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Aberdeen STUDYING IN THE SILVER CITY Aberdeen can teach you a thing or two. This bustling city by the sea off ers a vibe that’s hard to beat. And STUDYING IN THE SILVER CITY what’s more, at the city’s heart is the historic of Aberdeen, a world-class institution. Deciding which university to go to? In association with the university, Lonely Planet off ers you a glimpse of student life in the Silver City.

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Kojo Oduro-Kwateng, 27; originally Allison Pusateri, 22; from Kane in from Ghana, brought in Vienna, Pennsylvania, USA; studying Politics Austria; studying for a Masters in and International Law International Law Do you like the King’s College What do you do when you’re not campus? I love knowing it’s been studying? I’m a DJ and Aberdeen’s around since the 15th century. It has music scene is really lively so there’s a beautiful Ivy League feel to it, always something new going on. I especially around Elphinstone Cloister also do the Urban show on and New Kings. radio where we promote current How would you describe Aberdeen? local bands. It’s a smallish city. I come from a small How would you describe Aberdeen? town so it’s been a great stepping stone It’s a really cosmopolitan, welcoming for me. I wouldn’t have wanted to move city. The night scene is splendid. You straight to a big city, no way, so this has go from pub to pub, club to club and been perfect. party to party. When I go away I really Have you explored the area miss it – I think: ‘aw – I just want to go around Aberdeen? Aberdeen is a great back to Aberdeen!’ hub. You can visit stone circles, castles, Have you explored around Aberdeen? whisky distilleries, the West Coast and There are so many castles and lochs the Isle of Skye. And is to explore, places like Balmoral, Loch really close, it’s beautiful – the coolest Ness, Fort William and Stonehaven – little Scottish village on the cliff s. And all beautiful. I’ve really, really enjoyed it. then there are the beaches. Where do you live?I’ve lived at Do you get to the beach often? Hillhead Halls for fi ve years now – it’s For sure. I love the sand and like home to me. And having wi-fi endangered fl ora. It must have left an everywhere is so convenient. There’s impression as I’m getting married this no queuing for computers; at home or summer and we’re having the wedding everywhere you go, you’re hooked up to the internet. reception on the beach.

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This is Aberdeen 3 Get to Know the City 4 Studying in Aberdeen 6 Vital Statistics 9 Destination Aberdeen 10 Snapshots 20 Background 29 Find Out More 32

You can trust Lonely Planet’s travel information because our writers and contributors visit the places they write about every time we produce new content or a new edition of a guide. They never accept favours for positive coverage, and you can rely on them to tell it like it is without fear or favour. Lonely Planet has produced this book for the . The University of Aberdeen has had no inappropriate infl uence over its content.

New Kings, University of Aberdeen

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Aberdeen can teach you a thing or two. Packed with potential, this cosmopolitan city by the sea is just itching to spring some surprises. Here, broad boulevards of grandiose architecture lead towards miles of sandy beaches. Impressive civic buildings and big-city stores rub shoulders with pockets of funky independent shops and chilled-out cafés, and winding lanes snake past buzzing bars, restaurants and clubs. You can linger over brunch in a cool café then walk to the shore for a spot of surfi ng, sunset-strolling or dolphin-watching. Then head back to town to sample the cutting-edge club scene, an arthouse fl ick or a dram of local whisky in a supremely snug pub. And then there’s the University of Aberdeen’s historic campus. The epitome of cobbled collegiate-chic, its exquisite architecture, ornate spires and Hogwarts-esque coat of arms must turn other academic institutions green with envy. But here, ancient meets modern: free campus-wide wi-fi sees students surfing the net while lounging on the grassy quad; superb new sports facilities let you get fit and feel good; while a new jaw-dropping, multi-million pound library delivers world-class inspiration. Aberdeen also has more than a whiff of adrenaline-fuelled adventure. You can snowboard down local mountains in the morning and go to seminars in the afternoon. Fancy windsurfing and white-water kayaking? That’s close at hand too. Nearby whisky distilleries put the study of a top Scottish export on the timetable, while a scattering of classic castles and a sumptuous stately home provide stunning fi eld trips. Good transport links mean connecting with the wider world is easy too. Where you choose to study shapes the way you live your life. Finding out more about potential-packed Aberdeen could tempt you to this surprising Scottish city by the sea.

Belinda Dixon Aberdeen beach Lonely Planet author

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Even for those not big on Belmont Street’s fabulous selection (pronounced ‘Fittie’). This cluster buildings, Aberdeen’s of boho cafés and lively drinking of ancient fi shermen’s cottages is a architecture is impressive. dens allows you to spend the night warren of tiny lanes and low An extraordinary array of fairytale touring its quirky bars, trendy clubs terraces, turned into a riot of colour turrets, Gothic baronial piles, and ancient pubs (p12). By day you by brightly painted sheds, backyards spires and green copper domes can try on designer clothes, browse overfl owing with pot plants and a pop up unexpectedly from behind for CDs or munch on an organic healthy population of garden gnomes. grand civic buildings and modern brunch (p12). You’ll also fi nd all the Aberdeen’s coastal location shopping arcades. Known as the major retail chains in Aberdeen, with means its climate is much better Granite City, highlights include the four large city-centre shopping malls, than you may expect – in fact, the fantastical Salvation Army Citadel, including the piazza-style Academy city has relatively mild winters and which was modelled on Balmoral and brand new Union Square. warm summers. Castle, the immense edifi ce of Around a mile north of town, Aberdeen is also a bustling port and the twisting is home to the and its links with the oil industry turreted towers of the New Town University of Aberdeen’s King’s have seen it dubbed Europe’s House. Colours range from honey- College campus. An appealing oasis energy capital. But the energy the SAND & SEMINARS grey to light pinks, reds and pale of colleges, cloisters and cobbles, city generates extends far beyond A 15-minute walk east of the blue, while in the sunshine – and in strolling here at times feels like petroleum. There’s a vibrancy that campus leads to the salt- the rain –the stone’s silvery fl ecks walking around a fantasy fi lm set. can be felt in its avant-garde art tanged air of Aberdeen’s make the city sparkle. Its heart is King’s College, gallery and superb museums, as well miles and miles of sandy Aberdeen is ’s third- complete with an ornate 15th- as in its thriving bars, restaurants, beach. An exhilarating largest city. It’s also a city of layers century chapel, whose vividly pubs and clubs. It’s also felt in a expanse, it’s perfect for a – literally and metaphorically. Built painted heraldic crests, crenellated buoyant local economy rich in touch of sandcastle-building, on sometimes steep slopes, fl ights of turrets and minispires would make student jobs. windsurfing or kite-flying. Or steps lead down from bustling Union Harry Potter feel at home. Add lions Aberdeen has been welcoming head to the funfair to ride a Bridge to the Green, an intimate and unicorns bearing gilded shields non-Scots for centuries. The legacy rollercoaster, fly round a Ferris enclave of eateries and shops. and the Hogwarts eff ect of that is a cosmopolitan city big wheel or just tuck into some Here you can shop for snowboards, is complete. enough to pulse to a metropolitan ice cream while wave-watching drum kits or electric guitars, sip a A stroll, cycle or rollerblade beat, but still small enough to be from a beachfront café. cappuccino or tuck into some truly down the promenade takes you to friendly. Perhaps it’s time to peel great bistro grub. Just opposite, the picturesque village of back those layers...

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Most University of Aberdeen fi fth-oldest university. A stroll down the students study at and live on or cobbled High Street with its pub, shop, near the King’s College campus. bakery, bank and bookstore is a walk Despite having more ancient students have taken for generations. buildings than you can shake All those grand old buildings are not an architecture textbook at, the just for show either – you could fi nd campus is far from locked in yourself having lectures inside the the past. historic King’s College or sitting down In fact, £90 million has recently to study in the beautiful New Kings been ploughed into facilities, with an opposite (the ‘new’ here is relative– extra £270 million on the way. Some 1870 to be exact). £8 million has been spent on the Hub For the low-down on what’s (p23), a funky one-stop-shop in the happening on campus, students heart of the King’s College campus, tune into their own radio station which combines a swish cafeteria, or leaf through their free weekly free wi-fi and internet, and student newspaper, . As well as being drop-in services. A whopping £28 full of the latest gossip and student University of Aberdeen library million has been invested in the new news, it’s also packed with pub and Olympic-standard sports facilities club reviews and info about the (p24), while a major upgrade of university’s 58 sports clubs (p24) ICONIC INSPIRATION student accommodation, with new and 80 societies (p23). ensuite fl ats, occurred in 2008 The university’s bold vision It’s an inspirational piece of (p22). Medical students study at for its spectacular new library architecture as well as a superb , 25 minutes’ walk from was to give Aberdeen a design study space. Scandinavian designers King’s College. icon equivalent to the Sydney have come up with a seven storey, Despite the ultra-new facilities, Opera House. Breathtaking shimmering, fl uted cube, complete the King’s College campus retains in design, ambitious in scope with an asymmetrical central atrium. a delightful sense of the past. and the largest cultural project This corkscrews up through open- Atmospheric quads, ancient colleges in Scotland for years, it was plan fl oors fi lled with book stacks, and a stretch of calming cloisters pegged at a cool £57 million and historic collections and the latest remind you that you’re at the UK’s opened in 2011. high-tech kit. 7

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Amye Robinson, 21; from Aberdeen; studying Economics and French The University of Aberdeen has a prestigious academic pedigree. Why did you choose Aberdeen? Here are a few impressive stats: When I came for the open day • Ranked in the world’s top 200 everybody was very friendly and • 16,000 students supportive, an atmosphere I hadn’t • 120 nationalities found at some other Scottish • 91% of graduates go into work, . The University of further study or training within Aberdeen has such a good name that six months I’m sure it’ll help when fi nding work. • Five Nobel Prizes have been Do you enjoy the campus? I love the awarded for work carried out tradition surrounding King’s College. or begun in Aberdeen I went to a modern school so these • 90% of the research conducted cobbled streets and the vintage feel at Aberdeen is considered to be are wonderful. of international quality What about the social life? There’s For the history of the university, so much that you can’t do it all. The see p29. city has a good music scene and the university has so many clubs. I’m the President of the French Society, and there’s also the Celtic Society, which organises great parties. The other day the African Drumming and Belly Dancing societies did a joint New Kings, University of Aberdeen presentation. I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was fantastic! AND NOW TO THE WEATHER... Did you know that Aberdeen is the sunniest city in Scotland?

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DESTINATION ABERDEEN

Partying 12 Eating 12 Relaxing 13 Adrenaline 15 Culture 16 Explore 17

Ninetynine Bar & Kitchen Ninetynine Bar & Kitchen

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Partying Bar is a long, thin wooden-fl oored Cafe 52, The Green AN ELEGANT EATERY As befi ts a buzzing city, Aberdeen pub with no music and no pool The warm stone walls at Café knows how to party. In the lanes table; just copper drinking jugs, a 52 on the Green set the scene around Belmont Street, trendy dartboard and bags of atmosphere. for some truly fabulous food. vodka bars, lively drinking dens Tuck into prawns and caviar, and student-friendly clubs sit Eating grilled vegetable salad or a alongside wide courtyards ideal for Places with great natural assets bratwurst hot dog. If you’re a summertime beer. tend to dish up great grub – and thinking that something this Aberdeen’s music scene is second Aberdeen doesn’t disappoint. The stylish can’t be aff ordable, only to and a wealth of land is famous for Aberdeen Angus check out the lunch menu venues host a wide variety of gigs, beef, while the waters surrender where everything’s a fi ver while clubs cater for tastes ranging succulent fi sh. In Aberdeen meals (£5) or less. from uber alternative to cheap n’ don’t have to cost the earth. Tuck cheesy. The cavernous Tunnels is the into a bistro burger or settle down city’s live-music nucleus, featuring in the grassy grounds of the student Two weekends a month a expanding stretch of sandy beach, DJ nights and gigs by homegrown halls, fi re up the BBQ and slap the mouthwatering array of local produce Aberdeen has its own permanent talent and up-and-coming bands. The catch of the day onto the grill. At fi lls market stalls in Belmont Street. fun fair, complete with 100ft Lemon Tree and other venues also the beach you can sit amid miles Piles of local veg and stacks of Eye Ferris wheel, three stage well-known performers. of golden sand, watch the wind on tempting cheese sit alongside a rollercoastersCaption and a log fl ume. Nearby The city is peppered with ancient the waves and tuck into super-fresh smorgasbord of local fi sh, including you’ll also fi nd a swimming pool, pubs. All worn wooden tables and fi sh and chips. The Silver Darling the Scottish delicacy sauna, climbing walls, skate park, scuff ed wooden fl oors, they’re places restaurant at Footdee may tempt Smokies – whole haddock smoked restaurants, cafés and a 10-screen to drink in the atmosphere, sip the local you for a treat. Named after the over oak-wood barrels. cinema. After all that sea air, or for a ale and sample a malt whisky or two. In old Scottish phrase for herring, it lazy start to the day, what you really Aberdeen’s oldest pub, Ma Cameron’s, overlooks the harbour mouth and Relaxing need is to linger over a good brunch. they’ve been quenching thirst since serves up fi ne local ingredients Although Aberdeen revels in a Join the students and artists 1789, as the lino fl oor, ancient bench with fancy French fl air. Aberdeen high-energy social scene, it also has tucking into crepes and coff ee in tables and battered stools testify. is full of great multi-cultural chilling-out down to a fi ne art. Kilau, a chilled-out café on Little Next to the King’s College grazing grounds. Restaurants While your studies will help you Belmont Street. Just around the campus the ever-popular Bobbin and takeaways include Chinese, think deeply, the city’s clear sea-air corner, Beautiful Mountain serves boasts sports screens, pool tables Vietnamese, Greek, Indian, Italian, and the lush greenery of nearby up organic porridge, steaming hot and pulsing music. While on the Spanish, Japanese, Mexican, Polish Royal will help you breathe chocolate and immense most-of-the- campus, the historic St Machar and Turkish. in deeply too. As well as a mind- day breakfasts.

01-uoa-page-1-19_final.indd 12-13 21/10/2011 12:44:16 PM 14 15 STUDENT VOICE Alternatively, duck into the boho Club; it teaches diving and runs Nicholas Edwards, 22; from hangout Books and Beans, opposite. aff ordable trips to Oban, Kyle Aberdeen; graduated in Law, Here, internet terminals and café tables and Lochaline. secured a Post-Graduate Diploma tuck in among book stacks, allowing you to sip a latte among the literature. Aberdeen beach How would you describe Aberdeen? Grab a fi rst-fl oor window seat, gaze A perfect-sized city: big enough not to down onto Belmont Street and watch be claustrophobic, but not too sprawling the world go by. Then head over the that you spend the whole evening road for an arthouse fl ick at Aberdeen’s traipsing from one end to the other. independent cinema, the Belmont. Have you enjoyed student life? Adrenaline It’s been fantastic. The university has a huge variety of things to off er. For less extreme sports, see p24. Fresher’s Week hooked me in and it Wedged between the mountains all carried on from there. The Sport’s and the sea, Aberdeen is the place Union and its social scene are to actually do all those high-octane great, too. things you’ve only dreamed about. And the university’s clubs make it Did you fi nd it easy to get work easy. In Aberdeen you really can head as a student? I started working for the to the beach, pull on a wetsuit and university as a Student Ambassador; ride the surf before trotting DOLPHIN DELIGHT it’s quite easy to get involved with, back to campus for your fi rst lecture. Aberdeen’s harbour mouth and it’s paid. Then I went on to teach Whether you’ve never put a foot on is one of the best locations in computing courses. There are quite a a surfboard or are an expert barrel Scotland for watching dolphins few diff erent options. rider, the university’s Surf Club is from the shore. Good vantage Are you pleased you studied at there for you. points include the harbour Aberdeen? Very. Aberdeen is the Aberdeen’s long strip of beach entrance at Footdee, or the leading provider of law in the UK provides top-notch kite and wind- Battery on the opposite and the teaching is excellent. This surfi ng. The university Sailing Club’s side. Scan the waters for university has helped shape me into fl eets of boats train on Loch, bottlenose and white-beaked the person I am and I’ll look back with and also run West Coast yachting dolphins, then settle back to very fond memories. weekends. Or venture under the enjoy the display. waves with the university’s Sub Aqua

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Adrenaline junkies will be including the likes of Sir David AVANT-GARDE ART tempted by the white-water rivers Attenborough, Nicola Roeg and Culture-vultures fl ock to the contemporary accessible from Aberdeen and the John Akomfrah), University of works on display at Aberdeen’s Art Gallery. university’s Canoe Club off ers pool Aberdeen Music Prize, Café Science Innovative pieces include fi ve painted sessions, kit and coaching. There porcelain pelvises, a shocking Gilbert and are also clubs for orienteering and George, and a table full of ice cream set mountain biking, or you can try your sideways and suspended way above ground. hand at abseiling, gorge walking and There’s also a full complement of gilt- rock climbing locally, too. framed paintings, including a Sickert, and Culture Edwin Landseer’s Flood in the Highlands. Best of all it’s free to get in. Aberdeen has a vibrant arts scene. Venues feed cultural cravings with stand-up comedy, studio theatre, Programme, Sound Festival and the Halls of Residence (p22). Here Descending the slopes, Glenshee Ski Centre, music and dance – Radiohead, near Aberdeen International Youth Festival. acres of woodland, saltmarsh and Jimmy Carr and West End musicals To get under the skin of modern sand dunes wind towards the sea, have all appeared here. The city’s WINTER WONDERLAND Aberdeen, it helps to peel back the providing glimpses of otters, seals Music Hall stages artists ranging There’s nothing else like it: the past. The Maritime Museum (free and wading birds. from jazz and folk through rock and crunch of snow under your entry) does this in an imaginative, The 165-mile North East Coastal pop to classical, while His Majesty’s skis, chilled air whooshing into multimedia style. Massive light house Trail is alongside the reserve. Within Theatre puts on plays, musicals and your lungs and experiencing lenses sit alongside walk-in boat a few miles you could see spawning opera, as well as the annual Student that downhill thrill. Three cabins, ships’ bells rub shoulders with salmon, leaping sea trout and even Show – the most successful charity of Scotland’s fi ve main ski tales of the herring fi shing heyday, porpoises. Inland, ’s musical in the country. Aberdeen centres are only two hours and spiral staircases surround a forests bring you closer to Pictish has some superb gig venues (p12), from campus. Aviemore, the three-storey model of a forts where peregrine falcons wheel movie multiplexes and an arthouse Cairngorm Mountain, Glenshee platform. over panoramic views. cinema as well. Fifteen miles south of campus and the Lecht provide perfect Explore The University of Aberdeen’s pistes for board-riders and the historic port of Stone- cultural engagement programme alpine skiers; the university’s Aberdeen sits amid such spec- haven has an attractive cliff- off ers events year-round including Ski and Snowboard Club will tacular surroundings you’ll fi nd it fringed harbour and the gloriously the Director’s Cut (a series of staged show you the way. hard to leave after your studies. The crumbling Dunnottar Castle. It’s so discussions with international Donmouth Nature Reserve is just picturesque Franco Zeffirelli filmed fi lmmakers and broadcasters, metres from the university’s Hillhead Hamlet with Mel Gibson here.

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A similar distance west takes you Castle, a ghost-riddled baronial STUDENT VOICE to 16th-century Castle Fraser, pile, is fi ve miles further on; the Nooreen Akhtar, 22; from a grand pile where towers and grounds are open year-round. and Karachi; studying Biomedical turrets loom over secret rooms Science and hidden stairs. Have you enjoyed studying at The stately Georgian home that is Aberdeen? I’ve loved it. It’s the best is 20 miles north, while decision I’ve ever made. Before you come away you have pet worries, such as will I make friends, will I fi nd somewhere to live, but it’s all worked out beautifully. What do you do when you’re not studying? I go out with my friends, to the cinema or to gigs; we saw Muse and Snow Patrol. We also go to the beach – on Bonfi re Night there was a huge bonfi re and a great fi reworks display there, it was magical! Do you feel at home in the city? Yes I do. I’m of Asian origin and did wonder if I might be picked on because of my race – but I’ve never felt that here. People are very A FLING welcoming and I actually feel that A couple of hours’ drive inland from Aberdeen leads to Britain’s Aberdeen is my home now. biggest national park: the . As well as off ering superb What will you miss most about adventure sports (p15), this collection of frosty mountain tops, Aberdeen? Walking down the High rivers and lochs is a springboard for sledging, reindeer-herding and Street on campus as the sun is setting, sled-dog rides. You’ll also fi nd the Queen’s holiday home, Balmoral, with King’s College and all the old the start of Scotland’s Malt Whisky Trail and hundreds of kilt-wearing buildings looking so beautiful. I don’t Scots at the Braemar Gathering. want to leave; I want to stay at uni forever.

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SNAPSHOTS

Accommodation 22 Living in Aberdeen 23 Sport 24 Orientation & Accessibility 25 Working in Aberdeen 26

Cliff Scrambling, Slains Castle, Aberdeenshire Ninetynine Bar & Kitchen

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Accommodation The university’s main student Living in Aberdeen Halls of residence are where you village is the tree-fringed Hillhead With a hefty student population of make your fi rst friends and really Halls on the banks of the River 50,000 in a city of 250,000, you’ll begin to feel at home. The University Don, a 15-minute walk from King’s feel at home in Aberdeen, wherever of Aberdeen’s halls are set in King’s College. These self-catered halls, you come from. Shops in the city College campus or close by. All some with ensuite rooms, are centre combine big-city chain fi rst year students are guaranteed home to around 2000 students. stores with quirky independent a place in the halls (provided they A £20 million new-build and boutiques and thrift shops. From meet the application deadline). refurbishment programme is supermarkets for those cheap Around 400 fi rst–year students underway at Hillhead, delivering a groceries to tailors for kilt-hire, opt to stay in the catered Crombie- further 520 ensuite rooms. Aberdeen has all you need. Johnston Halls in the heart of the Hillhead has a bar, a fi ve-a- of campus life is the King’s College campus. Advantages side pitch, laundrettes, Hub, a funky one-stop-student-shop. include: the meals provided, which pool tables and a shop. Regular In its cool cafeteria you can sit on red are dished up in the Hub; having buses shuttle between Hillhead, pod-like stools and tuck into a burger all the main campus facilities on the teaching campus and the city and chips, pasta, curry or a stir-fry tap; and the fact that you’re only centre. For students opting not to while watching plasmascreen TVs. minutes from lectures, allowing for stay in the halls, Old Aberdeen is Downstairs the Tiki Café rustles up an extra-lazy-lie-in. full of student properties. Demonstration from CapoeIra Geneva association great fair-trade coff ee and excellent cakes amid laptop-friendly sofas and QUIRKY CLUBS brightly coloured chairs. Internet King’s Lawn, University of Aberdeen The university’s 80 non-sport terminals and campus-wide wi-fi WELCOMING CITY, makes surfi ng free and easy. The clubs include heavyweights like COSMOPOLITAN CAMPUS full range of student services are on Economics, Philosophy and Law Around 20% of the University of hand within Infohub, and there’s even – and some surprises. Fancy Aberdeen’s students come from a Subway, too! joining these? outside the UK, representing 120 diff erent nationalities. • Anime and Manga There’s an International Support • Paintball Offi ce, while university cultural • Capoeira societies include Chinese, Indian, • Juggling European, Saudi and Japanese. Faith societies include Christian, • Malt Whisky Jewish, Islamic and Buddhist. (For sports societies, see p24)

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Sport and squash. In total, 58 sport clubs With a brand-new, £28 million cater for all standards, so if you’ve sports complex right on its never played before you’re as doorstep, the University of welcome as an experienced athlete. Aberdeen’s facilities are Olympic- Sports Blues are awarded, while class. Built in partnership with the scholarship schemes support up to city council and sportscotland 20 students who compete at near- the centre is used as a training national level. camp for the and Olympics for athletes from the North East of Scotland. And no wonder. There’s a full-size City centre and ship in harbour, Aberdeen indoor football pitch, a nine-court games hall, four squash courts, a large fi tness suite and gym, an Orientation & Accessibility Ibiza, Palma and Paris – so not indoor running straight, throwing Aberdeen’s oil-industry links only is it easy to get to Aberdeen, and jumping areas, a 400-metre ensure the city is extremely it’s also easy to explore pockets of outdoor athletics track and a accessible. The three Europe over a long weekend. hockey pitch. The university’s rugby airports – Gatwick, Heathrow and Regular train services connect and lacrosse pitches, swimming Luton – are just over an hours’ Aberdeen to London (7½ hours), pool, wicket and tennis plane ride away (£45). From London (7½ hours), courts are just over the road on connections include those to Beijing (seven hours) and (nine the King’s College campus. The (£420), Dubai (£300), Mumbai hours). Using a 16–25 RailCard, a Ultimate frisbee at beach Bobbin pub (p12), popular with (£380), USA and Canada (£330/450 sample Aberdeen-to-London fare is sporty types, is tucked in between. East/West Coast) and Nairobi around £85. Coaches, which shuttle The university also has a rowing SURPRISING SPORTS (£440). All fares above are low-cost, between Aberdeen and all major UK boathouse on the banks of the As well as the mainstream ones, approximate returns. cities, are a very aff ordable way to Dee and a climbing bothy on Royal the University of Aberdeen has Flights also link Aberdeen travel. Deeside. (For adrenaline sports, some more specialist sports to , Birmingham, Bristol, Scotland itself is a compact see p15.) societies. How about trying your Dublin, Durham, , destination which can be easily The University of Aberdeen has hand at these? , Humberside, explored from Aberdeen. The cities a fearsome sporting reputation Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle, of Glasgow, and (they’ve lost only one inter- • Curling • Fencing • Gliding and . are each around a 2½-hour drive or boat race in their history), and teams • Underwater Hockey International fl ights include train trip, while the Highlands are on include men’s and women’s football, those from Aber deen to Antalya, your doorstep. The Cairngorms, with • Ultimate Frisbee rugby, hockey, basketball, badminton , Bergen, Copenhagen, snowboarding and adventure sports

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(p15) are just a two-hour drive; or hop The Aberdeen University STUDENT VOICE up to the Highlands by rail – the ski Association Student Advice Centre Ranuka De Silva, 22; from Sri slopes of Aviemore are a 3½-hour can help you fi nd work. It connects Lanka; studying Economics and train trip away. students with around 1000 employers Finance Working in Aberdeen who’ve all been briefed about study commitments, holiday periods and How was fi nding somewhere to Students’ fi nances always need exams. Once you’ve signed up you’ll live? In my fi rst year I lived in Hillhead a boost, and Aberdeen is awash get weekly email updates and access Halls. This was such a good stepping with student jobs. Being Europe’s to a searchable vacancy database. The stone to meet all sorts of people from energy capital means a buoyant local university also holds two Recruitment economy and plenty of bars, clubs, Fairs a year, where you get to meet around the world. Everybody was in a restaurants, shops and services all employers just itching to give students similar situation and everybody was needing staff . jobs. really helpful. All the Student Advice Centre What do you do when you’re Slains Castle Pub employers will sign a code of practice. not studying? Well, I do love my golf This stipulates they won’t expect and my riding! And I’ve been able to students to work more than 15 hours a week in term time and that they do both. I’m currently training with must pay at least the minimum wage. the university Although largely for part-time, club, which is fantastic. holiday and temporary vacancies, Have you enjoyed Aberdeen’s the Student Advice Centre is also social scene? Absolutely. There are used by employers wanting to fi ll graduate posts. lots of student bars and nightclubs Some students work in areas and lots of independent cafés. related to their studies, boosting What will you miss most when their employment prospects when you leave? I’ll miss the friends I’ve they leave university. made here, the riding, and the people. The Student Advice Centre, as well Aberdeen has been a home to me – as the University’s Career Service, can help you update your CV and off ers people have opened their arms here. tips on applications and interviews The days in Aberdeen have been the as well as advice on pay, tax and best days of my life. National Insurance. It also guides international students through any employment restrictions and work permit regulations.

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Get chatting to an Aberdonian shops, a bank, pub and Blackwell’s, and they’ll soon tell you, with the university bookseller. Next comes gentle pride, that for 267 years the cobbled Chanonry, home to the city of Aberdeen had two clergy in the 13th century, and the universities when there were medieval St Machar’s Cathedral. only two universities in the whole Elsewhere, the fantastical turrets of . and minarets of the creamy-white In fact, we have to head back Powis Gates shoot skywards. The as far as the Renaissance for architectural gem, though, is King’s the founding of the University of College, parts of which date from Aberdeen. the 1520s, and its exquisite chapel, In 1495 Bishop William Elphin- capped by a magnifi cent crown tower. stone established King’s College to Yet the old rubs shoulders train doctors, teachers, clergy and with the new. Campus-wide wi-fi lawyers. From 1497 it had the fi rst allows a spot of net-surfi ng in the chair of in the English- central green, while multi-millions speaking world. Marischal College have been poured into the ultra- followed in 1593 and the two colleges modern student Hub (p23), new were united to form the University of accommodation (p22), Olympic- Aberdeen in 1860. class sports facilities (p24) and an Walking through the King’s iconic, inspirational new library (p7). College campus it’s clear you are in All this ensures the 500-year-old Scotland’s third-oldest university. University of Aberdeen has a clear The picturesque High Street, fl anked vision for the future, as well as a with low granite cottages, winds past prestigious past.

BON ACCORD Knowing what Aberdeen’s motto means really helps you feel at home. In case anybody asks it means: ‘happy to meet, sorry to part, happy to meet again’. Kind of fitting really. Ornate gateway of the University of Aberdeen

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While the University of Aberdeen’s Through the 20th century the cargos are being handled and the shopping, along with its location in past is fascinating, the city’s history University of Aberdeen’s student prosperity feeds through to the one of the most beautiful sections has some gripping chapters too. numbers swelled. Major investments wider city, making it a cosmopolitan, of Scotland, combine to make In the 1300s the townspeople sup- followed, including in the fi eld of vibrant place to study and live. this a wonderful city to study in. ported in his fi ght medical research with the custom- In the 21st century Aberdeen Adventure, excitement, history and to free Scotland from English rule. built Institute of Medical Sciences, has hit its stride. Cool cafés, a culture – what more could you want The password they used at local completed in 2002, providing state- buzzing night scene and some great from a place to study? fortifi cations was Bon Accord, which of-the-art facilities for researchers is still the city’s motto today. and students. Five Nobel Prizes have been As the University of Aberdeen awarded for work carried out or boomed so did the city. In the begun at the university. Innovations decades after the discovery of include the life-saving drug insulin North Sea oil in the 1950s, Aberdeen and the development of Magnetic became the hub of the UK’s off - Resonance Imaging – the MRI shore oil industry, and is dubbed machines that help diagnose disease. Europe’s energy capital. The port is The thinking that began here has in still packed with brightly coloured some cases changed the world. oil-platform supply ships, record

FOUND IN TRANSLATION A trace of Aberdeen’s rich history can be heard in Doric, a form of Scots whose historic phrases and lyrical pronunciations pepper some local’s everyday speech. Here are a couple of handy phrases to start you off : Fit like? – How are you? Nae Bad – Pretty good

Botanic Gardens, Aberdeen King’s College, University of Aberdeen

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Feeling inspired? Want to add your name to the University of Aberdeen’s illustrious alumni, or just fi nd out a little more? Here’s how. The university’s website (www.abdn.ac.uk/sras) has a step-by-step guide on how to apply, as well as links to all things studenty, from clubs and bars to accommodation and fees.

Useful WebSites

University of Aberdeen Aberdeen University Music, Arts & Film www.abdn.ac.uk Students’ Association www.thekiosque.co.uk Prospective Students www.ausa.org.uk Adventure Sports www.abdn.ac.uk/sras Aberdeen City and Shire www.visitscotland.com/ Accommodation www.aberdeencityandshire.com adventure www.abdn.ac.uk/accommodation Visit Scotland Transport: www.visitscotland.com www.aberdeenairport.com

Study Aberdeen 2nd Edition, October 2011. First published – March 2009; www.lonelyplanet.biz Specially produced by Lonely Planet Client Solutions for the University of Aberdeen. Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd, ABN 36 005 607 983, 90 Maribyrnong St, Footscray, VIC 3011, Australia Lonely Planet Offi ces: Australia Locked Bag 1, Footscray, VIC 3011, tel +61 3 8379 8000, fax +61 3 8379 8111; USA 150 Linden St, Oakland, CA 94607, tel 510 893 8555, toll free 800 275 8555, fax 510 893 8572 UK 2nd Floor, 186 City Rd, London, EC1V 2NT, tel 020 7106 2100, fax 020 7841 9001 © Lonely Planet Publications 2011 Images cover © Simon Price / Alamy; Internals inside front & back covers, pp5,8,10-11,14,17,19,26,27 @ Lonely Planet Client Solutions; pp1,7,15,30,31 @ Reuben Paris Photography; pp9,18,25 @ Lonely Planet Images; pp2,13,20- 21 @ Aberdeen City and Shire Regional Identity; pp16, 23,24,28 @ Alamy. At Lonely Planet: Business Development Addy Cutts Product Management Matt Gibbs Project Management Clara Reeves Author Belinda Dixon Content Producer Becky Leonhardt Designers Jennifer Mullins & Kerrianne Southway Printing Ancient House Press Pic., Suff olk. Lonely Planet, Lonely Planet Images and the Lonely Planet logo are trademarks of Lonely Planet Publications Pty Ltd and are registered in the US Patent and Trademark Offi ce and in other countries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Although the authors and Lonely Planet have taken all reasonable care in preparing this book, we make no warranty about the accuracy or completeness of its content and, to the maximum extent permitted, disclaim all liability arising from its use. With thanks to all the staff and students at the University of Aberdeen who invested their time and knowledge into this book. Also, many thanks to One Up Records, Kilau Coff ee Shop, It’s Kitsch, The Bobbin, Ninetynine Bar & Kitchen, Slain’s Castle and Eion Henderson for the light installation.

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