Study facilities and learning resources

Facilities and services

The Library & Learning Centre is an attractive building at the centre of the campus, close to teaching buildings. Extended and refurbished in 2011, it is linked to a lively student concourse which includes a shop, a bookshop and a meeting space.

Spread over seven floors, the Library is wireless enabled throughout, with enhanced and refurbished
facilities which include 1,240 study spaces, open access PC areas and labs, sound and image collections with viewing and listening facilities, printing and photocopying, specialist language learning resource centre (LRC), and an informal learning zone with quick access to email and internet.

In addition to this, the University Library provides:

• A stock of over 600,000 books; 72,000 with full text available online
• 1,400 current print journal titles; 13,700 e-journal titles with full text available online
• Moving image and sound collections, and playback facilities, with many resources delivered online
• Additional learning support facilities and resources for students with disabilities or specific learning difficulties
• Lively group work areas and individual study areas
• Flexible opening hours, seven days a week, 24-hour opening Sundays through to Fridays during semester
• Online books and journals available 24 hours a day
• Option to renew and reserve books online or via an automated phone service

SPLASH

Located within the Library, SPLASH (Student Personal Learning and Study Hub) is a flexible, student centred learning space which you are encouraged to use to enhance your study.

You will be able to get advice from student learning advisers on developing your skills, via both workshops and one-to-one appointments.

Through SPLASH, you will have access to a wide variety of online and paper resources. Your academic librarian also works from SPLASH, providing face-to-face help and information skills workshops. SPLASH offers support, both in person and online, specifically designed for postgraduate taught and postgraduate research students.

Support for postgraduate researchers

The University of Surrey is committed to providing comprehensive and innovative research and transferable skills training to all our postgraduate researchers.

The Researcher Development Programme works closely with the faculties, the Careers Service and Research and Enterprise Support to provide a wide range of workshops and events. The programme is designed to improve the quality of your doctoral research and help you to develop skills that will enhance your employability in the future.

We take a flexible approach to training, allowing you to attend courses when you feel they will benefit you most. We complement our face-to-face training with a suite of online resources so that no matter where your research takes you, you can access training material.

Overseas study

Putting an extra dimension into your learning and teaching isn’t just about facilities and technology. It’s about a desire for that extra edge. An international experience provides just that.

We have strong partnerships with academic institutions in countries including Brazil, China and the USA. We also participate in the EU Erasmus programme, providing grants for you to study or work in Europe.

These partnerships provide specific programme-related and research opportunities to spend part of your degree abroad, adding international experience to your studies and building up your network of global contacts. The Global Graduate Award in Languages – an opportunity to learn a language while you study – is fun in its own right but also provides great preparation for going abroad to study or work.

Learning technologies

University IT

The digital world will play a big part in your time with us. Whether you are using one of the 700 PCs in our open access PC rooms for research, connecting to our wireless network or working from home using our off-campus secure web access, IT Services will always provide you with efficient and innovative IT solutions.

All of our Courts of Residence feature a wired broadband network service known as ResNet. This service – which is included as part of your accommodation package – can also be found in some open access areas. We give you a personal storage area on our central filestore and an email address with a 25GB inbox, as well as providing useful software packages under a site licence. We offer a number of online courses to improve your IT skills, and you will also have access to printing, copying and scanning facilities.

Virtual Learning Environment

We have recently introduced a revolutionary new online learning environment called SurreyLearn.

Using computers and mobile devices to create a personalised online setting, this new learning environment will allow you to work with fellow students through groupwork, discussions and blogs, as well as giving lecturers the means and flexibility to set coursework and communicate with you virtually, putting all interactions in one easily accessible place.

Other online technologies at Surrey include an e-portfolio, where you can plan and record your learning and development, and media streaming, so your lecturer can make videos and TV programmes available to you.

Support for disabled or dyslexic students

If you have a long-term medical condition, sensory impairment, mobility difficulty, mental health condition or a specific learning difficulty, such as dyslexia, Additional Learning Support (ALS) is here to help you.

ALS works to make the transition to studying at the University as stress-free as possible by providing a number of support services for people with additional needs.

We encourage you to tell us about any disability or dyslexia on your application form. This means that ALS can make sure your support needs are properly assessed and managed. However, if you prefer, we are happy to discuss your support needs in complete confidence.

How we can help

ALS is based in the Library and can help you with special examination arrangements, dyslexia screening and referral for dyslexia assessments, one-to-one learning support and help with applying for the Disabled Students’ Allowance (international or European students are not eligible for DSA). We also provide a support service which includes note-takers in lectures and scribes for exams or library support.

International or European students must bring translated copies of medical or educational reports to ALS. Examples of this include an audiogram for deaf or hard-of-hearing students or a dyslexia assessment from an authorised psychologist. ALS must have copies of reports before the University can agree any adjustments. If you think you will need care support (for example, help with washing, shopping, cooking, and so on) please contact ALS for local costs of carers; the University cannot provide any financial assistance for these activities.

ALS works closely on your behalf with departments and support services within the University. We also liaise closely with external providers of support including Social Services and  the Surrey Physical and Sensory Support Service.

Assistive technology

The University holds a site licence for MindGenius, Inspiration, and Texthelp Read and Write. These software applications can be accessed from all of the open access PCs in the University. In addition, the Library Assistive Technology Centre provides a study area with a document-reading scanner and JAWS (a text to speech program).

Models and Mathematics in Life and Social Sciences (MILES)

MILES is a programme funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to stimulate interdisciplinary research collaborations across the University of Surrey. MILES fosters projects that bring together academics from mathematics, computing, physical sciences and engineering with those from the life and social sciences and beyond.

Events include networking and idea-generation activities, opportunities to showcase and discuss existing interdisciplinary research, and workshops designed to support the development of new ideas and collaborations.