The University of Calcutta (; informally known as Calcutta University or CU) is a public state university located in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta), West Bengal, India established on 24 January 1857. It was the first institution in Asia to be established as a multidisciplinary and secular Western-style university. Within India it is recognized as a "Five-Star University" and a "Centre with Potential for Excellence" by the University Grants Commission and the National Assessment and Accreditation Council. There are four Nobel laureates associated with this university: Ronald Ross, Rabindra Nath Tagore, C. V. Raman and Amartya Sen. The university has the highest number of students who have cleared the doctoral entrance eligibility exam in Natural Science & Arts conducted by Government of India's National Eligibility Test to become eligible to pursue research with full scholarship awarded by the Government of India.