Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (FUM) (Persian: دانشگاه فردوسی مشهد) is the largest research university in Northeastern Iran named after the great epic poet and historian of Iranian national history Ferdowsi, whose Shahnameh (The Book of Kings) is a chef-d'oeuvre in Persian literature.
The FUM campus is in Mashhad, the capital city of the Razavi Khorasan province. The university was established in 1949, making it the third oldest major university in Iran. It is among the five top universities in the country according to statistics published by the Ministry of Sciences, Research and Technology.
FUM offers 180 bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. programs to 26,000 international and local, male and female students studying under about 900 faculty members with the aid of 2500 staff employees. The university is regarded as a prominent institution in attracting international students from Central Asian republics, Afghanistan, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Pakistan, Thailand, India, China, Yemen, Bahrain, Africa and many other localities of Asia. The university is ranked third in Iran amongst other universities in recruiting foreign students
