History & Traditions

BNTU history

Large and complex tasks of recovering the national economy in 1920s required highly qualified personnel for all the industries.

Therefore, on December 10, 1920 Minsk Polytechnic School was transformed into a higher technical educational establishment Belarusian State Polytechnic Institute. This institution trained engineers for the main industries of the state. Belarusian State Polytechnic encompassed 5 faculties:

• Mechanical Faculty,
• Civil Engineering Faculty,
• Cultural and Professional Faculty,
• Chemical and Technological Faculty,
• Electrical Engineering Faculty.

N.K. Yaroshevich was appointed the first rector.

Teaching staff included 50 lecturers, 305 full-time students and 119 students of preparatory department studied at the Institute during the first academic year.

Later on, the Institute saw a series of reorganizations. It was not until July 1, 1933 that Belarusian Sovnarcom (government of those times) decided to restore the Polytechnic Institute, by then comprising 20 departments. In September, 1933 Polytechnic Institute united 1200 students and about 120 professors.

In the early 1940s BPI became one of the leading technical institutes of the Soviet Union. 32 departments of four faculties trained engineers in seven specialities. The number of lecturers reached 180, including 19 professors and 71 senior lecturers. In 1933-1941 About 2000 engineers graduated from BPI.

The Great Patriotic war interrupted BPI activities. The Institute resumed its work in 1945 welcoming 375 students. In 1949 BPI encompassed 37 departments training 1500 students. The number of lecturers exceeded 60 by then.

1991 - on April 17 Belarusian Polytechnic Institute was reorganized  into Belorussian State Polytechnic Academy (BSPA).

2002 - on April 1 BSPA was reorganized into Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) by the Presidential Decree.

2005 - on November 25 the CIS Heads of Government Council granted the Belarusian National Technical University (BNTU) the status of the basic organization for higher engineering education of the CIS member states.

In the last 5 years the BNTU has introduced 12 new specialities demanded by the country's economy, such as nuclear energy, computer mechatronics, and geodesy.

The BNTU successfully cooperates with 114 foreign technical universities from 34 countries in the fields of science and training. Over 1500 international students are currently being trained at the BNTU.

BNTU traditions

Being a university with almost a century-long history, the BNTU has started a number of precious traditional events the BNTU community loves and cherishes:

• Grand Event “BNTU Freshman”
• Student Film Contest “Videoradius”;
• Belarusian Culture Festival “We are Belarus”
• Student Festival “BNTU Spring”
• Trade Fair “Culture. Education. Leisure”
• Poetry and Song Competition “Muse in the Technical Interior”
• “Time to Improve Spiritually”, Easter Meeting of the Ethnic and Cultural Association “Beraginia”
• Thematic meetings of the Literary Association “Polystikh”
• Health Day, a large-scale sport fest
  • Student Kaleidoscope Festival, a 5-day multicultural event where the BNTU students from different countries have a great opportunity to show the uniqueness of their traditional cultures and share this wonderful experience with their peers. The Festival has been on for 17 years
  • International exhibition Joy of Easter celebrating spring and the beautiful holiday filled with joy and peace. The exhibition has been held for 13 years.
  • Christmas Meetings
  • Culture Days
  • Faculty Contest, a week-long event where the BNTU students do their best to prove their faculty is second to none. The contest is a spectacular friendly competition in creativity, fresh ideas, and wit.
  • International Student Race "Minsk-Izhevsk-Minsk" commemorating the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.