The  University of California, Davis  (also referred to as UCD, UC Davis, or Davis), is a public research university and one of the 10 campuses of the University of California system. Located in Davis, California, just west of Sacramento, it encompasses 7,309 acres of land, making it the largest UC campus in terms of land ownership. UC Davis also has the third- largest enrolment in the UC System after UCLA and UC Berkeley.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies UC Davis as a comprehensive doctoral research university with a medical program, and very high research activity. The UC Davis faculty includes 23 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 25 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 17 members of the American Law Institute, 14 members of the Institute of Medicine, and 14 members of the National Academy of Engineering. Among other honours, university faculty, alumni, and researchers have won the Nobel Peace Prize, Presidential Medal of Freedom, Pulitzer Prize, MacArthur Fellowship, National Medal of Science, and Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering.

The university has expanded over the past century to include graduate and professional programs in medicine (which includes the UC Davis Medical Centre), law, veterinary medicine, education, nursing, and business management, in addition to 90 research programs offered by UC Davis Graduate Studies. The UC Davis’s School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest in the United States and is ranked first in the nation.

The 2016 U.S. News & World Report college rankings named UC Davis as tied for the 11th best public university and tied for 41st overall in the U.S. UC Davis is one of 62 members in the Association of American Universities.

The UC Davis Aggies athletic teams compete in the NCAA Division I level, primarily in the Big West Conference as well as the Big Sky Conference (football only) and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. In its first year of full Division I status, 11 UC Davis teams qualified for NCAA post-season competition.

The university has 104 undergraduate majors and 96 graduate programs. It has a Department of Viticulture and Enology (concerning the scientific study of grape-growing and winemaking) that has been and continues to be responsible for significant advancements in winemaking utilized by many Californian wineries. The campus claims to be noted for its top-rated Agricultural and Resource Economics programs and the large Department of Animal Science through which students can study at the university’s own on-campus dairy, meat-processing plant, equestrian facility, and experimental farm. Students of Environmental Horticulture and other botanical sciences have many acres of campus farmland and the University of California, Davis, Arboretum at their disposal.

The Department of Applied Science was founded and formerly chaired by physicist Edward Teller. The arts are also studied extensively on campus with subjects such as studio art, design, music, theatre and dance. The Design Department at UC Davis is the only comprehensive academic design unit of the University of California system. There is also the Mondavi Centre for the Performing Arts which features artists from all over the globe. The Academic Ranking of World Universities placed UC Davis 35th nationally and 57th globally for 2015. In its 2015-16 rankings, Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Ranked it tied for 44th in the world. The QS World University Rankings ranked it tied for 85th globally in 2015, with Agriculture & Forestry ranked No. 1 in the world.