Semnan University

Semnan University is a public research university located in Semnan City, the capital city of Semnan Province of Iran, about 216 km east of Tehran. This university is the oldest one in this province.

History

The initial nucleus of Semnan University was formed in 1975 with the establishment of the Semnan Center of Higher Education. It launched its activities with 580 students to study in seven programs at the associate level. 14 years later, i.e. in 1989 extensive fundamental changes were implemented in this center, and with the foundation of two courses of electronics and civil engineering at the bachelor level, this center was promoted to being the “Semnan Higher Education Complex”. Sometime later the faculties of engineering, teacher training, and veterinary were also founded and the status of the Semnan Higher Education Complex changed to Semnan University in 1994.

Currently, Semnan University consists of the following six educational campuses:

• Human Sciences Campus
• Basic Sciences Campus
• Technical Campus
• New Sciences and Technologies Campus
• Veterinary, natural resources, and agriculture Campus
• Art Campus

Presently, Semnan University has 25 faculties, 2 colleges, 2 institutes, 9 research groups, one Science and Technology Park, one Advanced Technologies Incubator Center, and over 17,000 students who pursue their higher education in 72 undergraduate programs (B.S.), 102 postgraduate programs (MSc.), and 65 Ph.D. programs.

Research Activities

The research activities of the university take place under the supervision and management of the research and technology department of this university, which was founded in the year 2000.

The establishment of Semnan Science and Technology Park was approved in 2007 and this park, which is located next to Semnan University, officially began functioning in early 2008. The objectives envisaged for this park include improving the technical knowledge of technology units in order to compete at the global level, organizing the services of technology units, and helping to commercialize research results. Applied electronics, mechatronics, machine tools, control systems, information technology, nanotechnology, and ventilation systems are among the research fields of this park.

The publication of 20 specialized journals in different fields is considered another research activity of this university. Among these, 10 journals are published in English, one international journal is in Arabic, and 9 journals are in Persian. From these 20 titles, 12 journals have scientific research accreditation and one journal has an ISI profile. The researchers and students of this university have so far published several thousand articles and presented hundreds of articles and research projects in various scientific programs.

The number of research projects conducted at this university stands at 350 so far. Planning for the growth of silicon for solar cell technology, and studying the effects of climate change and drought management have been among the most important projects of this university. The establishment of Iran’s first nanotechnology educational laboratory is one of the important achievements of Semnan University.

International Position of Semnan University

As one of the top universities of Iran, Semnan University has been ranked 301 to 400 in the field of engineering and mechanical engineering in the Shanghai Ranking system published in 2023. Being ranked 601 to 700 in the ISC Ranking system in 2021, this university has also been among the top universities of Iran in the field of engineering and technology.

With the aim of expanding its research activities, this university has signed MOUs with several universities and research centers of such countries as India, Sweden, Australia, England, Portugal, and Russia. The “Office of Consular Affairs of International Students" has been established in this university to provide better services to its foreign students. One of the strategic plans of this university is to increase the number of its foreign students to 10% of all students pursuing their higher education in it.

The establishment of the International University Campus of Semnan province in 2012 and admitting students in 31 postgraduate courses and seven Ph.D. courses has been one of the programs of the university to expand its international activities.