The University of Colombo (informally Colombo University or UoC) is a public research university located primarily in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is the oldest institution of modern higher education in Sri Lanka. It specializes in the fields of Natural, Social, Applied, Formal, and Computer Sciences as well as Fine Arts, Law and Technology. It is ranked among the top 10 universities in South Asia.Lankan universities ranked among top ten

The University of Colombo was founded in 1921 as University College Colombo, affiliated with the University of London. Degrees were issued to its students from 1923 onwards. The university traces its roots to 1870 when the Ceylon Medical School was established."About University of Colombo" UoC has produced notable alumni in the fields of science, law, economics, business, literature, and politics.

Overview The university is a state university, with most of its funding coming from the central government via the University Grants Commission (UGC). Therefore, as with all other state universities in Sri Lanka, the UGC recommends its vice-chancellor for appointment by the President of Sri Lanka and makes appointments of its administrative staff. Its motto is "Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate", which means "Wisdom shines forth everywhere" in Sanskrit.

With a student population of over 11,000, the university is made up of ten faculties with 65 academic departments and eight institutions. Most faculties offer both undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, with some offering courses for external students and distance-learning programs.

History

Ceylon Medical College The origins of the University of Colombo lie in the establishment of the Ceylon Medical School in June 1870. It was the second European medical school to be established in South Asia. In 1880, the school was raised to the status of college, thus becoming the Ceylon Medical College, which permitted it to award the Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery (LMS), which continued until the late 1940s. In 1889, the college was recognised by the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom when holders of its license became eligible to practice in Great Britain.

Ceylon University College The Ceylon University Association (CUA) was formed in 1906 by a group of western-educated elite, including Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sir James Peiris and Sir Marcus Fernando.Life of Sir James Peiris, W. T. Keble and Devar Surya Sena, p.76 (University of California), accessed 30 December 2022Sir James Peiris (Public Life), by L.J.M. Cooray (Ourcivilisation Web), accessed 28 November 2014 Owing to the persistent demands of the CUA the government decided in 1913 to set up a University college.

Arguments regarding the nature and status of the institution to be set up, its location, and the outset of World War I halted the establishment process until 1920 when the government purchased a private mansion called the Regina Walawwa which later came to be known as College House for the purpose of setting up the University College under the recommendations of Sir Edward Denham.

The Ceylon University College was formerly declared open in January 1921 in the building that was originally the main building of Royal College Colombo, located on Kumarathunga Munidasa Mawatha (formerly Thurstan Road) opposite College House. The University College was affiliated to the University of London and prepared students for University of London external degrees, which were jointly examined. Even though this fell short of a full university for Ceylon, it proved a platform to develop the academia required for a university. It had two departments: Arts and Science.The First Years of the University of Ceylonwww.island.lk

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was established on 1 July 1942 by the Ceylon University Ordinance No.20 of 1942, which was passed by the State Council of Ceylon amidst World War II and the threat of Japanese invasion. The Ceylon University College and the Ceylon Medical College were combined to form the University of Ceylon, with its administration based at College House and the ability to grant its own degrees. The two departments of Arts and Science of the University College were upgraded to faculties, the Medical College became the faculty of medicine and a new faculty of Oriental Studies was established at Cruden House. The university library was based at Villa Venezia in Queens Road. Residential facilities were provided at the Union Hostel with three halls of residence Jayatilleke and Arunachalam based at Guildford Crescent and Queens Hall (Q Hall or Women's hostel) along with two other hostels named Brodie and Aquinas.The Union Hostel of the University of Ceylonwww.island.lk

Following the completion of new buildings at Peradeniya, the departments of Law and Agriculture and the department of Veterinary Science were transferred out of Colombo to Peradeniya in 1949; the department of Law was brought back to Colombo in 1965. Later in 1952, the faculties of Arts and Oriental Studies were moved to Peradeniya too, along with sections of the university administration and library. Two halls of residence, Jayatilleke Hall and Arunachalam Hall, were transferred to Peradeniya too. The Faculty of Engineering, University of Peradeniya|Faculty of Engineering]] was established in 1950 and was later transferred to Peradeniya in 1965.

Sections of the University of Ceylon, which functioned in Colombo and Peradeniya, acted as campuses of the same university until 1966. But in 1966, these campuses were split into two. The section located in Colombo was known as the University of Ceylon, Colombo, while the section located in Peradeniya was known asthe University of Ceylon, Peradeniya.

University of Ceylon, Colombo Campus The announcement of the creation of a separate university in Colombo was made in Parliament in the Throne Speech of 1967. The necessary legislation for this purpose had been prepared by the Minister of Education and Cultural Affairs under section 34 of the Higher Education Act No. 20 of 1966 on the recommendation of the National Council of Higher Education. The new institution, which came into existence on 1 October 1967 with the Colombo Campus as its nucleus, had a student population of nearly 5000 reading for degrees in arts, law, the sciences and medicine, and a teaching staff of nearly 300.

The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, which replaced the Higher Education Act of 1966, altered the university structure. The four independent autonomous universities (University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, University of Ceylon, Colombo, Vidyodaya University and Vidyalankara University), which had been set up by then and the Ceylon College of Technology at Katubedda became campuses of a single university styled the University of Sri Lanka. Its headquarters designated Senate House was located in Colombo. This arrangement did not last very long. With the promulgation of the Universities Act. No 16 of 1978, university status was again restored to the Campuses, and the Colombo Campus of the University of Sri Lanka was renamed the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

University of Colombo Under the Universities Act No. 16, 1978, the University of Sri Lanka was split into six independent, autonomous universities as University of Colombo, University of Peradeniya, University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Kelaniya, University of Moratuwa and University of Jaffna. This Act brought back some of the central features of the Ceylon University Ordinance of 1942 such as the Senates, the Councils, and Courts.

Organization Faculty/InstitutionYear foundedFaculty of Medicine1942Faculty of Science1942Faculty of Arts1942Faculty of Law1967Faculty of Education1973Faculty of Graduate Studies1987Faculty of Management and Finance1994Sri Palee Campus1996School of Computing2002Faculty of Technology2017Faculty of Nursing2017Faculty of Indigenous Medicine2023

The University of Colombo has ten faculties of study. These faculties contain 65 academic departments in addition to the faculties it has a small campus and a computer school that contain five academic departments of their own. In addition, the university has six institutions and five affiliated centers.Academic of UoC At the beginning, it had only three of the current faculties, namely; the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science. Since then, seven other faculties have been added. School of Computing (UCSC) was established in 2002 while the Faculty of Nursing and the Faculty of Technology was established in 2017. The Latest addition was the Faculty of Engineering which inaugurated in 2021.

There are six postgraduate institutions affiliated, three of which are located on campus. These include the Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, the only institution in the country that provides specialist training of medical doctors. The Colombo Planetarium and the Colombo Observatory are located within the main campus of the university.

University Library

University of Colombo library is a centrally-administered network of libraries of the university primary made up of the main library and two branch libraries. It is the oldest academic library in the country since its constituent Colombo Medical College library was established in 1870. Containing 400,000 plus items, it is one of the largest libraries in the country. Two branches of the library are established in faculties in the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Science. The Ceylon Collection and the Rare Collection contains large number of important documents and books including a large palm-leaf manuscript collection.

Publications

The UoC publishes some of the key academic journals in the country. University of Colombo Review The Ceylon Journal of Medical Science Sri Lanka Journal of International Law International Journal on Advances in ICT for Emerging Regions Sri Lanka Journal of Bio-Medical Informatics Sri Lanka Journal of Critical Care

International collaborations UoC has established international links with universities around the world. Such links would be traced as far back as 1921 when the University College Colombo established close links to the University of London. Modern links have led to several global partnerships that have resulted in exchange in teaching and learning models, collaborative research, curriculum design, and student exchange.

The International Unit of the University of Colombo (IUUC) coordinates and develops international links. IUUC facilitates staff exchanges, distance learning, dual degree programs, joint conferences, seminars, workshops and academic networking.

Global networking UoC is a member of several international academic networks: Asian Universities Alliance (AUA) Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning (ASAIHL) International Association of Universities (IAU)

International teaching and research partners La Trobe University, Australia Western Sydney University, Australia Monash University, Australia University of British Columbia, Canada University of Ottawa, Canada Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Mahatma Gandhi University, India Ritsumeikan University, Japan University of Oslo, Norway National University of Singapore, Singapore University of Uppsala, Sweden University of London, United Kingdom University of Pennsylvania, United States

Government partnerships European Molecular Biology Network Government of Sweden – research Cooperation: SAREC Project Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – Research co-operation

Student life Student organizations