Far Eastern Federal University

Far Eastern Federal University
Дальневосточный федеральный университет
Motto	Universitas Humanitatis Progressus Est (University is a Progress of Mankind)
Established	1899
Rector	Vladimir Miklushevski
Academic staff	4,082
Students	41,000
Location	Vladivostok, Russia
Website	http://www.fenu.ru/

Far Eastern Federal University (Russian: Дальневосто́чный федеральный университе́т) is an institution of higher education located in Vladivostok, Russia. Established in 1899, the university was closed in the late 1930s under Joseph Stalin, and reopened in 1956, two years after Nikita Khrushchev visited Vladivostok. The university is going to be reorganized in the near future to form the core of the Far Eastern Federal University with new campus on the Russky Island south of Vladivostok. The campus is currently under development and its buildings will serve as facilities for 2012 APEC summit in Vladivostok.

Formerly named Far Eastern State University, the university officially changed its English name in 2000 (the name in Russian remained unchanged). References to the university under its old name are common.

Structure

Far Eastern Federal University consists of:

• Administration, Facilities and Service Units
• Academy of Ecology, Marine Biology and Biotechnology
• Institute of Chemistry and Applied Ecology
• Institute of Environmental Sciences
• Institute of Foreign Languages
• Institute of Highly Qualified Specialists Training
• Institute of History and Philosophy
• Institute of International Tourism and Hospitality
• Institute of Management and Business
• Institute of Mass Media
• Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science
• Institute of Oriental Studies
• Institute of Physics and Information Technologies
• Institute of Postgraduate Studies
• Institute of Pre-University Training
• Institute of Professional Development
• Institute of Psychology and Social Sciences
• Institute of Pedagogy and Education
• Institute of International Studies of the Pacific Rim
• Institute of International Education
• Far Eastern Institute of Innovative Technologies and Quality Control
• Interregional Institute of Social Studies
• FENU Primary School and Kindergarten
• Vladivostok Institute of International Studies of the Pacific Rim Region
• FENU Open University

Accreditation, recognition, and ratings

Far Eastern Federal University is a federal institution of higher education accredited and funded by the Russian Ministry of Education. FEFU is the top rated, the largest, and the oldest university of Eastern Russia, established in 1899 by a special order of the Imperor Nikolai II.

According to the ratings of the Russian Ministry of Education, FEFU is one of the top five Russian universities. FEFU has been listed number two in a recent publication of the top national universities ranking issued by the Russian Ministry of Education. FEFU is the only university of Eastern Russia accredited as a scientific university by the Russian Ministry of Industry, Science and Technology. FEFU earned this accreditation for its scientific achievements: according to the Science Citation Index, FEFU faculty members contribute 78% publications of all Russian Far East universities and colleges in worldwide peer-reviewed scientific journals.

FEFU has joint academic departments with every research institute in natural sciences accredited by the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Russian Far East. In 1999, FENU won a competition among 90 best Russian Universities for a one-million US dollar grant from the American Civil Research and Development Fund. FEFU was able to establish the Research and Educational Center of Marine Biota. Due to its high level of fundamental and applied research, FEFU has become a leading scientific and research center of ecological expertise of Sakhalin oil and gas projects. The level of fundamental research in FEFU makes it one of the top universities in Russian Federation today.

FEFU is the largest and the oldest non-commercial Internet provider and IT developer in the Russian Far East. FEFU was the second in Russia, after Saint-Petersburg State University, to use H323 Internet protocol and multi-Mbit/s Internet channels for regular educational videoconferences. Utilizing Internet videoconference technology, FEFU pioneered several educational programs: Russian and Japanese languages; Russian-American joint credit courses in Law; and international dual degree programs in Business.

FEFU offers educational programs and conducts fundamental research in practically all fields of human knowledge. FEFU alumni include 49 of 58 Primorsky Supreme Court Justices; more than 900 of 1,050 members of the Primorsky Bar Association; 70% of the regional scientists holding PhD degrees; 90% of the regional journalists; and almost 100% of the regional specialists in physics, chemistry, mathematics, and oriental studies.

International recognition

FEFU is a national leader in developing relations with Pacific Rim Countries, a major bridge between Russian education and worldwide university society. The university has 40+ branches in Russia, USA, Japan, China, and Korea. It develops more than 80 partnership projects, including 64 academic exchange programs, with universities at the USA, Japan, People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Taiwan, Great Britain, France, Australia, Thailand, India, and Vietnam.

Not only universities are partners of the Far Eastern Federal University. It has unique partnership projects with Ministries of many countries. Jointly with Ministries of International Affairs and Ministries of Education of People's Republic of China, Republic of Korea, Japan, India, and Vietnam, FEFU established:

• Center of the Chinese Language
• Center of Testing Chinese as a Foreign Language
• Educational Center of the Republic of Korea
• Japan Center
• Chair of Indian Studies at FEFU (jointly with Jawaharlal Nehru Cultural Center of the Embassy of India)
• Vietnamese Cultural Center at Vladivostok
• Cultural Center of Germany
• Cultural Center of Korea
• Cultural Center of India

International programs

FEFU is famous for its international programs combining Internet and face-to-face modes of learning:

Dual degree program with University of Maryland University College (UMUC), USA, started in 1991 by a unique order issued by the USSR Ministry of Education as a classical face-to-face program. In 1999 it became one of the first online dual degree programs in Russia. By October 2003, 265 FEFU students graduated from UMUC with bachelor degrees in Business and Management, along with their Russian university degrees. Since 1999, UMUC accepts 90 FEFU credits of 120 credits total, required for the undergraduate degree, and offers ten online courses for the remaining 30 credits. This is the most well known academic program in the Russian Far East, and its alumni belong to the business elite of Russia.

Dual degree program with University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia, started in 2001 jointly with USQ, leader in providing flexible learning opportunities to the world, as determined by the International Council for Open and Distance Learning. FENU was the first Russian university to start a dual degree program with USQ. Sixteen of the 24 subjects required for the USQ bachelor degree in Business are transferred from FEFU, and FEFU faculty members teach the remaining eight USQ subjects jointly with USQ instructors. The program initiated the first educational videoconferencing in the history of Russian-Australian relations.

Internet videoconference partnership with Waseda University (WU), Tokyo, Japan, started in 2000 with the top-ranked private Japanese university. The partnership was later extended to a large-scale 2002-2005 project. Each semester, ten Russian tutors teach Russian language to the WU students, and ten Japanese tutors teach Japanese language to the FEFU students for a total of 40 academic hours per week. The quality and scale of the videoconferences are unique in the history of the Russian-Japanese relations. This project is experimental and preceding an even greater educational program.

The university offers several programs to foreigners wishing to visit and learn Russian language and literature. It also opened branch programs in Japan and Taiwan.

Notable alumni

• Leonid Korotkov
• Ilia Lagutenko

External links

• (English) Far Eastern Federal University
• (Russian) Far Eastern Federal University
• Far Eastern Federal University Russian Language Program (in English and several other languages)
• (Russian) Far Eastern Federal University Research and Education Center for Marine Biota
• (English) About Far Eastern Federal University
• (English) Emblem and Motto of Far Eastern Federal University

Coordinates: 43°07′04″N 131°53′35″E / 43.117777787778°N 131.89305556556°E / 43.117777787778; 131.89305556556