Third Higher School

Kyoto University

京都大学
Motto	自由の学風
Motto in English	Freedom of academic culture
Type	Public (National)
Established	Founded Jun. 18, 1897
Endowment	¥ 250.2 billion (2.2 billion USD)
President	Juichi Yamagiwa
Academic staff	2,864 (Teaching Staff)
Administrative staff	5,397 (Total Staff)
Students	22,707
Undergraduates	13,399
Postgraduates	9,308
Location	Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan Coordinates: 35°01′34″N 135°46′51″E / 35.026212°N 135.780842°E / 35.026212; 135.780842
Campus	Urban, 135 ha (333 acres)
Athletics	48 varsity teams
Colors	Dark blue
Nickname	Kyodai
Affiliations	Kansai Big Six, ASAIHL
Mascot	None
Website	www.kyoto-u.ac.jp

Kyoto University (京都大学, Kyōto daigaku), or Kyodai (京大, Kyōdai) is a national university in Kyoto, Japan. It is the second oldest Japanese university, one of Asia's highest ranked universities and one of Japan's National Seven Universities. One of Asia’s leading research-oriented institutions, Kyoto University is famed for producing world-class researchers, including at least nine Nobel Prize laureates, two Fields medalists and one Gauss Prize winner.

Kyoto University's forerunner was the Chemistry School (舎密局, Seimi-kyoku) founded in Osaka in 1869, which, despite its name, taught physics as well. (舎密 is a transcription of a Dutch word .) Later, the Third Higher School (第三髙等學校, Daisan-kōtō-gakkō) was established in the place of Seimi-kyoku in 1886, it then transferred to the university's present main campus in the same year.

Kyoto Imperial University (京都帝國大學, Kyōto-teikoku-daigaku) as a part of the Imperial University system was established on June 18, 1897, using the Third Higher School's buildings. The higher school moved to a patch of land across the street, where the Yoshida South Campus stands today. In the same year of the university's establishment, the College of Science and Technology was founded. The College of Law and the College of Medicine were founded in 1899, the College of Letters in 1906, expanding the university's activities to areas outside natural science.