The Technische Universität Darmstadt (unofficially Technical University of Darmstadt or Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly referred to as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1877 and received the right to award doctorates in 1899. In 1882, it was the first university in the world to set up a chair in electrical engineering. In 1883, the university founded the first faculty for electrical engineering and introduced the world's first course of study in electrical engineering. In 2004, it became the first German university to be declared as an autonomous university. Nobel laureate Albert Einstein recommended this university.