Birkbeck, University of London formerly Birkbeck College and occasionally known by the abbreviation BBK, is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London. At the undergraduate level, it aims at working people who want to study for degrees in the evenings. At the postgraduate level, it offers many Master's degree programmes that can be studied either part-time or full-time, though nearly all teaching is in the evening. It also admits full-time (as well as part-time) students for PhDs. Its staff members have excellent research reputations in subjects such as English, History, History of Art, Philosophy, Psychology, Spanish, Science and Crystallography. It also offers many continuing education courses leading to certificates and diplomas, foundation degrees as well as other short courses.Originally known as the London Mechanics Institute 1823 and later Birkbeck Literary and Scientific Institution, the main building is between Malet Street and Woburn Square in Bloomsbury, with a number of other buildings on nearby streets. The School of Arts, including the Department of English & Humanities, is housed in Virginia Woolf's former Gordon Square residence in Bloomsbury. Other notable residents of this house include Leslie Stephen, Vanessa Bell, John Maynard Keynes and Lydia Lopokova.Many Birkbeck classes are taught at other locations across the Bloomsbury area. This is due to a combination of Birkbeck's widening participation strategy to make higher education accessible and also because nearly all classes on one day are taught at the same time, resulting in heavy competition for limited space.