Shahid Beheshti University

Shahid Beheshti University in Teheran, Iran, is one of the biggest and most prestigious higher education institutions in the country. The university was established in 1959 and since 1990, it has focused more on postgraduate studies.   The university focuses on physics and engineering, but it is also has one of the largest medicine schools in Iran and students can study a broad range of subjects, from linguistics to education to medicine. Alongside engineering and physics papers, its staff and postgraduate students have published extensive research in mathematics, biomedical and health sciences as well as life and earth sciences.  In recent  years, the university has hosted several international conferences in medicine. More than ten hospitals are used by Shahid Beheshti staff and students for practical training.  Among Shahid Beheshti’s outstanding alumni are Mir Hossein Mousavi, architect and prime minister of Iran between 1981 and 1989; Masoumeh Ebtekar, the first female vice-president in Iranian history, appointed in 2013; Hashem Aghajari, a famous professor of history and political dissident; Abbas Milani, professor of Iranian Studies at Stanford University; architect Leila Araghian; and economist and journalist Saeed Laylaz.  In order to study at Shahid Beheshti, students have to pass entrance examinations. Although the number of international students is very small, their applications are encouraged.