| Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv | |
|---|---|
| Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка | |
| Latin: Universitas Kioviensis | |
| Motto | "Utilitas honor et gloria" (Latin) |
| Motto in English | Utility Honor and Glory |
| Established | 1834 |
| Type | Public |
| Rector | Leonid Huberskyi |
| Admin. staff | 3420 [1] |
| Students | 20,000 |
| Location | Kiev, Ukraine |
| Campus | urban |
| Colors | red and black |
| Affiliations | IAU |
| Website | www.univ.kiev.ua/ |
Taras Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv[2] (Ukrainian: Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known in Ukrainian as KNU (Ukrainian: Київський національний універcитет - КНУ) is located in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is the third oldest university in Ukraine after the University of Lviv and Kharkiv University. Currently, its structure consists of fifteen faculties (academic departments) and five institutes. It was founded in 1834 as the University of Saint Vladimir, and since then it has changed its name several times. During the Soviet Union era, Taras Shevchenko University was one of the top three universities in the USSR, along with Moscow State University and Leningrad State University. It is ranked as the best university in Ukraine in many rankings (see below). Throughout history, the university has produced many famous alumni including Nikolay Bunge, Mykhailo Drahomanov, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Nikolai Berdyaev, Mikhail Bulgakov, Viacheslav Chornovil, Leonid Kravchuk, Oksana Zabuzhko, and many others.
Contents |
Taras Shevchenko University is named after Taras Shevchenko, a major figure in Ukrainian literature and art. It is an institution of higher education that trains specialists in many fields of knowledge and carries out research. It is considered the most prestigious university in Ukraine[3] and a major centre of advanced learning and progressive thinking.[4] It consists of more faculties and departments, and trains specialists in a greater number of academic fields, than any other Ukrainian educational institution.
In 2009, Delovoy magazine ranked Taras Shevchenko University as the best university in Ukraine, being nationally the strongest in the greatest number of academic fields.[5] According to the independent ranking of 228 universities in Ukraine performed by Compas, Taras Shevchenko University was ranked the first best position in Ukraine regarding the adequacy of alumni to the labor market of Ukraine.[6] According to Scopus (2009), Taras Shevchenko University has the highest research paper output of any Ukrainian university, and is also the top research producer (as assessed by total paper citation count).[7] The university features in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities (2010) at 1,346 out of 8,000 in the world, [8] at 63 out of top 100 universities of the Central and Eastern Europe,[9] and a leading academic institution in Ukraine.[10]
In the Soviet times Taras Shevchenko University received one Order of Lenin (1959) and one Order of the October Revolution (1984). The asteroid 4868 Knushevia is named after Taras Shevchenko University in 2002.
Ukrainian composer Mykola Leontovych's Shchedryk was premiered at the Kiev University on December 26, 1916 by the university's choir directed by Oleksandr Koshyts.[11]
The University was founded in 1834, when the Emperor Nicholas I of Russia signed the Charter about the creation of the University named after Saint Vladimir, the ruler who Christianized the Kievan Rus'. This name was chosen by the authorities of the Russian Empire, where the role of Orthodox Christianity was immense, and may have reflected the ongoing importance of Kiev as the cradle of Eastern Christianity for the entire Empire.
The university benefited from assets transferred from Vilnius University, which was closed in the aftermath of the November Uprising of 1831.[12] The first 62 students started their studies at the university in 1834, in its one faculty, the Faculty of Philosophy, which had two Departments: The Department of History and Philology and The Department of Physics and Mathematics. There were new additions to the original department in 1835 and 1847: the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Medicine. Later on, the original Faculty of Philosophy was divided into two separate units: the Faculty of History and Philology and the Faculty of Natural Sciences. There were no more additions to the number of departments until the 1920s.
The walls of the main building are painted in red while the tops and bottoms of its columns are painted black. Tsar Nicholas II ordered the entire main building painted red in response to student conscription protests during World War I to remind students of blood spilled by Ukrainian soldiers.
In 1939, Saint Vladimir University was re-named after Taras Shevchenko. Upon graduation from Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg, then the capital of the Empire, Taras Shevchenko returned to Kiev, and between 1845–1846, was employed by the Archaeological and Ethnographic Commission at the University until his arrest in 1847.
Nowadays, as it has done throughout its history, the University retains its role of a major center of learning and research as well as an important cultural center. Its academics and students follow the long-standing traditions of the highest academic standards and democratic ideals.
At present, the student body of Taras Shevchenko University totals about 20,000 students; this number includes almost 2,000 students at the Institute of International Relations which is attached to Taras Shevchenko University.
As training highly qualified specialists has always been the main goal, the faculties and departments constantly revise their curricula and introduce new programs. A number of faculties offer 4-year Bachelor’s and 2-year Master’s Degree programs, together with traditional 5-year Specialist Degree programs. Currently the stress is on student's ability to work independently and meet employer's requirements, thus practical experience in the field being of foremost importance.
The curricula of all Taras Shevchenko University faculties are based on the combination of academic instruction with student's research work and the combination of thorough theoretical knowledge with specific skills. Having acquired theoretical knowledge in the first and the second year, in their third year undergraduates choose an area to specialize in. At the same time they choose a field for their independent study, joining elective special seminars; the results of research are usually presented at the meetings of students' scientific societies or at scientific conferences, the most interesting results are published.
Taras Shevchenko University graduates work in institutes of higher learning, research institutes, in industry, governmental agencies, public organizations and private companies.
Admission to Taras Shevchenko University is open to both Ukrainian and international applicants.
Since 1960, when the first international students were admitted, over 20,000 highly qualified specialists have been trained at Taras Shevchenko University for 120 countries. The first foreign students of the Taras Shevchenko University came from Cuba, Guinea, Indonesia, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Zanzibar, Yemen, Algeria, and Afghanistan. They continued on to became doctors, engineers, agriculturists, diplomats, economists, and statesmen in their respective countries.[13]
Taras Shevchenko University maintains contacts with many universities and research centres throughout the world.
These are the 15 faculties and 5 institutes into which the university is divided: