Welcome to the University!
Dear first-year students,
Welcome to the Belarusian State University – the major higher educational establishment in Belarus, the center of education, culture and science!
Historical Reference
The Belarusian State University is the oldest university in Belarus. It was founded in 1921 and had only three faculties at that time: faculty of medicine, of social sciences and workers’ faculty (рабфак).
T
he
first Rector of the BSU was Professor V. I. Picheta, a distinguished
historian, a graduate of Moscow State University. He headed the
University for 8 years and contributed greatly to the development of
higher education in Belarus.
The BSU rapidly grew and developed. During the first 10 years of its existence a number of research institutes and independent higher schools for medicine, pedagogy and national economy appeared on its basis. During the Great Patriotic War, the University was destroyed. After the liberation of the Belarusian capital in August 1944 the University reopened in Minsk. The pre-war education and material base of the University had been restored by the end of 1950.
The University Today
Nowadays, the University turned into one of the largest institutions of higher education of the country. There are 16 Faculties, 4 Research Institutes and 25 Research Centers at the University. Students of the University study Mathematics, Chemistry, Geography, Biology, Philology, Journalism, History, Philosophy, Law, International Relations, Economics, Foreign Languages and other subjects. The Higher Education Program at the BSU is aimed at preparing specialists with fundamental and special knowledge and skills in more than 250 specializations.
There are two forms of learning: full-time and part-time (the day department and department by correspondence). Students attend lectures and seminars; have practical classes, study foreign languages. Students' practical work is given much attention to. Students’ academic success is assessed at the end of each semester in the form of oral or written tests and examinations. Professors and students are engaged in fundamental and applied research.
Academic Staff
The academic staff of the BSU is highly qualified. It includes about 2,500 professors and lecturers, among them 6 Academicians and 7 Corresponding Members of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, about 290 Doctors of Science and more than 1350 PhD degree holders. In total more than half of teaching staff are professors and associate professors working at the 176 Departments of the University. The research activity is conducted on the basis of Research Centers and 115 Scientific Laboratories.
The Structure of the University
The University is headed by the Rector. The rector is assisted by Vice-rectors who are responsible for different aspects of university life: for academic affairs (учебная работа), for research (научно-исследовательская работа), for administrative and maintenance work (административно-хозяйственная работа) and others.
Facilities
E
ach
of the University study building is
equipped with
well-furnished classrooms, seminar rooms and reading
rooms. The
University laboratories are equipped with up-to-date
devices.
There are 70 computer laboratories and 4 media classrooms.
Information Resources of the University Network include Web-Server,
Web-Servers of the faculties and Intranet-Server of the BSU.
The Fundamental Library in the BSU is one of the biggest libraries in Belarus. At present the funds of the Library include more than 2 million volumes in Belarusian, Russian and foreign languages. International book exchange is organized with 136 research and educational institutions from 24 countries of the world.