The University of Southampton is a British university situated in the city of Southampton, on the south coast of Great Britain. The university has a world-wide reputation for high-quality research, and is a member of the Russell Group of research-led British universities. According to The Sunday Times newspaper league table, Southampton is perennially in the top ten for research (its primary focus), while in 2002 it came 3rd overall (out of around 200 British institutions). Southampton is a member of the Worldwide Universities Network and has close links with MIT in the United States.

The University's main buildings are situated on a large site on the Highfield Campus in Highfield, but the university has other campuses elsewhere around the city: at Boldrewood (biomedical sciences),Southampton General Hospital and on the waterfront at the National Oceanography Centre. It also has a campus in the nearby city of Winchester which is the home of the university's School of Art, known as the Winchester School of Art. The Avenue Campus houses most of the Humanities subjects taught at the University, including History, English, Philosophy and Modern Languages. The Centre for Language Study is based at Avenue Campus. Music is taught on the Highfield Campus.