Royal School of Veterinary Studies

The Royal School of Veterinary Studies, commonly referred to as the Dick Vet, is the veterinary school of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and part of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine the head of which is Sir John Savill. David Argyle has been head of the school since 1 November 2011.The school was ranked 1st in the UK by the UK Government in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework and the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise and 2nd in the UK by the Complete University Guide 2014 and Times Good University Guide 2014 for veterinary studies. In 2015, QS World University Rankings ranked the veterinary school 9th in the world for veterinary medicine.It is known for the cloning of Dolly the sheep which took place in 1996 at the Roslin Institute by Sir Ian Wilmut.HistoryOriginally called the Highland Society’s Veterinary School, Edinburgh, the Dick Vet, as it came to be known, was established by William Dick, a former student of the anatomist John Barclay of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The first regular classes at the school were begun in November 1823, although lectures to small groups of students had been provided for four years prior to this date. That first session of regular classes was financed by student fees and a grant from the Highland Society of Scotland at Edinburgh, of which John Barclay was a director. Mary Dick, William's elder sister, was reputed to have been instrumental, from the early days, in the administration of the school.