As a member of the UK Russell Group, the University of Sheffield is a research-led institution with a global reputation for outstanding teaching and research. The University’s mission is 'to discover and understand' and is committed to the goal of changing the world for the better through the power and application of ideas and knowledge. There are over 27,000 students at the University including over 6,000 international students. The University of Sheffield was voted number one in the UK for student experience in the 2014-2015 Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey. This amazing accolade further strengthens the University’s position as an internationally renowned institution not only for academic excellence but also student experience. In addition to being voted number one overall, the University was judged top for high quality facilities, a good social life, good accommodation and its Students’ Union. Students also scored the University highly in the good support and welfare, well-structured courses and good library categories. Official research assessments confirm the University’s reputation as a centre for world-class research in many disciplines. Research partners and clients of the University include Boeing, Rolls-Royce, Unilever, Boots, AstraZeneca, GSK, ICI, Slazenger, and many more household names, as well as UK and overseas government agencies and charitable foundations. Sheffield’s academic partners include leading universities around the world. International partnerships include the Worldwide Universities Network (USA, Europe and China) and a partnership with Leeds and York Universities (the White Rose Consortium) creates a combined research power greater than that of either Oxford or Cambridge. The University has produced a number of leading figures in the area of research including five Nobel Prize winners, whilst many alumni have gone on to hold positions of great responsibility and influence around the world. The University’s work has also received four Queens Anniversary Prize awards (1998, 2000, 2002, and 2007). These awards recognise the outstanding contribution that universities and colleges in the United Kingdom make to the intellectual, economic, cultural and social life of the nation. The University of Sheffield grew out of the Sheffield Medical School (founded in 1828), Firth College (1879) and the Sheffield Technical School (1884). These three institutions came together in 1897 to form the University College of Sheffield. The University Charter was granted in 1905.