With informal roots which can be traced back to 1833, it wasn't until the latter years of the nineteenth century that the institution that we associate with came into being. Formally considered to be established in 1897, the University has been known under many guises throughout its lifetime: Paisley Technical and Art School Paisley College of Technology Paisley College University of Paisley Famed for its industrial links and emphasis on career-focused degree education, Paisley College of Technology was renowned for Engineering, Science, Computing, Business and from 1960s, Social Sciences. Having strong heritage with part-time, day-release and evening study, the University was also renowned for sandwich provision education which it also commenced providing early in 1960s. In 1992, Paisley College of Technology became University of Paisley and merged, one year later with Craigie College of Education, Ayr. The University had, at this time three campuses - Paisley, Ayr and it shared a campus provision in Dumfries. In 2007, after a successful merger with Bell College of Technology, Hamilton, the University changed its name to University of the West of Scotland (UWS). Now a four campus institution, UWS is one of Scotland's largest most innovative 'modern' universities with c.16,000 students in four campuses: Ayr, Dumfries, Hamilton and Paisley. The University continues in the footsteps of University of Paisley and offers a wide range of career-focused, professionally-recognised Bachelor (BA, BAcc, BEng, BSc) and Masters (MA, MBA, MEd, MSc) degree provision as well as applied research opportunities (MRes, MPhil, PhD) in: Business / Computing / Creative Industries / Education / Engineering / Health, Nursing & Midwifery / Science / Social Science / Sport. UWS continues to focus provision in order to serve the needs local, national and international communities.