Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK)

Moscow State University of Geodesy and Cartography (MIIGAiK) was established in 1779 and it is the center of higher geodetic education in Russia and the largest educational institution of this type in Europe. Thousands of the University graduates are taking part in the exploration of the territory and natural resources of Russia, in designing its maps, in constructing its cities, roads and industrial enterprises. The scientists working at MIIGAiK are always the avant-garde of geodesy, establishing and developing it as one of the fundamental Earth sciences. The glorious past of MIIGAiK, deep-rooted pedagogical and scientific traditions, accumulated throughout 225 years of its development, the importance and vitality of geodetic science and practice for many branches of national economy, a wide range of specialists being trained at the University - all these assure the leading role of MIIGAiK as a specialized institution of higher education. Today, the University is actively participating in the exploration of outer space and application of the results of this exploration to science, economy, agriculture, geological prospecting and ecology. MIIGAiK renders great assistance to many countries of the world in training national scientific and engineering staff for geodesy and cartography - more than 2,000 foreign graduates from the University are working now in 85 countries all over the world. Many national geodetic services and topographic enterprises of different countries have close and mutually advantageous economic and scientific relations with the University. MIIGAiK educates researchers by means of postgraduate courses; eight specialized academic councils are established for scientific theses and dissertations to be defended. The studies that are being conducted in MIIGAiK embrace almost the whole range of problems of geodesy, cartography, and cadastre, as well as such specific fields as precise instrument-making, geoinformatics, ecology and remote sensing.