Tomsk State University

Tomsk State University (TSU), formally Imperial Tomsk University, is the first university in Siberia — it was founded in 1878 in Tomsk, Russia. TSU opened in 1888 with only one department, the medical school. Today, there are 22 departments in TSU with 23,000 students.

The idea to open the first university in Siberia occurred to progressive minds in Russia back in 1803, but it was not until the late nineteenth century that it became realistic. The government delayed the decision either due to a lack of money or the inadequate development of secondary education in the region. Moreover, some thought that a university in Siberia was a luxury and it was dangerous to give Siberian people higher education. These reasons only resulted in a delay, and could not entirely remove this question from the agenda.

Tomsk was one of the seven cities in Siberia that aspired to the high honour of hosting a university. Eventually, it won. On May 28, 1878 Emperor Alexader II passed the Decree of the State Council of the Russian Empire permitting the establishment of Imperial Siberian University in Tomsk. This put an end to the 75-year-old struggle for a university in Tomsk and marked the beginning of its history: the construction, opening and development of the ninth higher educational establishment in Russia and the first in Siberia.

The construction of the main building of Tomsk Imperial University and the first dormitory was made possible thanks to private donations, which amounted to half of the budget. Simultaneous with the construction, a library was being assembled as were the materials for some laboratories, museums, the botanical garden with its greenhouse and the herbarium.

The university was meant to be an exclusive educational establishment that combined the academic process with research and aimed at developing a creative personality capable of self-improvement. As a classic university, TSU is based on research and educational schools. It means that the most research is based in the sciences and academic process must involve a sound combination of the natural sciences and the humanities accompanied with a flexibility in education.

Professor V. M. Florinsky said in his speech at the opening ceremony: «We would like our professors and scientists, inspired by their love for the Motherland, to serve both students and science with equal eagerness. We would like them to be more independent in their scientific research and to set up their own scientific schools. Only a combination of the academic process with scientific research will enable our university to fulfill its high mission and, independently of its direct utilitarian objectives, to bear fruit in higher education.» These are the principles that Tomsk State University has been following ever since.

Tomsk State University has always adhered to the strategic direction of its activities in preparing research, educational and managerial elite on the basis of the integration of academic process and scientific research. More than a hundred thousand of its graduates have contributed to the fame and authority of their alma mater. Tomsk State University can boast of having graduated about 100 members of Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, the Academy of Sciences of CIS States and more than 150 Russian Governmental Prizewinners. Two Nobel Prize winners, Nikolay Semyonov and Ivan Pavlov, were members of the university faculty. Today many TSU alumni and staff head various universities, academic institutes, research institutes and enterprises, and hold important governmental positions.

Imperial University, later Tomsk State University, has had a key influence on the development of research, educational and cultural potential in the Asian part of Russia, It is ranked one of the top national universities. The university has been given three State Awards: 1967- the Order of the Labour Red Banner, 1980 — the Order of October Revolution, 1978 — Siberian Institute of Physics and Technology at TSU was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and First Degree Diploma from MVSSO USSR.

In 1998 by the Russian Presidential Decree № 30, TSU was listed in the State Code of Most Valuable Objects of Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of the Russian Federation. On August 8, 2003 Russian President, Vladimir Putin signed a Decree in honour of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of TSU as a leading Russian center of education, science and culture.

Originally, the university was to consist of 4 departments as listed in the Charter of Imperial universities. However, TSU began with only a Medical Department. During the following years the problem of its extension was being solved. Nevertheless, the Medical Department had all the necessary divisions and study-rooms to teach students the entire range of natural sciences. The opening of the Law School meant that the university had a wider range of departments that taught the arts.

In 1917 when two more departments — the Department of Physics and Mathematics and the Department of History and Philology — were established, the university complied with the original vision. Today TSU is the largest classic university in the East of Russia. There are 22 departments, 5 branches, educating more than 23,000 students in 85 specializations and programmes.

TSU was the first to carry out multilevel and continuous education. This includes pre-admission (pre-college) education, preparing specialists, bachelors and masters (graduate programmes), post-graduate education, retraining and refresher courses. The university has established 45 centers of pre-admission training on campuses of secondary schools in different regions of Siberia and Kazakhstan which enables 2,000 people to study there annually.

TSU offers a programme «Training Managers and Executives for the Enterprises of the National Economy» (Presidential Management Training Initiative). Its alumni are in great demand as top and senior managers at numerous enterprises. The university has been very active in developing distance-learning programmes, multi-media courses, electronic textbooks, etc. including those for secondary schools. Many of them have been highly graded at international exhibitions.

The university pays great attention to the training of secondary school teachers. In 2001, TSU was certified and accredited by the State Committee of the Ministry of Education after a successful complex assessment of the university’s activities. It confirmed TSU's status as a leading university. According to the Russian Ministry od Education, TSU is ranked fifth following Moscow State University, St. Petersburg State University, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, and People’s Friendship University of Russia.

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