The Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM) (Macedonian: Универзитет „Св. Кирил и Методиј“ во Скопје (УКИМ), romanized: Univerzitet "Sv. Kiril i Metodij" vo Skopje (UKIM)) is a public research university in Skopje, North Macedonia. It is the oldest and largest public university in the country. It is named after the Byzantine Christian theologians and missionaries Cyril and Methodius. As of 2018–19 school year, a total of 25,220 students are enrolled at the university. Furthermore, the teaching and research staff number 2,390 people; this is further supported by over 300 members in the university's institutions.
The primary language of instruction is Macedonian, but there are a number of courses which are carried out in English, German, French, Italian and Albanian.
Contents
History
The beginnings of modern, organized tertiary education in Skopje are connected to the establishment of the Faculty of Philosophy on December 16, 1920. This faculty was organized as an autonomous entity of the University of Belgrade. During the Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, Skopje was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia, and after the end of the First World War in 1918 the city became part of the newly estbalsihed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The establishment of a University-level institution in the city was part of the wider assimilationist and colonialist policy of the Kingdom, which considered its part of Macedonia as historically and ethnically Serbian, and in line with such policies the first Faculty of Philosophy consisted only of humanities departments.
With the spread of the World War Two into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941, the activities of the Faculty ceased. Following the occupation of the region by the Kingdom of Bulgaria, a new institution of higher education was established in 1943 in Skopje – the Tsar Boris III University. In September 1944 a coup d'état in Sofia led to Bulgaria joining the Soviets. As a result the Bulgarian administration in Macedonia withdrew to the old borders of the country. So, the Bulgarian University stopped its educational activity. In 1944 the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was established by ASNOM, which became officially operational in December, shortly after the German retreat from Skopje.
On the 16th of April 1945 a new Faculty of Philosophy was established in Skopje by the Macedonian communist authorities. On the 16th of December 1946 the official opening ceremony for the Faculty of Philosophy took place, which would serve as the cornerstone of the University of Skopje. This marked the beginning of a first Macedonian state university. The first Faculty consisted of the Department of History and Philology and the Department of Mathematics and Natural Science, while the Medical Faculty and the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry were added in 1947. Fifty-eight students enrolled during the first academic year of 1946–1947; in the next year this number grew to 907. The development of higher education in Macedonia was characterized by rapid growth, and several other faculties were added in the following years. Parallel to the education activities in the existing faculties, scholarly research was undertaken with the development of independent institutes of research. The University of Ss. Cyril and Methodius was officially established in 1949. The Institute of National History was founded in 1948, followed by Institute of Folklore in 1949, and the Institute of Economics in 1952. Today, there are 10 research institutes affiliated with the University of Skopje.
After the great 1963 Skopje earthquake, which destroyed most of the city of Skopje, the university was leveled and some of the most modern laboratories in Yugoslavia were destroyed. By this time the University of Skopje was the third largest in Yugoslavia. It was quickly rebuilt on the premises of a much larger and modern urban campus. At the request of Yugoslav authorities, scientists from UNESCO's Department of Natural Sciences were sent to meet with the university's scientists to develop plans for the rehabilitation of the university's science laboratories. As a result, a large donation of equipment for science teaching and research was gathered from around the world through UNESCO's international programme of aid to Skopje.
At present, the University of Skopje is carried out in the spirit of the 1991 Constitution of the Republic of North Macedonia, which incorporated the social, economic and political changes that had taken place after North Macedonia proclaimed its independence from the Former Yugoslav Federate State. On 3 August 2000 the Parliament of the Republic of North Macedonia brought the new Law on Higher Education which adopted the overall European standards of higher education. The management organs of the university are the University Senate, consisting of two staff members from each faculty and scientific research institutes, five appointed members by the government of the Republic of North Macedonia and five students delegated from the Student Organization; the University Board, consisting of the rector, the vice-rectors, the secretary general, the deans of the faculties, the directors of the scientific-research institutes and one student representative; and the rector. The university represents a functional community of 25 faculties and 10 research institutes.
Departments and faculties
The university is divided into 23 faculties and 10 research institutes:
Faculties
Faculty of Philosophy
Founded in 1946
12 undergraduate study programmes
17 postgraduate study programmes
"Blaže Koneski" Faculty of Philology
Founded in 1946
11 undergraduate study programmes
13 postgraduate study programmes
Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
Founded in 1946
24 undergraduate study programmes
31 postgraduate study programmes
Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food
Founded in 1947
10 undergraduate study programmes
24 postgraduate study programmes
Faculty of Forestry
Founded in 1947
4 undergraduate study programmes
17 postgraduate study programmes
Medical Faculty
Founded in 1947
3 undergraduate study programmes
24 postgraduate study programmes
Research Institutes
Institute of Agriculture
Founded in 1923
Institute of National History
Founded in 1948
Marko Cepenkov Institute of Folklore
Founded in 1950
Institute of Cattle Breeding
Founded in 1952
Institute of Economics
Founded in 1952
Krste Misirkov Institute of the Macedonian Language
Founded in 1953
Institute of Sociological, Political, and Juridical Research
Founded in 1965
Institute of Earthquake and Seismology Engineering
Founded in 1965
St. Clement of Ohrid Faculty of Theology
Founded in 1977
Institute of Macedonian Literature
Founded in 1998
Institute of Immunobiology and Human Genetics
Alumni
Nina Angelovska – Finance minister
Džordže Arsov – Mayor of Kisela Voda
Ljube Boškoski – former Minister of Internal Affairs of Macedonia
Vlado Bučkovski – former Prime Minister of Macedonia
Branko Crvenkovski – former President of Macedonia
Živko Čingo – Writer
Georgi Efremov – Macedonian academician and scientist at Macedonian Academy of Sciences and Arts in the field of genetic engineering and biotechnology
Fatmir Besimi – Minister of Economy
Nikola Dimitrov – former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Ambassador to the United States
Elizabeta Dimitrova – art historian
Igor Durlovski – opera singer
Lazar Elenovski – former Minister of Defense
Elena Filipovska – philologist, teacher, writer
Taki Fiti – former Minister of Finance
Ljubomir Frčkoski – author of the Constitution of North Macedonia
Ljubčo Georgievski – former Prime Minister of Macedonia
Sofija Grandakovska – author in the field of comparative literature studies and interdisciplinary studies in Holocaust, Jewish history, literature and culture