[2] Sited on the opposite side of the Earlham Road to the present campus, this was a collection of prefabricated structures designed for 1,200 students, laid out by the local architectural firm Feilden and Mawson.

[27] In 1961, the first vice-chancellor, Frank Thistlethwaite, had approached architect Denys Lasdun, an adherent of the "New Brutalist" trend in architecture, who was at that time building Fitzwilliam College, to produce designs for the permanent campus.

[32] In 1963, the University of East Anglia Boat Club (UEABC) was founded; it currently has 60 members and rows year-round on the Yare River from September to July.

[36] The monthly student newspaper Concrete officially launched in 1973, replacing Mandate from 1965; issues have included interviews with Tony Blair, Nick Clegg, Paul McCartney, Coldplay, Stephen Fry, Michael Palin, Harrison Ford, Greg James, Charles Clarke and Max Mosley.

[39] That same year, UEA's consultant architect Bernard Feilden helped the university to win a Civic Trust Award for the design of the main campus social area (The Square).

[41] The project involved excavating an 18-acre (7.3-hectare) area of gravel and was arranged as part of a "no money" deal where the aggregate company took the material leaving a landscaped body of water fed by the River Yare.

[56] In 1993, the Union of UEA Students took over the management of the Waterfront, a music venue and nightclub located on the bank of the River Wensum which has hosted bands and artists including Pulp, Radiohead, Nirvana, The Verve, Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy, Amy Winehouse, Stereophonics, Paul Weller, Buzzcocks, MGMT, Travis, Moby, Ellie Goulding and Foals.

[62][63] In 2001, UEA alumnus Sir Paul Nurse was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine which he shared jointly with Timothy Hunt and Leland Hartwell "for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle".

Because the CRU was a major repository for data regarding man-made global warming, the release, which occurred directly prior to the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference, attracted international attention and led to calls for an inquiry, with the controversy gaining the nickname "climategate".

[76] In the mid-2010s, the Sainsbury Centre at UEA was used for filming several scenes in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War and Spider-Man: Homecoming.

[79] Also, Earlham Park played host between 23 and 24 May to BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend 2015 where acts such as Fall Out Boy, Muse, Foo Fighters and Taylor Swift performed.

[81] That same year, vice-chancellor David Richardson unveiled a "2030 vision" which included a £300m investment in campus – refurbishing existing buildings as well as creating new teaching and learning spaces in order to help UEA become a major global university.

[82] In 2019, Norwich Business School received an Athena SWAN Bronze award for good practices in higher education and research institutions towards the advancement of gender equality.

[83][84] During the COVID-19 pandemic in May 2020, the university gave empty student accommodation to NHS staff, allowing them to isolate from at-risk family members and to avoid commuting.

[85] In June 2021, plans for a BBC film documenting the 2009 CRU email controversy were announced, featuring Jason Watkins playing the role of climatologist Phil Jones.

[88][90] The financial turmoil alongside a previous vote of no-confidence by the UCU branch of East Anglia, and a "scathing" letter written to the UEA Council by the professoriate demanding change, led to the immediate resignation of vice-chancellor David Richardson on 17 February 2023, who had been in the role for ten years.

[98] In September 2023, it was announced that some of the university's student accommodation would be temporarily closed, due to government guidance on the unsafe nature of the building material RAAC.

[102] In April 2024, Dame Jenny Abramsky (previously the BBC's most senior female employee; Director of Audio and Music) was appointed as the university's chancellor.

[4] In August 2024, it was announced that contractor Mace was going to carry out a four-phase strip-back-to-frame refurbishment of the Lasdun Wall buildings due to potential architectural risks and failings.

[104] In a statement, Maguire said the decision to cut staff had not "been taken lightly" and would allow UEA to "save an additional £11m to stay on track with our financial sustainability plan".

[105] A spokesperson for the university said: "The senior team are working their hardest to develop robust evidence-based plans to mitigate the worst impacts of external financial pressures.

Accommodation blocks on the campus include Constable Terrace, Nelson Court, with Britten, Paston, Colman, Victory, Kett and Browne Houses, in addition to the University Village.

Other establishments include the Square (a central outdoor meeting place), Café 57, the Bio Cafe,[112] and the UEA Medical Centre and Dental Practice.

[116] Other transport links include First Buses to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and to Bowthorpe, as well as Konectbus services to Watton, Dereham and also Costessey via park and ride.

[117] National Express provides coach services to London and Megabus also operates both low cost intercity and long-distance travel to cities including Cambridge, Birmingham, Bristol and Cardiff.

[122] Between September 2022 and November 2023, the library also worked on a project entitled "Towards a Centre for Contemporary Poetry in the Archive", which has included hosting four Poets in Residence: Joelle Taylor, Jay Bernard, Anthony Vahni Capildeo and Gail McConnell.

[126] The school was also stated to be "the strongest in the world" by the chief scientific adviser to the British government, Sir David King, during a lecture at the John Innes Centre in 2005.

[131] Nationally, UEA is also involved in a number of partnerships including the Nexus Network (with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership and the University of Sussex) which fosters research and practical collaborations across the domains of energy and the environment.

[165] The 2024 survey results featured comments from students noting university staff as "knowledgeable, passionate and supportive" with 100% positivity scores in certain subject areas such as Physics, Liberal Arts, and Chemistry.

Acts that have performed at these venues include Captain Beefheart, The Cure, Coldplay, Pere Ubu, U2, Haim, The Smiths, Sparks, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Radiohead and Iron Maiden.