The University was founded as as Queen's College Galway in 1845, National University of Ireland Galway (NUI Galway) is one of Ireland’s oldest and most prestigious universities. With over 18,000 students and more than 2,500 staff the University has a distinguished reputation for teaching and research excellence in a wide range of disciplines, including: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Business and Law Science Engineering and Information Technology Medicine and Health Sciences Research excellence: NUI Galway is a research-led university, and has a growing international profile for its research in five key priority areas: Biomedical Science and Engineering Informatics, Physical and Computational Science Applied Social Sciences and Public Policy Environment, Marine and Energy Humanities in Context NUI Galway is home to: The first UNESCO Chair in the Republic of Ireland, in the field of Children, Youth and Civic Engagement The world’s largest research institute for developing internet technology Ireland’s primary stem cell and gene therapy research institute Some of the world’s leading experts in human rights law Some of the world’s most ambitious archive projects Leaders in Environmental, Marine and Energy research