Tomsk is one of Siberia's largest cultural centres and Russia's only city that claims to have developed on science and education.
There are 18 state institutions of higher learning, which offer higher professional education. Among them are Tomsk State University, the Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk State Pedagogical University, Siberian State Medical University, Tomsk State University of Architecture and Engineering and the Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics. The city also hosts two private institutes, the Tomsk Institute of Business and the Tomsk Institute of Economics and Law, and 10 branches of non-resident institutes (Seversk Technology Institute, a branch of the National Nuclear Research University, the Western Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Justice, the Tomsk Agricultural Institute, a branch of the Novosibirsk Agrarian University, the Tomsk branch of the Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, and others).
The local universities hold a leading position in Russia's system of higher education. They turn out experts in over 300 fields, 60 of which represent the country's priorities in modernisation and technology development. About 50% of Tomsk's students are from other cities, including 9% from 30 other countries. About 100,000 people study at Tomsk universities. Every fifth resident of the city is a student. Tomsk ranks first in Russia in terms of the number of research fellows per capita (over 5,000 people holding doctoral and candidate degrees).
Tomsk students have been creative with traditions. For example, on the Day of the Radio, May 7, the students at Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics throw old television sets and computers out the campus's windows, thus symbolically rejecting obsolete technology while seeking the latest developments. Students at Tomsk Pedagogical University mark the passing of the admission tests by painting the boots of the monument to Sergei Kirov with red or black paint and putting a bottle of beer in his outstretched arm. After the graduation, they write "The Wall" on the university's wall to symbolise their degree and making through the five year long course of study. At the medical university, students decorate the monument to a pregnant woman with ribbons for luck during examinations. Students at Tomsk State University's literature department kiss the monument to Alexander Pushkin.
In 2004, a sculpture of St Tatiana was unveiled in the city. Every year, on January 25, young people lay flowers and notes with wishes for receiving good marks at the feet of the patron of students. A new tradition appeared last year: Tatiana got new clothes: scarves and a hat. The students, who dressed the statue, successfully passed their examinations.