University of Bucharest

University of Bucharest

Universitatea din București
Coat of Arms
Latin: Universitas Studiorum Bucurestiensis
Motto	Virtute et Sapientia (Latin)
Motto in English	Virtue and Wisdom
Type	Public
Established	1694 - Princely Academy of Bucharest 1821 - Saint Sava College 4 July 1864; 157 years ago (1864-07-04)
Endowment	RON 1.14 billion (US$269.71 million) (2018)[1]
Budget	RON 364.7 million (US$86.06 million) (2018)[2]
Rector	Marian Preda
Academic staff	1,300 (2019)[3]
Students	31,444 (2019)[3]
Undergraduates	22,038 (2019)[3]
Postgraduates	9,406 (2019)[3]
Location	Bucharest , Romania
Campus	Urban
Also known as	UB; UniBuc
Colors	Tyrian Purple, Gold, White and Navy Blue
Athletics	20 sports
Affiliations	IAU, UNICA, EUA,
Website	unibuc.ro?lang=en

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 (157 years ago) (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 Romanian university. It is one of the five members of the Universitaria Consortium (the group of elite Romanian universities).^[4]

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[]

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:

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

Academic staff, alumni, and rectors[]

See also[]

• List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Bucharest.

• Official website (in English)

Coordinates: 44°26′8.00″N 26°6′4.02″E / 44.4355556°N 26.1011167°E / 44.4355556; 26.1011167