Donetsk national university

The National University of Donetsk celebrated its 45^th anniversary as a university in 2010, although its full history dates back to the foundation of the Pedagogical Institute (teacher training college) in 1937. During 45 years it has developed from a provincial college into one of Ukraine’s leading universities. In 1965 it had two faculties: the Faculty of History and the Faculty of Philology, today it has eleven. These are the Faculties of Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Philology, Foreign Languages, Economics, Economics and Law, Finance and Accounting, and International Faculty. The academic staff of the university has grown from 218 members in 1965 to 1,330 in 2011. When the university was founded there was only one doctor and 61 candidates of science on its staff, today there are 180 doctors and 628 candidates of science. The academic staff of the university includes one academician and two corresponding members of Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences and 38 academicians and corresponding members of branch academies.

Today the University is home to nearly 20,000 students including about 350 foreign students studying on 42 degree courses. 10,486 students take full-time courses and 9,136 students– part-time or correspondence courses. The University also offers postgraduate courses in physics, biology, mathematics, etc.

The University is run by a rector and pro-rectors. Each faculty is lead by a dean and assistant deans.

The University’s educational facilities include numerous laboratories, a modern computer centre, 61 computer classes and a library which is the largest among all Donetsk higher schools. The university has six halls of residence (dormitories) to accommodate its students, a sports and recreation centre ‘Nauka’ by the Azov sea, the youth student centre ‘Brigantina’.

The University has its own newspapers, the University News, which is printed every fortnight, and the Facts and Events, which comes out weekly.

Our University has a good reputation for academic excellence. It ranks 7^th among 380 Ukrainian universities. It is also well known for the quality of its research. Its graduates are in demand all over Ukraine. The university’s most famous alumni are Vasyl Stus, a Ukrainian dissident poet, Victor Shatalov, a world-known teacher-innovator, Rinat Akhmetov, president of the football club Shakhtar.

Task 1. Group B. Read the following information

The University of Sheffield

The University of Sheffield was originally formed by the merger of three colleges. The Sheffield School of Medicine was founded in 1828, followed by the opening of Firth College in 1879 by Mark Firth, a steel manufacturer, to teach arts and science subjects. Then Firth College helped to fund the opening of the Sheffield Technical School in 1884 to teach applied science. The three institutions merged to form the University College of Sheffield which was granted its royal Charter by Edward VII in 1905 and became the University of Sheffield.

From 114 full-time students in 1905, the university grew slowly until 1950s and 1960s when it began to expand rapidly. Many new buildings were built and student numbers increased to nearly 25,000 students including 3,700 international students from 120 countries. Sheffield is one of the most popular universities in terms of applications per place. Almost 1,400 academic staff are engaged in both research and teaching. Within the university there are 80 research centres and 75 academic departments grouped into five faculties. These are the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health , the Faculty of Pure Science and the Faculty of Social Sciences.

The university has its own newspaper, The Steel Press, printed every fortnight, an online newspaper, and a student radio station called Sure Radio.

Over the years, the university has been home to a number of writers and scholars including the author Angela Carter, David Blunkett, a well-known Labour Party politician and five Nobel Prize winners: Howard Florey (1945), Hans Adolf Krebs (1953), Richard J.Roberts (1993) – Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine, and George Porter (1967), Harry Kroto (1996) –Nobel Prize in chemistry.

There are several bodies which form the governance of the University. The Council manages the University's business side (finance and property).

The Senate manages the academic side of the University. It is the highest academic authority of the University. The Members of the Senate are: the Vice-Chancellor, the Pro-Vice-Chancellors and the Deans of the Faculties.

The university is ranked 82nd in the World's top 100 Universities and is constantly ranked amongst the top 20 universities in Britain.

Task 2. (Group work) Ask and answer the questions about Donetsk/Sheffield University. Then check your answers with the group

1. When was the university founded?

2. What was the precursor of the university?

3. How many faculties are there?

4. How many students study at the university?

5. Who is the university run by?

6. What’s the rating of the university?

Task 3. With the partner from the other group decide if the following statements are true or false. Correct the false statements

1. Both universities got their university status in the twentieth century.

2. Both universities don’t admit foreign students.

3. Academic staff of both Universities is engaged in research.

4. The number of students at the University of Sheffield is larger than that at Donetsk University.

5. Both universities have their own radio.

6. Both universities can boast their Nobel Prize winners.

7. Both universities are among the world’s top 100 universities.

Speaking