The University of Oslo is a leading public research university located in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. Founded in 1811 as the first university in Norway, it is now the country’s largest, with over 27,000 students and 3,500 staff members. The University of Oslo is a member of the European University Association and the Coimbra Group.
The University of Oslo was founded on 3rd September 1811 by King Frederick VI of Denmark and Norway, following approval by the Norwegian Parliament (Storting). It was originally named The Royal Fredericks University (Det Kongelige Frederiks Universitet), after its founder King Frederick VI. The university received its current name in 1939 after being taken over by the Norwegian government following the dissolution of Norway’s union with Sweden.
Today, the University of Oslo is Norway’s largest and most prestigious university, with over 27,000 students enrolled across six faculties: Humanities, Law, Medicine, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Theology. The university offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs taught in English and Norwegian.
The University of Oslo is consistently ranked among the world’s top 100 universities by several international rankings organizations. In 2019/20 alone it was placed at 87th overall by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and 74th by QS World University Rankings . Additionally, 14 subject areas at UiO were included in THE’s global top 200 list for 2019/20 – more than any other Nordic university. Research conducted at UiO has also been recognized internationally: In 2019 it was ranked 35th worldwide for impactful research according to Reuters Top 100: World’s Most Innovative Universities while Nature Index 2020 placed UiO 30th globally for high-quality research output . Notable alumni include nine Nobel Laureates , nine prime ministers , numerous artists , writers , actors and sportspeople .