Southern Federal University

Southern Federal University (), abbreviated as SFedU () and formerly known as Rostov State University (1957–2006), is a public university in Rostov Oblast, Russia with campuses in Rostov-on-Don and Taganrog.

History

Southern Federal University is the largest research and educational establishment of Rostov Oblast. The university began to operate in Rostov-on-Don in 1915 as an affiliate part of Imperial University of Warsaw whose Russian staff had been evacuated from Poland with the onset of World War I. Later, with the collapse of Russian Empire, the university was named Donskoy University after the region of Don by the decree of Russian Provisional Government on May 5, 1917. When founded in 1915, Donskoy University was the first higher education institution in Rostov-on-Don and had four academic departments: history & philosophy, medicine, physics & mathematics, and law. In 1917–1920, during Russian Civil War, Rostov-on-Don was under the control of the anti-Soviet coalition forces of Russian White movement including Kaledin's Don Army. Many of the staff who found refuge at Donskoy University at that time had a strong anti-Soviet stance and students were being drafted to White Army. During the turmoil years of the Civil War the official name of the university was Bogaevsky Donskoy University named after Mitrofan Bogaevsky, assistant to Ataman Alexey Kaledin. Following the takeover of Rostov-on-Don by Red Army in January 1920, the authority over Donskoy University passed to the Soviet government. That same year the Soviets purged the university off any seemed disloyal and pro-White movement staff members.

In 1925, Donskoy University was renamed to North Caucasus State University to reflect its status as an education center in then North Caucasus Krai. Another renaming of the university followed in 1934 giving Rostov-on-Don State University. Then again, in 1957, it was changed to Rostov State University. The latter name existed until 2006. In November 2006, Rostov State Academy of Architecture & Arts, Rostov State Pedagogical University and Taganrog State University of Radioengineering were merged into Rostov State University to form a single entity called Southern Federal University.

Marina Alexandrovna Borovskaya, president of the university, was suspended by the European University Association (EUA) following support for the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Union of Rectors (RUR) in March 2022, for being "diametrically opposed to the European values that they committed to when joining EUA”.

Academics

University centers and degree-granting institutions

* Main campus of SFedU (former Rostov State University)
** Faculty of Biology and Soil Science
** Faculty of Chemistry
** Faculty of Economics
** Faculty of Geology & Geography
** Faculty of High Techs
*** R&D Center on Piezoelectric Engineering "Piezopribor"
** Faculty of History
** Faculty of Law
** Faculty of Mathematics, Mechanics & Computer Science
** Faculty of Philology & Journalism
** Faculty of Philosophy & Cultural Studies
** Faculty of Psychology
** Faculty of Physics
** Faculty of Regional Studies
** Faculty of Social and Political Science
* Institute of Economics and International Relations

* Pedagogical Institute (former Rostov State Pedagogical University)
** Faculty of Linguistics & Philology
** Faculty of Pedagogy & Psychology
** Faculty of Physical Education & Sport
** Faculty of Economics, Management & Legal Studies
** Faculty of Natural Sciences
** Faculty of Technology & Entrepreneurship
** Faculty of Visual Arts
** Faculty of Mathematics, Physics & Computer Sciences
** Faculty of Continuing and Extended Education
** Faculty of Advanced Training & Professional Development for Teachers
* Taganrog Institute of Technology (abbreviated as TIT, former Taganrog State University of Radioengineering)
* Institute of Architecture & Arts (former Rostov State Academy of Architecture & Arts)
* The Smart Materials Research Center

Rankings

In 2017, Times Higher Education ranked the university within the 801-1000 band globally.

Degree mill

The volunteer community network Dissernet has discovered multiple cases of PhD level degrees being awarded by the university for heavily plagiarized theses.

Alumni and faculty

Alumni

* Alexander Ankvab, President of Abkhazia
* Alexander Bovin, journalist, political scientist and diplomat
* Aleksander Burba, chemist, founder of metallurgy of germanium
* Alexander Fedorov, media educator, film critic, editor of Media Education Journal
* Zinaida Ermol’eva, microbiologist and biochemist who developed first Soviet-made antibiotics, recipient of numerous Soviet awards
* Sergey Shakhray, deputy Prime Minister of Russia
* Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, writer Nobel prize winner
* Valery Tarsis, writer.
* Tony Vilgotsky, writer

Faculty

* Dmitry Morduhai-Boltovskoi, mathematician
* Dmitri Ivanovsky, botanist, founder of virology
* Ivan Alekseyevich Kornilov, Soviet general
* Vladimir Semyonovich Semyonov, Soviet diplomat
* Sabina Spielrein, psychoanalyst
* Iosif Vorovich, mathematician
* Yuri Zhdanov, chemist, rector of the University of Rostov (1957—1988)

See also

* List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)

References

External links

Official site of Southern Federal University

Official site of "Piezopribor" - R&D center affiliated with SFedU

Official site of Institute of Economics and International Relations

Official site of Taganrog Institute of Technology

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Federal universities of Russia