Founded in 1908, this university was built to serve two Alberta cities: Calgary and Edmonton. There was some annoyance in Calgary after the decision was taken to base the institution in Edmonton, though this largely subsided when Calgary gained its own university in 1966. Alberta is hotly tipped to become one of the world's leading universities as the area is enjoying a prolonged economic boom, fuelled by high energy prices.
The U of A has approximately 36,000 students, including 6,000 graduate students and 2,000 international students from over 110 countries. The main campus spans 50 city blocks with over 90 buildings directly across the North Saskatchewan river from downtown Edmonton. One of them, the Campus Saint-Jean, is a 'francophone campus' - a French-language university campus. U of A is certainly a place to look out for - a new campus is planned and medical researchers there are developing a new treatment for type-1 diabetes that enables diabetics to break their insulin dependence.
