St. Petersburg State Technical University (full Russian name: Санкт-Петербургский государственный политехнический университет) was founded in 1899 and was called Kalinin Institute of Technology in the Soviet Union. It is one of the most prestigious universities in Russia, and one of the leading universities in the field of science and technology. The university is a long-established polytechnic university, directly under the State Committee for Higher Education of Russia, with international influence. It is a world-renowned center of research in chemistry, chemical technology, biotechnology, nanotechnology, cybernetics and technology, as well as a center of education for the modernization of higher education in Russia. The university has 82 members of scientific or engineering academies, 400 professors, 1500 associate professors, more than 18,000 students and more than 1500 foreign students. Today the Technical University is the top level among Russian technical universities.