University of Žilina

Žilina University (ŽU) was originally established on 1 October 1953 as the College of Railway Transport following its separation from the Czech College of Technology in Prague. It had five faculties: Transport, Civil Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and a Military Faculty. In 1959 the College of Railway Transport was renamed the College of Transport and on 6 September 1960 it was relocated from Prague to Žilina. On its relocation to Žilina, the College of Transport consisted of the Faculty of Operation and Economics of Transport, the Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and the Military Faculty. In 1980 the school received the name the College of Transport and Communications in Žilina. Following on from earlier developments, and completing efforts to achieve universal studies, additional new faculties were created after 1989 from existing institutions, departments and faculties. The following autonomous faculties were constituted in this period: Faculty of Management and Informatics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, and Faculty of Electrical Engineering. In compliance with Act No 324/1996 of 1996 the College of Transport and Communications was renamed the University of Žilina. In 1996-1997 the University of Žilina acquired two new faculties - the Faculty of Industrial Technologies and St Andrew’s Faculty of Catechism and Education - which later went on to become two new Slovak universities. The Military Faculty was renamed the Faculty of Special Engineering and began its transformation into a civilian faculty, a process which was completed on 1 January 2001 by its transfer to the control of the Ministry of Education. In 1998 the Faculty of Science was established, which is currently the youngest faculty of Žilina University. The faculty was established in order to expand the profile of Žilina University and to strengthen education in the area of mathematics, natural sciences, humanities and arts.

The University of Žilina provides education at all three levels of higher education, both in full-time and part-time forms (Bachelor's degree, Engineer/Master's degree and Doctoral degree). Owing to its more than 50-year long history, the University occupies an outstanding place within the Slovak educational system not only in terms of its number of students, but also in its offer of accredited study programmes, and particularly its significant research and international activities based on extensive co-operation with companies and institutions, both in Slovakia and abroad. Co-operation with foreign universities enables students and university staff to actively participate in SOCRATES/ERASMUS, Leonardo da Vinci, CEEPUS, TEMPUS, COPERNICUS, COST, in 5th, 6th, and 7th Framework programmes and many others.

To date over 45,000 students have graduated from the University of Žilina, 1,500 of them from abroad. The University currently houses seven faculties and seven institutes and employs 670 university teachers. The total number of employees is 1,450. There are currently about 13 thousand students enrolled in all forms of studies.

Žilina University has been a member of the European University Association (EUA) since 2000. Participating in various international organisations and associations, Žilina University actively influences the development of European educational and research activities.