It's a red brick research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. It received its royal charter in 1909, and its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876. Bristol is organised into six academic faculties composed of multiple schools and departments running over 200 undergraduate courses largely situated in the Tyndalls Park area of the city. The university had a total income of £565.8 million in 2015/16, of which £146.2 million was from research grants and contracts. It is the largest independent employer in Bristol. The University of Bristol is ranked 11th in the UK for its research, according to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 by GPA.[13] The University of Bristol is ranked 37th by the QS World University Rankings 2015-16, and is ranked amongst the top of UK universities by QS,[14] THE,[15] and ARWU. A highly selective institution, it has an average of 6.4 (Sciences faculty) to 13.1 (Medicine & Dentistry Faculty) applicants for each undergraduate place.[16] The University of Bristol was the youngest British university to be ranked among the top 40 institutions in the world according to the yearly QS World University Rankings for 2009.