Education

Even considering its size and political importance, Moscow has an exceptionally large concentration of educational establishments. At the pre-university level, schools serving the city's own population include those for handicapped children, special foreign language schools, and boarding schools. For children below school age (six years old in Russia) there are nurseries and kindergartens; many are attached to individual places of employment, which permits parents more freedom to work. Moscow's higher educational institutions draw students from throughout the nation. A large percentage of the students are registered for correspondence courses. Although the students are predominantly Russians, they include representatives of several ethnic groups together with a number of overseas students.

Higher education

The leading institution of higher learning is the Moscow M.V. Lomonosov State University, which was founded in 1755. Some of the humanities departments are still housed in the old university buildings facing Manezhnaya Square, near the Kremlin. Science departments are located in the complex of buildings on the Lenin Hills, which date from the early 1950s and are dominated by a 34-story skyscraper in the Stalin-period style; this building houses the central administration, the Museum of Earth Science, and accommodations for thousands of students. In 1970–78 two other humanities buildings were constructed on the Lenin Hills site. Moscow's second university, the Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University, was founded in 1960 to serve students from the world's developing nations.

Among the specialist higher educational foundations are the Moscow Timiryazev Academy of Agriculture in the north of Moscow and the Moscow P.I. Tchaikovsky State Conservatory, where some of the world's finest musicians have received their training. Also important are the Moscow D.I. Mendeleyev Institute of Chemical Technology, the Moscow N.E. Bauman State Technical University, and the A.V. Lunacharsky State Institute of Dramatic Art. Many institutes, among them the Moscow Institute of Aviation Technology and an institute for railway engineers, produce specialists for particular industries.

Research

In addition to the large volume of research undertaken in the university and in other teaching establishments, there is a formidable array of scientific research institutions. Between them they constitute the second largest employer in Moscow after industry. A large proportion of those Russian citizens holding the doctor of science degree are employed in Moscow. The main focus of research is the Academy of Sciences of Russia, the Presidium of which is located in a building on Leninsky Prospekt south of Gorky Park. There are also national academies of arts and medical, pedagogical, and agricultural sciences.

Many scientific institutes, such as the Experimental Research Institute of Metal-Cutting Machine Tools, are concerned with highly specialized industrial research. These are often connected closely with Moscow's own industries, as in the case of the Central Research Institute of Automobile Engineering. Linked to the research bodies are many design bureaus, including an institute that designs hydroelectric power projects and an institute for the planning of metallurgical plants.

Foremost among Moscow's libraries is the V.I. Lenin State Library, one of the world's largest. There are also a number of specialty libraries in the arts and sciences and in other fields.

Health

The health of the Muscovites is attended to at the neighbourhood level by hundreds of clinics, giving medical, dental, and maternity services. Perhaps the most prominent of the city's numerous hospitals is the Botkinskaya, founded in 1911. Among specialist institutions are maternity, mental, and tuberculosis hospitals, supported by a number of specialist medical research institutions.