The University of Leicester is a public research university whose main campus runs along University Road, a short walk south of the city centre and next to Victoria Park. It traces its origins to 1921, when it opened as a college and a living memorial to those who died in the First World War, a history reflected in its motto about service to learning. Full university status and the power to award its own degrees came in 1957. Today it teaches a broad spread of subjects across science, medicine, engineering, social sciences, arts, law and business, and it has a student body of around twenty thousand drawn from the United Kingdom and well over a hundred countries. The main switchboard sits on 0116 252 2522, and the postal address for the campus is University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH.

Two pieces of work have done more than anything else to put the university in front of the general public. The first is DNA fingerprinting, developed by Sir Alec Jeffreys in the university's genetics department in 1984, a technique that changed forensic science and paternity testing across the world and was first used in a criminal case in nearby Narborough. The second is the identification of the remains of King Richard III, found under a Leicester car park and confirmed through the university's archaeological and genetic work in 2012 and 2013. Both stories are genuine, both are central to how the institution presents itself, and both give a fair flavour of where its research strengths lie. They are also the kind of concrete achievement that makes the university recognisable far beyond the East Midlands.

Space and Earth observation form another long-standing area of distinction. The university has been involved in space research since the early 1960s and has contributed instruments to a string of European and international missions, with its physics and astronomy group among the larger of its kind in the country. That heritage feeds directly into the city, because the university was a founding partner in the National Space Centre and continues to work closely with the wider space cluster that has grown up around Leicester. For prospective students with an interest in planetary science, astrophysics or space instrumentation, this is one of the genuine reasons to look here rather than elsewhere.

On the teaching side, the offer is wide. Medicine is a notable part of the picture, with a medical school that trains doctors in partnership with the local NHS trusts and gives students clinical placements across Leicester's hospitals. Law, management, psychology, history, English, geography and the biological and physical sciences all have substantial departments, and the university has a particular reputation in areas such as criminology, museum studies and genetics. Alongside the campus-based courses, Leicester has a long record in distance learning, having run correspondence and online programmes for decades, which means a good number of its students never set foot on University Road and study from elsewhere in the world. Anyone weighing up the university should check carefully whether a given subject is taught on campus, by distance learning, or both, because the experience differs.

The campus itself is reasonably compact and walkable, which students tend to appreciate. The Charles Wilson building, the David Wilson Library and the striking Engineering building by James Stirling are among the landmarks, and the botanic garden in nearby Oadby is open to the public and used for teaching and research. Halls of residence are concentrated in the Oadby area a little way out from the centre, connected by a regular bus service. Leicester as a city is frequently described as one of the most diverse in the country, and the university reflects that, which many international students cite as a reason they settle in quickly. Living costs are also lower than in London or the larger southern cities, a practical point that matters more to applicants than glossy prospectus language. The city centre is close enough to walk to from the campus, and Leicester's train station gives reasonably quick connections to London, Birmingham and the wider Midlands, which students from elsewhere in the country tend to weigh up when deciding how easily they can get home.

The institution has produced a number of well-known figures across the decades, and its broadcasting links are notable, with several presenters and journalists among its graduates, reflecting a long-standing strength in mass communication and media research. It holds the public research university designations that matter for funding and recognition, takes part in the national research assessment exercises, and has a membership in the wider groupings of research-intensive universities. None of that will mean much to a prospective undergraduate choosing where to live for three years, but it matters to research partners and postgraduate applicants deciding whether the depth of supervision and facilities will be there. The honest position is that Leicester is a solid, established research university rather than one of the small handful at the very top of the global rankings, and it tends to be at its strongest in the specific fields where it has built genuine expertise over many years.

For the purposes of a business directory, the university is significant well beyond its teaching. It is one of the largest employers in Leicester, a major purchaser of goods and services from regional suppliers, and a research partner for companies working in space, health technology, genetics and the environment. Its enterprise and knowledge-exchange activity supports spin-out companies and student start-ups, and the institution sits at the centre of a network of local businesses, charities and public bodies that either work with it or recruit from it. A directory of Leicestershire organisations that left out the university would be missing one of the county's anchor institutions, both as an economic engine and as a source of skilled graduates entering the regional workforce.

The website, le.ac.uk, is the practical gateway to all of this. It is organised around the main audiences, with clear routes for undergraduate applicants, postgraduates, current students, staff, researchers and businesses. Course pages set out entry requirements, fees and module outlines, and there are dedicated sections for research, for the colleges and schools, and for working with the university commercially. The contact information is easy to find, and there are specific lines for admissions, accommodation and security in addition to the general switchboard. As university sites go it is straightforward to use, though, as with most large institutions, the sheer volume of pages means the search box is sometimes a quicker route than the menus.

An honest assessment should acknowledge the wider context. Leicester is a mid-sized university in a crowded sector, and it has been through restructuring in recent years, including disputes over staffing in some departments that drew national attention and criticism from academic bodies. League-table positions move around from year to year, and a few subjects have been reshaped or scaled back. None of this undermines the institution's research record or the quality of its strongest departments, but applicants are right to look at the specific course and department they are interested in rather than relying on the headline reputation alone. The picture varies considerably from one subject to another.

Taken as a whole, the University of Leicester is a credible research-led university with a couple of world-changing discoveries to its name, real depth in space science, genetics and medicine, and a campus that students generally find welcoming and affordable. For a directory covering Leicestershire it belongs firmly among the leading entries, representing the county's principal university and a substantial part of its economic and intellectual life. Prospective students, research partners and local suppliers will all find le.ac.uk the right place to begin, with the usual advice to dig into the detail of the particular course or collaboration rather than stopping at the front page.

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