Upon your arrival at TSU, you will be housed in a room in the new TSU Students' Residence Hall. After admittance, with only limited paper work, the TSU Students' Residence Hall staff will provide you with bed and all necessary bedding (mattress, pillow, blanket, bedspread and bed clothes). The Residence Hall is equipped with furniture and bathroom units. Shared kitchens are equipped with ovens. The Residence hall is up-to-date, built for students and their needs: studying rooms, internet, laundry, gym, cafeteria, place for dance and aerobics. There is security, with advanced CCTV and fire protection. The cost of the dormitory is about $15 per month. There is the International Student Services Center on the 1st floor (room 15), that is available to assist you with questions you may have.

The TSU Research Library was founded in 1880 and originally consisted of numerous private collections donated to the University. It was opened to the public in 1888. It is now the largest university research library in Western Siberia and one of the largest nationally recognized libraries in Russia.

Its collection contains almost 4 million cataloged items, including more than 2 million copies of books utilized by some half million people who borrow 1,350,000 volumes.

The Department of Book Monuments houses the most valuable collection in the library, which contains 100,000 catalogued items. There one finds old handwritten manuscripts; rare Slavic, Western European, and Eastern publications of the 14th to 20th centuries, and 16 book collections which belonged to V.A. Zhoukovsky, A.V. Nikitenko, A.G. Stroganov, and G.N. Potanin’s private library archive.

The TSU Research Library is the first university library in Siberia to use new information technologies for data storage and processing to serve its readers. The information system of the Research Library is based on one of the most reliable library systems, VTLS. The Library was awarded a TEMPUS TACIS Programme Grant to develop its information system. VTLS ensures the automation of all in-house activities and management, such as compiling an electronic catalog of recently acquired literature and creating bibliographic indices. The Research Library is a regional consulting centre on modern library technology use.

The Siberian Botanical Gardens at TSU were founded in the summer of 1880. It then occupied an area of 1.2 hectares. Currently its premises occupy 128 hectares and host a greenhouse complex of 6,500 square meters and an experimental farm of 114 hectares. A live plants exhibition consists of more than six thousand species. The staff of the Siberian Botanical Garden was awarded the Russian Federation Government Prize in the field of science and technology for the establishment of this botanical complex, unique for the northern latitudes of the planet.

The range of scientific interests includes:

• Introduction of species of natural and cultured flora on the basis of scientific achievements in biotechnology, genetics, and biochemistry of plants;
• Study of conditions of populations of rare and vanishing plant species, and the preservation of their gene pool;
• Ornamental dendrology and landscape architecture;

The Siberian Botanical Garden as a study room for students of the Department of Biology and Soil and of the International Department of Agriculture and Ecology to do practical work and research for course papers and final projects.

The museums of Tomsk State University were established mainly toward the end of the 19th century and are now integral parts of the scientific and educational process. The majority of the university museums and herbarium were set up before the university itself was opened. The exhibits of all museums are used in the academic process as visual aids to various courses and for the enlightenment of students and city residents.

Museum of the History of Tomsk State University

This museum familiarizes its visitors with the main stages in the history of TSU, beginning with the founding of the University by Emperor Alexander II on May 16, 1878. It also gives examples of educational, research, cultural, and social facts about TSU activities over the past 125 years. The display consists of six sections comprising over a thousand exhibits.

Museum of Archeology and Ethnography

The exhibits of this museum, founded in 1882, illustrate all aspects of the life of Tomsk residents for over 140,000 years, starting from the Stone Age to the traditional cultures of Native Siberian peoples.

Museum of Zoology

The museum was established in 1885. The collections contain exhibits of 588 bird species, including 60% of those entered in the Red Book; more than 150 species of mammals; and a great number of invertebrate animals.

Museum of Mineralogy

The museum, founded in 1888, includes over 50,000 items. Thematic exhibitions are organized on a regular basis, with a separate display devoted to the mineral resources of the Tomsk Region.

Museum of Paleontology

The holdings of this museum, which was set up in 1888, consist of 7 training and over 100 research collections, totaling about 2 million catalogued items.

Herbarium

The Herbarium was opened in 1885. It is ranked third in Russia and the first in Siberia owing to the richness and research value of its collection. Today it includes 500,000 plants and 12 thematic research divisions.

Museum of the History of Physics

This museum contains over a thousand appliances, a very rich archive, and thousands of photos. Some exhibits of the museum are appliances brought to Tomsk by the first TSU Rector N. Gesehous in 1888.

The Tomsk Regional Common Use Center (TRCUC) of Tomsk State University is a complex of 9 well-equipped field-specific TSU centers.

Qualified TRCUC experts undertake a broad array of physical, chemical, and biological tests and experiments on various objects, as well as providing metrological maintenance of the product and commercial business technologies.

TRCUC is a test center at the applied research branch of the Center for Metrological Maintenance and Nanotechnologies and Nanoindustry Products Conformity Assessment in the area of functional nanomaterials and high-purity substances.

TRCUC’s technical competence is Rosstandard accredited as a test/analytical center in analytical (System of Analytical Laboratories Accreditation, SAAL) and test laboratories on ISO/IEC 17025-2006 state standard compliance, as well as Nanosertifika System of Nanoindustry Products Voluntary Certification.