specialist unit" with a "global reputation" by The Independent.
=== Off-campus establishments ===
A number of the university's centres, schools and institutes are located away from its two campuses in Edgbaston and Selly Oak:
The Shakespeare Institute, in Stratford-upon-Avon, which is a centre for postgraduate study dedicated to the study of William Shakespeare and the literature of the English Renaissance.
The Ironbridge Institute, in Ironbridge, which offers postgraduate and professional development courses in heritage.
The School of Dentistry (the UK's oldest dental school), in Birmingham City Centre.
The Raymond Priestley Centre, near Coniston in the Lake District, which is used for outdoor pursuits and field work.
There is also a Masonic Lodge that has been associated with the university since 1938.
==== University of Birmingham Observatory ====
In the early 1980s, the University of Birmingham constructed an observatory next to the university playing fields, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) south of the Edgbaston campus. The site was chosen because the night sky was ~100 times darker than the skies above campus. First light was on 8 December 1982, and the Observatory was officially opened by the Astronomer Royal, Francis Graham-Smith, on 13 June 1984. The observatory was upgraded in 2013.
The Observatory is used primarily for undergraduate teaching. It has two main instruments, a 16" Cassegrain (working at f/19) and a 14" Meade LX200R (working at f/6.35). A third telescope is also present and is used exclusively for visual observations.
Members of the public are given chance to visit the Observatory at regular Astronomy in the City events during the winter months. These events include a talk on the night sky from a member of the university's student Astronomical Society; a talk on current astrophysics research, such as exoplanets, galaxy clusters or gravitational-wave astronomy, a question-and-answer session, and the chance to observing using telescopes both on campus and at the Observatory.
=== Finances …
