Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU (Ukrainian: Київський національний універcитет - КНУ) is located in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and University of Kharkiv. Currently, its structure consists of fifteen faculties (academic departments) and five institutes. It was founded in 1834 as the Kiev Imperial University of Saint Vladimir, and since then it has changed its name several times. During the Soviet Union era, Taras Shevchenko University was one of the top-three universities in the USSR, along with Moscow State University and Leningrad State University. It is ranked as the best university in Ukraine in many rankings (see below).