With a long history and a reputation for excellence among educational institutions, Baku State University is one of the most renowned research and educational institutions in the Republic of Azerbaijan. The University has long served as the hub of American thought. Heydar Aliyev, a well-known politician in Azerbaijan, as well as thousands of other notable thinkers, scientists, and diplomats, have earned degrees from this institution.
The university was granted autonomy by Heydar Aliyev's decision of June 13, 2000, and it started carrying out its operations by its law.
Now, Baku State University provides 16 majors with 153 master's degrees and 55 bachelor's degrees.
Every year, thousands of young people compete fiercely to get into Baku State University. The competition ranges from three applicants for each faculty spot to as many as ten for some faculties. The president of the Republic of Azerbaijan annually grants "presidential grants" to 40 of the top 100 applicants on behalf of BSU in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements.
In recent years, the university has started training specialists in brand-new fields such as German language and literature, soil cadaster, and inspectorate of earth crust and ground structure. The university provides labs and auditoriums with the required equipment and technological foundation for its students.
The university's principal objective is to develop professionals who think freely and creatively while adhering to democratic principles.
The university performs a fantastic job of teaching foreign languages alongside focusing on teaching the core disciplines. For this reason, pupils have access to more than 10 language classrooms built using modern instructional tools.
More than 15,000 students and teachers are routinely served by the university library's more than 2.5 million books, 12 reading rooms, and 5 subscription departments.
By constructing a large sports and health complex, the university contributes to the development of strong and healthy young people as well as educational advancement.
The University also serves as the hub for 37 scientific research and teaching labs that encompass both the natural and humanitarian sciences. More than 200 people work for the Scientific Research Institute of Applied Mathematics and the Scientific Research Institute of Physics Problems. The development of the Azerbaijani language, as well as its history and literature, genetics, nanotechnology, the creation of nanomaterials, and other diverse topics, were also taught here.
The scope of the university's international relations program is expanding daily. The majority of the universities from the former USSR are now consolidated into the Association of Universities of Eurasia, which also includes BSU, the Association of Universities of Caspian Sea States, the Association of Universities of Black Sea States, and the Association of European Universities. BSU effectively served as the Association of Universities of Black Sea States' leader from 2002 to 2004. In addition, the University has bilateral agreements on scientific and technical cooperation, student-teacher exchange programs, and university affiliations with Indiana University, Kiyev National University, Vienna University, Middle East Technical University, Nice-Sofia Antipole University, and other institutions.
Baku State University started with four faculties: law, history-philology, physics, and mathematics.
People working in academia today hold 153 master's degrees and 55 bachelor's degrees across 17 faculties.
The Baku State University Educational-Methodological Board is an advisory body on educational-methodological and scientific-methodological issues that has been tasked with implementing state policy in the area of higher and postgraduate education. The Board follows the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan's orders and decrees, Baku State University regulations, and the rector's orders and decrees.
The Educational-Methodical Board supports the University administration in implementing new teaching techniques and oversees actions to improve the quality of education and BSU's teaching methods.
The Baku State University Educational-Methodical Board's goals are:
1. Participation in the development and improvement of the state educational standards;
2. Control over the activities of Educational-methodical councils of BSU faculties;
3. Supervising the preparation and provision of educational programs;
4. Coordination activities between faculties;
5. Organizing open lessons to improve the quality of education;
6. Monitoring the learning process;
7. Apply new technologies and teaching methods;
8. Supervising the writing and publishing of textbooks, manuals, as well as educational literature, textbooks authorized for use in the educational process for undergraduate and postgraduate education etc.
Created in the 1980s Educational-methodical board has been headed by academician Vasif Babazade since 2003. The Board currently has 17 members.