Universiteti i Prishtinës

Faculty of Philology

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Medicine (Institute A)

Faculty of Philosophy

Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences

Faculty of Law and Economics

Campus map

The University of Pristina (Albanian: Universiteti i Prishtinës) is a public higher education institution located in Pristina, Kosovo.^{[lower-alpha 1]} One of the successors of the historical University of Pristina, it comprises 14 faculties located in Pristina and three branches in other cities of Kosovo. Contained within the emblem is a translation of the name into Latin, Universitas Studiorum Prishtiniensis.

Overview

The University of Pristina is an Albanian-language higher education institution, emerged after the Kosovo War. It occupies the campus in Pristina, Kosovo, serving as the major university in the area of Kosovo. According to its website, it is a member of the European University Association. It maintains wide contacts with Western European and American universities and institutions.^[2][3][4][5]

Statistics and university organisation

The academic year of the University runs from 1 October through 30 September, organised in two semesters, with 30 weeks of teaching per year.^[6]

In the academic year 2004—2005 the university counted 28,832 undergraduate students, 15,596 (54.1%) men and 13,236 (45.9%) women; 28,567 (99%) students were of Albanian ethnicity, 125 (0.4%) Bosniaks, 114 (0.4%) Turks, and 25 (0.1%) of other ethnic groups.^[7]

About 3,000 students receive bachelor or master degrees every year at University of Pristina, the majority in social and human sciences. More than 50,000 have graduated from the university since its establishment.

Unlike most other European universities, University of Pristina operates as a loose association of faculties, each with a legally autonomous status and administrative structure. This has been criticized by the World Bank as leading to a redundant duplication of programmes and facilities, hindering an effective prioritization of programmes.^[8]

History

The original university was opened in Socialist Republic of Serbia, Yugoslavia, in the city of Pristina, for the academic year 1969–1970^[9][10] and functioned as the University of Priština until 1999. However, owing to political upheaval, war, successive mutual expulsions of faculty of one ethnicity or the other, and resultant pervasive ethnic-based polarisation, currently, there are two separate, disjoint institutions, both using the same name, albeit each notated idiosyncratically, to reflect their polarized ethnic identity and divergent physical locations, separate Albanian and Serbian entities:

• University of Priština situated at Kosovska Mitrovica: A Serbian entity displaced from the city of Pristina in 1999, conducting education in Serbian language, backed by the Government of Serbia^[11] (recognized by United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) since 2002 but under the name University of Kosovska Mitrovica^{[12][13][14][15]}) ^[10][16][17] having taken up physical residence in Kosovska Mitrovica, a city in the northern ethnically mainly Serbian region of Kosovo.
• University of Prishtina, instructing in Albanian language, member of the Balkan Universities Network and recognized internationally by American and West European universities and international organizations cooperating with it,^[2][3][4][5] located physically in Pristina, Kosovo.^[18]

In 2003 the University in Pristina had been described as being "at the very core of political conflict and the self-esteem of Albanian Kosovars^[6] ". It was for many years accused by Serbian politicians and the Serbian media of promoting ethnic Albanian separatism in Kosovo,^[19] and following the rise to power of Slobodan Milošević it was purged of those deemed to be separatists. It was at this time that the university faculty split into Serbian and Albanian halves, with the Serbian staff controlling the campus and the sacked Albanian staff gone "underground" for much of the 1990s, providing education informally and in secret for Kosovo Albanian students.^[20]

Following establishing NATO control over the territory of Kosovo, the Albanian faculty gained control of the campus after the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, while the Serbian faculty relocated first to central Serbia (from 1999 to 2001 the seat was in Kruševac) and two years later to the northern Kosovo (the seat is currently in Northern Kosovska Mitrovica).

Faculties and higher education schools

Academic units of University of Pristina are:^[21]

• Faculty of Philosophy
• Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
• Faculty of Philology
• Faculty of Law
• Faculty of Economics
• Faculty of Engineering and Architecture
• Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Arts
• Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary
• Faculty of Geosciences and Technology
• Faculty of Sport Sciences
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Applied Sciences and Business, Peć
• Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Kosovska Mitrovica
• Faculty of Applied Sciences and Engineering, Uroševac

Pristina Summer University

Since 2001, representatives of the University of Pristina have taken the initiative for the establishment of Pristina Summer University. PSU has played an important role in promoting the values of Kosovar society. By bringing together cultures and knowledge from all over the world in one place, it changes for the better attitudes about Kosovar society.

The function of this Summer University is to have more and more international students and professors aiming to exchange experiences and knowledge from fields of study.

Over the years, PSU has managed to bring people together from many countries and has been a starting point for new friendships and collaborations for years to come. This Summer University has opened the doors of collaborations between the University of Pristina and other universities.

Also, in one way or another, it has contributed to recognition of Kosovo's independence. More than 4,000 local, regional and international students and more than 400 local and international professors participated in PSU.

Pristina Summer University has achieved proven values and provided a beginning of encouragement for regional reconciliation and cooperation among comities and academics from the region.^[22]

Notables

Doctors of Honor

• 2001 - Mr. Michael Weninger – Austria (Ambassador of Austria in Belgrade^[23]
• 2002 - Mr. Bernard Kouchner – France ( Head of UN Administration in Kosovo)^[23]
• 2003 - Mr. William Kerr – USA (President of La Roche College)^[23]
• 2003 - Mr. Bill Clinton – USA (Former President of USA)^[23]
• 2003 - Mr. Ismail Kadare - Albania (Distinguished novelist and poet)^[23]
• 2004 - Mr. Wolfgang Benedek – Austria (Professor of Law in the University of Graz) ^[23]
• 2008 - Mr. Bamir Topi – Albania (President of the Republic of Albania)^[23]
• 2009 - Mr. Erhard Busek – Austria (Rector of the University of Applied Sciences in Salzburg)^[23]
• 2009 – Mr. Sali Berisha – Albania ( Prime Minister of the Republic of Albania)^[23]
• 2009 - Mr. Albert Rohan – Austria (Former Deputy UN Envoy to Kosovo)^[23]
• 2010 - Mr. Tony Blair – United Kingdom (Former Prime Minister of UK)^[23]
• 2010 - Ms. Doris Pack – Germany (Member of the EU Parliament for Saarland)^[23]
• 2010 - Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan – Turkey ( Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey)^[23]
• 2011 - Mr. Adem Demaçi – Republic of Kosovo – Republic of Kosovo – (Politician)^[23]
• 2012 – Mr. Noel Malcolm – Great Britain (eminent historian and Fellow of All Souls, University of Oxford)^[23]

Notable alumni and faculty members

• Fahri Beqiri, distinguished Albanian composer
• Masar Caka, distinguished Albanian painter
• Nexhat Daci, former Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, former professor of chemistry
• Hilmi Ibar, professor of chemistry and dean of pedagogics at Trakya University Edirne
• Ali Podrimja, distinguished Albanian poet
• Dukagjin Pupovci, education expert
• Ibrahim Rugova, first president of independence-orientated Kosovo
• Fatmir Sejdiu, former President of Kosovo and former professor of law
• Hashim Thaçi, Prime Minister of Kosovo, former student vice-rector

Criticism and arrests

The University of Pristina has been widely criticized for its association with politics, corruption, and lack of literature. According to a recent study by Preportr supported by Civil Rights Defenders and Open Society Foundations, a substantial part of Kosovo's government officials, including ministers, hold academic roles in higher education institutions, including the University of Pristina. The literature in Albanian language is highly absent, and the available literature is largely outdated.^[24]

December 2013 arrests

On December 12, 2013, eleven officials of University of Pristina, Faculty of Medicine were arrested for grade forgery.^{[25][26][27][28]} Arrested officials were physicians, professors, assistant professors, and administrative staff; some students were also arrested.^[29]

2014 student protest and resignation of Ibrahim Gashi

Notes and references

Notes:

References:

External links

• Official website (English) (Albanian)

Links to related articles Universities in Kosovo Univerzitet u Prištini Universiteti i Prishtinës American University in Kosovo Iliria Royal University AAB University University of Prizren European Vision University