The University of Otago (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo) is a collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. It scores highly for average research quality, and in 2006[needs update] was second in New Zealand only to the University of Auckland in the number of A-rated academic researchers it employs. In the past it has topped the New Zealand Performance Based Research Fund evaluation.
The university was created by a committee led by Thomas Burns, and officially established by an ordinance of the Otago Provincial Council in 1869. The university accepted its first students in July 1871, making it the oldest university in New Zealand and third-oldest in Oceania. Between 1874 and 1961 the University of Otago was a part of the federal University of New Zealand, and issued degrees in its name.[citation needed]