Bu-Ali Sina University is a state institution in Hamedan, the capital of the Iranian province of the same name. It was named after Buali Sina, also known as Avicenna, an 11th century Muslim polymath who has been called "the father of modern medicine",
It was founded in 1975 with both assistance and advice from the government of France and has continued to be marked by high politics.
Its first chancellor was Akbar Etemad, a native of Hamedan often described as the father of Iran’s nuclear programme, whose next job was deputy prime minister. Mansor Gholami, chancellor from 1994 to 1997 and 2014 to 2017, went from his second term to become minister of science with responsibilities including higher education.
Since 2018 it has acted as "founder" of D-8 International University, an intergovernmental institution for exchange students from Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Pakistan and Indonesia.
The main 205-hectare campus houses colleges of engineering, agriculture, chemistry, architecture, paediatric medicine, humanities, science, social science, economics and sports science. There are also satellite schools of engineering at Kaboodarchag, technology and natural resources at Toyserkan, management and accountancy at Rosen and food at Spring.
Approximately 5,000 students are accepted each year. Aiming to be among the eight best-performing universities in Iran, it was rated among the top 100 universities in the Muslim world in a survey in 2018, and 10th in the Nature Index for Iran in 2018-9.
French maintains a significant presence, including in master's courses, although other languages were spun off into a separate department with an emphasis on English in 2004. Notable scientific research strengths is focussed around the Plant Chemistry Research Centre.
