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Turkmen State University

The Turkmen State University bears the name of Magtum-Guly, an eminent thinker and philosopher of the 18-th century Turkmen classic literature. In 2002 we celebrated the 70-th anniversary of the foundation of the University.

The University's history of more than half a century began in 1931. At that time it was called the Ashgabat Pedagogical Institute.

In 1931 the University had only three departments in agricultural-pedagogical, organizational-methodical, language and literature studies. In January 1931 the first enrollment to the Institute took place: 96 students were admitted to the full-time department and 21- to the evening department. The Teaching staff of the Institute numbered 5 associate professors and 7 lecturers.

By the decision of the national Government on July 14, 1950 the former Ashgabat Pedagogical Institute was reorganized into the Turkmen State University.

Today the Turkmen State University is the leading higher educational institution of Turkmenistan. Its total enrollment is fife thousand students. The young people are trained at 11 faculties in 27 specialties and 40 specializations. Annually the University produces about 1500 well-educated people who work in different branches of economy, science, education and culture.

Education at the University is carried on at 42 Chairs by 544 teachers including 40 Professors and Doctors of Science, more than 300 associate professors and Candidates of Science. Among Professors, Doctors of Science there are distinguished scientists and scholars, heads of chairs, deans of faculties, sponsors of scientific endeavors.

The University staff has done much work to improve study process, techniques and methods of teaching, and to ensure the integral unity of teaching and upbringing of students. All this work is carried out on the basis of up-to-date didactic principles, transition from informational-technological methods of teaching to problematic instruction, a wide use of technical means of education, computers, etc.

The main unit of the University is a chair. At all leading chairs new teaching methods are being introduced into the academic process. The work is conducted for improving the teaching process, for the search and use of the most effective variants of training specialists, the search for the active methods of teaching, individualization of education, developing reciprocal academic activities between teacher and student (pedagogy of cooperation, expansion of students' independent work at all classes).

Integrated lectures, practical classes based on block-schemes, express-questions, forestalled assignments and etc. are being put into practice. Modern methods of conducting work with students such as quizzes, written tests to check up individual tasks and their versions, compiling papers, annotations, scientific surveys and other are being devised and widely introduced into the teaching process.

Studies are conducted in both Turkmen and Russian. Each student can take his exams; do his

term papers and diploma work in his native tongue and Russian as well.

The activities of the University chairs in organizing students' research work are aimed at creating a system ensuring their continuous participation in scientific investigation during the whole period of study assisting them to form the research habits in the education process. The introduction of students' research into the teaching process has considerably increased the effectiveness of their knowledge.

Scientific research at the University is carried out since the first days of its existence. At the beginning the dominating position was taken up by humanities which was necessitated by the task to do away with the illiteracy of the population, a to develop culture. Later intensive research in natural sciences began as well.

Today the University's research is focused on such areas as: advanced technology in ecology, use of solar energy, creation of new chemical reagents.

The University scientists have over 100 certificates for authorship and 67 of them for the last 10 years.
For many years the University has maintained close contracts with numerous higher educational establishments and scientific institutions of the country.

Up to now the agreements on cooperation have been signed with Meshkhad University named after Phyrdousy in Iran, Aegean University in Turkey and Moscow State University named after M.V.Lomonosov.

The contracts with Higher educational institutions in China, USA, Canada, Italy and some other countries are taking shape now.

The forms of scientific collaboration are diverse; they include mutual research, joint utilization of material and technical bases of students' diploma papers and theses for a Candidate Degree, arrangement of scientific probation for probation of research workers, organizing joint scientific expeditions, joint conferences and etc. The University has sponsored international, Ail-Union, regional and Republican scientific symposiums and conferences.

The University scientists and scholars take an active part in compiling text-books, manuals for General Secondary schools, Specialized Secondary Schools and Higher Schools. For the years of its existence the University teaching staff has published 190 collections of articles, 200 text-books and manuals, 84 special monographs, 7000 scientific articles.

Much attention is paid to the Training of the teaching staff. For 60 years 60 Doctors of Science and 400 Candidates of Science have been trained.

New vistas are opened up to develop for TGU in epoch of Turkmenbashi, which started in 1985. His constant paternal care and attention let the collective of the university, as well as other colleges make a great step to improve the quality of training of specialists.

Today the Turkmen State University, the largest higher educational institution of Turkmenistan, continues to improve and develop education and scientific work.