Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow)

 Moscow State University (MSU), invisible

M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, also known as Lomonosov University, is the largest university in Russia. Founded in 1755, it also claims to be the oldest university in Russia. It was renamed in honor of its founder Mikhail Lomonosov in 1940. Moscow State University was placed 70th in the world's top universities according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2008.

The establishment of the university was instigated by Ivan Shuvalov and Mikhail Lomonosov, and the decree ordering its creation was issued by Russian Empress Elizabeth on January 25th of 1755.

Originally located in the Principal Medicine Store on Red Square, the university was transferred by Catherine the Great to the present Neoclassical building on the other side of Mokhovaya Street. The main building was constructed between 1782 and 1793 in the Neo-Palladian style, designed by Matvei Kazakov, and rebuilt after the Fire of Moscow (1812) by Domenico Giliardi.

The historical building on Mokhovaya Street now houses mainly the Faculty of Journalism, the Faculty of Psychology, and the The Institute of Asian and African Studies. Moscow State University has campuses in Russia and abroad (Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan). The Ulyanovsk branch of MSU was reorganized into Ulyanovsk State University in 1996.

Since 1953, most of the faculties have been situated on Sparrow Hills, in the southwest of Moscow. The Main building was designed by architect Lev Vladimirovich Rudnev. In the post-war era, Stalin ordered seven huge tiered neoclassic towers to be built around the city. The MSU Main building is by far the largest of these. It was the tallest building in the world outside of New York City at the time of its construction, and remained the tallest building in Europe until 1990. The central tower is 240m tall, 36 stories high, and flanked by four huge wings of student and faculty accommodations.

On March 19, 2008, Russia's most powerful supercomputer to date, the SKIF MSU (СКИФ МГУ; skif is Russian for "scythian") was launched at the university.