Tel Aviv University (TAU, אוניברסיטת תל אביב, את"א) is one of Israel's major universities. As of 2006, the Tel Aviv University teaches around 29,000 students. TAU was founded in 1956 when the Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, the Institute of Natural Sciences, and the Institute of Jewish Studies joined together to form a University. TAU received its autonomy from the Tel Aviv municipality in 1963, when its campus near the northern Tel Aviv neighborhood of Ramat Aviv was established. TAU is comprised of nine faculties, 106 departments, and 90 research institutes.