Matej Bel University (commonly referred as Matej Bel or UMB), ( sk, Univerzita Mateja Bela) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in the central Slovak town of
Banská Bystrica
Banská Bystrica (, also known by other alternative names) is a middle-sized town in central Slovakia, located on the Hron River in a long and wide valley encircled by the mountain chains of the Low Tatras, the Veľká Fatra, and the Kremnica Mo ...
. The university was established in 1992. It bears the name of
Matthias Bel
Matthias Bel or Matthias Bél (german: link=no, Matthias Bel; hu, Bél Mátyás; sk, Matej Bel; la, Matthias Belius; 22–24 March(?), 1684 – 29 August 1749) was a Lutheran pastor and polymath from the Kingdom of Hungary. Bel was active in ...
, a Hungarian-Slovak Lutheran scholar of the 18th century. UMB comprises six
faculties that differ in character and history, each retaining substantial autonomy on financial and institutional affairs. The university provides undergraduate and graduate instruction in the
humanities
Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...
,
social sciences
Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soci ...
and
natural sciences
Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
. Academically, Matej Bel University is noted mainly for
international relations
International relations (IR), sometimes referred to as international studies and international affairs, is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states. In a broader sense, it concerns all activities between states—such as ...
and
finance
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...
.
As of October 2020, UMB's alumni, faculty, and staff have included: one prime minister of Slovakia; four justices of the
Constitutional Court of Slovakia
Building of the Constitutional Court of Slovakia in Košice
The Constitutional Court of Slovakia (officially Constitutional Court of the Slovak Republic, sk, Ústavný súd Slovenskej republiky) is a special court established by the Constituti ...
, two of whom currently serve; three Olympic medalists, and multiple senior EU and Slovak officials.
History
![Matej Bel Painting](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Matej_Bel_Painting.jpg)
Banská Bystrica has a long tradition in schooling and culture. In the 13th century, there had already existed a
parish school
A parochial school is a private primary or secondary school affiliated with a religious organization, and whose curriculum includes general religious education in addition to secular subjects, such as science, mathematics and language arts. The ...
, later a town school. In the 17th century, a Jesuit school, as well as Evangelical grammar schools, were founded.
Matthias Bel
Matthias Bel or Matthias Bél (german: link=no, Matthias Bel; hu, Bél Mátyás; sk, Matej Bel; la, Matthias Belius; 22–24 March(?), 1684 – 29 August 1749) was a Lutheran pastor and polymath from the Kingdom of Hungary. Bel was active in ...
, after whom the university is named, studied and later worked as a rector at the latter.
![Fakulta](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Fakulta.jpg)
In the 1850s and 1860s, the Catholic grammar school with Slovak as a tuition language became an important center of education in the
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary was a monarchy in Central Europe that existed for nearly a millennium, from the Middle Ages into the 20th century. The Principality of Hungary emerged as a Christian kingdom upon the coronation of the first king Stephen ...
. In the school year 1856–57 the first Teacher's Preparation Study was founded in Banská Bystrica (Besztercebánya), where Slovak language was taught together with German and Latin, thanks to the bishop
Štefan Moyses.
In the school year 1949–50, a branch of the Faculty of Education,
Slovak University of Bratislava, was established in Banská Bystrica. The first higher school appeared in Banská Bystrica in 1954. It was called the Higher School of Pedagogy. On September 1, 1964, the Faculty of Education was founded. In 1973, the branch of the Faculty of Commerce,
University of Economics in Bratislava
The University of Economics in Bratislava ( sk, Ekonomická univerzita v Bratislave) is the oldest university of economics in Slovakia.
History
The university was established in 1940 as a private university under the name Vysoká obchodná škol ...
, was established and in 1977 transformed into the Faculty of Economics of Services and Tourism. Matej Bel University was established on July 1, 1992, after the integration of the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Economics of Services and Tourism.
Governance and faculties
![Courtyard of FPVMV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Courtyard_of_FPVMV.jpg)
The Matej Bel University has traditionally been a decentralized institution, with governing authority shared among its academic faculties. The Governing Council is the
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
legislative organ of the central administration, overseeing general academic, business and institutional affairs. The rector is appointed by the council as the chief executive.
Matej Bel University currently comprises six faculties:
Library and collections
The Matej Bel University Library System is one of the largest university-academic library systems in Slovakia, measured by number of volumes held. Establishment of the Matej Bel University Library in Banská Bystrica is connected with the foundation of the Higher College of Education in Banská Bystrica in 1954. In 1964, after the foundation of Faculty of Education, it became the central library of the faculty.
Since January 1, 1993, the library has served as Matej Bel University Library in Banská Bystrica. In the same year, the Library of the Faculty of Economy of Services and Tourism in Banská Bystrica was annexed to the Central Library of the Faculty of Education. Since 1975 the Library of the Faculty of Economy of Services and Travel served as a branch of the Central Economic Library in Bratislava. In 1996 the library system was decentralized. Having regard to the Academic Senate of the University of Matej Bel. The Matej Bel University Library system was abolished on April 1, 1996, and four new libraries were established, those were directly controlled by the faculties. This changed on January 1, 2000, when the Rector UMB Library act of 2000 entered into force, this connected the decentralized libraries of the faculties into the "Matej Bel University Library system.
International partnership
Cooperation of the university with other universities and institutions is widespread and involves many national and international organizations, such as the
University of Bologna
The University of Bologna ( it, Alma Mater Studiorum – Università di Bologna, UNIBO) is a public research university in Bologna, Italy. Founded in 1088 by an organised guild of students (''studiorum''), it is the oldest university in continuo ...
in Italy,
Waseda University
, abbreviated as , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the ''Tōkyō Senmon Gakkō'' by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the school was formally renamed Waseda University in 1902.
The university has numerou ...
in Japan,
Moscow State University
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...
in Russia,
Sogang University
Sogang University (SU, Hangul: 서강대학교 Hanja: 西江大學校, literally "West River University") is one of the most prestigious private research universities in Seoul, South Korea. It was established in 1960 by the Wisconsin Province of ...
in South Korea, and
Indiana University
Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana.
Campuses
Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI.
*Indiana Universit ...
in United States.
Today, Matej Bel University has 35 partnerships worldwide, apart from these agreements, the faculties have also signed agreements on cooperation based on the specific needs of their own, or their departments, totaling the number of partnerships to more than 80.
Notable people
References
External links
Official site
{{authority control
Universities in Slovakia
Buildings and structures in Banská Bystrica
Educational institutions established in 1992
1992 establishments in Czechoslovakia