V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is one of the oldest universities in Eastern Europe. It was founded in November 1804, on the initiative of the prominent educator V.N. Karazin and in accordance with the charter of Tsar Alexander I. The opening ceremony was held on January 29, 1805. The University made an important contribution to the Ukrainian national renaissance of the XIX-XXth centuries. It gave a powerful impetus to the emergence of Kharkiv as a major scientific and cultural center and an academic hub of Ukraine. Today the University justly rates among the best Ukrainian classical universities and is known in many countries.Since its foundation, the University has graduated over 130,000 students. The names of the University graduates are commemorated in geographical names, names of space objects, plants and minerals, laws and formulae. Almost 60 University graduates have become academicians and corresponding members of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (UNAS). The activities of the University have developed Kharkiv into a major industrial, scientific and cultural center. Many Kharkiv streets are named after professors, researches and alumni of the University. The University has initiated the whole system of higher education of the Kharkiv Region. Its offspring are the National Academy of Law, the National Pharmaceutical Academy, Kharkiv Medical University, Kharkiv Pedagogical University, the Kharkiv Veterinary Academy, the Kharkiv Academy of Culture, Kharkiv Economic University and other institutions of higher education. Today Kharkiv National University has 21 Schools: the School of Biology, the School of Physics and Technology, the School of Radio Physics, the School of Physics, the School of Computer Sciences, the School of Philosophy, the School of Mechanical Engineering, the School of Geology and Geography, the School of Economics, the School of Foreign Languages, the School of History, the School of Philology, the School of Fundamental Medicine, the School of Chemistry, the School of Sociology, the School of Psychology, the School of Law, the School of International Economic Relations and Tourism, the School of Further Education and Retraining, and the School of Physics and Energy. The latter was organized together with the UNAS Institute of Mechanical Engineering.
The total University enrollment, including the students of the Center for Training International Students and the Center for Presessional Education, amounts to about 12,000 undergraduate and graduate students and about 400 postgraduate students. The University employs up to 1,500 faculty and research staff, including more than 200 doctors of sciences, full professors, and almost 800 PhDs, associate professors.
Kharkiv National University is one of the largest research centers in Ukraine. It covers virtually all spheres of modern fundamental research and incorporates the Research Institutes of Chemistry, Biology, and Astronomy, the Institute of Physics and Engineering, and the Institute of High Technologies. The University’s faculty include 21 academicians and corresponding members of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences and specialized academies of Ukraine, and 50 winners of the State Award. The University has about 20 world famous scientific schools committed to intensive research, 5 Expert Examining Boards and 11 Senior Doctorate Expert Examining Board. The University’s researchers annually publish 60 to 65 monographs, collections of research papers, over 2,000 articles and abstracts, and hold 20 to 25 international conferences.
The University is the leading research organization of international several space programs. Within the framework of international programs its researchers co-operate with scientists from the USA, Canada, Russia, Germany, Turkey, China, Japan, Switzerland, Bulgaria, Great Britain and other countries.
Since 1808 the University has had its own Astronomical Observatory which is one of the leading astronomical centers of Ukraine involved in fundamental and applied research in the Physics of the Sun, the planets, asteroids, comets and satellites.
The University’s Botanical Garden was founded in 1804 and is the oldest botanical garden in Ukraine. It is a state preserve with a unique collection of plants representing various botanical and geographic zones of the world.
The University’s Natural History Museum was founded in 1807 and is one of the oldest university museums in the world. Every year it opens its doors to 22,000 visitors. The total area of the Museum exhibition facilities is 2,000 square meters, and its 23 halls feature about 250,000 exhibits organized into the following sections: the Origin of Man, Darwinism, Zoology, and Geology. The University also has the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of Slobidska Ukraine with about 150,000 exhibits.
The University’s Central Scientific Library was founded on January 30, 1805. In 1987, the decree of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine established it as an institution of special social importance. It numbers 3,500,000 units, including 50,000 unique editions (17 incunabula, over 1,000 manuscripts, 300 palaeotypes, and books by classical writers and scholars published in their lifetime).
In October 1999, according to the decree of the President of Ukraine, Kharkiv State University gained the status of a national university and was named in honor of its founder, V.N. Karazin.
In 2003, following the decree of the President of Ukraine, V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University obtained the highest status of a self-governing (autonomous) state university. V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University is involved in extensive international cooperation and is an active member of the international community of the leading European and world universities. It cooperates with 61 partners in 25 countries of the world.
Together with other major European universities, in 1988 Kharkiv National University signed the Great University Charter that initiated the Bologna Process. The University is a co-founder of the Eurasian University Association and is a member the World and the European University Associations.
V.N.Karazin Kharkiv National University is listed in the following Directories:
World Health Organization (WHO): Directory of World Medical Colleges.
International Medical Education Directory (IMED): IMED acaccreditation is recognized by Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) and Medical Council of Canada (MCC) for eligibility of graduates to obtain certification & Licensure.
Ukrainian State Centre of International Education (USCIE): Directory of Recognized Educational Institutes in Ukraine.
The process of Europe unification has been accompanied by the establishment of a common education and research framework as well as development of uniform criteria and standards in this field within the whole continent. This process is called the Bologna Process after the University of the city of Bologna, where those initiatives were launched. Its main aim is to consolidate the efforts of scientific and educational communities, as well as of governments of European states to enhance competitiveness of the European system of research and higher education in the global dimension, as well as to amplify the role of this system in the course of social changes.
The Bologna Process started on 19 June 1999 in Bologna (Italy), when Ministers for Education from 29 European countries signed the Bologna Declaration. The member-states agreed their common requirements, criteria and standards for national systems of higher education and arranged for creating a common education and research area by 2010. This area will have uniform criteria for recognition of degrees, employment, and mobility of people, with the aim of significantly enhancing the competitiveness of the European labor market and education services. This document provided for the implementation of a general system of compatible academic degrees, including the introduction of a new Diploma Supplement; introduction in all countries of a two-cycle system of education with the first Bachelor’s cycle taking at least three years, and the second Master’s cycle at least two years; the introduction of a credit system in accordance with the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS); the promotion of European cooperation in quality assurance of education; the development of compatible criteria and methods of assessment of education quality; the elimination of obstacles to teaching staff and student mobility within the created area. The next stage of the Bologna Process took place in Prague on 19 May 2001, where the representatives of 33 European states signed the Prague Communiqu?. The summit set the main elements of the European Higher Education Area such as: lifelong learning; students’ motivated involvement in learning process; strengthening attractiveness and competitiveness of the European Higher Education Area and other regions of the world. The third stage of the Bologna Process took place in Berlin on 18-19 September 2003, where a relevant communiqu? was signed. It was agreed to extend the all-European requirements and standards to cover doctoral degrees. It was established that countries participating in the Bologna Process should have only one doctoral degree – Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in the relevant areas of knowledge. Additional modules, courses and curricula with European content, relevant orientation and organization were developed. It was pointed out, that the European Higher Education Area and the European Research Area were two interrelated parts of the society of knowledge. Russia together with seven other countries was admitted to the Bologna Community (at present 40 European countries participate in the Bologna Process). Ukraine joined the Bologna Process in 2005. Key developments since then include: preparing an Action Plan for implementation up to 2010; setting up a Bologna Follow-up Group within the Ministry of Education and Science and a national team of Bologna Promoters; the Council of students applying for National Union of Students in Europe (ESIB) membership; progressing the implementing of ECTS and diploma supplements; and increasing the higher education sector’s engagement with the European Higher Education Area. Work has started to develop a national qualifications framework, following discussion with all interested parties at a national level. It is expected to be completed by 2010. Plans have been developed to improve and co-ordinate national quality assurance arrangements, with a seminar to be held in April 2007. Some international involvement in quality assurance takes place at the institution level, and universities are in direct contact with international accreditation agencies. Plans are in place for graduates to receive diploma supplements from 2008-09. Future challenges include: developing a quality assurance system in line with the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher education Area; implementing the third cycle; increasing the employability of bachelor graduates; increasing staff and student mobility; and extending higher education institution and community links.