The University of Queensland, a publicly owned institution headquartered in Australia, was founded in 1909 and employs approximately 16,990 staff. It functions as a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. The institution is recognized as one of the six sandstone universities, an informal designation for the oldest university in each state, and is a founding member of edX, Australia's Group of Eight, and the international research-intensive Association of Pacific Rim Universities.