University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia, commonly referred to as UBC, is a public research university with campuses and facilities in British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1908 as the McGill University College of British Columbia, the University became independent and adopted its current name in 1915. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in British Columbia and enrolls over 58,000 students at its Vancouver and Okanagan Valley campuses. UBC's 4.02 km2 (993-acre) Vancouver campus is located within the University Endowment Lands, about 10 km (6 mi) west of Downtown Vancouver. The 2.09 km2 (516-acre) Okanagan campus, acquired in 2005, is located in Kelowna.

The University offers degrees and diplomas in over 300 fields of study, and in 2014 granted 12,421 degrees. Most students are enrolled in five larger Faculties, namely Arts, Science, Medicine, Applied Science and the Sauder School of Business. UBC exhibits very high research activity, and with a research budget valued at $564 million, funds 8,442 projects as of 2014. UBC is the home of several notable scholarships, including the Schulich Scholarship for STEM fields, the Donald A. Wehrung International Student Award for scholars from war-torn countries, and the International Leader of Tomorrow Award for outstanding international scholars.

One the largest research libraries in Canada, the UBC Library system contains over seven million volumes among its 21 branches and is considered one of the most prolific in North America. Since 1968, UBC is home to TRIUMF, which is Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics and houses the world's largest cyclotron. Other facilities include the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, regarded as one of North America's premier performing arts centres, the Beaty Biodiversity Museum, which contains more than 2 million items in its collection, and the Museum of Anthropology, which houses more than 535,000 artifacts.

U.S. News and World Report and Times Higher Education rank UBC among the 20 best public universities in the world, and according to QS World University Rankings the University is consistently ranked among the top 25 North American universities. As reported by Maclean's the University has the second highest average undergraduate entering grade among Canadian universities. Faculty, alumni, and researchers have been awarded seven Nobel Prizes, 69 Rhodes Scholarships, 65 Olympic medals and 195 fellowships to the Royal Society of Canada. The University has also educated three Canadian prime ministers, most recently Justin Trudeau, the incumbent.