Heidelberg University

Heidelberg University (German: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; Latin: Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1386 on the instruction of Pope Urban VI, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university and one of the world's oldest surviving universities. It was the third university established in the Holy Roman Empire.

The University Library is the main library of the university and constitutes together with the decentralized libraries of the faculties and institutes, the integral university library system comprising approximately 6.7 million printed books. It is Germany's most frequently used library, and it is currently placed 1st in a ranking of Germany's best libraries.

Among historical scientific achievements of Heidelberg, researchers feature prominently the invention of spectroscopy, and of the Bunsen burner; the discovery of chemical elements Caesium and Rubidium; the identification of the absolute point of ebullition; and the identification and isolation of nicotine as the main pharmacologically active component of tobacco. Modern scientific psychiatry; psychopharmacology; psychiatric genetics; environmental physics; and modern sociology were introduced as scientific disciplines by Heidelberg faculty. Almost 800 dwarf planets, the North America Nebula, and the return of Halley's Comet have been discovered and documented at institutes of the Heidelberg Center for Astronomy. Moreover, Heidelberg researchers invented the process of plastination to preserve body tissue, conducted the first successful transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells, and recently developed a new strategy for vaccination against certain forms of cancer, which earned Professor Harald zur Hausen of the university the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2008.