The University of Essex is a British public research university whose first and largest campus is near the town of Colchester, Essex. It was established in 1963 and received its Royal Charter in 1965. A new kind of university… where students could live and learn… and research really mattered' – this was the founding vision of Essex’s first Vice-Chancellor Sir Albert Sloman. The plans were seen as so ground-breaking that Sir Albert was asked to give the prestigious Reith Lectures on BBC Radio in 1963, the year before we opened to explain our cutting-edge approach to study, research and teaching.