The University of Zambia (UNZA) is a public university located in Lusaka, Zambia. It is Zambia’s largest learning institution. UNZA was established in 1965 and officially opened to the public on 12 July 1966. It is the oldest public university in Zambia. The language of instruction is English.
The beginnings of UNZA can be traced back before the Second World War when the idea to set up a University in Northern Rhodesiawas conceived. However, plans to set up a university were halted when the war broke out and only revived after. The colonial government instituted plans to set up a Central African University College, for Africa, due toe the development of higher education institutions in most parts of Africa.
The Central Africa council (CAC) appointed a committee to investigate requirements for a college for higher education and, it was recommended that a college for higher education be established.
Its main campus, the Great East Road Campus, is on the Great East Road, about 7 km from Lusaka City. It also has the Ridgeway Campus within Lusaka City located at the University Teaching Hospital (famously called UTH ); this campus specifically houses students pursuing medical and pharmacological courses.
The University of Zambia has over 157 degree and postgraduate degree programmes.
The University of Zambia has a nanotechnology research centre that was founded in 2001. The centre was founded by Elijah Mwansa, who after graduating from the University of Zambia received his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge and was a professor at University of Heidelberg and Carnegie Mellon University. The centre has several researchers from other African countries and Europe and is the only one of its kind on the African continent. It is financed by the government of Zambia as part of the Zambia 2020 initiative and grants from foreign science foundations.
UNZA is a member of the Association of African Universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, and the International Association of Universities.