Kharazmi University

Kharazmi University is referred to as the first center of higher education in Iran. This university, named in honor of “Abu Ja’far Mohammad bin Musa Khwarazmi”, is located in one of the central areas of Tehran.

Who was Khwarazmi?

Khwarazmi was an Iranian philosopher, historian, mathematician, and astronomer who was born in 780 CE and spent most of 80 years of his life in Baghdad, the center of the Abbasid caliphate, the most powerful government of that era.

He created a separate branch of geometry in mathematics and called it algebra. The first solution of quadratic equations was presented by Khwarazmi and to honor his services, this branch of mathematics is still known as “algebra”. Also, a large crater along with its eight satellite craters on the surface of the moon is named after him.

Khwarazmi has been so influential in the history of science that some historians have called the first half of the 9th century the “Khwarazmi era”. Khwarazmi’s book “Hisab al-Hind”, which was translated several times into Latin, changed the numerology of Europe to the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. Until then, Roman numerals were common in Europe. July 13th, the birth date of Kharazmi, has been named as “Information Technology Day” in Iran.

The History of Kharazmi University

A center named “Institute of Higher Education in Iran” was established in 1918 with the task of training teachers and was renamed “Dar al-Muallemin-e Aali” (lit. The House of Teachers) in 1928. A year later, this center was divided into two literary (philosophy, Persian literature, history, and geography) and scientific (natural, mathematical, physics, and chemistry) departments and some French teachers were employed in it. The name of this center was changed to “Daneshsaraye Aali” (lit. Higher House of Knowledge) in 1932.

Following the establishment of the University of Tehran in 1934, the literary and scientific departments of the Daneshsaraye Aali were transferred to the Faculty of Literature and the Faculty of Science of this university respectively but Daneshsaraye Aali regained its independence in 1959.

In 1974 it was once again renamed “Teacher Training University” and eventually was officially called “Kharazmi University” in 2011. In 2014, the “University of Economic Sciences” was merged into Kharazmi University to form the current structure of this university.

Campuses and Faculties

Kharazmi University has two campuses in Tehran and Karaj with the following 15 faculties:

• Art and Architecture
• Biological Sciences
• Chemistry
• Earth Sciences
• Economics
• Engineering
• Financial Sciences
• Geographical Sciences
• Law and Political Science
• Literature and Humanities
• Management
• Mathematical Sciences and Computer
• Physical Education and Sports Sciences
• Physics
• Psychology and Educational Sciences

Nearly 15,000 students pursue their higher education at Kharazmi University. This university has more than 500 faculty members and is known as one of the best universities in Iran. In the Shanghai Ranking published in 2023, this university ranked 301 to 400 in the fields of engineering and chemical engineering to be among the top universities in Iran. It was also ranked 601 to 800 in the Times Ranking. In terms of making earnings from industry, Kharazmi University is one of the top 10 universities of Iran.

International Activities of Kharazmi University

The university has an office called the “Office of International Scientific Cooperation”, whose main task is to strengthen its international scientific reputation. This office was founded in 2002 and since then it has concluded a number of MOUs with foreign universities and research centers. The formation of the “Iran-Austria Working Group” on the basis of an agreement signed in January 2017, is one of the actions of this office. This working group is in charge of organizing joint scientific activities with Austria and has so far held two joint conferences on higher education with the participation of experts from the two countries.

By facilitating matters related to attracting foreign students, every year this office receives about 600 applications from foreign students who wish to pursue their higher education at Kharazmi University. Applicants must attend an academic interview after sending documents and receiving approval.