We show that every tilting module of projective dimension one over a ring R
is associated in a natural way to the universal localization (in the sense of
Schofield) of R at a set of finitely presented modules of projective dimension
one. We then investigate tilting modules arising from universal localization.
Furthermore, we discuss the relationship between universal localization and the
localization given by a perfect Gabriel topology. Finally, we give some
applications to Artin algebras and to Pruefer domains.