and merged to form the Faculty of Law, Business and Social Sciences in 2005, the two having operated as a single 'resource unit' since 2002. The Faculty of Engineering was formally established in 1923, although engineering had been taught at the university since 1840 when Queen Victoria founded the UK's first Chair of Engineering. Through a concordat ratified in 1913, Royal Technical College (later Royal College of Science and Technology and now University of Strathclyde) students received Glasgow degrees in applied sciences, particularly engineering. It was in 1769 when James Watt's engineering at Glasgow led to a stable steam engine and, subsequently, the Industrial Revolution. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was established in 1862 as the independent Glasgow Veterinary College, being subsumed into the university in 1949 and gaining independent Faculty status in 1969. The Faculty of Education was formed in 1999 when the university merged with St Andrew's College of Education, which had been formed in 1981 through the merger of two Catholic colleges: Notre Dame College of Education, Glasgow, founded in 1895 and Craiglockhart College of Education, Edinburgh, founded in 1920.
On 1 August 2010, the former faculties of the university were removed and replaced by a system of four larger Colleges, intended to encourage interdisciplinary research and make the university more competitive. This structure was similar to that at other universities, including the University of Edinburgh.
== Academic profile ==
=== Rankings and reputation ===
The university is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities and was a founding member of the organisation Universitas 21, an international grouping of universities dedicated to setting worldwide standards for higher education. The university currently has fifteen Regius Professorships, more than in any other UK university.
In the QS World University Rankings, Glasgow climbed to 51st in 2013.
In national rankings, Glasgow places within the top 30 in the UK …
