Orenburg state University (OSU) is the largest educational institution in the Orenburg region. It is a leading educational, research and cultural center providing advanced educational services at all levels of education. Today the university includes 15 faculties and institutes, which train more than 25 thousand students. About 1000 professors and lecturers work in our university. OSU realizes undergraduate, graduate, specialist and postgraduate programs.

OSU comprises Architecture and Construction Faculty, Aerospace Institute, Geological and Geographical Faculty, Institute of Management, Institute of Social and Humanitarian Innovations and Mass Media, Transport Faculty, Faculty of Mathematics and Information Technology, Faculty of Public Professions, Faculty of Advanced Training and Retraining of State and Municipal Employees, Faculty of Advanced Training of Teachers, Faculty of Applied Biotechnology and Engineering, Faculty of Professional Training of Certified Specialists; Faculty of Philology, Faculty of Physics, Faculty of Finance and Economics, Faculty of Chemistry and Biology, Faculty of Electricity, Faculty of Law.

Orenburg state University is developing, solving personnel and research problems of economic development of the region, advanced training and retraining for innovative industries, which is especially important for the implementation of regional programs of socio-economic development and corresponds to the long-term interests of Russia in the world market. OSU provides training in more than 160 technical, humanitarian, natural Sciences and specialties, carries out research activities in 49 scientific areas within 12 branches of science.

The main purpose of the development of the OSU scientific potential is to strengthen the scientific base for the implementation of fundamental and applied research, development for high-tech sectors of the economy. Various scientific, educational and research associations have been formed in the structure of scientific activity.

The scientific base of the University includes 3 research institutes: Institute of Bioelementology; Research Institute of History and Ethnography of the Southern Urals; Research Institute of Regional Economics; Center for Collective use of Instrumentation "Institute of Micro-and nanotechnology". The following 4 research centers were opened: Research Center for Monitoring Buildings and Structures; Research Center "New Transport Technologies"; Scientific and Educational Center for Biochemical Physics of Nanosystems; Center for Laser and Information Biophysics. There are 5 scientific-educational centers in OSU: Research and Educational Center of Axiology and Innovation in Education; Scientific-educational Center of Living Systems; Scientific-educational Centre of Mathematical Problems of Control Theory and Information Processing; Scientific-educational Center of Advanced Technologies and Automated Systems in Vehicles and Aircraft Construction; Scientific-educational Center for Protection of Constitutional Rights and Freedoms of Persons (natural and legal) in Russian law.

4 scientific laboratories were opened on the basis of OSU: Interdepartmental Laboratory of Geoinformation Technologies; Student Sociological Research Laboratory; Research and Production Laboratory of Cell Technologies; Electrical Laboratory.

The results of scientific research can be published in scientific journals "Bulletin of OSU" and "Intellect. Innovations. Investment.» Orenburg state University has a Botanical garden, a geological Museum, a scientific library, a scientific and technical Park of OSU and a training meteorological station.

Every year international activity is expanding: OSU has 60 contracts with foreign partners, including universities and research centers of Western Europe, the USA, CIS countries.  Relations with universities in Asia, China and Japan, are developing particularly dynamically. OSU is actively cooperating with the University of Hiroshima, University of Tokyo, University College Anabuki (Japan). Since 2012, the Center of Chinese Language and Chinese Culture has been functioning in OSU. The Chinese Centre organizes Chinese language courses and language training, conducts cultural events, carries out project activities in cooperation with Chinese partners, advises and helps in choosing a university programm, finding a place of practice or internship in China. OSU actively develops cooperation with universities of China-Anhui University (Hefei) and South China Pedagogical University (Guangzhou).

The international summer school of OSU "Modern Russian science and culture" hosted participants from Hiroshima University (Japan), Tashkent Institute for the Design, Construction and Operation of Roads (Uzbekistan), Ludwig-Maximilian University (Germany). OSU students in the delegation from Orenburg region took part in the IV Russian-Chinese youth forum "Volga — Yangtze. "Anhui", which was held in Hefei (Anhui province, China), and earlier in the international Russian-Chinese youth forum "Ivolga" (Samara), where our students presented their projects.

Traditionally, the university has strong ties with enterprises and organizations, business representatives, which allows its students to confidently determine the place of future employment and feel comfortable in the labor market.

Multilateral cooperation of Orenburg state university with schools is scientific and methodological knowledge and advanced educational technologies for teachers, as well as teachers-consultants and teachers-tutors for students.

OSU is aimed not only at teaching students, but also at creating conditions for their harmonious development, aesthetic, cultural, moral and civic education. The University provides them with a variety of opportunities for self – realization and development of abilities, both at the university and abroad, implementing its approach to future professionals: "OSU is a university of great opportunities.

The work of OSU scientists is aimed at solving urgent problems of modernization of production of the leading enterprises of the region. The university takes an active part in solving applied problems of the industry: offers to introduce new technologies, helps in the creation of new developments in the conditions of import substitution. Active partners of the university are JSC " PO "Strela", LLC" Gazprom Dobycha Orenburg", JSC" Orenburg Heat Generating Company", JSC" Gazprom Gas Distribution Orenburg", construction companies of Orenburg Region and others.

Furthermore, every year the scientists of OSU carry out scientific and practical work together with the authorities, state and municipal institutions to solve problems of management, economy, ecology, change of the urban environment. They develop projects on improvement of public spaces of Orenburg region in the framework of the architectural session "Our cities are changing"; implement a project on integrated waste processing of non-ferrous metallurgy enterprises in the region; develop theoretical and methodological foundations for the development of competition in the Orenburg region.