Stockholm University is a public university located in Stockholm, Sweden. It was founded as a college in 1878 and gained university status in 1960. Notable in the university’s early history is the appointment of Sofia Kovalevskaya to hold a chair in the mathematics department in 1889, making her the third female professor in Europe. Stockholm University is Sweden’s largest university and one of Europe’s leading centres for higher education and research in science, humanities, social sciences and law. The university is ranked as the 69th best university in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, and among the 200 best universities in the world by Times Higher Education World University Rankings and QS World University Rankings.