Yerevan State University (YSU; Armenian: Երևանի Պետական Համալսարան, ԵՊՀ, Yerevani Petakan Hamalsaran), also simply University of Yerevan, is the oldest continuously operating public university in Armenia. Founded in 1919, it is the largest[2] and most prestigious[3] university in the country. It is thus informally known as Armenia's "mother university" (Մայր ԲՈւՀ, Mayr Buh).[4][5][6] Of its 3,150 employees, 1,190 comprise the teaching staff which includes 25 academicians, 130 professors, 700 docents (associate professors), and 360 assistant lecturers. The university has 400 researchers, 1,350 post-graduate students, and 8,500 undergraduates, including 300 students from abroad.[2]