Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University (Russian: Санкт Петербургский горный университет императрицы Екатерины II) is the first higher technical education institution of Russia. Founded on October 23, 1773, Catherine II inscribed a the decree on the establishment of the Mining School. This date became the birthday of higher technical education in Russia. The University has the highest status in the educational system of the Russian Federation: it is a National Research University, which ranks it as one of the foremost teaching and research mining schools in Russia and a national center for education and applied research in the diverse fields of mining and underground construction and tunneling.Federal State Budgetary Institution of Higher Education St. Petersburg Mining University is one of the largest universities in mining, and the first higher technical educational institution in Russia. Included in the category of the National Research University of Russia (2009).The university trains specialists for all branches of the mining and smelting industry, the oil and gas industry, the geological service, industrial and civil construction in Russia, the countries of the near and far abroad. The University of Mines is conducting intensive research on the main problems of developing the country’s resource base, environmental management, and developing advanced energy-saving technologies for the extraction and processing of mineral resources.