Teesside University 2015, the university acquired Teesside Central, adding 75 en-suite apartments to its accommodation portfolio. This accommodation is known as Central Halls. Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art, or mima, is a contemporary art gallery in the centre of Middlesbrough. It is run in partnership with Teesside University. Teesside University has won seven National Teaching Fellowships. The Vice-Chancellor is Professor Paul Croney, who took up the position in May 2015 when Professor Graham Henderson retired. In April 2005, the University welcomed Lord Sawyer as its Chancellor, succeeding the University's first ever Chancellor, European Commissioner Leon Brittan. Teesside University's research is focused on
English of Northumbria (spoken in mining towns such as Ashington), Mackem (spoken in Wearside) and arguably Smoggie (Teesside). It is spoken mainly if not exclusively in the modern day counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and Durham. The Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria was much more extensive than this, covering most parts of Yorkshire, and some parts of Cumbria, Lancashire and Scotland. The major Northumbrian dialects today are Geordie, Northern Northumbrian, Western Northumbrian, Southern Northumbrian or Pitmatic, Mackem, and arguably Smoggie, which is transitional between Northumbrian and Yorkshire English. To an outsider's ear the similarities between the dialects far outweigh the differences between the