The foundation and the growth of the university (1915-1930)

The Imperial University of Warsaw was founded in October, 1869 on the basis of Warsaw Principal School. There were originally four faculties: the Faculty of History and Philology, the Faculty of Medicine, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics with departments of natural sciences and mathematics.

In the 19^th century Warsaw University was staffed with outstanding scientists in Mechanics and Mathematics of the time.

During World War I, the German Army approached Warsaw in 1915. Thus the university was urgently evacuated to Moscow and the problem of its further location was discussed. The best conditions for the university location were offered by the city of Rostov-on-Don, which had no higher education establishments at that time. The only institute in the whole Don Cossacks region was the Polytechnic Institute at Novocherkassk founded in 1907.

The authorities and community of Rostov were enthusiastic about the university relocation. Works had begun with the urgent reconstruction of about 10 buildings given to the university. The university was solemnly opened on November 27. Classes in all four faculties began on December 1, 1915.

The relocation of the university played a great cultural and educational role in the life of Rostov region. The professors and tutors took an active part in different programs specifically concerned with improving the role of education. They were lecturing in Rostov, Novocherkassk, Taganrog. As a result of this activity, the Woman’s High Courses were reopened, the National University was founded. Science Societies of the university were renewed and a lot of citizens of Rostov were involved into their work. The “University News” newspaper had been regularly published since 1916.

At the beginning of 1917, it became clear that it was impossible for the university to return to Warsaw. By that time almost all the university equipment was created anew in Rostov.

In May, 1917 the Provisional Government of Russia reorganized the Imperial University of Warsaw into the Don University, which in 1929 was renamed the North Caucasus University. The major strategy of the university since its foundation has always been an integration of research university into science and education. In 1926 the first three research institutions were set up under the auspices of the university: the Institute of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, the Institute of Local Economy and the Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine.

In 1931 three university faculties were reorganized into the Medical Institute, the Teacher-Training Institute and the Institute of Economics and Finance. The rest of the University received the name Rostov State University and started the academic year at the constituent faculties of physics and mathematics, chemistry, geology and botany. By the end of the 1930s the faculty of geology and botany was subdivided into the faculty of geology and soil, and the faculty of geography. The university structure at the same time included the Botanical Gardens and the Research Institute of Biology.

The continuing development of Rostov State University was interrupted by World War II, as 66 university staff members and over 600 students joined the front lines during the first months of the war. In the summer of 1942 the University was transferred to Kirgizia (the city of Osh) but moved back to a devastated Rostov in 1944. it only took the University team 5 years to reach the pre-war level of education, training and research (and even to surpass it in some aspects).

The late 1960s and early 1970s witnessed the formation of the present-day university structure. In 1965 a new faculty of economics and philosophy was founded, while the faculty of history and philology split into the faculty of history and that of philology. In 1970 the Research Institute of Physics was founded, followed by the Research Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry and the Research Institute of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics in 1971. The Research Institute of Neurocybernetics was started in 1972.

The last decade of the 20^th century was a difficult period for the whole of the country politically, socially and economically. Rostov State University survived and went on gaining strength as a classical university.

6.2 Read the text to know more about the outstanding graduates of Rostov State University.

A total of over 110 thousand university graduates have completed their course of studies at Rostov State University. Many of them have become outstanding figures in their respective fields. Alumni include academician V.I. Minkin, the current director of the Research Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry; Academician G.G. Mateshov, director of the Research Institute of Marine Biology (Murmansk, Russia); Academician V.A. Babeshko, rector of Kuban State University (Krasnodar, Russia); writer A.S. Solzhenitsin; Chairman of the Russian Constitutional Court M.V. Baglay; member of the Russian Constitutional Court Prof. N.S. Bondar; the former Russian High Ambassador to Israel, A.E. Bovin; former chairman of the Central Editorial Committee of the Russian Federation and current Russian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, N.G. Ryabov; professor E.G. Fesenko, USSR State Prize Winner; politician S.M. Shakhray, an aid in the Russian President’s Administration; V.A. Starkov, editor-in-chief of the national weekly “Arguments and Facts”; D. Dibrov, popular NTV anchorman; writer Daniel Koretsky; first Deputy of the Home Affairs Minister, V.V. Kolesnikov; rector of Rostov State Teacher-Training University, A.A. Grekov, and others.

The division for postgraduate studies and training is very effective in training highly qualified staff. It offers advanced courses of postgraduate studies (leading to Candidates degrees and Doctoral degrees), delivers programs for trainees, for retraining and advanced studies, as well as for those writing a thesis to qualify for a Doctoral degree.

At Rostov State University there are 22 fully accredited Boards awarding advanced degrees (10 for Doctoral degrees, 12 for Candidates).

The Institute of Retraining and Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences for Academics was founded under Rostov State University by the decision of the Russian Government, and is the largest center of training, research and methods in South Russia, with 19 Doctors of Science and 10 Candidates working on the staff. The institute offers programs of professional studies in the following disciplines: history, philosophy, culture studies, economic theory, political science, sociology, psychology, social work and law. Integrated regional research projects are carried out at the Institute. It also offers programmes of postgraduate studies. The Department of Regional Studies trains analysts, consultants and aides specializing in the problems of the Caucasus area.

The academic research library is an important part of the University structure. It is the largest library in the south of Russia uniting the libraries of other universities in the North Caucasus. It is a member of the Russian Library Association and a member of the Regional Consortium of Libraries. The library has seven lending departments and six reading halls attended by over 800 thousand readers annually. The library facilities and its nearly 3-mln inventory provide an excellent opportunity for research and studies. It has a unique collection of rare volumes including west European editions dating from the 16^th – 17^th centuries, a collection of books of traditional Cyrillic type of the 17^th century and Russian books of the 19^th century.

6.3 Read the text to know more about research divisions of the university.

Both the academic and research divisions of the university are involved in fundamental and applied research in arts, sciences and social sciences, focusing on finding solutions to long-term problems.

The A.B. Kogan Research Institute of Neurocybernetics was founded in 1971. The institute comprises 4 departments and 10 laboratories, with 61 researchers on the staff including 7 Doctors and 34 Candidates of Science. The main research areas are: neurobiology (the study of the physiological, morphological and behavioral mechanisms of neuron systems operation); neuroinformatics (the development of principles and devices for managing and processing information in natural neuron systems); psychophysiology (the study of the nerve mechanisms of human and animal brain formation); biomedical engineering (the development of software-hardware complexes for medical-biological and psychophysiological purposes). The area of research ranges from molecular and cell level processes through the organization of neuron ensembles and brain subsystems to the integrated functions of the nervous system, as well as applications in medicine and equipment. The Research Institute of Neurocybernetics has set up a department of biophysics and biocybernetics in cooperation with the Faculty of Physics. Both undergraduates and graduates have equal opportunity to major at the department. The institute offers postgraduate programs in 3 majors.

The Research Institute of Physical and Organic Chemistry was founded in 1971. There are 198 researchers on the staff including 20 Doctors of Science and 104 Candidates. The main areas of research are: synthesis and study of photochemically active species applied to the system of information recording and energy conversion; the study of synthesis, structure and reactivity of organic natural coordination compounds used to simulate biologically important processes and objects; purpose-specified synthesis, and integrated study of synthetic and modified natural physiologically active substances focused on the development of new specific drugs; search and study of effective organic photo-chromium and luminescent compounds.

The Research Institute of Mechanics and Applied Mathematics was founded in 1971. There are 205 employees on the staff, including 12 Doctors of Science and 57 Candidates. The major area of research are: mechanics of deformable solids, strength and fracture; mathematical processes of continuum mechanics; mathematical modelling of environmental-economic systems; mathematical models of thin-walled structures; development of new construction materials utilizing industrial wastes and resource-saving technologies for erecting bearing structures; analysis, production processes and applications of piezoactive composite materials in ultrasonic devices; and the development of power-efficient gearings. Since 1971 the researchers of the institute have been awarded 2 National State Prizes, they have published 64 monographs and taken out 65 patents, including 18 in foreign countries. International projects within the framework of the INTAS, GLOBE, NATO, and CRDF programs have been completed and new projects are currently under way. Academician Iosif I. Vorovich, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Science, has been the director of the institute since its foundation.

The Research Institute of Physics was founded in 1970 through the reorganization of the research institute of physics and mathematics, which had functioned at Rostov State University since 1936. The institute staff of 314 includes 16 Doctors of Science and 83 Candidates. The main research areas are: X-ray and electronic spectroscopy; atomic and electronic structure of solids; physics of ferroelectric and ferropiezoelectric materials; non-linear physics; theoretical and experimental research into phase transitions in crystals; physical astronomy; cosmology; physics of circumferential space; chronobiology. The institute designs and manufactures piezoelectric transducers and gauges, equipment for ultrasonic medical diagnostics, active and passive UHF devices, metallic vapour lasers, and complex analytic equipment and instruments (Messbauer spectrometers, X-ray spectroscopic equipment, etc.).

The Research Institute of Biology was founded in 1936. There are 85 researchers on the staff, including 2 Doctors and 43 Candidates of Science. The major research areas are: study of molecular and genetic mechanisms controlling metabolism under normal, extreme and pathological conditions; development of genetic, biochemical and biophysical methods of estimating organism conditions; forecasting individuals response to the effect of extreme environment factors; techniques of somatic hybridization aimed at obtaining plastid-chlorophyll and stress-resistant mutations of higher plants and their improvement by selection; techniques of increased production and rational management of natural resources for a more efficient use in the national economy; the monitoring of soils fertility; and the monitoring of the Don river water shed, the Tzimlyansk Reservoir, and the Sea of Azov.

The Institute of Biosphere Geochemistry was founded in 1991. The staff of 38 includes 1 Doctor and 1 Candidate of Science. The main areas of research are: environmental protection and rational nature management; migration and concentration of chemical elements in natural and technogenic landscapes; forecasting and mineral resources prospecting by means of geochemical techniques; and the accumulation problems in various landscapes under various geochemical conditions. During the 9 years of its operation the researchers of the Institute have made two scientific discoveries. These were colloborated by the International Association of the Authors of Scientific Discoveries. 8 monographs and manuals have been published, and research is being done within the framework of both Russian and foreign grants (CRDF inclusive).

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