General Information about University

The University´s Past and Present

Charles University (CU) was founded in 1348. Thanks to Charles IV’s foresight and his good relations with Pope Clement VI, the newly founded university had four faculties – faculty of theology, law, medicine, and arts – a pattern that corresponded to medieval concepts of a great university. Over the centuries, CU has experienced periods of great success as well as times of trouble and decline, similarly to other universities.

Today, Charles University consists of seventeen quite independent and self-governing faculties located in Prague, Pilsen, and Hradec Králové. The faculties educate almost 48,000 students. Over 9,000 international students come to Charles University to obtain their degree. Teaching and research are carried out by hundreds of specialists in various disciplines ranging from humanities to  medicine and natural sciences. The prime purpose of Charles University is the diffusion of learning and protection of acquired knowledge, cultivation of free thought, independent academic research and arts, and encouragement of the free creative spirit of human society.

Charles University is a member of many international organizations and university networks, such as EAIE (European Association for International Education), UNICA (Network of Universities from the Capitals of Europe), DRC (Danube Rectors Conference), OECD/IMHE (Programme on Institutional Management in Higher Education), IAU (International Association of Universities), EUA (European University Association), 4EU+ (European University Alliance), Coimbra Group and Europaeum Common Fund. Besides, CU has an exchange and collaborative partnerships with institutions of higher education worldwide. It has a growing network of partnerships with universities and colleges around the world, supporting student and academic staff exchange, and working on joint courses and collaborative research.

23 Study programmes at CU are organized in the regular full-time study form rather than in the part-time form of study. The CU provides all types of study programmes – bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral. Master’s study programmes are the main type of study at all faculties of Charles University. Doctoral study programmes are organized by the CU in collaboration with experts from outside the University, especially from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021  placed Charles University in 401st place among its five hundred ranked universities, making it the only Czech university to feature in the top five hundred. The Academic Ranking of World Universities: the “Shanghai League”, which every year compares more than 1,000 of the world’s best universities (selected from a total of over 17,000 institutions), has repeatedly included Charles University in the third hundred, i.e. among the 2 per cent top universities in the world and one of the 100 best universities in Europe.

For more information about Charles University see: https://cuni.cz/UKEN-1.html, or download the "Charles University" brochure here