NUI Galway is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland. It is located in Ireland's westerly city of Galway. A tertiary-level educational institution, it is ranked among the top 2 per cent of universities in the world. The University is ranked #249 in the 2016 QS World University Rankings and has been also been awarded the full five QS stars for excellence.

The university was founded in 1845 as Queen's College, Galway, and was more recently known as University College, Galway . Alumni include the incumbent Taoiseach and President of Ireland, Enda Kenny and Michael D. Higgins respectively, as well as numerous other prominent politicians. Other leading figures in Irish official life to have been educated here include Attorney General Máire Whelan and Comptroller and Auditor General Seamus McCarthy.

NUI Galway is a member of the Coimbra Group, a network of 40 long-established European universities.