Saint Petersburg Mining University

About Saint Petersburg Mining University

Saint Petersburg Mining University is officially the Saint Petersburg Mining University of Empress Catherine II. Its English site also calls it "Mining University". It is a federal state budgetary university in St Petersburg, founded in 1773 as the Mining School. The founder is the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation. The university calls itself the first higher technical education institution in Russia and a National Research University. The main address is 2, 21st Line, Vasilyevsky Island, St Petersburg 199106. The main building was designed by the architect Andrey Voronikhin and built in 1806–1811. It also houses the Mining Museum.

Institutes and research

The university has nine faculties: energy, mining, oil and gas engineering, mineral processing, civil engineering, mechanical engineering, sciences and humanities, economics, and geological exploration. Its research centres include the Arctic centre, the Ecosystem centre, a centre for processing mineral and technogenic resources, and a centre for geomechanics and mining problems. According to the university, its scientists drilled a 3,769-metre borehole to the subglacial Lake Vostok in Antarctica.

Students

According to the university, more than 7,000 students study on bachelor's, specialist, master's and postgraduate programmes, and about 1,800 students enrol each year. The university lists 97 courses in many subject areas. The Student Council has more than 30 clubs and associations. The International Friendship Club helps foreign students join academic life. Its "Meeting of Cultures" event has been held since 2010 and gathers more than 300 participants from more than 12 countries.

For international applicants

The English site names three ways to study: on a fee-paying basis, with support from your national government, or with support from the Russian government. Applicants choose a programme, write to ovp@spmi.ru, and send a full set of documents. Documents must be translated into Russian and certified by a Russian embassy, a consulate or a Russian notary. Quota places are allocated by Rossotrudnichestvo, and applications go through education-in-russia.com. The university takes part in the second stage of selection. The university also offers courses of Russian as a foreign language and summer school programmes.

Housing

According to its mandatory disclosure, the university has 10 dormitories with 5,857 places. The English site says international students live in four of the dormitories, all on Vasilyevsky Island. It lists study rooms, WiFi, computer classes, canteens or cafes, laundry facilities and gyms in the dormitories.