The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham and Mason Science College , making it the first English civic or 'red brick' university to receive its own royal charter. It is a founding member of both the Russell Group of British research universities and the international network of research universities, Universitas 21.

The university was ranked 15th in the UK and 82nd in the world in the QS World University Rankings for 2016-17. In 2013, Birmingham was named 'University of the Year 2014' in the Times Higher Education awards. The 2016 Global Employability University Ranking places Birmingham at 90th world-wide and 10th in the UK. Birmingham is also ranked 9th in the UK for Graduate Prospects in The Times and The Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017.

The student population includes 20,100 undergraduate and 14,060 postgraduate students, which is the fourth largest in the UK . The annual income of the institution for 2015–16 was £625.6 million of which £135.5 million was from research grants and contracts, with an expenditure of £562.1 million.

The university is home to the Barber Institute of Fine Arts, housing works by Van Gogh, Picasso and Monet, the Lapworth Museum of Geology, the Cadbury Research Library home to the Mingana Collections of Middle Eastern manuscripts and the Chamberlain Collection, and the Joseph Chamberlain Memorial Clock Tower, which is a prominent landmark visible from many parts of the city. Academics and alumni of the university include former British Prime Ministers Neville Chamberlain, and Stanley Baldwin, the British composer Sir Edward Elgar and eleven Nobel laureates.