About the University

Michurinsk State Agrarian University is one of the oldest Russian agricultural institutions of higher education. It has become well-known due to its unique scientific research in the sphere of horticulture, as well as due to the training of qualified agricultural professionals.
Michurinsk State Agrarian University used to be a Lawn-and-Garden Institute organized on the initiative of Ivan V. Michurin in 1931.  In 1934 it was renamed Fruit-and-Vegetable Growing Institute, and in 1999 the institute was given a status of a university.
About 40 thousand specialists in different branches of agriculture, working at agricultural and food production enterprises of the Russian Federation and abroad, have graduated from Michurinsk State Agrarian University since that time.
Nowadays Michurinsk State Agrarian University ...

• offers the courses of professional training in 7 branches of agricultural area, economics and social sciences, leading to the Bachelor's or Master's degree;
• carries out a wide variety of fundamental and applied scientific researches;
• improves the system of continuing education, which includes specially oriented courses at school, higher education, post-graduate studies, refresher and retraining courses;

The University today:                   

• includes 4 institutes and 4 departments;
• has 7000 students;
• has 12 science schools
• is  1700 number of students on specialties of secondary professional education
•  26 directions for students for bachelor degree
• 18 directions for students for master degree
• 17 specialties of secondary professional education 
• provides 3 doctoral programs and 19 post graduate courses, involving 123 post-graduate students and applicants working for PhD degree;

3 PhD Dissertation Councils work at the university, thus theses are upheld in 7 fields of science, among which there are "Selection and Seed Growing" (06.01.05) and "Horticulture, Viticulture" (06.01.07). Over 500 candidate and doctoral theses have been upheld at the Dissertation Councils of the university. 
Scientific research projects are conducted at the university in accordance with the national program "Agro-Industrial Complex Development", and the "Program of Fundamental and Priority Applied Researches in the Agro-Industrial Complex", aimed to provide the development of agriculture in the Russian Federation with the scientific basis. The university prepares scientific projects by request of some enterprises and institutions on the contractual basis.
There are 9 main branches of science in the focus of the university researchers' attention: agriculture, economics, engineering, biology, chemistry, teachers' training, philology, sociology.
Main scientific schools, developed at the university, focus on the following aspects:

• growing of new dwarf clone apple rootstocks, improvement of seedling growing technologies and technologies of high density orchard development, breeding of fruit and berry cultures, selection and seed growing of vegetable crops;
• development of resource-saving technology of growing, storage and processing of vegetable crops in Black Earth (Chernozem) Region;
• seed growing technologies and cultivation technologies improvement of grain and fodder crops;
• ecology and environmental protection;
• development and preservation of Simmental cattle gene-pool;
• working out of production and storage equipment as well as process technology for agricultural products;
• economic management methods at an agricultural enterpise;
• rural sociology and sustainable development of rural territories;
• agricultural biotechnologies.

The university has a leading position in the sphere of horticulture in Russia. The unique hybrid fund and the collection of dwarf rootstocks, which numbers over 3000 apple crossbreeds and rootstocks, have been gathered by the scientists of the university. Rootstocks, developed at Michurinsk State Agrarian University, successfully compete at the international markets. They are widely used in the selection process and analyzed in France, Canada, the Netherlands and Poland.
The scientists of the university pay great attention to the development of new varieties and vegetable growing technologies. Great emphasis is placed on the production of functional food aimed to help people sustain normal physiological parameters under the stressful conditions. Special systems of vegetable growing, storage and processing technologies for producing ecological ingredients for baby and diet food have been worked out. Much attention is given to biotechnological research.

The university plays an important role in the development of the innovation program of Michurinsk as a scientific agricultural centre of the Russian Federation.