MIIT dates back to 1896 when on the command of His Imperial Majesty Nicholas II Moscow Engineering school was founded. At the end of the XIX century prominent Russian scientists, teachers and engineers such as N. Lebedev, F. Maksimenko., L. Proskuryakov., S. Solovyov, K. Tseglinsky, S. Chaplygin. and others initiated the establishment of the school . Now Moscow State University of Railway Engineering (MIIT) is the leading and largest transport institution of Russia with more than 17,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The University is a base institution in Education and Methodology Association in the field of railway transport and transport construction. Every year about 25,000 top managers and specialists take professional development courses in MIIT.
The University comprises seven Institutes:
(The Institute of Rail Track, Construction and Structures; the Institute of Control Systems, Telecommunication and Electrification; the Institute of Transport Engineering and Operations Management ; the Institute of Rail Operation and Information Technologies; Economics and Finance Institute; the Institute of Humanities; Law Institute ), the Russian Academy of Transport, Medical College and Gymnasium,
There are also four faculties:
- The Faculty of Ecological Safety;
- Part time Programs Faculty;
- Military Training Faculty;
- The Faculty of Pre-university Training
The University also includes: Coordination and Analytical Centre for Training Scientific and Academic Staff and Transport Specialists, International Academic Mobility Centre, Regional Centre for Testing School-leavers, Linguistic Centre and the Centre for Supplementary Training in Transport Designing.
MIIT is the centre of University Academic community which comprises 59 educational institutions of different levels from 16 constituent entities of the Russian Federation. The total area of the University is 224.5 thousand square meters.
MIIT has 54 buildings, twelve of which are educational ones. It provides students with 7 hostels, the University Community Centre, and the Sports Centre.
MIIT can boast one of the largest University libraries in Moscow with more than 2.5 million books, its status being an extra-category one.
Corporate computer network (Internet/Intranet) has been developed at the University for about 1,000 users among which are the departments, research and academic laboratories.
The University trains students in 52 study programs. At the beginning of the 1990s MIIT offered its students a wide range of study opportunities of different levels of education: bachelor of science , specialist, master of science. Nowadays there are 17 'bachelor' programs and 13 'master' programs of different directions.
Training future specialists goes hand in hand with an efficient system of upbringing and character traits formation which includes students building teams ( MIIT initiated the rebirth of students building teams movement in Moscow), students scientific societies, students extra employment service, vocational clubs , various contests and sports competitions, inter- -university activities, leisure activities, etc.
The University is known for high academic standards and high quality tuition. It trains qualified specialists for 10 fields of science and 61 scientific specialities. There are currently more than 400 students taking post-graduate courses and those working for their doctor's degree. MIIT has 12 Doctorate Scientific Councils.
Scientific research work is carried out along the lines closely connected with modernization of transport complexes operation; introduction of new technologies, forms and methods of transportation processes operation; solving economic and ecological problems of railway transport; providing rail traffic safety; IT on transport ; the development of railway infrastructure (track and track facilities, rolling stock, automation and telecommunication, railway power supply ) along with the branch reforming and interaction of various transport modes.
Since 1946 MIIT has been training specialists for foreign countries. More than 2.5 thousand students from 72 countries have graduated from MIIT, 412 foreign specialists have defended their Ph.D and doctoral theses. More than 800 foreign citizens have had their academic internship at the university.
Currently MIIT carries on diversified scientific, technical and academic cooperation with 53 universities and firms from 28 foreign and CIS countries.
