Alexandru Ioan Cuza University

The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University (Romanian: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”; acronym: UAIC) is a public university located in Iași, Romania. Founded one year after the establishment of the Romanian state, by an 1860 decree of Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, under whom the former Academia Mihăileană was converted to a university, the University of Iași, as it was named at first, is the oldest university of Romania, and one of its advanced research and education institutions. It is one of the five members of the Universitaria Consortium (the group of elite Romanian universities). The Alexandru Ioan Cuza University offers study programmes in Romanian, English, and French. Its coat of arms with the Y shaped heraldic pall simbolizes the three initiatives which led to the foundation of the University: the Trei Ierarhi Collegium, the Academia Mihăileană, the University of Iași. The central element is the Bible, the classic emblem of higher education. The three shiny stars stand for the three faculties of the University at its foundation moment, Philosophy, Law and Theology, on blue and argent background, the same colors used on the Cuza family shield. In 2008, for the third year in a row, the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University was placed first in the national research ranking compiled on the basis of Shanghai criteria.In the 2012 QS World University Rankings, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University was included in the Top 700 universities of the world, on the position 601+ , together with three other Romanian universities.