The University of Nottingham is a public research university in the city of Nottingham, England, with further campuses in Ningbo, China and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The university was founded in 1721, gaining its Royal Charter in 1881. It is a member of the Russell Group, Universitas 21, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the European University Association. With over 40,000 applications every year, Nottingham is one of the five most popular universities in the UK, and has been described by the Times as "the nearest Britain has to a truly global university" and the "prime alternative to Oxbridge".