The first university of Buryatia: history and modernity

The paper discusses the history of the creation and development of the Buryat State Agricultural Academy named after V.R. Filippov - the first university of the republic, which laid the foundations of agricultural education and science in the Baikal Region. The purpose of research is to study the main stages of the scientific path of the university from the Buryat-Mongolian Agro-Pedagogical Institute to the Buryat State Agricultural Academy named after V.R. Filippov (1931-2021). Research objectives are: to identify the prerequisites for the creation of the first university in Buryatia, the problems and features of the training of agricultural specialists in the 1920s-1930s; to reveal important aspects in the history of the agricultural university of Buryatia in the 1950s-2000s; to consider the educational and scientific potential of the Buryat State Agricultural Academy at the present stage. Research methods are: general scientific - analysis, synthesis, generalization. The leading role belongs to the principles of historicism and objectivity, which involve considering the problem under study against the background of the general historical development of Buryatia, Siberia and the country as a whole. Specific-historical research methodssuch as: chronological, retrospective, comparative-historical are used. Beeing at the origins of higher education in Buryatia, the academy for 90 years has established itself as a center for the integration of education, science and innovation in Siberia and the Far East. On December 5, 1931, an order was issued to include the Buryat-Mongolian Agro-Pedagogical Institute in the system of the People's Commissariat for Agriculture of the USSR. It was on this day that the first university appeared in Buryatia, which became the ancestor of higher education in the republic. Currently, the academy has five faculties (agribusiness and intercultural communication, agronomy, veterinary medicine, engineering, technology), two institutes (land management, cadastre and melioration; continuing education) and an agrotechnical college. Buryat State Agricultural Academy provides training in 21 areas of bachelor's degree, under the program of a specialist in veterinary medicine, 10 areas of training for a master's degree and 13 postgraduate specialties for defending the degree of candidate and doctor of science, as well as 8 specialties of secondary vocational education.