History
Three fellow members of the USSR Academy of Sciences Lavrentiev, Sobolev, and Khristianovich, decided to bring international level research over the Urals from Moscow to the vast territories of Siberia. Siberia possessed copious natural resources, but lacked large research institutions which would promote economic development and growth in the region. The idea was implemented with the establishment of the Siberian Division of the USSR Academy of Sciences in 1958 near the large industrial city of Novosibirsk. A new academic town (Akademgorodok) started to grow rapidly and half a year later a new university was founded to train young researchers for the newly born science center.
Thus, in May 1959 the USSR Higher Education Ministry issued a decree to begin studies in Novosibirsk State University on September 1, 1959 with Ilia N. Vekua as rector (Russian for president or chancellor of a university). The July 20, 1959 issue of the newspaper Pravda reported the opening of the new university and announced admittance with entrance examinations for future students from all over the USSR in the period of August 1 through 20. 139 first-year students were admitted as full-time students and 119 as part-time students. In addition, the best students from other Soviet universities were selected as second-year students. The applicants for chemistry and physics accounted for eight and five persons per vacancy respectively, with three persons for mathematics, mechanics and geology.
The official opening of the University took place on September 26, 1959 at the Concert Hall of the Opera and Ballet Theater in Novosibirsk.
First lectures were held in the building of a secondary school, and first dormitories for the students were just tents amidst the forest; but the spirit of novelty and the lust for education and research created a strong motivation among the first students.
At first, the only department of the University, the Department of Natural Sciences, combined Mathematics, Physics, Mechanics, Biology,Chemistry and Geology. Between 1960 and 1967 new departments began to separate into their own disciplines. In December, 1963 the first graduates of the Novosibirsk State University, including 26 physicists, 24 mathematicians and ten researchers in mechanics, received diplomas.
Read more about this topic: Novosibirsk State University
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