Saints Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje

North Macedonia’s oldest and largest university, UKIM was established in 1949.

On 26 July 1963, the city of Skopje experienced a devastating earthquake, which destroyed much of the city. The legacy of this earthquake include UKIM’s internationally recognised Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, set up in 1965. And annual 26 July prizes are awarded to the university’s best students.

Close to 30,000 students are spread across 23 faculties and 10 institutes. Four of these, in line with a commitment to cherish the culture of both North Macedonia and its ethnic minorities, offer programmes in Macedonian literature, national history, language and folklore. It also stages an annual Macedonian summer school.

Most classes are taught in Macedonian, but students are also offered opportunities to learn English, German, French, Italian and Albanian. In 2020-21 more than 500 took classes in a Chinese language through the Confucius Institute.

In 2018, UKIM became the first Macedonian university to instal rooftop solar panels, generating 22kw of electricity.