Eastern Europe. It was founded in November 1804, on the initiative of the
prominent educator V.N. Karazin and in accordance with the charter of Tsar
Alexander I.
The opening ceremony was held on January 29, 1805. The University made an
important contribution to the Ukrainian national renaissance of the XIX-XXth
centuries. It gave a powerful impetus to the emergence of Kharkiv as a major
scientific and cultural center and an academic hub of Ukraine. Today the
University justly rates among the best Ukrainian classical universities and is
known in many countries.
The history of Kharkiv National University is part and parcel of the intellectual,
cultural and spiritual history of Ukraine. The names of many world famous
researchers, scholars and educators are associated with Kharkiv University,
among them are P. Hulak-Artemovskyi, O. Lyapunov, M. Kostomarov, M.
Barabashov, M. Beketov, D. Bahaliy, A. Krasnov, M. Ostrogradskyi, V. Steklov,
O. Potebnya, O. Pogorelov and many others.
Kharkiv University is the only university in Ukraine that has trained and
employed three Nobel Prize laureates: the biologist I. Mechnikov, the
economist S. Kuznets, and the physicist L. Landau.
At different times titles of Kharkiv University Honorary Members and Doctors
were conferred on outstanding scholars and public figures of many countries,
including J.W. Goethe and A. Humboldt, I. Franko and L. Tolstoy, P.
Semenov-Tyanshanskiy, and others.
The title of Honorary Doctor of Kharkiv University was conferred on the first
President of Ukraine Mykhailo Hrushevskyi
Kharkiv University is associated with the first Ukrainian newspapers and
journals and the first scientific societies.
Since its foundation, the University has graduated over 130,000 students. The
names of the University graduates are commemorated in geographical names,
names of space objects, plants and minerals, laws and formulae. Almost 60
University graduates have become academicians and corresponding members
of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (UNAS).
The activities of the University have developed Kharkiv into a major industrial,
scientific and cultural center. Many Kharkiv streets are named after professors,
researches and alumni of the University.
The University has initiated the whole system of higher education of the
Kharkiv Region. Its offspring are the National Academy of Law, the National
Pharmaceutical Academy, Kharkiv Medical University, Kharkiv Pedagogical
University, the Kharkiv Veterinary Academy, the Kharkiv Academy of Culture,
Kharkiv Economic University and other institutions of higher education.
Today Kharkiv National University is organized into 18 Schools: the School of
Mechanical Engineering, the School of Physics and Technology, the School of
Radio Physics, the School of Physics, the School of Computer Sciences, the
School of Biology, the School of Philosophy, the School of Geology and
Geography, the School of Economics, the School of Foreign Languages, the
School of History, the School of Philology, the School of Fundamental Medicine,
the School of Chemistry, the School of Sociology, the School of Psychology, the
School of Further Education and Retraining, and the School of Physics and
Energy. The latter was organized together with the UNAS Institute of Machine
Building.
The total University enrollment, including the students of the Center for
Training International Students and the Center for Presessional Education,
amounts to about 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 400
postgraduate students. The University employs up to 1,500 faculty and
research staff, including more than 200 doctors of sciences, full professors, and
almost 800 candidates of sciences, associate professors.
Kharkiv National University offers 115 major opportunities and specializations,
covering the whole scope of modern classical university education.
About 30% of the University's annual enrollment are school medal winners,
another 10% are winners of the third and fourth rounds of Ukrainian school
students academic competitions.
The University is one of the largest research centers in Ukraine. It covers
virtually all spheres of modern fundamental research and incorporates the
Research Institutes of Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy, the Institute of
Physics and Engineering, and the Institute of High Technologies.
The University's faculty include 21 academicians and corresponding members
of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and specialized academies of Ukraine,
and 50 winners of the State Award. The University has about 20 world famous
scientific schools committed to intensive research, 11 specialized councils for
conferring doctor's degrees and 5 councils for conferring candidate's degrees.
The University's researchers annually publish 60 to 65 monographs, collections
of research papers, over 2,000 articles and abstracts, and hold 20 to 25
international conferences.
The University is the leading research organization of several space programs.
Within the framework of international programs its researchers co-operate
with scientists from the USA, Canada, Russia, Germany, Turkey, China, Japan,
Switzerland, Bulgaria, Great Britain and other countries.
Since 1808 the University has had its own Astronomical Observatory which is
one of the leading astronomical centers of Ukraine involved in fundamental
and applied research in the physics of the Sun, the planets, asteroids, comets
and satellites.
The University's Botanical Garden was founded in 1804 and is the oldest
botanical garden in Ukraine. It is a state preserve with a unique collection of
plants representing various botanical and geographic zones of the world.
The University's Natural History Museum was founded in 1807 and is one of the
oldest university museums in the world. Every year it opens its doors to 22,000
visitors. The total area of the Museum exhibition facilities is 2,000 square
meters, and its 23 halls feature about 250,000 exhibits organized into the
following sections: the Origin of Man, Darwinism, Zoology, and Geology. The
University also has the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Slobidska
Ukraine with about 150,000 exhibits.
The University's Central Scientific Library was founded on January 30, 1805. In
1987, the decree of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine established it as an
institution of special social importance. It numbers 3,500,000 units, including
50,000 unique editions (17 incunabula, over 1,000 manuscripts, 300 palaeotypes,
and books by classical writers and scholars published in their lifetime).
In October 1999, according to the decree of the President of Ukraine, Kharkiv
State University gained the status of a national university and was named in
honor of its founder, V.N. Karazin.
In 2003, following the decree of the President of Ukraine, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv
National University obtained the highest status of a self-governing
(autonomous) state university.
V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is involved in extensive
international cooperation and is an active member of the international
community of the leading European and world universities. It cooperates with
61 partners in 25 countries of the world.
Together with other major European universities, in 1988 Kharkiv National
University signed the Great University Charter that initiated the Bologna
Process.
The University is a co-founder of the Eurasian University Association and is a
member the World and the European University Associations.
In November 2004 Kharkiv University celebrated 200 years since the day of
signing the Foundation Charter, and in January 2005 it marked the 200th
anniversary of its foundation.
Rector . Vil S. Bakirov, Doctor of Sociology, Full Professor, Honored Scholar in
the Field of Science and Technology of Ukraine
First Pro-Rector . Volodymyr V. Aleksandrov, Candidate of Economics, Full
Professor
Pro-Rector for Scientific Research . Illya I. Zalyubovskyi, Doctor of Physics and
Mathematics, Full Professor, Corresponding Member of the Ukrainian
Academy of Sciences, Honored Scholar in the Field of Science and Technology
of Ukraine
Head of the Monitoring Council . Petro T. Tronko, Academician of the Ukrainian
Academy of Sciences, Hero of Ukraine
SCHOOLS :
School of Biology
School of Geology and Geography
School of Economics
School of Foreign Languages
School of History
School of Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering
School of Radio Physics
School of Sociology
School of Physics and Technology
School of Physics
School of Philology
School of Fundamental Medicine
School of Chemistry
School of Professional Re-Training
The International Students Education Center
School of Psychology
DEPARTMENTS :
Department of Biological and Medical Physics
Department of Economic Theory
Department of Pedagogy
Department of Politology
Department of Theory of Culture and Philosophy of Science
Department of Ukrainian Studies
Department of Physical Training and Sports
Department of Philosophy
Department of Valeology
RESEARCH CENTERS :
Astronomical Observatory
Biological Station
Botanical Garden
Natural History Museum
Research Institute of Biology
Research Institute of Laser Biology and Laser Medicine
Research Institute of Chemistry
Radio-physical Observatory
Central Scientific Library
Radiation Dynamic Group
Laboratory of Thin Films Physics
SPORTS AND LEASURE
University Residence Halls for Students and Staff
Cultural Center
Sanatorium "Burevestnik"
Sports Training and Rehabilitation Camp "Figurovka"
"Unicourt" Tennis Club
Bridge Club "SCARB"
PREFESSIONAL TRAINING
University Lyceum
Feodosiya Lyceum of Phisics and Mathematics
Centre of Prefessional Trainin
