-Haytham did. From this, such important things as eyeglasses, magnifying glasses, telescopes, Physics became a separate science when early modern Europeans used experimental and quantitative methods to discover what are now considered to be the laws of physics. Newton also developed calculus, the study of change, which provided new mathematical methods for solving physical problems. The discovery of new laws in thermodynamics, chemistry, and electromagnetics resulted from greater research efforts during the Industrial Revolution as energy needs increased, however, inaccuracies in classical mechanics for very small objects and very high velocities led to the development of modern physics in the 20th century. Modern physics began in the early 20th century with the work of Max Planck in quantum theory, both of these theories came about due to inaccuracies in classical mechanics in certain situations. Quantum mechanics would come to be pioneered by Werner Heisenberg, Erwin Schrödinger, from this early work, and work in related fields, the Standard Model of particle physics was derived. Areas of mathematics in general are important to this field, such as the study of probabilities, in many ways, physics stems from ancient Greek philosophy
26.
Richard F. Heck
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The analgesic naproxen is an example of a compound that is prepared industrially using the Heck reaction. For his work in palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions and organic synthesis, Heck was awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with the Japanese chemists Ei-ichi Negishi, Heck was born in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1931. He earned his Ph. D. in physical chemistry in 1954 at the University of California, Los Angeles. After two periods of research at the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, and then back at UCLA, Heck took a position with the Hercules Corporation in Wilmington. After productive research work at Hercules, he was hired by the University of Delawares Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in 1971, Heck was a professor of chemistry at the University of Delaware. In 2012, he was appointed by De La Salle University in Manila as adjunct professor in its chemistry department, the development of the Heck reaction began with Hecks investigations of the coupling of arylmercury compounds with olefins using palladium as a catalyst during the late 1960s. This work was published in a series of seven articles in the Journal of the American Chemical Society for which Heck was the sole author. During the early 1970s, Mizoroki independently reported the use of the less toxic aryl halides as the partner in the reaction. During his career, Heck continued to improve the transformation, developing it into a synthetic method for organic synthesis. The importance of this reaction grew slowly in the organic synthesis community, in 1982, Heck was able to write an Organic Reactions chapter that covered all the known instances in just 45 pages. By 2002, applications had grown to the extent that the Organic Reactions chapter published that year, limited to intramolecular Heck reactions and these reactions, a small part of the total, couple two parts of the same molecule. Today, the Heck reaction stands as one of the used methods for the creation of carbon-carbon bonds in the synthesis of organic chemicals. This reaction has been subject to numerous scientific articles, including a ~600 page monograph dedicated to this subject published in 2009. These palladium-catalyzed coupling reactions are now practiced in organic synthesis. Of the several reactions developed by Heck, the greatest societal impact has been from the coupling of an alkyne with an aryl halide. This is the reaction that was used to couple fluorescent dyes to DNA bases, allowing the automation of DNA sequencing and the examination of the human genome. In Sonogashiras original report of what is now known as the Sonogashira coupling, his group modified an alkyne coupling procedure previously reported by Heck, Hecks contributions are not limited to the activation of halides by the oxidative addition of palladium. Heck was the first to characterize a π-allyl metal complex
27.
Nobel Prize
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The Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards bestowed in a number of categories by Swedish and Norwegian institutions in recognition of academic, cultural, or scientific advances. The will of the Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel established the prizes in 1895, the prizes in Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine were first awarded in 1901. Medals made before 1980 were struck in 23 carat gold, between 1901 and 2016, the Nobel Prizes and the Prize in Economic Sciences were awarded 579 times to 911 people and organisations. With some receiving the Nobel Prize more than once, this makes a total of 23 organisations, the prize ceremonies take place annually in Stockholm, Sweden. Each recipient, or laureate, receives a medal, a diploma. The Nobel Prize is widely regarded as the most prestigious award available in the fields of literature, medicine, physics, chemistry, peace, and economics. The prize is not awarded posthumously, however, if a person is awarded a prize and dies before receiving it, though the average number of laureates per prize increased substantially during the 20th century, a prize may not be shared among more than three people. Alfred Nobel was born on 21 October 1833 in Stockholm, Sweden and he was a chemist, engineer, and inventor. In 1894, Nobel purchased the Bofors iron and steel mill and this invention was a precursor to many smokeless military explosives, especially the British smokeless powder cordite. As a consequence of his patent claims, Nobel was eventually involved in a patent infringement lawsuit over cordite, Nobel amassed a fortune during his lifetime, with most of his wealth from his 355 inventions, of which dynamite is the most famous. In 1888, Nobel was astonished to read his own obituary, titled The merchant of death is dead, as it was Alfreds brother Ludvig who had died, the obituary was eight years premature. The article disconcerted Nobel and made him apprehensive about how he would be remembered and this inspired him to change his will. On 10 December 1896, Alfred Nobel died in his villa in San Remo, Italy, Nobel wrote several wills during his lifetime. He composed the last over a year before he died, signing it at the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris on 27 November 1895, Nobel bequeathed 94% of his total assets,31 million SEK, to establish the five Nobel Prizes. Because of skepticism surrounding the will, it was not until 26 April 1897 that it was approved by the Storting in Norway. The executors of Nobels will, Ragnar Sohlman and Rudolf Lilljequist, formed the Nobel Foundation to take care of Nobels fortune, Nobels instructions named a Norwegian Nobel Committee to award the Peace Prize, the members of whom were appointed shortly after the will was approved in April 1897. Soon thereafter, the other prize-awarding organisations were designated or established and these were Karolinska Institutet on 7 June, the Swedish Academy on 9 June, and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences on 11 June. The Nobel Foundation reached an agreement on guidelines for how the prizes should be awarded, and, in 1900, in 1905, the personal union between Sweden and Norway was dissolved
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
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The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, often cited as one of the worlds most prestigious universities. Researchers worked on computers, radar, and inertial guidance during World War II, post-war defense research contributed to the rapid expansion of the faculty and campus under James Killian. The current 168-acre campus opened in 1916 and extends over 1 mile along the bank of the Charles River basin. The Institute is traditionally known for its research and education in the sciences and engineering, and more recently in biology, economics, linguistics. Air Force and 6 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT, the school has a strong entrepreneurial culture, and the aggregated revenues of companies founded by MIT alumni would rank as the eleventh-largest economy in the world. In 1859, a proposal was submitted to the Massachusetts General Court to use newly filled lands in Back Bay, Boston for a Conservatory of Art and Science, but the proposal failed. A charter for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rogers, a professor from the University of Virginia, wanted to establish an institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances. The Rogers Plan reflected the German research university model, emphasizing an independent faculty engaged in research, as well as instruction oriented around seminars, two days after the charter was issued, the first battle of the Civil War broke out. After a long delay through the war years, MITs first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865, in 1863 under the same act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded the Massachusetts Agricultural College, which developed as the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 1866, the proceeds from sales went toward new buildings in the Back Bay. MIT was informally called Boston Tech, the institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under President Francis Amasa Walker. Programs in electrical, chemical, marine, and sanitary engineering were introduced, new buildings were built, the curriculum drifted to a vocational emphasis, with less focus on theoretical science. The fledgling school still suffered from chronic financial shortages which diverted the attention of the MIT leadership, during these Boston Tech years, MIT faculty and alumni rebuffed Harvard University president Charles W. Eliots repeated attempts to merge MIT with Harvard Colleges Lawrence Scientific School. There would be at least six attempts to absorb MIT into Harvard, in its cramped Back Bay location, MIT could not afford to expand its overcrowded facilities, driving a desperate search for a new campus and funding. Eventually the MIT Corporation approved an agreement to merge with Harvard, over the vehement objections of MIT faculty, students. However, a 1917 decision by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court effectively put an end to the merger scheme, the neoclassical New Technology campus was designed by William W. Bosworth and had been funded largely by anonymous donations from a mysterious Mr. Smith, starting in 1912. In January 1920, the donor was revealed to be the industrialist George Eastman of Rochester, New York, who had invented methods of production and processing
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Stanford University
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Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, adjacent to Palo Alto and between San Jose and San Francisco. Its 8, 180-acre campus is one of the largest in the United States, Stanford also has land and facilities elsewhere. The university was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford in memory of their only child, Stanford was a former Governor of California and U. S. Senator, he made his fortune as a railroad tycoon. The school admitted its first students 125 years ago on October 1,1891, Stanford University struggled financially after Leland Stanfords death in 1893 and again after much of the campus was damaged by the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Following World War II, Provost Frederick Terman supported faculty and graduates entrepreneurialism to build self-sufficient local industry in what would later be known as Silicon Valley. The university is one of the top fundraising institutions in the country. There are three schools that have both undergraduate and graduate students and another four professional schools. Students compete in 36 varsity sports, and the university is one of two institutions in the Division I FBS Pac-12 Conference. Stanford faculty and alumni have founded a number of companies that produce more than $2.7 trillion in annual revenue. It is the alma mater of 30 living billionaires,17 astronauts and it is also one of the leading producers of members of the United States Congress. Sixty Nobel laureates and seven Fields Medalists have been affiliated with Stanford as students, alumni, Stanford University was founded in 1885 by Leland and Jane Stanford, dedicated to Leland Stanford Jr, their only child. The institution opened in 1891 on Stanfords previous Palo Alto farm, despite being impacted by earthquakes in both 1906 and 1989, the campus was rebuilt each time. In 1919, The Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace was started by Herbert Hoover to preserve artifacts related to World War I, the Stanford Medical Center, completed in 1959, is a teaching hospital with over 800 beds. The SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, which was established in 1962, in 2008, 60% of this land remained undeveloped. Besides the central campus described below, the university also operates at more remote locations, some elsewhere on the main campus. Stanfords main campus includes a place within unincorporated Santa Clara County. The campus also includes land in unincorporated San Mateo County, as well as in the city limits of Menlo Park, Woodside. The academic central campus is adjacent to Palo Alto, bounded by El Camino Real, Stanford Avenue, Junipero Serra Boulevard, the United States Postal Service has assigned it two ZIP codes,94305 for campus mail and 94309 for P. O. box mail
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University of Cambridge
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The University of Cambridge is a collegiate public research university in Cambridge, England, often regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. Founded in 1209 and given royal status by King Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the second-oldest university in the English-speaking world. The university grew out of an association of scholars who left the University of Oxford after a dispute with the townspeople, the two ancient universities share many common features and are often referred to jointly as Oxbridge. Cambridge is formed from a variety of institutions which include 31 constituent colleges, Cambridge University Press, a department of the university, is the worlds oldest publishing house and the second-largest university press in the world. The university also operates eight cultural and scientific museums, including the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridges libraries hold a total of around 15 million books, eight million of which are in Cambridge University Library, a legal deposit library. In the year ended 31 July 2015, the university had an income of £1.64 billion. The central university and colleges have an endowment of around £5.89 billion. The university is linked with the development of the high-tech business cluster known as Silicon Fen. It is a member of associations and forms part of the golden triangle of leading English universities and Cambridge University Health Partners. As of 2017, Cambridge is ranked the fourth best university by three ranking tables and no other institution in the world ranks in the top 10 for as many subjects. Cambridge is consistently ranked as the top university in the United Kingdom, the university has educated many notable alumni, including eminent mathematicians, scientists, politicians, lawyers, philosophers, writers, actors, and foreign Heads of State. Ninety-five Nobel laureates, fifteen British prime ministers and ten Fields medalists have been affiliated with Cambridge as students, faculty, by the late 12th century, the Cambridge region already had a scholarly and ecclesiastical reputation, due to monks from the nearby bishopric church of Ely. The University of Oxford went into suspension in protest, and most scholars moved to such as Paris, Reading. After the University of Oxford reformed several years later, enough remained in Cambridge to form the nucleus of the new university. A bull in 1233 from Pope Gregory IX gave graduates from Cambridge the right to teach everywhere in Christendom, the colleges at the University of Cambridge were originally an incidental feature of the system. No college is as old as the university itself, the colleges were endowed fellowships of scholars. There were also institutions without endowments, called hostels, the hostels were gradually absorbed by the colleges over the centuries, but they have left some indicators of their time, such as the name of Garret Hostel Lane. Hugh Balsham, Bishop of Ely, founded Peterhouse, Cambridges first college, the most recently established college is Robinson, built in the late 1970s
