Peoples' Friendship University of Russia

The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia (Russian: Российский университет дружбы народов, РУДН) is an educational and research institution located in the South of Moscow and is ranked by the Ministry of Education of Russia as the country's third-best university after Moscow State University and Saint Petersburg State University. It was founded in 1960 as Peoples' Friendship University (Университет дружбы народов им. Патриса Лумумбы). Its stated objective at the time was to help nations of the Third World, mainly in Asia, Africa and South America, at the height of the Cold War by providing higher education and professional training, but many students from developed countries also attended.

History
Peoples’ Friendship University was established by the government of the Soviet Union on February 5, 1960. The Soviet government decided to establish Peoples’ Friendship University in response to the requests of former colonial countries. On February 22, 1961, it was renamed in honour of Patrice Lumumba, the leader of what later became the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who had been overthrown and murdered in a coup only days earlier. In the first year, 539 foreign students from 59 countries were enrolled (plus 57 Soviet students).

In February 1975, the University was awarded the Peoples’ Friendship Order for contributions in human development of Asian, African and Latin American countries.

On February 5, 1992 the university was renamed 'Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia – State Institute of Higher Education (PFUR)'. The founder of the PFUR is the government of the Russian Federation.

Goals
The stated purpose of establishing this university was to give young people from Asia, Africa and Latin America, especially from poor families, an opportunity to be educated and to become highly qualified specialists.

Founders
The organizations that have been mentioned as founders of the university are:


 * All-Union Central Soviet of Trade Unions
 * Soviet Afro-Asian Solidarity Committee
 * Soviet Associations Union of Friendship and Intercultural Relationship

Today
Today, more than 97,000 graduates work in approximately 165 different countries around the world. The university has 57 programmes with about 35,000 students (including postgraduates) of 450 nationalities. About 15,000 of the current students are from outside the Russian Federation, while more than 1,000 are from autonomous regions inside the Russian Federation.

The University staff includes about 7,000 employees; among them there are 732 professors and Doctors of Science, 807 associate professors and candidates of science, 91 academicians and Corresponding Members of academies of Russia, 50 Honoured workers of Science of the Russian Federation, 56 PFUR teachers and professors are full members of international academies and learned societies, as well as other general employees.

Schools

 * Faculty of Russian Language and Basic Disciplines (Preparatory faculty for International Students)
 * Faculty of
 * Faculty of Engineering
 * Faculty of
 * Faculty of Medicine with English Medium
 * Faculty of
 * Faculty of
 * Faculty of and Social Sciences
 * Faculty of
 * Institute of Foreign Languages
 * School of
 * Ecology Institute of Hotel, Business and Tourism
 * Institute of Global Economics and Business
 * Institute of Correspondence Studies

Programmes

 * Full-time programs (Undergraduate, Graduate and Postgraduate)
 * Part-time (Night School Bachelor's Programme)
 * Part-time & independent study Specialist programme, 1 week per month evening instruction (often erroneously called a form of correspondence courses)
 * Correspondence Courses
 * Double Majors
 * Additional Education Courses

Degrees offered

 * Bachelor's Degree - (4 years of study)
 * State Specialist Degree – (5 years of study)
 * Medical Doctor Degree – (6 years of Study)
 * Master's Degree - (2 years of study following B.Sc.)
 * Ph.D – 3 years (after Masters or Specialist)
 * D.Sc – 2–3 years (after Ph.D)