Bangor University (Welsh: Prifysgol Bangor) is a Welsh University based in the city of Bangor in the county of Gwynedd in North Wales. It received its Royal charter in 1885 and was one of the founding Member institution of the former federal University of Wales. It was officially known for most of its history as the University of Wales, Bangor ("UWB")(Welsh: Prifysgol Cymru, Bangor).From September 2007 the University became known as Bangor University, having become independent from the Federal University of Wales. In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, almost 50 per cent of all research at Bangor University was assessed as world-leading. Bangor is ranked 251 of the world's top universities. Bangor Rag Radio Stereo FM started in 1972 by a number of Dean Street (Electronics Engineering) students, initially just for Rag Week. This was a pirate radio station, possibly the first University stereo FM station in the UK. The FM transmitter was moved around Bangor to avoid capture by the GPO, often with a microwave link line-of-sight from the Student's Union building roof to provide live studio radio programmes.Its predecessor was on Medium Wave only, and was started shortly after World War II. Rag Radio later spawned BRBS the Bangor Rag Broadcasting System, which ran until 1991.