Queen's University Belfast (informally Queen's or QUB) is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The university was chartered in 1845, and opened in 1849 as "Queen's College, Belfast". It became an independent university in 1908. The university forms the focal point of the Queen's Quarter area of the city, one of Belfast's six cultural districts. It offers academic degrees at various levels and across a broad subject range, with over 300 degree programmes available. It is ranked in the top one percent of universities in the world (QS World Rankings 2018 / Webometrics.info). Today, it is a member of the Russell Group, combining excellence in research and education with a student-centred ethos.