People’s Friendship University of Russia
The Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, also known as RUDN University, is an educational and research institution located in Moscow. It was established in 1960 to provide higher education for African and Asian students. It became an integral part of the Soviet cultural offensive in nonaligned countries.
The Soviet government founded the university on 5 February 1960. Its stated objective during the height of the Cold War was to help developing nations. Many students from developed countries also attended the university. On 22 February 1961, the university was named Patrice Lumumba University after the Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba, who had been killed in a coup that January. The stated purpose for establishing the university was to give young people from Asia, Africa and Latin America, especially from poor families, an opportunity to be educated and to become qualified specialists. The organizations that have been mentioned as founders of the university are the All-Union Central Soviet of Trade Unions, the Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee, and the Soviet Associations Union of Friendship and Intercultural Relationship.
Professor Sergey Vasilievich Rumiantsev, Doctor of Engineering, was the first Rector of the University. He took an active part in the foundation of the university and remained its Rector till 1970. In 1960, Russian language studies for international students started at the preparatory Faculty. On 1 September, Russian language studies were introduced at the six main faculties of the PFU (Engineering faculty, faculty of History and Philology, Medical faculty, Agricultural faculty, faculty of Science, faculty of Law and Economics).
The first 288 students from 47 countries graduated in 1965. Around that time international construction teams started to appear and the first student teams of KVN were organized (later on, the PFUR KVN team became one of the most famous teams in the country).
Professor Vladimir Frantsevich Stanis, Honored Scientist of the Russian Federation (RF), Doctor of Economics, became the second Rector of the PFU. It was he who proclaimed the “cult of knowledge” at the University, heading it from 1970 to 1993. In this period, the Peoples’ Friendship University became a major international scientific and educational centre. In 1972, Stanis proceeded to the extension of the duration of studies, which until then were shorter, along the lines of mainstream Soviet universities. At the Faculty of Medicine, for instance, the duration of studies was extended from five to six years. By 1975, the University had more than 5,600 graduates, among them 4,250 people from 89 foreign countries. That year, the University was awarded the Peoples’ Friendship Order for achievements in training experts for Asian, African and Latin America countries. The University’s name was changed to the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia on 5 February 1992 by the RF Government, which is considered the University’s founder.
From 1993 to 1998, PFUR was headed by Vladimir Filippov, a 1973 graduate of Patrice Lumumba PFU. He held the position of Minister of Education of the Russia from 1998 to 2004, and was appointed the Prime Minister’s Assistant on Culture and Education in 2004. In the period from 1998 to 2005, PFUR was headed by Professor Dmitry Petrovich Bilibin, a 1966 graduate of Patrice Lumumba PFU, Honored scientist of the RF, Doctor of Medical Sciences. He was acting Rector till 2004, and was elected Rector of the University in 2004. Professor Filippov, Doctor of Sciences in physics and mathematics, member of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Education, was reelected Rector of the PFUR on 4 March 2005, and has headed the University since then.
The 1990s saw the creation of new faculties and Institutes: the Ecological faculty, the faculty of Economics, the faculty of Law, the Philological faculty, the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, the faculty of Refresher Training for Health Care Professionals, the Institute of Foreign Languages, the Institute of Distance Learning, the Institute of Hospitality Business and Tourism, and the Institute of Gravitation and Cosmology. The University also developed systems of pre-university and further professional education. 2006 was marked by the 50,000th diploma awarded by PFUR, received by José Atinensia Villagómez, an Engineering faculty graduate from Ecuador.
The university’s current Russian name is “Российский университет дружбы народов”, which could be translated as “Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia” or, more directly, as “Russian University of the Friendship of Nations”. The English-language version of the university’s website, however, uses the name “RUDN University”, with the acronym RUDN derived from the Russian name transliterated into English (“Rossiiskii Universitet Druzhby Narodov”).[5] Nonetheless, it remains most common in English to use the name “Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia” or the abbreviation “PFUR”.
The Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia is one of the leading state higher educational institutions of Russia. The university has a multiprofile structure of faculties and majors. More than 77,000 graduates of the university work in 170 countries, among them more than 5,500 holders of PhD and Doctorate degrees. Lecturers train specialists in 62 majors and lines of study. More than 29,000 graduate and postgraduate students from 140 countries studying at the university as of 2014. They represent more than 450 nations and nationalities of the world. It has a team of 4,500 employees, among them 2,826 teachers. The university intellectual fund comprises more than 870 author’s invention certificates and 150 patents of the Russian Federation in practically all fields of the university’s scientific research.
Many foreign and Russian political and public figures, scholars and scientists have become PFUR Emeritus Professors. They include the presidents of Namibia, Angola, Sri Lanka, the South African Republic, Gabon, Guyana and Nigeria; the prime ministers of Bangladesh and Kazakhstan; a UN Chief Executive Officer on Education, Culture and Science; and a Director of CEPES.
Faculties of People’s Friendship University of Russia:
- Institute for Medicine
- Agrarian Technological Institute
- Faculty of Humanitarian and social sciences
- Engineering academy
- Faculty of the Russian language and general educational disciplines
- Faculty of Science
- Philological faculty
- Ecological faculty
- Faculty of Economics
- Institute for Law
- Institute of Hospitality Business and Tourism
Medical Faculty
Institute of Medicine was founded in 1961. It has more than 2,300 students and 43 departments and 2 independent courses. It has 420 lecturers – 5 academicians and 2 corresponding members of the Russian academy of medical sciences; 24 academicians and corresponding members of social academies, 15 Honored scientists of the Russian Federation , 3 laureates of RF State Prizes, 2 laureates of government State Prizes, 132 full professors and 220 PhDs. The Institute for Medicine PFUR has a first-class reputation both in Russia and abroad; its fame rests on the scientists working at the faculty and the graduates. Nowadays, more than 6400 professionals that have been educated at the Institute for Medicine are working in more than 110 countries of the world. In numerous laboratories with up-to-date diagnostic and research equipment, students attempt penetrating into the mysteries of structure and functioning of the human body and learn how to diagnose diseases and apply innovative methods of treatment. The members of the Institute for Medicine are actively implementing educational programs aimed at teaching new medical technologies to medical staff. Functioning at the faculty are: the Students’ scientific society that helps students become familiar with research from the beginning; the Young medical doctors’ community; the Students’ theatre «Hippocrates», the lecture center where lectures in literature, music and history are presented. The pre-university education is provided at the «Medik» medical-biological school (preliminary courses). Today, the Institute for Medicine of PFUR is equipped with 14 novel clinical laboratories; in the training process, computer testing and TV broadcasting are used. For refinement in practical treatment, subdivisions of computer tomography, liver fiber scanning and andrology have been created.
Student Accommodation
In the five-story buildings 1-8 blocks the toilet, wash basin and kitchen are on each floor. Shower cabins, laundry, ironing rooms and a luggage room are located on the ground floor.
In five-story buildings, all rooms are designed for 2-3 people.
There are also double superior rooms with an improved layout, bathroom, refrigerator, TV, the possibility of connecting additional household appliances in agreement with the University.
There are apartment dormitories. The rooms are designed for a comfortable stay of two or three people. The apartment has a bathroom and toilet. The kitchen is on the floor (9,10,11 blocks) or in the apartment (12,13,14 block). All high-rise buildings are equipped with elevators.
In apartments of high-rise buildings, all rooms are designed for comfortable accommodation of 2-3 people. Apartments are of 1-4 rooms.
The area of all rooms is 14 – 18 sq.m.
Moscow City
Moscow is the capital of Russia, the largest city in the country and Europe, and one of the largest cities in the world. Moscow refers to global cities having a great influence on the world because of its high economic level and population. It is the main transport hub of Russia, its political, economic, cultural, and scientific center.
Moscow features
Moscow is located in the center of the European part of Russia, between the rivers Oka and Volga. The climate is moderate continental: heavy frosts and extreme heat are rare. The average temperature in January – minus 7.2 degrees Celsius, in July – plus 20.4 degrees Celsius.
The city has the status of a separate federal subject of the Russian Federation. It is the smallest federal subject by land area.
The name of the city as well as the names of many other cities around the world, is bound with the name of the river it is standing on (the Moskva River). The river was called this way long before the settlement appeared. It is unknown who named it and what this name means. There are two main versions: Finnio-Ugric and Slavic.
According to the first one, the word “Moskva” is derived from the Finno-Ugric language group which means “river-bear”. The Slavic theory points to the stem “mosk” denoting “marshy” or “moisture, liquid, marshland, dampness”.
The city is surrounded by 6 airports, 9 railway stations, and 3 river ports. Moscow has developed a fabulous metro (subway) system. The first stations were built in 1935.
Moscow is the largest Russian financial center. About half of Russian banks are located in Moscow. Most of the largest companies are registered and have head offices in Moscow, although their manufactures might be located thousands of km from the city.
The city is the most important center of retail sales in Russia. Moscow represents about 30% of all commodities sold in Russia.
Moscow is also a large scientific center. There are a lot of scientific research institutes carrying out research in many branches, such as nuclear power, microelectronics, space exploration and other promising directions.
