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The University of Otago (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Ōtākou) is a public university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. It scores highly for average research quality, and in 2006 was second in New Zealand only to the University of Auckland in the number of A-rated academic researchers it employs. In the past it has topped the New Zealand Performance Based Research Fund evaluation.
The university was created by a committee led by Thomas Burns, and officially established by an ordinance of the Otago Provincial Council in 1869. The university accepted its first students in July 1871, making it the oldest university in New Zealand and third-oldest in Oceania. Between 1874 and 1961 the University of Otago was a part of the federal University of New Zealand, and issued degrees in its name.
Otago is known for its vibrant student life, particularly its flatting, which is often in old houses. Otago students have a long standing tradition of naming their flats. The nickname for Otago students "Scarfie" comes from the habit of wearing a scarf during the cold southern winters. The university's graduation song, Gaudeamus igitur, iuvenes dum sumus ("Let us rejoice, while we are young"), acknowledges students will continue to live up to the challenge, if not always in the way intended. The university's student magazine, Critic, is New Zealand's longest running student magazine.
The architectural grandeur and accompanying gardens of Otago University led to it being ranked as one of the world's most beautiful university campuses by the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph and American online news website The Huffington Post.