The Lomonosov Moscow State University

The Lomonosov Moscow State University is the most famous and the oldest educational institution of Russia. International Guides to Higher educational institutions rate it among the first ten best universities of the world. Moscow State University was founded in 1755 according to the project ofthe great Russian scientist Mikhail Lomonosov. Among its graduates and professors there are Nobel Prize winners and world known scientists.

The total number of students (including post­graduates and part-time students) is over 30,000. The staff includes more than 8.500 professors, associate professors and research associates. Currently the number of foreign students and post-graduates is 3,000 from 97 countries.

The students are involved in research. They take their classes at more than 100 laboratories, Computer Center, Botanical Garden, Museum of Antropology, Museum of Zoology, Museum of Earth Science and Museum of Rare Books. The University has more than 6 hundred buildings in Moscow and in different parts of Russia as well as research centres in the Crimea and on the White Sea.

Moscow State University has agreements with the leading international organisations - UNESCO, The World Bank, is a member of many international associations, it signed over 180 agreements with the universities of all continents.

The Main Building is world famous for its exceptional architecture and size. It is the largest and tallest university building throughout the world. The University campus, located in one of the most beautiful parts of Moscow, supplies the students with all necessary facilities: lecture halls, laboratories, libraries, dining halls, dormitories, cinema, conference and theatre halls, post office, clinics, pharmacy and various shops. According to the tradition we call our departments «faculties», which means the same as «departments» in the UK and «colleges» in the USA.

HIGHER EDUCATION IN BRITAIN

Higher educational institutions comprise universities, teacher training colleges and other colleges of technology, art and professions allied to medicine. There are some 90 universities and 70 other higher educational institutions in Britain. Over 95 per cent of students receive government grants covering tuition and accommodation and other maintenance expenses. Today 30 per cent of young people enter full-time higher education.

Universities and most other higher educational institutions have complete academic freedom, appointing their own staff and deciding which students to admit, what and how to teach. Oxford and Cambridge Universities date from the 12th and 13th centuries, and the Scottish universities of St. Andrews, Glascow and Edinburgh from the 15th and 20th centuries. All British universities and many colleges of higher education offer a wide range of postgraduate degrees and diplomas.

The academic year in Britain's universities, Polytechnics, Colleges of Education is divided into three terms, which usually run from the beginning of October to the middle of December, from the middle of January to the end of March, and from the middle of April to the end of June or the beginning of July. Good A-level results in at least two subjects are necessary to get a place at a university. However, good exam passes alone are not enough. Universities choose their students after interviews. For all British citizens a place at a university brings with it a grant from their local education authority.

English universities greatly differ from each other. They differ in date of foundation, size, history, tradition, general organization, methods of instruction, and way of student life. After three years of study a university graduate will leave with the Degree of Bachelor of Arts, Science, Engineering, Medicine, etc. Later he may continue to take the Master's Degree and then the Doctor's Degree. Research is an important feature of university work. The two intellectual eyes of Britain -Oxford and Cambridge L niversities date from the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The Polytechnics, like the universities, offer first and higher degrees. Colleges of Education provide two-year courses in teacher education sometimes three years if the graduate specializes in some particular subject. Some of those who decide to leave school at the age of 16 may go to a further education college where they can follow a course in typing, engineering, town planning, cooking, or hairdressingsing, full-time or part-time. Further education colleges have strong ties with commerce and industry.

There is an interesting form of studies, which is called the Open University. It is intended for people who study in their own free time and who "attend" lectures by watching television and listening to the radio. They keep in touch by phone and letter with their tutors and attend summer schools. The Open University students have no formal qualifications and would, be unable to enter ordinary universities.