The Pavol Jozef Šafárik University was established in 1959 as the second classical University in Slovakia. The old traditions of the university were restored by the establishment of the University which consisted of the Faculty of Medicine in Košice and the Faculty of Arts in Prešov, with subsequent Faculties established gradually in: 1963 – Faculty of Science in Košice, 1964 – Faculty of Education in Prešov, 1973 – Faculty of Law in Košice, 1998 – Faculty of Public Administration, 2007 – Faculty of Arts, 2010 – Institute of Physical Education and Sport.
The University provides education in three main cycles – bachelor’s, master’s / doctor´s and PhD. with study programmes in different fields. The process of education is provided in both, Slovak and English language. The Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice provides higher education based on the latest scientific findings in a wide international context, and it co-operates very intensively with academic institutions from all around the world.
The University has been acknowledged as one of the best universities in Slovakia, which is also confirmed by the latest ranking results in the evaluation of universities. Within the 2017/2018 URAP – University Ranking by Academic Performance the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice ranked 1047th in the world, 434th in Europe, and in the comparison and evaluation of the Slovak universities it occupied the 2nd position. Three Slovak universities got into the first half of the world ranking: Comenius University, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and Slovak University of Technology.
Within the U-Multirank 2018 evaluation the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University ranked first among the nine evaluated Slovak universities, while within the evaluation of the Slovak and Czech universities combined the Pavol Jozef Šafárik University ranked third among the 27 evaluated universities. In the evaluation of the 925 universities across Europe the University was among the first 300 universities. From the perspective of partial indicators the university obtained the best A rating for its joint international publications and joint regional publications.
The Best Global Universities Ranking included only three Slovak universities in the 2017/2018 ranking, and one of them was our University: Comenius University (511th position), Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (894th position) and Slovak University of Technology (1065th position).
Our university shows a tendency to become increasingly international in character, which is proven by the following indicators:
- the University is part of more than 450 international memberships
- the students and staff of the University enjoy access to a wide range of international experiences, while studying or working at the institution, e.g. international internships and traineeships, international study/staff mobilities, international courses, access to several educational and research projects
- the University hosts numerous international events and lectures
- the number of international students studying at our university is gradually increasing, in the 2017/2018 academic year their number reached 1311
- the University registers 17 double or joint degree study programs
- it offers several interdisciplinary courses in Slovak and in English as well
- the employees of the University are involved in more than 244 research projects
- since 2013 the University has been building the University Medical Science and Technology Park – MEDIPARK, the top international centre for applied research and its transfer into practice in the field of biomedicine
- the University is also a partner in two other science parks – TECHNICOM and PROMATECH.
- the University established its Technology and Innovation Park (TIP) in 2017, which aims to become the centre of scientific and technological excellence at the UPJŠ in Košice in the fields of biomedicine, biotechnology, information technologies, and advanced materials
