Azerbaijan University of Languages


Azerbaijan University of Languages is a public university in Baku, Azerbaijan. The student body consists of approximately 4000 undergraduates and 900 graduate students. The university has a combined faculty of more than 700 teachers.

History

The beginnings of the university can be traced to 1937, with Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute's opening of the School of Foreign Languages. In 1940, the Azerbaijan Communist Party decreed that a separate Institute of Foreign Languages be formed, but the outbreak of World War II caused the new Institute to quickly fold back into Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute. After the war, the government of Azerbaijan SSR created the Azerbaijan Institute of Foreign Languages in 1948, but it was folded into the Azerbaijan Institute of Russian Language and Literature in 1959. Finally, in 1973, the Azerbaijan Pedagogical Institute of Foreign Languages was established as an independent institution. In 1996 the school was renamed the Azerbaijan State Institute of Languages. In 2000 the institute was given university status and renamed as the Azerbaijan University of Languages.
The University maintains close relations with UNESCO, operating a UNESCO Translation Department as well as hosting a UNESCO-sponsored faculty chair.
There are 7 schools, 25 departments at the university, a lot of scientific centers, laboratories activate at present.
As a result of the educational reforms, Azerbaijan University of Languages has been the first university which transmitted the whole system to credit system. The university has cooperation with higher educational institutions of Turkey, the U.S, the United Kingdom, France and other European institutions. Student exchanges have been intensive thanks to those cooperation.
Kamal Abdullah is current acting rector of the university. He was born in Baku, where he graduated from secondary and high school. After graduation, he continued his education in graduate of Institute of Linguistics of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.

Events

The structure of the University consists of the following: