University History
Detailed information about the history of the Central Ukrainian National Technical University can be found in the following publications:
The origins of the Central Ukrainian National Technical University date back to the period of activity of the Yelysavethrad Zemstvo Real School, which effectively began operating in July 1870. Today, the Kropyvnytskyi Engineering College of CUNTU is located in the building of this former school.
In September 1918, after the Zemstvo Real School had been dissolved by the Bolshevik authorities in our city, the history of the Central Ukrainian National Technical University continued with the establishment in April 1929 of the Evening Workers’ Industrial Institute of Agricultural Machinery Engineering, which was housed in the building of the former Zemstvo Real School.
Premises of the former Zemstvo Realschule, where the Zinovievsk Evening Workers' Institute of Agricultural Engineering was located
The institute trained engineering personnel for the agricultural machinery industry in the specialties of “Foundry Engineering”, “Forging and Stamping Production”, “Wood Processing”, and “Mechanical Processing”. S. H. Vorobyov was appointed director of the institute. As of December 1, 1930, the institute had 212 students enrolled, while another 246 students were studying at the workers’ faculty. The educational process was provided by 30 lecturers, including 3 professors (S. H. Vorobyov, P. A. Ilyashevych, D. A. Tolchynskyi) and 18 associate professors. The institute also initiated postgraduate training.
On December 30, 1930, the first graduation of engineers took place. These students had studied under an accelerated program that took into account their previous training at technical schools. Twenty-one graduates received the qualification of mechanical engineer.
The Industrial Institute of Agricultural Machinery Engineering existed only for a short period. On February 26, 1933, it was dissolved. By that time, nearly 350 specialists had completed their professional training there. Among its graduates were V. I. Danylenko, the future director of the Agricultural Machinery Engineering Technical School and later the first director of the Kirovohrad Evening Department of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute; Ya. P. Kryuchkov, director of the “Chervona Zirka” plant; M. D. Karmanov, director of the Tractor Hydraulic Units Plant; as well as many other prominent industrial managers.
A significant number of students from the dissolved higher educational institution were transferred to the Agricultural Machinery Engineering Technical School established on the basis of the institute. Today, this institution functions as a structural subdivision of the Central Ukrainian National Technical University under the status of an Engineering Professional College.
In the postwar period, the intensive development of agricultural machinery engineering created a need to restore the training of engineering personnel in our city. Repeated petitions were submitted regarding the necessity of opening a higher educational institution in Kropyvnytskyi (then Kirovohrad) that would provide specialists for agricultural machinery enterprises.
Eventually, in May 1956, the Evening Department of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute was established on the basis of the Kirovohrad Agricultural Machinery Engineering Technical School. With the development of its material and technical base and the formation of a qualified academic staff, in 1962 the Kirovohrad Evening Department was reorganized into a branch of the Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute, whose purpose was to train specialists through both full-time and evening forms of study.
Kirovohrad branch of KhPI, and from 1967 the Institute of Agricultural Machine Building
Regional and municipal authorities, as well as industrial enterprises, actively contributed to the development of the newly established educational institution. As a result of intensive organizational efforts, on June 9, 1967, by order of the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education of Ukraine, the Kirovohrad Institute of Agricultural Machinery Engineering was established. During its years of existence, the institute trained nearly 30,000 specialists for the national economy. Among the graduates of the Kirovohrad Institute of Agricultural Machinery Engineering are well-known production managers and organizers, statesmen, inventors, and distinguished scientists. Today, the majority of lecturers at the Central Ukrainian National Technical University are graduates of the Kirovohrad Institute of Agricultural Machinery Engineering. They are true patriots of their Alma Mater.
During the economic crisis of the 1990s, the staff of our higher educational institution worked effectively on developing new areas of specialist training, introducing modern educational technologies, digitalizing the educational process, and training its own academic and teaching personnel. All this contributed to the university obtaining the highest, IV level of accreditation in all areas of educational activity.
By Resolution No. 1972 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 14, 1998, the institute received a new status — Kirovohrad State Technical University. This became possible as recognition of the fruitful educational and scientific achievements of the university’s students and academic staff.
Taking into account the national and international recognition of the achievements of Kirovohrad State Technical University and its significant contribution to the development of Ukrainian education and science, the institution was granted national status by the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated March 5, 2004. According to Order No. 1291 of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine dated October 27, 2016, Kirovohrad National Technical University was renamed Central Ukrainian National Technical University.
It is impossible not to mention the leaders who step by step guided the institution toward university status. These were V. I. Danylenko, O. I. Baulin, V. M. Pestunov, V. O. Stepanov, H. R. Nosov, V. R. Kucherenko, V. O. Kondratets, and M. I. Chernovol. Today, this worthy tradition is continued by the Rector of CUNTU, Volodymyr Kropivnyi.
CUNTU is a powerful educational, scientific, and cultural center of Ukraine. The university maintains extensive partnerships with machine-building plants and associations of Ukraine, enterprises of the agro-industrial complex, transport, construction, power supply, financial and banking institutions, archives, museums, and private companies for which it trains specialists. Undoubtedly, our graduates, having received a solid professional education, will shape the future image of Ukraine.
The university has broad international relations with educational institutions and scientific centers in Bulgaria, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Belgium, Cuba, France, England, Germany, and many other countries. Representatives of the United States Peace Corps are involved in the educational process. Currently, 66 international students from 14 foreign countries are studying at the university, and throughout its history the institution has trained more than 550 specialists for 65 countries worldwide.
Over the past several decades, CUNTU has effectively transformed into a modern higher education institution with a broad range of educational and scientific activities, humanistic traditions, and developed infrastructure that fully meets the criteria of a classical university.
Today, the Central Ukrainian National Technical University ensures the development of the personnel, scientific, educational, and cultural potential of the Central Ukrainian region; trains highly qualified specialists recognized regionally, nationally, and internationally; and provides educational and scientific services of world-class quality. The university’s activities are based on values and principles including competence, professionalism, active citizenship, leadership, quality, creativity, integrity, humanism, national consciousness, openness, transparency, decentralization, inclusiveness, and opposition to manifestations of authoritarianism.
As an educational and scientific center, the Central Ukrainian National Technical University provides specialist training and conducts scientific research across a wide range of economic sectors and academic fields, including: Culture and Arts (029 Information, Library and Archival Studies); Humanities (032 History and Archaeology); Social and Behavioral Sciences (051 Economics); Management and Administration (071 Accounting and Taxation, 072 Finance, Banking and Insurance, 073 Management, 075 Marketing, 076 Entrepreneurship, Trade and Exchange Activities); Natural Sciences (101 Ecology); Information Technologies (122 Computer Science and Information Technologies, 123 Computer Engineering, 125 Cybersecurity); Mechanical Engineering (131 Applied Mechanics, 132 Materials Science, 133 Industrial Mechanical Engineering); Electrical Engineering (141 Electric Power Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electromechanics); Automation and Instrumentation (151 Automation and Computer-Integrated Technologies); Electronics and Telecommunications (172 Telecommunications and Radio Engineering); Architecture and Construction (192 Construction and Civil Engineering); Agricultural Sciences and Food (201 Agronomy, 208 Agroengineering); Transport (274 Automobile Transport, 275 Transport Technologies); Public Management and Administration (282 Public Management and Administration); and International Relations (292 International Economic Relations).
The high status of CUNTU is annually confirmed by its positions in rankings:
- 99th place in the “Top-200 Ukraine” ranking for 2024 — CUNTU remains the highest-ranked university in Kirovohrad Oblast.
- 43rd place among 94 higher education institutions of Ukraine in the world university ranking “Top Universities by Citations in Top Google Scholar Profiles.”
- 118th place in the Consolidated Ranking of Higher Education Institutions of Ukraine 2024 by the “Osvita.ua” educational information resource.
- 108th place among Ukrainian higher education institutions and 9,075th place among 30,000 universities worldwide in the international “Webometrics” ranking for 2024.
- 136th place in the international “Scopus” ranking in 2024, with 1,660 citations and an h-index of 15.
- 106th place among 192 Ukrainian higher education institutions in the “4 International Colleges & Universities” ranking, which evaluates the quality of universities’ online representation and popularity based on independent webometric indicators collected from authoritative sources such as Moz, Majestic, and SimilarWeb.
- 11th place among educational institutions of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine for the highest level of inventive activity in 2024.