Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University
Oilthigh Heriot-Watt
	Coat of Arms
Motto	Leaders in ideas and solutions
Type	Public
Established	1821 – School of Arts of Edinburgh; 1852 – Watt Institution and School of Arts; 1885 – Heriot-Watt College; 1966 – university by Royal Charter
Endowment	£12.2 million (2023)
Budget	£259.5 million (2022/23)
Chancellor	Sir Geoff Palmer
Principal	Richard Williams
Academic staff	925 Scotland based (2023)
Administrative staff	1,737
Students	Global: 31,000; Edinburgh: 11,155 (2019/20)
Undergraduates	Edinburgh: 8,150 (2019/20)[needs update]
Postgraduates	Edinburgh: 3,005 (2019/20)[needs update]
Location	Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
Campus	Suburban
Other campus locations	Scottish Borders; Orkney; Dubai; Malaysia
Affiliations	Association of Commonwealth Universities; Universities Scotland ; Universities UK
Website	hw.ac.uk

Heriot-Watt University (Scottish Gaelic: Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted university status by royal charter in 1966. It is the eighth-oldest higher education institution in the United Kingdom.^[5] The name Heriot-Watt was taken from Scottish inventor James Watt and Scottish philanthropist and goldsmith George Heriot.

The annual income of the institution for 2022–23 was £259.5 million of which £33 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £266.7 million.^[1] Known for its focus on science as well as engineering, it is one of the 23 colleges being granted university status in the 1960s and sometimes considered a plate glass university similar to the likes of Lancaster and Warwick.^[6]^[7]

The university has three campuses in Scotland and one each in the UAE and Malaysia.

^ ^a ^b ^c "Reports and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2023" (PDF). Heriot-Watt University. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
^ "Who's working in HE?". www.hesa.ac.uk.
^ ^a ^b "Annual statistics 2011–12" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2012.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Where do HE students study?". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2020.
^ "UAE's best universities: Heriot-Watt University". The National. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.
^ Boliver, Vikki (2015). "Are there distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK?" (PDF). Oxford Review of Education. 41 (5): 608–627. doi:10.1080/03054985.2015.1082905. S2CID 143154842.
^ Cite error: The named reference timeshighereducation.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[annacc-1] "Reports and Financial Statements For the year ended 31 July 2023" (PDF). Heriot-Watt University. Retrieved 25 March 2024.

[2] "Who's working in HE?". www.hesa.ac.uk.

[Heriot-Watt_University:_Annual_statistics_2011-12-3] "Annual statistics 2011–12" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2009. Retrieved 10 August 2012.

[HESA_citation-4] "Where do HE students study?". Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 1 March 2020.

[uaeuni-5] "UAE's best universities: Heriot-Watt University". The National. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 20 April 2022.

[tandfonline.com-6] Boliver, Vikki (2015). "Are there distinctive clusters of higher and lower status universities in the UK?" (PDF). Oxford Review of Education. 41 (5): 608–627. doi:10.1080/03054985.2015.1082905. S2CID 143154842.

[timeshighereducation.com-7] Cite error: The named reference timeshighereducation.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

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