University of Bucharest

The University of Bucharest (Romanian: Universitatea din București), commonly known after its abbreviation UB in Romania, is a public university founded on 4 July 1864 (1864-07-04) by a decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza to convert the former Princely Academy into the current University of Bucharest, making it the second oldest modern university in Romania. It is one of the five members of the Universitaria Consortium (the group of elite Romanian universities).[4]

University of Bucharest
Universitatea din București
Latin: Universitas Studiorum Bucurestiensis
MottoVirtute et Sapientia (Latin)
Motto in English
Virtue and Wisdom
TypePublic
Established4 July 1864 (1864-07-04)
1821 - Saint Sava College
1694 - Princely Academy of Bucharest
EndowmentRON 1.14 billion (US$269.58 million) (2018)[1]
BudgetRON 364.7 million (US$86.01 million) (2018)[2]
RectorMarian Preda
Academic staff
1,300 (2019)[3]
Students31,444 (2019)[3]
Undergraduates22,038 (2019)[3]
Postgraduates9,406 (2019)[3]
Location
Bucharest
,
Romania
CampusUrban
Also known asUB; UniBuc
ColorsTyrian Purple, Gold, White and Navy Blue     
Athletics20 sports
AffiliationsIAU, UNICA, EUA, CIVIS
Websiteunibuc.ro?lang=en

The University of Bucharest offers study programmes in Romanian and English and is classified as an advanced research and education university by the Ministry of Education. In the 2012 QS World University Rankings, it was included in the top 700 universities of the world, together with three other Romanian universities.[5]

History

The University of Bucharest was founded by the Decree no. 765 of July 4, 1864 by Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza and is a leading academic centre and a significant point of reference in society.

The University of Bucharest is rich in history and has been actively contributing to the development and modernization of Romanian education, science, and culture since 1694. In 1694 Constantin Brâncoveanu, ruler of Wallachia, had founded the Princely Academy in Bucharest with lectures delivered in Greek. In 1776, Alexander Ypsilantis, ruler of Wallachia, reformed the curriculum of the Princely Academy, where courses of French, Italian, and Latin were now taught. After 1821, the Princely Academy was continued by the Saint Sava College. In 1857, Carol Davila and Nicolae Crețulescu created the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy. In 1859, the Faculty of Law was created.

In 1857, the foundation stone of the University Palace in Bucharest was laid.

The original 1857 project of the University main building, by Alexandru Orăscu

On July 4/16 1864, Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza established the University of Bucharest, bringing together the Faculties of Law, Sciences and Letters as one single body. In 1869, the Faculty of Medicine is created through the transformation of the National School of Medicine and Pharmacy. In the following years, new faculties were created: 1884 – the Faculty of Theology; 1906 – the Institute of Geology; 1913 – the Academic Institute for Electrotechnology; 1921 – the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine; 1923 – the Faculty of Pharmacy, 1924 – the Mina Minovici Institute of Forensic Medicine.

In 1956, student leaders, mainly from this university, planned a peaceful protest against Romania's Communist regime but were forcibly prevented from carrying it out. (See Bucharest student movement of 1956)

For a while (1950s–early 1960s?), it was called the "C. I. Parhon University", after C. I. Parhon.

Most of the building is still intact, however during the bombardments of Bucharest in 1944, the central corpus of the building was heavily damaged and demolished due to Luftwaffe bombs, and was only re-constructed in 1969–1971. Other sections were also completed by 1980.

The area around the old University building (the University Square), adjacent to the C. A. Rosetti, Roman, Kogălniceanu, and Union Squares was the scene of many riots, protests and clashes with the security forces during the Romanian Revolution of 1989. During the months of April–June 1990, the University of Bucharest was the centre of anti-communist protests.

In 1996, Emil Constantinescu, the then rector of the University of Bucharest, was elected President of Romania, after defeating Ion Iliescu in the 1996 Romanian presidential election.

Organisation
University Palace - the main building of the University of Bucharest

Faculties
The Faculty of Law of The University of Bucharest

The University of Bucharest has 19 faculties, covering various fields such as natural sciences, humanities, social sciences, and theology:[3]

  • The Faculty of Business and Administration
  • The Faculty of Biology
  • The Faculty of Chemistry
  • The Faculty of Law
  • The Faculty of Philosophy
  • The Faculty of Physics
  • The Faculty of Geography
  • The Faculty of Geology and Geophysics
  • The Faculty of History
  • The Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies
  • The Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures
  • The Faculty of Letters
  • The Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
  • The Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences
  • The Faculty of Sociology and Social Work
  • The Faculty of Political Science
  • The Faculty of Orthodox Theology
  • The Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology
  • The Faculty of Baptist Theology

Academic & Research Units

The university has the following five interdisciplinary departments:

  • Technology Department
  • Distance Learning Department
  • UNESCO Department for intercultural and interreligious exchanges
  • Department of Education Pedagogy
  • Francophone Doctoral School of Social Sciences (French: École Doctorale Francophone de l'Europe Centrale et de Sud-Est)

The University also has a publishing house, different research institutes and research groups (such as the Institute for Political Research, the Institute for Mathematics, the Center for Byzantine Studies, the Vasile Pârvan Archeology Seminary, the Center for Nuclear Research, etc.), master and doctorate programmes, and a number of lifelong learning facilities and programmes. It has partnership agreements with over 50 universities in 40 countries, and participates in European programmes such as ERASMUS, Lingua, Naric, Leonardo da Vinci, UNICA, AMOS, TEMPUS, TEMPRA. It is an accredited Cisco Academy, has Microsoft curriculum, and is accredited by Red Hat for its academic programme.

Campus
The Central University Library, housed in a rich neo-baroque structure

The University of Bucharest has a number of buildings throughout Bucharest, so in that respect it does not have a single campus. Its two main buildings are:

  • The Old Building, in the University Square (practically right in the center of the city), housing the Faculties of Mathematics and Computer Science, History, Chemistry, Geography, Letters and the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures.
  • The Kogălniceanu Building, near the Opera House, housing the Administrative section and the Faculty of Law.

Other faculties have their own buildings and research facilities, scattered throughout the city, such as:

  • The Departments of Germanic, Slavic and Oriental Languages and Literatures, on Pitar Moş Street.
  • The Faculty of Physics, in the small town of Măgurele, situated 16 km (9.9 mi) south of Bucharest.
  • The Faculty of Political Science, on Sfântu Ştefan Street.
  • The Faculty of Orthodox Theology, in the Unirii Square

The University prints an annual guide for freshmen.

Rankings
University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[6]901–1000 (2019)
QS World[7]801–1000 (2020)
THE World[8]1,001+ (2020)
USNWR Global[9]872 (2020)

In the 2012 QS World University Rankings, the University of Bucharest was included in the Top 601-701 universities of the world, together with three other Romanian universities, including Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, and Alexandru Ioan Cuza University in Iași.[10][11]

The University of Bucharest has been awarded the 2000 National Academic Excellence Diploma, and the 2004 National Academic Excellence Medal. All of the degrees and diplomas awarded by the university are internationally recognised.

Affiliations

The University of Bucharest is a member of numerous international organisations and partnerships, including:

  • The Association of Universities in European Capitals (UNICA)
  • The Network of South-East European Universities
  • The European University Association (EUA)
  • Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF)
  • Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN)
  • Academic Cooperation Association (ACA)
  • European Inter-University Centre for Human Rights and Democratization (EIUC)
  • Eurasian Universities Union (EURAS)
  • SEE GRID - South-East Europe GRID - 2005
  • Central European Exchange Program for University Studies (CEEPUS)
  • ERASMUS NETWORK EUE-NET
  • Educational Structure in Europe, Phase IV (TUNING)
  • European Physics Education Network (EUPEN)
  • Stakeholders Tune European Physics Studies (STEPS)

As part of the on-going ERASMUS programme, the University of Bucharest has approximately 225 Erasmus agreements with European partner universities.

Faculty, alumni and rectors

See also

References
  1. "Bilant pentru 31/12/2018" (PDF). Universitatea din București. Retrieved 22 October 2020.(in Romanian)
  2. "Bugetul de Venituri și Cheltuieli pe anul 2018" (PDF). Universitatea din București. Retrieved 22 October 2020.(in Romanian)
  3. "University of Bucharest - Culture and Discovery" (PDF). University of Bucharest. May 2020. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
  4. Consorțiul Universitaria s-a întrunit la Tulcea (in Romanian)
  5. Institutii de invatamant superior clasificate ca universitati de cercetare avansata si educatie
  6. "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2019". ShanghaiRanking. Retrieved 2019-08-17.
  7. "QS World University Rankings 2020 - University of Bucharest". Top Universities. Retrieved 2019-07-15.
  8. "World University Rankings 2020 - University of Bucharest". Times Higher Education (THE). Retrieved 2019-09-18.
  9. "Best Global Universities 2020". U.S. News Education (USNWR). ). Retrieved 2019-11-21.
  10. "University of Bucharest". topuniversities.com. 7 December 2012.
  11. "Cele mai bune universităţi din lume. Patru universităţi româneşti sunt printre primele 700" (in Romanian). Adevarul. 11 September 2012.
  12. Found guilty by the Commission of Ethics of this university of plagiarizing his PhD thesis in law, see Quirin Schiermeier Conflicting verdicts on Romanian prime minister's plagiarism. Victor Ponta cleared of misconduct by government ethics board, but charges reaffirmed by university. Nature, 20 July 2012.

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