The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university located in Oxford, England. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world, and the second-oldest surviving university in the world, after the University of Bologna.
牛津大学是一所研究型大学，坐落于英格兰的牛津市。其建校的具体日期仍是个谜，但有证据显示1096年有教学记录，所以牛津大学成为英语国家中最古老的大学，也是世界上现存的第二古老的大学，仅次于博洛尼亚大学。
The University is made up from a variety of institutions , including 38 constituent colleges and a full range of academic departments which are organized into four Divisions. Oxford has nurtured many prominent alumni , and fifty-eight Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the university. Twenty-six British prime ministers, at least 30 other world leaders, 12 saints and 20 archbishops of Canterbury have been Oxonians. It regularly contends with Cambridge for the first place in the UK league tables.
牛津大学由多个院校构成，包括38所学院和一系列的学术部门，统组为4个部门。牛津培育出了很多著名校友，其中58位诺贝尔获奖者曾在牛津大学求学或工作，26位英国首相，至少30位其他国家的领导人，12位圣人，20位坎特伯雷主教来自牛津大学。如今，牛津大学常与剑桥大学角逐英国排行榜的第一位。
牛津大学的学院中有许多中世纪建筑瑰宝。街两旁布满中世纪的四合院，每个四合院就是一所学院，四周往往围绕着美丽的庭园。每所学院均有其辉煌的历史、神话般的建筑遗迹，可以描画出各种有趣的史实。牛津城内有很多中世纪的塔楼，它们古色古香，是文艺复兴风格的建筑，弥漫着浪漫气息。牛津大学位于民众方庭的图书馆，是英格兰最古老的图书馆；这里幽深绵长的皇后小巷，路边的石凳长满了青苔，周边是王尔德坐过的木凳，萧伯纳倚过的书架，都照原样没动。可想而知，这是一座充满古典文化氛围的学府。
