The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868, it is the state's first land-grant university and the founding campus of the University of California system. UC Berkeley is known for its academic excellence, groundbreaking research, and social and political activism. It is considered the #1 public research university in the U.S. UC Berkeley pushes the boundaries of knowledge, challenges convention and expands opportunity to create the leaders of tomorrow.