Our earliest research history

Chancellors Court under constructionWe received our Royal Charter in 1900, but the University of Birmingham had its beginnings in the previous century and was already making its mark on society.

1836 - The Birmingham Royal School of Medicine and Surgery was founded

1858 - The Dental Hospital, now the oldest continuously operating in the UK, is established

1879 - Priestley Smith, later Professor of Ophthalmology, was awarded the Jacksonian Prize (in Medicine) for his essay on Glaucoma

1880 - Physician Dr Richard Hill Norris is the first to describe the action of platelets

1892 - The first specimen of synthetic rubber from turpentine oil produced by Professor of Chemistry Sir William Tilden