Delft University of Technology (Dutch: Technische Universiteit Delft), also known as TU Delft, is the largest and oldest Dutch public technical university, located in Delft, Netherlands. With eight faculties and numerous research institutes it hosts over 16,000 students (undergraduate and postgraduate), more than 2,600 scientists (including more than 200 professors), over 2,000 doctoral students, and more than 2,000 people in the support and management staff. The university was established on January 8, 1842 by King William II of the Netherlands as a Royal Academy, with the main purpose of training civil servants for the colonies of the Dutch East India Company. The school rapidly expanded its research and education curriculum, becoming first a Polytechnic School in 1864, Institute of Technology in 1905, and finally gaining full university rights in 1986. Nobel laureates Jacobus van 't Hoff, Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, and Simon van der Meer have been associated with TU Delft. TU Delft is a member of several university federations including the IDEA League, CESAER, UNITECH, and 3TU.