Welcome to Napier University

Studying at Napier University of Edinburgh without talking about this famous school would be very strange !

Indeed it is one of Scotland's largest universities. Opened in 1964 with a name which referred to the inventor of the logarithms John Napier, the university counts four campuses : the oldest is Merchiston for sciences, technology and mathematics; then the campus of Craiglockhart is the one in which I am studying the business; the campus of Craighouse is dedicated to the arts and the social sciences, and the most recent is the Sighthill which is dedicated to social life.

  The mix between hold and modern architecture of Craiglockart campus

 The beautiful monument of the university of Arts: Craighouse Campus

The important computer center of Merchiston Campus

 

The youngest campus of Napier University: Sighthill Campus

The NSA (Napier Students Association) deals with the student life and supports a lot of sporting and cultural events. For example it organizes its "Fresher Weeks" for the integration of students, among which 70 % are international students. However these weeks of integration take place at the beginning of the school year, in September and not in January. Indeed, we were a little bit disappointed concerning the lack of integration events for the international pupils, arriving for the second half-year.

There are umerous and vast computing centres. Indeed, as regards to my campus, an aimportant bookseller is present with hundreds of available computers for students, but also with a vast on-line database wich could be consulted also off-campuse.

For our arrival at the university I was very amazed concerning the organisation of the members of the "Staff" who helped us to matriculate with our logins and passwords, gave us our student cards, but also explanations concerning the way of work and accessibility of the services. This integration in the computer system took place on the whole afternoon.

Concerning the catering ways, there are different canteens with salads and also with real menus, but also a Starbuck coffee. There is also a "shop" where we can find the main school equipments, with also food and drinks.

Another particularity is the teaching ways, with courses of only one hour and days beginning as soon at 9 am and finishing at the latest at 6 pm. Concerning the Erasmus students it is very easy to schedul our courses on only one or two days a week. Moreover teachers are not such as demanding as those in France. However there are fewer exams but more graded homeworks with a very demanding writing style, such as reports and essays. Nevertheless they are not very demanding regarding to the English language due to the numerous international students.

I have choosen three courses to valid my ECTSs : The Global Tourism Industry, The Marketing Communication tools and The Scottish Culture and Society.

This flexible way able student to have a lot of leasure activities during their spare time. Indeed sporting centres and sports associations are available for students.