Moscow State University

Moscow State Institution (MSU) is a public research university in the Russian capital of Moscow. Mikhail Lomonosov established the university in 1755. During the Soviet era, MSU was renamed after the Russian revolutionary Mikhail Lomonosov in 1940 and became known as Lomonosov University. Viktor Sadovnichiy is the current rector of the university.

Moscow State University has produced a number of prominent graduates, including presidents of the Soviet Union and other nations, as well as the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church, among other important figures. As of 2019, the institution has affiliations with 13 Nobel laureates, 6 Fields Medal winners, and 1 Turing Award winner, among other notables. Currently, it is the highest-ranking Russian educational institution according to the 2019 QS World University Rankings, and it is the highest-ranking Russian university in terms of research output according to the Nature Index (see below). 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, over 300 departments, and 6 branches make up the university's overall structure (including five foreign ones - all in the CIS countries). Former students and faculty of Moscow State University have risen to powerful and prestigious positions in the world's financial, technical, and literary centres. Generally recognised as the premier higher educational institution in the former Soviet Union, Moscow State University has maintained its exceptional heritage from the Soviet period while expanding its academic offerings.

Russian Empress Elizabeth declared the formation of a university in Moscow on 23 January [O.S. 12 January] 1755, after which Ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov worked to bring the concept to the city. The first lectures were delivered on May 7 [O.S. April 26] and were recorded. The 25th of January is still observed as Students' Day in Russia. It is widely believed that the University's founding was commemorated by the feast of Saint Tatiana, which is observed by the Russian Orthodox Church on January 12, Julian, which corresponds to January 25, Gregorian, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.