The University of Alaska Fairbanks (also referred to as UAF or Alaska) is a public research university in College, Alaska. It is a flagship campus of the University of Alaska system and a land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant institution. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for classes in 1922. Originally named the Alaska Agricultural College and School of Mines, it became the University of Alaska in 1935. Fairbanks-based programs became the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1975.

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UAF is home to several major research units, including the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station; the Geophysical Institute, which operates the Poker Flat Research Range and several other scientific centers; the Alaska Center for Energy and Power; the International Arctic Research Center; the Institute of Arctic Biology; the Institute of Marine Science; and the Institute of Northern Engineering.

 

Located just 200 miles (320 km) south of the Arctic Circle,  the Fairbanks campus' unique location favors Arctic and northern research. UAF's research specialties are renowned worldwide, most notably Arctic biology, Arctic engineering, geophysics, supercomputing and Alaska Native studies. The University of Alaska Museum of the Northis also on the Fairbanks campus.