The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge. Founded in 1209, the university is the world's third-oldest in continuous operation. Its founding followed the arrival of scholars who left the University of Oxford for Cambridge after a dispute with local townspeople.

The University of Cambridge includes 31 semi-autonomous constituent colleges and over 150 academic departments, faculties, and other institutions organised into six schools.

The university is routinely ranked among the world's top five, and has sometimes been ranked as the world's best. As of 2024, it is ranked the second-best university in the world behind the MIT and the best university in Europe by QS Rankings.