The Gogol State Pedagogical University in Nizhyn is one of the oldest educational institutions in Ukraine, famous for its educational, scientific and cultural traditions. Initially called The Count Bezborodko Gymnasium of Higher Sciences, the University was founded in 1805 following the example of existing European universities. Since its foundation, the University has trained over 40 thousand specialists in different fields of education and various professions including educators, teachers, lawyers, engineers, etc. Many outstanding, internationally known representatives of science and culture have received higher education at the University. Among them is the world-famous classic writer N.Gogol in whose honour the University was named in 1939, prominent Ukrainian writers Ye. Hrebinka, L.Hlibov, Yu. Zbanatsky, Ye. Hutsalo, etc.

At present about 6 thousand students study in the six colleges of the University. There are 28 departments with 300 lecturers including 166 professors and assistant professors. The University graduates are qualified as Specialists (secondary school teachers) or Masters (higher school teachers, researchers) in the following fields: Philology (Ukrainian, Russian, English, German), History, Law, Music, Choreography, Biology, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Computer Studies, Economics, Culture.

The University comprises the following colleges and departments: Colleges of Philology; History and Law; Foreign Languages; Music; Geography and Biology; Physics and Mathematics; Departments of Pedagogy; Teaching Techniques; Psychology; Philosophy; Economic Theory and Political Science; Ukrainian Language; Ukrainian Literature; Russian Language; World Literature; Ukrainian Language and Literature Teaching; World History; History of Ukraine; History of Culture; English Language and English Teaching Methodology; English Philology; German Language; Musical Education; Vocal and Choral Techniques; Botany; Zoology; Anatomy and Medicine; Chemistry; Geography; Higher Mathematics; Applied Mathematics; Physics.

The Gogol State Pedagogical University in Nizhyn has a long history of valuable scientific advancements. The traditional scientific schools are the history of Ukraine (within the context of world history); the history of Ukrainian culture and its interrelations with the cultures of other nations, pedagogy and its history; Ukrainian language and literature; world art culture; ecology and environmental protection; higher mathematics and physics of semi-conductors; organic chemistry synthesis and others.

The University has given rise to several scientific schools well-known in Ukraine and abroad. They are headed by the following scientists and scholars: Professor V.Yakovets (Differential Equations), Professors Ye.Kovalenko (Theory and History of Education), O.Rostovsky (Music Education), H.Samoylenko (History of Culture), O.Kovalchuk (Ukrainian Literature), I.Marysova (Ornithology), P.Mykhed (Gogol Studies), M.Vyaly (Physics of Multicomponent Semiconductors), V.Sukhoveyev (Complex Metal Alloys).

Nizhyn Pedagogical University is the universally recognized centre of research in the life and work of the world literature classic N.Gogol. The University holds international scientific conferences dedicated to Gogol, publishes the annual journal Gogol Studies and supports the Gogol research centre.

The University has a publishing house which puts out manuals and textbooks for students as well as collections of scientific works and monographs, Scientific Papers of the University, Newsletter of the Student Scientific Society, the journal titled Literature and Culture of Polissya.

The University departments maintain contacts with educational and scientific institutions of other countries – the United States of America, Great Britain, Germany, Poland, Greece, Russia, Belorus and others.

Many international conferences concerning current problems in science, education and culture are held at the University. Among them are the conferences Ukrainian Studies in the Context of Slavic Research (2000), Gogol in the Dialogue of Cultures (1999), Topical Questions of Botany and Ecology (1999), Education and Upbringing in Poland and Ukraine in the 19th-20th centuries (1998), Anthropocentric Approach to the Study of Language (1998), Gogol and the Slav World (1997), History and Culture of Left Bank Ukraine (1996), etc.

The Gogol Pedagogical University in Nizhyn is famous as an important educational and cultural centre in Ukraine. It boasts a unique library dating back to 1820, the year the Count Bezborodko Gymnasium of Higher Sciences was founded. The library contains one million copies of books and periodicals including more than 100 thousand volumes of rare books of the 16th-19th centuries which form the core of the Museum of Rare Books.

The University has seven museums and a picture gallery where more than one hundred paintings by Ukrainian and Western European artists of the 17th-20th centuries are exhibited. The University is also famous for its literary society, theatre and dance clubs, the student choir Svitych, an orchestra of folk instruments and numerous prize-winners of prestigious national and international contests and festivals.

The University has up-to-date facilities for studies, first-class accommodations for lecturers and students, and a summer camp situated on the shore of a forest lake.