Bashkir state university

The Bashkir State University was founded in 1957 on the basis of the Bashkir State Pedagogical Institute named after K.A.Timiryazev. The University is actually the legal successor of the Ufa Teachers' Training Institute (est. 1918) - the first higher education institution in the Republic of Bashkortostan, which in 1920 was transformed into the Institute of Public Education and later into the Pedagogical Institute. Today this major scientific, educational and cultural centre of the Republic ranks among the top ten classical universities of the Russian Federation.

The University currently employs over 700 instructors, including 110 Doctors and 400 Candidates of Sciences. 38 Doctors have been elected Full Members and Corresponding Members of various academies.

More than 6,000 full-time students are trained in 33 trades, with 4,000 students studying part-time. The University incorporates 13 departments in Ufa and the two branches located in Sibai and Sterlitamak. Instruction is effected by 74 chairs. The University provides post-graduate training in 57 specialties and doctorate training in 8, there being 14 boards for theses defence.

Science is represented by the R&D centre, three problem and multi-branch laboratories, the R&D Institute for Sociology, the Bashkir Patent Centre, the "Zaryad" experiment and design bureau focusing on building computer systems, measuring instruments and machine-tools for the engineering industry.

The University instructors annually issue 50 titles of monographs, textbooks and teaching aids.

The Bashkir University participates in international integration activities, co-operating on a contractual basis with universities in the U.S.A., Turkey, the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Egypt, Hungary, Japan and China in the sphere of science and higher education.

The Bashkir University is a vibrantly growing institution. The transition is currently accomplished to a multi-level system of higher professional training. The high standard of theoretical and methodological background of the professor and instructor staff supported by academic traditions facilitates training highly-qualified specialists.

The University is justly proud of its graduates. More than 53,000 specialists have been trained here since 1957 thus contributing significantly to Bashkortostan's intellectual potential. Over a thousand University graduates have been awarded honorary titles of the Russian Federation and those of the Republic of Bashkortostan, and 67 of them are members of the Writers' Union of Russia.

Department of law

The Department of Law has been in existence since January 1972 and is the legal successor of the Ufa Branch of the All-Union Correspondence Institute of Law, which was transformed into the Ufa Faculty of the Sverdlovsk Institute of Law in 1964.

The full-time and part-time (evening and correspondence) divisions of the Department comprise 60 instructors with 6 Professors and 25 Assistant Professors and train more than 1,500 students.

At the chairs of Theory and History of State and Law, Civil Law and Procedure, Business and Financial Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, Criminology and Forensic Expertise the students of the Department can specialize in various legal fields - state, business, financial, agrarian law, investigation, prosecution, foreign-economic activities. Two scientific schools are successfully functioning, one focusing on agrarian law, the other dedicated to combatting juvenile delinquency.

The instruction process is provided with excellent training facilities - criminology laboratories, a photography darkroom, a video-room, a computer class, a foreign languages laboratory.

Post-graduate courses are provided by the Chairs "Civil Law and Procedure", "Criminal Law and Procedure", "Criminology and Forensic Expertise". A specialized board has been set up for defending candidates' theses dedicated to Agrarian Law, Land, Water, Forest and Mining Law, Ecological Law.

A multi-level system of specialist training was introduced in 1994.

OXFORD

Oxford University, comprising nearly 50 affiliated but autonomous colleges and halls, is a great centre of learning since its foundation in the 12th century.

Oxford is like London: it is international, it is old and it has great charm. It is also a town that grew up near the River Thames.

Oxford is international because people from many parts of the world come to study at its university. They join the university "family" that has more than 9,000 members.

In universities there are chancellors, principals, masters, wardens, deans, bursars, professors, readers, fellows and others in a variety of pecking orders.

The city of Oxford is old and historical. It has existed since 912. The oldest men's college is University (1249), and the oldest women's college is Lady Margaret Hall (1879). Some of the other old colleges are Merton College, Magdalen College, and New College. The major university library is the famous Bodleian.

You can see the charm of Oxford in the green fields and parks which surround the city and you can see it in the lawns and gardens which surround the colleges.

You can see the charm of Oxford in the River Thames and its streams which pass near the city. Punting is a favourite sport among the students at Oxford. It is a very peaceful sport and helps you to do a lot of thinking - especially if you are studying for an examination!

There are several sights not to be missed by a visitor to Oxford - the Martyrs' Memorial and the cobblestone cross in the middle of the Broad Street. On this spot in 1555 two bishops, Latimer and Ridley, were burned alive on the orders of Catholic Queen Mary. As the flames took hold, Bishop Latimer called across to his fellow martyr: "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out."

He meant the candle of the Protestant faith. A year later, on the same spot in 1556, Archbishop Cranner followed them to death. The flames from the pyre had scorched the door of Balliol College a few yards away. The scorch marks are plainly visible today.

Visitors one day should also stay up till midnight and listen to Great Tom, the bass bell at Christ Church, which tolls 101 times each night.