St.-Petersburg State University is the oldest university in Russia, it was founded by the Emperor Peter the Great in 1724. During almost three centuries of its existence the University has acquired a wealth of experience in international co-operation in Science, Education and Culture. Nowadays it has over 100 agreements of co-operation with leading universities in more than 50 countries.

St.-Petersburg State University can justly be regarded as an international seat of learning, with as many as 1500 undergraduate and postgraduate students from different countries all over the world taking courses here every year. University has 19 faculties and is an umbrella organization for 13 research institutes. This enables research in various fields of sciences and humanities. University students are free to choose the field of study as well as take additional courses if they so wish. The university curricula take into account the latest scientific developments and are based on the profound knowledge and teaching experience of generations of academics and educationists.

Faculty of Bology and Soil Sciences

The teaching of biology has been a tradition in St.Petersburg      University since the mid-nineteenth century. It was here that Russia’s first departments of genetics and microbiology, of plant physiology and biochemistry as well as the department of human and animal physiology came into being. The faculty of Biology and Soil Sciences exists as an independent institution since 1930. Students carry out their scientific research in the research laboratories of the Research Institute of Biology and A.A. Ukhtomsky Research Institute of Physiology, as a compulsory element of their education at the faculty. In turn, research staff of the institutes actively participates in teaching process by giving lectures, conducting practical training courses, directing and supervising research projects of the faculty students. These tight links and collaboration had always been encouraged and became of crucial importance when the multilevel (Bachelor-Master) educational system was adopted. The Faculty has also programs of students and staff exchange with foreign partners in Europe and USA.

The Faculty’s standard of education enables its graduates to be competitive on the job market. The staff of St.-Petersburg’s Academy research institutes consists largely of the University graduates who work at the Institutes of Botany, Zoology, Evolution Physiology and Cytology. Many graduates are employed by specialized research institutions, such as the Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant-Growing, the Institute of Plant Protection, the Research Institute of Agricultural Microbiology, the Research Institute of Fish Farming and other academic research centers throughout Russia. Other graduates find work in medical institutions, such as the Institute of Oncology, the Central Research Institute of Radiology, the Institute of Sanitation and Hygiene, the Institute of Experimental Medicine, the Pavlov Medical University and the Institute of Brain.

A.A. Ukhtomsky Institute of Physiology

Physiology Research Institute of St.-Petersburg State University was founded in 1934 by academician A.A.Ukhtomsky who was the first director of the in institute. Nowadays the Physiology Institute is one of the biggest research subdivisions of St.-Petersburg State University. The institute is also a part of the St.-Petersburg University Teaching and Research Centre for Biology. Research projects in human and animal physiology, neurophysiology, biochemistry, biophysics, morphology and cellular physiology, evolutional and ecological physiology are being carried out in the institution. The multiplicity of scientific research presented in the institute provides a strong background for education of highly qualified specialists with bachelors, masters and Ph.D. degrees at the Faculty of Biology and Soil Science of St.-Petersburg State University. Since 1998 the director of the Physiology Institute is Igor E. Kanunikov.