University of Göttingen, Public research university in Göttingen, Germany

The Georg-August-Universität is not a campus university: its roughly 235 buildings are scattered across Göttingen, with a concentration around the Geisteswissenschaftliches Zentrum north of the centre and the natural sciences in Weende. The Paulinerkirche and the Universitätsaula am Wilhelmsplatz remain in the Innenstadt. The Aula's facade carries the inscription "IV.REX ACADEMIAE SUAE GEORGIAE AUGUSTAE ET BONIS ARTIBUS MDCCC" above six fluted columns and a pediment of carved figures.

George II ordered Gerlach Adolph von Münchhausen to found the university in 1734; teaching began that year, and the formal inauguration followed in 1737. Lectures were first held in the Paulinerkirche, a Dominican monastery and professors' homes, as no auditorium existed until the 19th century. Law dominated early enrolment, and by the 1837 centenary law students often made up over half the student body.

The Gänseliesel statue at the market square serves as the city's unofficial emblem and stands at the heart of an academic tradition carried on for generations. Newly graduated doctoral candidates walk through the streets with their companions and kiss the bronze figure as the final act of their celebration.

The university is not a campus but is spread across the city, with a concentration since the 1960s around the Humanities Centre north of the old town and the natural sciences in Weende. The State and University Library holds about ten million media units (2024) and covers the 18th century within the Sammlung Deutscher Drucke. The Paulinerkirche and the university auditorium on Wilhelmsplatz lie in the city centre.

The institution counts 47 Nobel Prize recipients among its former members and graduates, including well-known names from quantum mechanics and modern chemistry. This reputation continues to draw researchers from around the world who work in the laboratories and seminars.