Kiev State University

Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv as the Kiev Imperial University of Saint Vladimir, and since then it has changed its name several times. During the Soviet Union era, Kiev State University was one of the top-three universities in the USSR, along with Moscow State University and Leningrad State University. It is ranked as the best university in Ukraine in many rankings (see below). Throughout history, the university has produced many famous alumni including Nikolay Bunge, Mykhailo Drahomanov, Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, Nikolai Berdyaev, Mikhail Bulgakov, Ivan Schmalhausen, Theodosius Dobzhansky, Viacheslav Chornovil, Leonid Kravchuk, and many others. Taras Shevchenko himself, banned from educational activities for political reasons, worked for the Kyiv University as a field researcher.