Abstract: The subject of this research is the process of transformation of education system in terms of the policy of the Ministry of Education. Universities of the Russian Empire were subjected to reform throughout the entire period of their existence that were associated with finding the path of development either in spirit of academic freedoms or state regulation, taking the German universities as a reference standard. All of the reforms were reflected in the system of education, which started with the freedom of choice and subject system, and later transformed into a course system with rigid framework of completing a course and passing annual tests. Based on the comparative-historical method and principles of historicism and objectivity, the article examines the questions regarding the organization of educational process in the universities of Russian Empire at different periods of their existence throughout over a century, as well as analyzes the implementation of the course and subject systems and their reform. The scientific  novelty consists in demonstrating how the reforms of liberal and conservative statutes affected the establishment of education system in the universities, having rejected the negative assessments of the so-called conservative statutes of 1835 and 1884. The center of research is the educational process and the impact of the state educational policy alongside initiatives of the representatives of university corporation upon it.

Abstract: By the time of the adoption of the University Charter of 1884, only two universities in the Russian Empire had a precise system for carrying out graduation examinations: these were the Derptsky and Kiev (Saint Vladimir) universities, where students took exams in two terms – after the second and after the fourth year. But the Ministry of Public Education went even further in reforming the system of graduation exams: it cancelled all examinations and students became obligated to pass exams on all studied subjects at the end of each year. This was a drastic change in the procedure of having final exams in the natural sciences departments of the physics-mathematics faculties of the Russian Empire's universities. The article examines the process of cementing new procedures, which turned out to be to the dislike of university teachers due to the growing control on the part of the Ministry of Public Education. The article's research is based, above all, on the use of the comparative-historical method and is founded on the principles of historicism and objectivity. The author comes to the conclusion that the total control of the Ministry of Public Education, the growing influence of which was related to the disorders in high schools, led to the discontent towards the new procedures. Despite the regulation of the process of graduation examinations by the Ministry, each university developed its own methods, while the professors sought to bring back the old procedures – of having their faculty's examination as it had been during the time of the Charter of 1863. The growing discontent and the unfolding of the revolutionary situation in the country led to the simplification of the process of graduation examinations and the transfer of power to the university faculties in 1906. However, already in 1911 the Ministry went back to fully regulating and unifying the process of graduation examinations.

Abstract: The focus of this research is placed on the transformation process of graduation exams at natural sciences departments of physics-mathematics faculties of universities in the Russian Empire up to the beginning of the 1880s. It is shown how under the effect of three charters – 1804, 1835 and 1863 – changed the procedure of taking graduation exams and took hold the particular system of so-called faculty examinations, when the decision on which specific subjects and how thoroughly the student of the graduating course will take was decided independently by the faculties, without the participation of the Ministry of Public Education. The research is based, in the first place, on the use of the comparative-historical method and is founded on the principles of historicism and objectivity. The author comes to the conclusion that the beginning of the formation of the system of graduation exams at the universities in the Russian Empire was laid out with the adoption of the charter “Provisions for conferring scientific degrees” in 1819, which added to the already existing degree of candidate of sciences the grade of an enrolled student. All this led to students finishing universities having to pass a graduation exam in order to have advantages in service and the right to the rank of the IVth class in the Table of Ranks. The final development of the system of the graduation exam is linked to the activity of minister S. S. Uvarov, when the new university charter and the new “Provisions” were adopted, while the Charter of 1863 and the “Provisions” of 1864 preserved the usual system of final faculty examinations.

Abstract: The process of formation, development and differentiation of biology sciences in the Russian empire is considered in terms of the laws on the awarding of academic degrees. Changes of the legislation in this area reflect not only the system of scientific certification, but also the formation of various branches of biology as the science that developed in the XIX century.