University of Toronto

The University of Toronto (U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated north of the city's Financial District on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. The university was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in the colony of Upper Canada. Originally controlled by the Church of England, it assumed the present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. As a collegiate university, it consists of twelve colleges that differ in character and history, with each retaining substantial autonomy. The university operates sixteen academic faculties, ten teaching hospitals and numerous research institutes, with two satellite campuses at Mississauga and Scarborough.

Academically, the University of Toronto is noted for influential movements and curricula in literary criticism and communication theory, where it originated the concepts of "the medium is the message" and "global village". The university was the birthplace of insulin and stem cell research, and was the site of the first practical electron microscope, the development of multi-touch technology and the identification of Cygnus X-1 as a black hole. By a significant margin, it receives the most annual research funding of any Canadian university. The Varsity Blues are the athletic teams that represent the university in intercollegiate league matches, with particularly long and storied ties to gridiron football and ice hockey. The university's Hart House is an early example of the North American student centre, simultaneously serving cultural, intellectual and recreational interests within its large Gothic-revival complex.

The University of Toronto ranked as the nation's top medical-doctoral university in Maclean's magazine for twelve consecutive years between 1994 and 2005. The university is consistently ranked among the world's best, placing 24th in the 2008 Academic Ranking of World Universities and 18th in the Newsweek global university ranking of 2006.

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