University PetrSU was founded in 1940 as the Finnish-Karelian University and gained its present name in 1956. Throughout its 75-year history, PetrSU has become the largest university in the North-European part of Russia and trained more than 60000 students. It successfully combines classical education and fundamental science traditions with innovative decisions in the fields of high-tech scientific development. PetrSU has several notable alumni, including eminent politicians and poets. It is regularly placed among Russia's best universities according to different rankings (GreenMetric World University Ranking – second place among 100 best universities in Russia Interfax and Ekho Moskva independent national rating in the internalization category – third place, etc.).
The university occupies eight buildings throughout the city and operates a botanic garden, a swimming pool «Onego,» several laboratories, and a publishing house. Its library holds a total of around 1.4 million books. PetrSU is located in Petrozavodsk, but it also has a branch in Apatity, the city in the Murmansk region. Today more than 14800 students attend classes in various undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate programs. They are taught by over a thousand professors, including 550 PhDs, 145 Doctors of Science, 26 members of state academies of science.
The university comprises 80 departments, nine faculties, seven educational institutes, and eight research institutes.
The university plays an active role in making higher education more accessible to the people living in the outland districts of Karelia and nearby states. Every district is assigned to a faculty or institute, and students from small towns or villages can apply for an employer-sponsored education. Students from Petrozavodsk schools, lyceums, and gymnasiums can attend pre-university training specific to their future studies. PetrSU organizes and conducts the Unified State Exam (USE), which has been the main form of graduation examinations in schools and the main form of preliminary examinations in universities in Russia for the past ten years. The university houses the Regional USE Center, which processes examination results and provides online counseling for teachers and students.
PetrSU is a recognized research center in programming, IT, plasma research, microelectronics, mathematics, physics, medical science, biology, history, philology, political and social sciences, law, economics, construction, forestry, agriculture. More than 60 regional, national and international conferences are held annually, over 300 state, and private-funded projects in science and education are carried out. Dozens of monographs, textbooks, and handbooks are published. Over the years, PetrSU has been very active in the international arena. Today more than 200 international students from the USA, Europe, China, other countries study at the university, and ten professors from different countries teach at PetrSU. There are six master's programs in the English language launched in 2015: «Network Services and Systems,» «Comparative Social Policy and Welfare», «Public Health,» «Tourism Management,» «Nordic Studies: Language, Culture and History» and «Spintronics.» Undergraduate students can opt for a bachelor's or specialist's degree.
The university has 87 active international agreements with 27 countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Portugal, United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Belgium, Korea, countries of the Baltic region, etc.) and international exchange programs are launched with 20 foreign universities. Thirty international projects are held annually with the financial support of various international funds, programs, and organizations (EU, EBRD, USAID, CRDF, IREX, DAAD, CIMO). PetrSU International units include Institute of International Programs, EU Center in Barents Region in Russia, International Summer University, International Programming Specialist Training Center, PetrSU Metso Center, PetrSU Nokia Center, and PetrSU Ponsse Center. Institute of international programs houses the Atlantic and Asia Cooperation Center, the European Union Information Center, and the International Education Center. The university cooperates with UNESCO, University of the Arctic, Joint Working Group on Education and Research of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region, National Board on Education in Finland, International Association of Finno-Ugric Universities, Association of Open Innovations FRUCT, Barents Peace Education Network.
Petrozavodsk State University is considered to be one of the best classical universities in the country. The university trains highly qualified specialists at more than sixty educational programs of higher education (natural science, technical sciences, humanities). Entering our university, you can learn different foreign languages, allowing you to take part in various exchange programs and study abroad. Moreover, Petrozavodsk State University is the only university in Russia where students can learn the Karelian, the Vepsian, and the Finnish languages simultaneously. Petrozavodsk State University is one of the leading research centers of the European North of Russia. Our scientists conduct researches in critical science, engineering, and technologies. The structure of the university includes 65 laboratories, 30 centers, and eight scientific and research institutes. Annually our scientists win the grants of the Russian Fundamental Research Fund and the Russian Humanities Research Fund.
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