Support for your research
We can support you with access to key resources and professional advice in literature searching and information management, and work with you to carry out, promote and disseminate your research.
In the first of six special Diamond Jubilee features celebrating research at Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU), we look back to our beginnings in 1962, the research then and how things have progressed to the present day.
Explore more
Explore our other Diamond Jubilee research features:
From beginning as a small local college into a higher education institution with an international presence today, Canterbury Christ Church has brought so much positive change for us all through education and research.
Professor Rama ThirunamachandranVice-Chancellor
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In this section
Our beginnings
Canterbury Christ Church University started out as a teacher training college in response to a national shortage of teachers. Today, our courses and research continue to influence education practice and policy in the UK and around the world.
See how we’ve grown
Just 4% of young people went to university in the early 1960s. In 2022 that figure has grown to 40%.
Early 1960’s
Late 1970’s
Today 2022
We have seen a similar rise in our own student numbers. We started in 1962 with 75 students and now we have over 17,000. Over 1,000 of these are international students - highlighting our international growth.
Researchers tools
Whilst we now enjoy state-of-the-art research tools, in the early days things were very different!
Card indexes
Books and articles were catalogued alphabetically in card indexes, held in large sets of wooden drawers. Students had to search to find where a book was stored in the library.
Microfiche
Microfiche are thin, flat sheets of transparent photographic film on which details of books, articles, reports or other information could be viewed using a special piece of magnifying equipment.
Research at Canterbury Christ Church University
In the early days, Christ Church students and staff were busy undertaking research in our libraries and laboratories. It wasn't until the 1970s that they could use our then ‘state of the art’ college computer terminal!
60 years in 60 seconds: Diamond Jubilee vlogs.
To celebrate the CCCU Diamond Jubilee, we challenged six of our research leaders to tell us about the legacy of our research in just 60 seconds. These will be uploaded sequentially as they are produced so check back regularly for new ones!