University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh was legally founded in 1582, although it did not open until 1583. It is now one of the top ten universities in the United Kingdom, with approximately 30,000 students. Edinburgh is consistently ranked among the top 100 institutions in the world. Some of the brightest minds in scientific history have studied here, including Charles Darwin, the founder of the theory of evolution, statistician Thomas Bayes, physicist James Clerk Maxwell, and many others.

The university's renowned Georgian Old College structure was conceived in 1789 but took decades to fund and construct, with the eye-catching dome completed in 1887. It now contains the University of Edinburgh's School of Law, administrative offices, and the Talbot Rice Gallery, which hosts contemporary art exhibits.