The Faculty of Geography at Lomonosov Moscow State University was established on June, 23, 1938. The Director of the Research Institute of Geography, S.M. Lutskiy, was appointed to head the new Faculty. The Faculty had the Departments of Physical Geography, Physical Geography of Foreign Countries, Physical Geography of the USSR, Economic Geography of the USSR, Economic Geography of the Capitalist Countries, Cartography and Geodesy, and also the Research Institute of Geography.
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Dean of the Faculty,
Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Sergey A. Dobrolyubov |
Among the Deans of the Faculty, one can name such outstanding geographers as Prof. B.P. Orlov (1940), Ass. Prof. A.V. Gedimin (1941), Prof. I.A. Vitver (1941-1943), Prof. M.V. Karandeeva (1943), Prof. S.D. Muraveisky (1943-1945), Full-Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences K.K. Markov (1945-1955), Prof. A.M. Riabchikov (1956-1966, 1970-1980), Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences A.P. Kapitza (1966-1970), Prof. G.I. Rychagov (1980-1990), Full-member of the Russian Academy of Sciences N.S.Kasimov (1990-2015). Since 2015 the Faculty has been led by the Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Prof. Sergey A. Dobrolyubov.
Nowadays the Faculty of Geography is the largest scientific and educational center of geography in the world. There are 1 000 undergraduate students and 200 PhD students studying in the Faculty. The Faculty consists of 15 departments, 8 research laboratories and 4 field stations with total 800 employees. Among them there are: 100 professors, 300 PhD, 2 Full Member and 4 Members of Russian Academy of Sciences, distinguished scientists, laureates of State and Government Prizes of USSR and Russia in the field of education, science and technology, laureates of the Lomonosov and Anuchin Prizes and many more. Approximately 30% of all dissertations in the field of geography in Russia are defended within the Faculty.
Studying
The Faculty of Geography has 150 government-sponsored places for entrants and in addition about 80 vacancies for students who pay for their training (on the basis of a contract between a student and the university). For Russian applicants, the admission is based on the results of General the State Exams. The average competition level is 5-6 applicants into place. The Faculty hosts the MSU Geographic Competitions (Olympiads) for high-school students, annually drawing in up to 1,000 participants. In addition, the Faculty takes part in the organization of All-Russian and International Geographic Competitions. The winners of these Olympiads enter the University without the exams.
To qualify for the admission to Bachelor and Master programs, foreign students must meet some general requirements. Students must have an appropriate secondary school certificate and be proficient in Russian. Once a person has been accepted at the Faculty of Geography he or she is eligible for a number of services offered by Lomonosov MSU such as accommodation, visa and registration support etc.
The Faculty of Geography of MSU trains specialists of the highest caliber. The curriculum offers 2 levels of training. The training for the Bachelor’s Degree lasts for 4 years, the Master’ Degree requires 2 additional years.
The training for Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees is carried out in the 5 main directions:«Geography», «Hydrometeorology», «Cartography and Geoinformatics»,
«Ecology and Environmental Management», «Tourism»
Science
A number of distinguished scientists contributing in establishment and developing of geography were working at the Faculty. Several main themes, most required in the recent conditions, can be marked out from the scientific work carried out at the Faculty:
1. Prognosis of the regional climate change using the XXI century scenarios of the Global Circulation Models;
2. Hydrological estimates and forecast, securing the hydro-ecological safety;
3. Diagnosis and prognosis of the extreme natural phenomena in sees;
4. Monitoring and estimation of the dynamics of the cryosphere;
5. Evolutionary-geographical methods of the climate change estimation;
6. Geomorphology-engineering analysis;
7. Geoinformatics cartography technology and remote sensing of the Earth surface;
8. Estimation of the social-economic and ecological consequences of the National innovation projects realization;
9. Landscape planning, estimation of the influence on the environment, the state of the natural and anthropogenic landscapes;
10. Monitoring and estimation of the biodiversity, medial geography research;
11. Integral estimation and prognosis of the ecological conditions in the regions and cities of Russia;
12. The technology of the ecological optimization of the nature management;
13. Engineering of the recreational territories.
More about science
Traditions
The Faculty is famous for its traditions. The principal one is to maintain the contact between the Faculty and its alumni. From the earliest scholars of the Faculty to the newest graduate, every alumnus and alumna is a part of the Faculty’s. Graduates arrange their meetings annually. In 1998 the "Association of Alumni of the Faculty of Geography of the MSU» was established. Its main goal is to provide student bursaries, help veterans, arrange anniversary celebrations, and to participate in a variety of cultural and sports events.
Elbrus mountain climb in commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the MSU
The Faculty of Geography is the only one in the MSU to have its own Student Theatre (running for 30 years on). Its Comedy Club team is known to be one of the best among the Faculty teams of the University. Much attention is paid to different sports activities and health.
The humanity has entered the XXI century. The technological progress continues and our nature changes with its pace. The role of geographical training is now not only to preserve nature, but also to create and maintain friendly environmental conditions for the purpose of sustainable socio-economic development. This has become the main research and educational task of the Faculty of Geography of the MSU.
