Kazan Federal University

History & Honors

November 1804

Imperial Kazan University established by Emperor Alexander I’s Affirmative Letter and Charter

1810-1820

A number of departments lay foundations for further scientific schools (mathematics, chemical, medical, linguistic, geological, geobotanical)

1819-1821

Outstanding alumnus and scholar of Kazan University Ivan Simonov participated in the discovery of Antarctica and pioneered Antarctic studies

1830

Nikolai Lobachevsky,
Rector of Kazan University, developed
non-Euclidean geometry, also
referred to as Lobachevskian geometry

1850

Since the first half of the 19th century Kazan University has been one of the key centers of Eastern studies in Europe and the alma mater to the world famous Kazan Linguistic School founded by Jan Baudouin de Courtenay

1844

Professor Karl Ernst Claus
discovered the 44th chemical element and
named it after Ruthenia, the Latin word for
Russian

1844-1847

Leo Tolstoy, one of the world’s most prominent novelists, studied Asian languages and law at the University

1861

Aleksandr Butlerov
founded the theory of
organic chemical compounds

1887

Vladimir Ulyanov (Lenin), future leader of the October Revolution and the Soviet Republic, studied law at Kazan University and was expelled after joining a student protest. The University bore his name from 1925 till 2009

1929

Professor of
biochemistry Vladimir
Engelhardt discovered the
phenomenon of oxidative
phosphorylation, which
has been one of the major
contributions of Russian
scholars to the world science

1944

Soviet experimental
physicist Evgeny Zavoisky
discovered the phenomena of
electronic paramagnetic resonance,
one of the most significant
physical discoveries of the 20th century

1945

Foundation of Kazan
Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences

1952

Semyon Altshuler proposed
the theory of acoustic paramagnetic
resonance and laid the basis for quantum acoustics

1960

Father and son Arbuzovs (Alexander and
Boris) present their major treatise ‘The Chemistry of
Organophosphorus Compounds’

1996

The President of the Russia
Boris Yeltsin included Kazan State
University in the Register of Cultural
Heritage Sites of the Russian
Federation

2010

Kazan University was granted
the status of a federal university by the
decision of the Government of Russian
Federation

2015

Kazan Federal University was included in
Times Higher Education World University
Rankings in the 301-350 bracket

2016

University Clinic merged into the institutional structure of KFU to help transfer medical science developments into practice; the Clinic serves over 40,000 local residents

2020

World-Class Research Center for Liquid Hydrocarbons established in cooperation with several leading institutions of Russia

Mission and strategy

KFU’s mission, as stated in its Priority 2030 statement, comprises:

shaping the academic mainstream and the research agenda in response to global challenges;
developing and promoting programs and projects of academic leadership in line with national priorities and objectives;
preserving and fostering national spiritual and cultural heritage;
developing people’s leadership and professional competences for a fast-changing world;
transforming the regional economy through generating innovative system-defining projects.

The University’s vision for 2030 is becoming an open and sustainable institution; entering the global top-100 rankings in a number of subjects; uniting the cultural values of the East and the West; contributing considerably to the achievement of national goals; being a powerful driver of territorial development and a unique place of self-knowledge and self-realization; being a talent attractor; preserving classical university traditions while fully realizing an entrepreneurial spirit.

The University’s strategic goal is to become a powerful and self-developing multicultural academic ecosystem on the crossroads of civilizations based on historical heritage, provincial innovative potential, and advantages of a classical university; to transform into a regional development locomotive and enhance the province’s competitiveness through cultivating global values in the nation’s priority development areas.