Politehnica University of Bucharest

University in Bucharest, Romania

Politehnica University of Bucharest

Universitatea Națională de Știință și Tehnologie POLITEHNICA București

Seal of the Politehnica University of Bucharest

Former names

| Politehnica School of Bucharest (1920–1948)
Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest (1948–1992)
Type| Public
Established| 10 June 1920; 104 years ago (1920-06-10)
1864 - School of Bridges and Roads, Mines and Architecture
1818 - School for Surveying Engineers
Rector| Mihnea Costoiu

Academic staff

| 1,400

Administrative staff

| 1,300
Students| 25,469 (2011–2012)[1]
Undergraduates| 16,864
Postgraduates| 8,605
Location|

Bucharest

Romania

44°26′18″N 26°03′05″E﻿ / ﻿44.43833°N 26.05139°E﻿ / 44.43833; 26.05139
Website| www.upb.ro
University rankings

Regional – Overall
QS Emerging Europe and Central Asia[2]| 81 (2022)

Politehnica University of Bucharest (Romanian: Universitatea Națională de Știință și Tehnologie POLITEHNICA București) is a technical university in Bucharest, Romania. 200 years of activity have been celebrated lately, as the university was founded in 1818.[3] Politehnica University is classified by the Ministry of Education as an advanced research and education university.[4]

The university is a member of the European Association for International Education (EAIE), the European University Association (EUA), the EUA Council for Doctoral Education, the CESAER (Council of Universities of Science and Technology in Europe), and the Romanian Alliance of Technical Universities (ARUT).[5]

## History

[edit]

Politehnica University of Bucharest is the largest technical university in Romania. Its traditions are connected to the founding of the first higher technical school in Wallachia, in 1818, by Gheorghe Lazăr. Born in Avrig, Transylvania, Gheorghe Lazăr studied in Sibiu, Cluj, and Vienna. In 1817–1818 he endeavored to convince the local noblemen of the need to support a modern technical school in Romania. Thus, on 24 March 1818, by a princely edict of Ioan Caragea, it was organised the Technical Superior School for Surveying Engineers (Școala Tehnică Superioară pentru Ingineri Hotarnici) within the Academic School for Philosophy and Mathematical Sciences of the Saint Sava Princely Academy.[6][7]

In 1832 the school was reorganized, including four cycles, in accordance with the provisions of Organic Regulation. Among other faculties, the one dealing with exact sciences included courses such as applied trigonometry, geodesy, mineralogy, engineering graphics, descriptive geometry, mechanical elements applied to ordinary machines, principles of building roads and bridges, elements of architecture, etc. The graduates were obliged either to work for three years for the state or to return the grant received.

In 1862, the ruler of the United Principalities, Alexandru Ioan Cuza, had established by another Princely Decree a set of rules for the organisation of civil engineers, the hierarchy of engineers or conductors, their salaries, the conditions for admission and promotion, were clearly defined. On 1 October 1864, the School of Bridges and Roads, Mines and Architecture was established.

The main administrative building "Rectorat" The library building

An important figure in the "School of Bridges, Roads and Mines" was Gheorghe Duca [ro]. As early as 1887, he analysed the content of courses, finding the weaknesses of the school, as well as the best solutions to improve its academic level. In those times, a substantial condition was the severity imposed on the conduct of students, in addition to evaluation. Students obtaining insufficient results, or having an erratic course attendance, were quickly removed from the school. Indeed, at the beginning, the preparatory year had no admission tests.

Starting with 1881, an admission test was introduced; the top priority was the quality of candidates, the number of the selected ones being less important. Gheorghe Duca tried and succeeded to bring the best professors to the “National School of Bridges and Roads”; among these were David Emmanuel (Elementary Mathematics), Spiru Haret (Higher Algebra and Analytical Geometry), C. M. Mironescu (Statistics and Engineering Graphics), Constantin Istrati (Physics), or Anghel Saligny (Bridges and Roads). Moreover, Gheorghe Duca himself was considered the greatest authority in railways at the end of the 19th century. This was perhaps a turning moment, when it was clearly demonstrated that Romania was capable of achieving on its own what had been deemed likely to be obtained only abroad, namely the training of highly qualified science and engineering specialists.

The year 1890 also represented a momentous point, when at the National School of Bridges and Roads a new commission was set up. Its main role was to issue equivalency certificates for the engineering diplomas obtained abroad, thus transforming this national school into a model for evaluating higher technical studies.

Nicolae Vasilescu-Karpen was appointed director of the School in February 1920. As a direct result of his endeavors, the government approved the establishment of Polytechnic Schools in Romania, conceived as higher education institutions, similar to universities, having as their final aim engineering training under the Ministry of Public Works.

The Polytechnic School was set up by transforming the "National School of Bridges and Roads" to the "Polytechnic School of Bucharest". In its initial stage it consisted of four sections:

* Civil Engineering;
* Mechanics and Electricity;
* Mines and Metallurgy;
* The Industrial Section.

During this period, in addition to the Polytechnic School, there were Institutes for Engineers within Universities. For instance, the University of Bucharest hosted an institute for electrical engineering, an institute for industrial chemistry and another one for agricultural and food chemistry.

Another important cornerstone was Decree 3799 of 1938 stating that higher education could be provided only by universities, Polytechnic Schools, or Academies for Commercial Studies. As a direct result, the Academy of Higher Agricultural Studies, the Academy of Architecture, the Institute of Industrial Chemistry and Agricultural and Food Chemistry, respectively, were introduced in the framework of "Bucharest Politehnica". The change of name[8] from "Polytechnic School of Bucharest" into "Politehnica Carol II of Bucharest" was accompanied by other changes as well. Thus, Politehnica depended on the Ministry of National Education (instead of the Ministry for Public Works), the former director became Rector of Politehnica, the different sections became Faculties, their presidents in turn, became Deans etc.

Between 1938 and 1948 Politehnica of Bucharest had seven faculties: Civil Engineering, Electro-mechanics, Metallurgy, Industrial Chemistry, Silviculture, Agronomy, and Architecture.

Another important transformation took place in 1948, when several Politehnica or even specialities became independent, or even moved to other cities. Some of the new universities, institutes or faculties had their roots in the old "Politehnica of Bucharest". Thus, the following establishments, were initially faculties or departments at "Politehnica" of Bucharest: Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest; Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism; University of Agronomic Sciences; Faculty of Forestry - Transilvania University of Brașov; School of Mines - Petroșani; Oil & Gas University of Ploieşti; Faculty for Food Chemistry - University of Galați; Faculty for Textile Industry - Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași.

In 1948–1992, the name of the school was "The Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest". For some years it was called "Institutul Politehnic 'Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej' București".[9] Based on a resolution of the Senate (November 1992), the Polytechnic Institute of Bucharest turned into University Politehnica of Bucharest.

## Ranking

[edit]

University rankings

Global – Overall
QS World[10]| 1201–1400 (2024)
THE World[11]| 1501+ (2024)
USNWR Global[12]| =1008 (2023)

According to the Scimago Lab, based on data collected between 2007 and 2011, Politehnica University of Bucharest ranked 546 in the World, 15 regionally and number one in the country by number of publications.[13]

At the 29th annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest, held at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, on April 6, 2005, Politehnica student team ranked 10th.[14]

## Faculties

[edit]

The university is structured into faculties. The faculties are distinct academic entities, each having its own admission criteria, largely distinct staff and limited interaction. However, there are a number of commonalities: all the faculties provide only engineering degrees, there is a largely common curricula that is observed in the first year of studies, there are shared teaching facilities and shared student facilities. Teaching is conducted in Romanian and at the Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages teaching is conducted in one of the languages: English, French, and German. Currently there are fifteen faculties. :

* Faculty of Electrical Engineering;
* Faculty of Power Engineering;
* Faculty of Automation and Computer Science;
* Faculty of Electronics, Telecommunications and Information Technology;
* Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics;
* Faculty of Industrial Engineering and Robotics;
* Faculty of Biotechnical Systems Engineering;
* Faculty of Transports;
* Faculty of Aerospace Engineering;
* Faculty of Material Science and Engineering;
* Faculty of Applied Chemistry and Materials Science;
* Faculty of Engineering in Foreign Languages;
* Faculty of Applied Sciences;
* Faculty of Medical Engineering;
* Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Engineering and Business Management.

## Notable faculty and alumni

[edit]

* Elie Carafoli aeronautics engineer
* Henri Coandă
* Octavia Dobre
* Mihai Drăgănescu president of the Romanian Academy between 1990 and 1994
* Traian Lalescu
* Mihail Manoilescu
* Nadia Comăneci
* Costin Nenițescu
* Aurel Persu
* Peter Stoica
* Simion Stoilow
* Gabriel Sudan
* Nicolae Vasilescu-Karpen
* Radu Voinea president of the Romanian Academy between 1984 and 1990
* Andrei Alexandrescu widely regarded as one of the foremost experts on C++ programming, head research scientist at Facebook, developer on D 2.0
* Rodica Baranescu past president of SAE international, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering of USA.
* Radu Georgescu software engineer, entrepreneur and founder of GeCAD Software (technology bought by Microsoft that became Windows Security Essentials)
* Mircea Gradu automotive engineer and inventor, 2008 SAE International Ed Cole Innovation Award recipient, president of SAE International
* Mihail Roco chair of the US National Science and Technology Council subcommittee on Nanoscale Science, Engineering and Technology (NSET), Senior Advisor for Nanotechnology at the National Science Foundation, founder of National Nanotechnology Initiative
* Dinu Brătianu politician, led the National Liberal Party (PNL) starting with 1934
* Silvia Ciornei politician, member in the European Parliament
* Sergiu Cunescu politician
* Ion Iliescu former president of Romania
* Liviu Librescu aeronautics engineer and scientist, hero of the Virginia Tech massacre
* Radu Manicatide engineer and aircraft constructor, inventor of the M.R. microcar
* Mihai Nadin computer scientist, Human Computer Interaction pioneer, director of the Institute for Research in Anticipatory Systems
* Sergiu Nicolaescu film director
* Ion Mihai Pacepa chemist, general and the highest-ranking intelligence official ever to have defected from the former Eastern Bloc
* Dan Petrescu, Romanian businessman and billionaire, one of the richest persons in Romania at his time
* Cristian Tudor Popescu journalist and SF author
* Vasile Mihai Popov controls engineer
* Dumitru Prunariu cosmonaut and first Romanian in space
* Lawrence Rauchwerger computer scientist
* Dan Roman entrepreneur, investor and IT professional
* Petre Roman politician
* George Necula computer scientist
* Ion Stoica computer scientist
* Florin-Teodor Tănăsescu, electrical engineer
* Mihaela Cardei, computer scientist

## See also

[edit]

* List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)

## Notes and references

[edit]

The university organizes important conferences such as International Conference on Control Systems and Computer Science and symposiums like Interdisciplinary Approaches in Fractal Analysis. [citation needed]

1. ^ 2012 Activity report Archived 2013-06-09 at the Wayback Machine (in Romanian)
2. ^ "QS World University Rankings-Emerging Europe & Central Asia". Retrieved 15 January 2023.
3. ^ History of the Politehnica University Archived 2018-03-03 at the Wayback Machine at upb.ro
4. ^ Instituții de învatământ superior clasificate ca universități de cercetare avansată și educație
5. ^ Prima alianță a universităților tehnice din România (in Romanian)
6. ^ "200 years UPB". UPB.ro. UPB. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
7. ^ "Din istoria ingineriei românești Archived 2009-06-29 at the Wayback Machine, from Univers Ingineresc, a publication of the Association of Engineers of Romania
8. ^ Politehnica din București Archived 2013-10-23 at the Wayback Machine at universulenergiei.europartes.eu (in Romanian)
9. ^ "Buletinul Institutului Politehnic "Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej" Bucuresti. Seria Chimie-metalurgie". National Library of Australia. Retrieved February 5, 2014.
10. ^ "QS World University Rankings: Romania". Top Universities. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
11. ^ "World University Rankings 2024: Romania". Times Higher Education (THE). 28 September 2023. Retrieved 28 September 2023.
12. ^ U.S. News. "Best Global Universities in Romania". Retrieved 27 February 2024.
13. ^ Scimago Institutions Rankings
14. ^ ACM-ICPC World Finals Archived 2012-10-26 at the Wayback Machine.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Politehnica University of Bucharest.

* Official site. Available in Romanian, English and some French materials
* History of the Polytechnic University of Bucharest (1948–1981) (Romanian)

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Advanced Research and Education Universities in Romania

* University of Bucharest
* Babeș-Bolyai University of Cluj-Napoca
* Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași
* University of Economic Studies of Bucharest
* University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca
* Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Bucharest
* Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Iași
* Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Cluj-Napoca
* Politehnica University of Bucharest
* Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași
* Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
* Politehnica University of Timișoara

* v
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Romanian Alliance of Technical Universities (ARUT)

* Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iași
* Politehnica University of Bucharest
* Politehnica University of Timișoara
* Technical University of Cluj-Napoca
* Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest

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Universities in Romania

Bucharest-Ilfov|

* University of Bucharest
* Politehnica University
* University of Economic Studies
* Carol I National Defence University
* Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy
* Music University
* University of Agronomical Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
* Technical University of Civil Engineering
* Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urban Planning
* University of Journalism and Communication Science
* Titu Maiorescu University
* University of Arts
* Caragiale Academy of Theatrical Arts and Cinematography
* National University of Physical Education and Sport
* Academy of Higher Military Studies
* Military Technical Academy
* Police Academy
* Academy of Medical Sciences
* Academy for Agricultural and Forest Sciences
* Otopeni Military Institute
* Institute of Military Medicine
* SNSPA
* Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University
* Spiru Haret University

Center|

| Alba Iulia|

* 1 December 1918 University

|

Brașov|

* Transilvania University

Miercurea Ciuc|

* Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania

Sibiu|

* Lucian Blaga University
* Nicolae Bălcescu Land Forces Academy

Târgu Mureș|

* University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology
* University of Arts
* Dimitrie Cantemir University
* Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania

North-East|

| Bacău|

* University of Bacău
* George Bacovia University

|

Iași|

* Alexandru Ioan Cuza University
* Gheorghe Asachi Technical University
* Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy
* George Enescu National University of Arts
* Ion Ionescu de la Brad University of Life Sciences
* Mihail Kogălniceanu University
* Petre Andrei University
* Apollonia University
* Roman Catholic Theological Institute
* Ștefan Lupașcu Institute of European Studies

Suceava|

* Ștefan cel Mare University

North-West|

| Baia Mare|

* North University Centre

|

Cluj-Napoca|

* Babeș-Bolyai University
* Technical University
* Iuliu Haţieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy
* University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine
* Art and Design University
* Gheorghe Dima National Music Academy
* Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania
* Greek-Catholic Theological Institute
* Protestant Theological Institute
* Avram Iancu University
* Bogdan Vodă University

Oradea|

* University of Oradea
* Agora University
* Emanuel University of Oradea
* Partium Christian University

Satu Mare|

* Commercial Academy

South|

| Pitești|

* University of Pitești
* Constantin Brâncoveanu University

|

Ploiești|

* Oil & Gas University

Târgoviște|

* Valahia University

South-East|

| Constanţa|

* Mircea cel Bătrân Naval Academy
* Ovidius University
* Maritime University

|

Galați|

* University of Galați
* Danubius University

South-West|

| Craiova|

* University of Craiova
* University of Medicine and Pharmacy

|

Târgu Jiu|

* Constantin Brâncuși University

West|

| Arad|

* Aurel Vlaicu University
* Vasile Goldiș Western University

|

Petroșani|

* University of Petroșani

Reșița|

* University Centre of Reșița

Timișoara|

* Politehnica University
* West University
* Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy
* King Michael I University of Life Sciences
* Tibiscus University

* v
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CESAER

* Aalborg
* Aalto
* Athens Polytechnic
* Belgrade
* BME
* BUT
* Chalmers
* EPFL
* ETH Zurich
* Gdańsk University of Technology
* Ghent
* Graz University of Technology
* Grenoble Alpes University
* INSA de Lyon
* IP Paris
* IST
* ITU
* KIT
* KPI
* KTH
* KU Leuven
* Leibniz University Hannover
* Lund
* NOVA
* NTNU
* Paris-Saclay
* ParisTech
* POLITO
* Polytechnic University of Milan
* Porto
* PUB
* PUT
* RWTH Aachen
* Sapienza University of Rome
* Sheffield
* Southampton
* Strathclyde
* STU
* Stuttgart
* Surrey
* Technion
* TU Berlin
* TU Braunschweig
* TU Darmstadt
* TU Delft
* TU Dresden
* TU Warsaw
* TU Wien
* Twente
* UCLouvain
* UPC
* UPM
* UPV
* UCD

* v
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Danube Rectors' Conference

Public|

* Agricultural (Moldova)
* Agronomic Sciences Bucharest
* Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (Cluj-Napoca)
* Aurel Vlaicu
* Babeș-Bolyai
* Banat Agricultural and Veterinary
* Belgrade
* Bodenkultur Wien
* Comenius
* Craiova
* Corvinus
* Czech Technical
* Czech University of Life Sciences
* Faculty of Communication and Public Relations David Ogilvy
* East Sarajevo
* Eötvös Loránd
* Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
* Graz
* Graz TU
* Juraj Dobrila (Pula)
* Krems
* Linz
* Leoben
* Maribor
* Masaryk
* Military Academy (Serbia)
* Mostar
* Novi Sad
* Odessa
* Oradea
* Osijek
* Ovidius
* Pécs
* Pitești
* Politehnica Bucharest
* Primorska
* Pristina
* Regensburg
* Ruse
* Sarajevo
* Semmelweis
* Slovak University of Agriculture
* Suceava
* TU Cluj-Napoca
* TU Moldova
* Technische Hochschule Ulm
* Tomas Bata
* Trieste
* Trnava
* Tuzla
* Ulm
* Uzhhorod
* Vienna
* Timișoara
* Zadar
* Zagreb

Private|

* Andrássy University Budapest
* Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
* Megatrend
* Nova Gorica
* Spiru Haret
* Vasile Goldiș

Authority control databases

International|

* ISNI
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National|

* Germany
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