The University of California, San Diego (popularly known as UC San Diego or UCSD) is a selective, research-oriented public university located in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The university, one of ten University of California campuses, was founded in 1960 around the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. UC San Diego tends to attract students who are interested in science and engineering due to the prominent San Diego biotechnology and telecommunications sectors that developed nearby because of the presence of the university. The university is also near several well-known and respected research centers, such as the Salk Institute, the Burnham Institute for Medical Research and The Scripps Research Institute.

UC San Diego is ranked among the top eight public universities for undergraduate education in the United States by U.S. News & World Report, and it is ranked 38th among all universities in the United States by the same publication. For graduate studies, most of UC San Diego's Ph.D. programs are ranked in the top 20 for academic quality in the United States by the National Research Council. In 2007, the Academic Ranking of World Universities released by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ranked UC San Diego 12th in the United States and 14th in the world in terms of quality of scientific research leading towards a Nobel Prize. UC San Diego has a total of 12 Nobel Laureates affiliated with it.