National University Ostroh Academy
National University "Ostroh Academy" (, translit.: "Natsional'nyi Universytet Ostroz'ka Akademiia") is a Ukrainian self-governed (autonomous) research university that was opened in 1994 by the Presidential Decree of April 12, 1994. The university considers itself a continuation of the historical Ostroh Academy and is the first Eastern Europe Academy (dating to 1576). Ostroh town is called "The Volyn Athens" and mainly it is because of the Academy. The poet Penkalsky wrote in 1600: “The muse lodged in jail, even the god of art Apollo has left the island of Delos and moved to Ukraine”. The school occupies  the buildings of the former Rococo Capuchin monastery (built in 1779). Ostroh Academy is the only elite university of Ukraine that is not located in a regional capital. History. Ostroh Academy was founded in 1576 in modern-Ukraine lands by the principle Konstanty Wasyl Ostrogski in the lands his family owned. The Academy is considered to be the first institution of higher education in Ukraine. The Academy was closed in 1636 soon after opening the Jesuit College in Ostroh (in 1624). In 1994, the Ostroh Academy was reopened by the Presidential Decree of April 12, 1994. The University's founding  rector is Ihor Pasichnyk. National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy was a key lobbyist for and partner in the revival of National University Ostroh Academy. Today the Ostroh Academy maintains strong links to NaUKMA. Both were the only higher education institutions in Eastern Europe at the respective times. Since October 2000 the university carries a title of National. In 2009, the university became one of the 14 research universities in Ukraine. In the next year 2010 NaUOA became a member of the European Association of Universities. Publishing. In 1577-1579 Ivan Fedorovych arrived to the Academy from Lviv and founded  there the printing house. Under his direction, the most prominent Old Ukrainian Cyrillic printed materials were published. The most famous product is The Slavic Ostroh Bible (1581) which is considered to be a masterpiece of old-Ukrainian polygraphy and that played an enormous role for Orthodox education. There were also published other materials: Campus. Infrastructure. Reсent-day Ostroh Academy: International programmes. Students of Ostroh Academy take part in many international exchange programs. The implementation of youth exchange project Canada-Ukraine (CORE) allows the students of the university to live in Canada for several months, gain experience in economic, social, administrative , educational and other spheres, and improve English and French. Implementation of the Canadian-Ukrainian exchange «CORE / ECO» annually allows 20 university students to stay for several months in Canada, the master of the country experience in the field of environmental protection, gain leadership skills and get to know people of different nationalities living in Canada. The program «CORE / HEALTH» — annually provides an opportunity for students to improve their skills in public health, spread among university students and local residents the information and materials about healthy lifestyles. The program Net Corps, a Ukrainian-Canadian enables students to improve their professional skills  in the sphere of informational technologies and programming. The programs are coordinated by Canada World Youth organization, which has operated for 40 years in more than 50 countries. The partnership between Canada World Youth and the National University of Ostroh Academy has lasted for over 15 years. Some 225 students have participated in the programs. For the last 10 years the students of the National University of Ostroh Academy have annually participated in such internship and educational programmes as Canadian-Ukrainian Parliamentary Program (CUPP), Fulbright Graduate Program, Edmund Muskie Program, Lane Kirkland Program, Study Tours to Poland, one year degree  and non-degree studies at Warsaw University, four year studies at University of Marie Curie Sklodowska. Rankings and achievements. NUOA is the only Ukrainian University recorded in the Guinness World Records. It got the record after a 456 hour reading of T. Shevchenko’s poetry without a break in 2014. In 2001 National Bank of Ukraine dedicated the coin to the Ostroh academy. The academy was ranked in the 6th place among Ukrainian traditional Universities according to official rating of the Ministry of Education & Science of Ukraine; 9th place among Ukrainian Universities according to "Ukrainska Pravda" newspaper; 3rd place among  Ukrainian traditional Universities according to Correspondent Journal. Moreover, in 2015 Ostroh Academy was ranked 3rd among classic universities and 6th in the overall rating of the higher education institutions of Ukraine in terms of applicants’ quality. That year its web page took the 5th place in terms of the information value. This ranking was devoted to the monitoring of the higher education institutions’ web pages. World University Ranking — 784