The University of Essex is a public research university in Essex, England. It was established in 1963, welcomed its first students in 1964 and received its royal charter in 1965. Essex is a plate glass university, a group of universities which were established in the 1960s. Essex's motto, ’Thought the harder, heart the keener’, is adapted from the Anglo-Saxon poem The Battle of Maldon.
Essex's largest campus is the Colchester Campus within Wivenhoe Park, less than a mile from Wivenhoe and two miles from Colchester. There is also a campus in Southend-on-Sea and East 15 Acting School is based at the Loughton Campus. Essex has 19 academic partnerships in the UK and around the world. UK partnerships include University of Essex Online with Kaplan Open Learning; Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust and University of Essex International College. International partnerships include a franchise arrangement with Kaplan Singapore and double and dual degrees with several universities in Europe and Asia. This includes a double degree with Northwest University in Xi'an approved by the Chinese Ministry of Education.
Essex is one of eight young universities which are part of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe alliance, which was selected by the European Commission to create one of the first European Universities, cross-border alliances of higher education institutions created to promote staff and student mobility. Essex is also a founding partner of the Young European Research Universities network. Essex was named University of the Year at the Times Higher Education Awards in 2018. The university has produced many notable alumni in several fields, including two Nobel laureates—one of only three non-Russell Group universities with an alumni including a Nobel laureate—a head of state, foreign ministers, MPs, scientists, artists, politicians, authors; including a Booker Prize winner, and filmmakers, including a BAFTA Award winner.
