General overview of the Omsk State Transport University

The Omsk State Transport University (OSTU) is one of the oldest educational institutions in Siberia. The fact of its establishment is connected to the beginning of the great Trans-Siberian Railway construction which created the need in qualified railway transportation specialists.

The University’s history started in the nineties of the 19th-century. It was in 1896 when the Tomsk Technologic Institute (TTI) was established by the decree of the Emperor Nicholas II. In 1900 the training of locomotive and car engineers began.

In 1961 the institute was moved to Omsk and in 1997 it acquired the university status.

The present day OSTU is a multi-discipline institute of higher education providing training in a wide range of higher professional education syllabuses: engineering, industrial production, transport and communication, economics, management and others with a 4-year program for bachelor’s degree, a 5-year program – for specialists, a 6-year program – for master’s degree.

High quality theoretical schooling and professional training of its graduates is provided by qualified faculty members, material resources, favorable conditions for students dwelling, nutrition, sports and recreation as well as scientific researches for production and transport enterprises conducted at the University.

Its graduates work as regional railways heads, major industrial and transport enterprises directors, bank managers both in Russia and abroad.

Currently there are 6 departments: the Department of Mechanics, the Department of Automation, Telecommunications and Information Technologies, the Department of Heat-and-Power Engineering, the Department of Electromechanics, the Department of Management and Economy, the Medical Department.

OSTU trains 13,000 specialists in different majors and specialties.

Thanks to the financial support rendered by the Ministry of Railway Transportation of the Russian Federation and West-Siberian Railway Division it became possible to carry out fundamental modernization of the University laboratories from 2000 to 2008 as well as teachers professional development at the best railway enterprises and in the field of information technologies.

The University library (800,000 copies) is the methodical center of the university libraries of Omsk. The library has the electronic catalog and uses up-to-date information technologies.

The University is the leading academic, scientific and industrial complex with sophisticated experimental and pilot production facilities where practical challenges of railway transport are met.

The major scientific challenges of the University researchers are the rolling stock efficiency and reliability increase, rolling stock units and components restoration and repair enhancement, railway traffic safety increase, energy and resource-saving technologies and equipment, the improvement in the supply systems of electric railways, effective automation, telemechanics and communication devices maintenance and diagnostic technologies development.

OSTU has its branch in Taiga of Kemerovo region.

OSTU students can go in for various sports – soccer, volleyball, basketball, weight-lifting, track and field athletics, tennis, badminton, swimming, calisthenics and gymnastics.

There are 4 academic buildings, a railway equipment training ground, 5 dormitories, a dining-hall, a polyclinic, a culture and entertainment complex, sports grounds.

The core faculty consists of 400 specialists. 67 % of them have academic degrees and statuses: 13 % are doctors of sciences and professors, 54 % – candidates of sciences and assistant professors. 23 persons among the leading scientists are public academies of sciences full members and correspondent members.

Questions to the text:

1 Where and when did the University history start?

2 When did the location and the status of this educational establishment change?

3 What types of programs does the University provide for?

4 How many departments are there in the University?

5 What are the spheres of the scientific activity of the University researchers?

6 What can the University be proud of?

Date: 2015-12-24; view: 849