The Royal University of Phnom Penh
(RUPP) has endured the rigours of hardship to
become the oldest and largest institution of higher
education in Cambodia. Today the university has
over 5000 students across three campuses, and
offers a wide range of high-quality courses within
the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Social
Sciences and Humanities, and the Institute of
Foreign Languages (IFL). Graduates of RUPP can
look forward to strong job opportunities in their
chosen field.
The University has approximately 200 teaching staff,
seven of whom have PhDs, 66 who have master degrees
and the remainder with undergraduate qualifications. There
are over 176 administrative and support staff. Various
international and non-government organizations also provide
adjunct faculty members.
President's Welcome
Welcome to the Royal University of Phnom Penh – the oldest and largest University in
Cambodia--whose history dates back to 1960. Since then, the University has borne the
burden of all the country’s historical transitions, in particular the losses associated with the
Khmer Rouge regime from 1975-1979 when the University was closed and most University
faculty members were killed.

The University was brought back to life by a small group of dedicated people in the early
1980s after the downfall of the Khmer Rouge regime. Despite a serious lack of human resources, library and infrastructure, the University slowly has worked its way back to its former status through the support of the Royal Government and many international partners to become the first locally and regionally recognized University; it is the only University in Cambodia to be awarded membership in the ASEAN University Network (AUN).

The University offers varied degree courses to students from across the country ranging from Khmer literature and foreign languages to social sciences and applied sciences. The courses include media management, sociology, psychology, computer science, chemistry, environmental science, mathematics, Khmer literature, English, French, and Japanese, geography, history, linguistics, physics, philosophy, and tourism.

All education at the University is moving towards a multi-disciplinary model. We have introduced this way of learning to the University in order to foster students’ in-depth critical thinking skills and to make them more flexible learners, capable of addressing the many challenges which are inevitable in today’s rapidly changing local, regional and global societies.

The University’s vision is to provide very high educational quality as well as good moral values to our students in order to prepare them to participate in the development of the country. Our immediate priorities for development, however, are to provide scholarships for the post-graduate education of faculty and staff, advanced equipment for our science laboratories, and up-to-date books, research journals, and online access for our libraries. Learning in the 21st century depends on new models of education and integration of information leading to true wisdom—we strive to offer this to our students.

I welcome any Cambodian or international supporters to join us at the Royal University of Phnom Penh as we work together to build a strong higher educational system and human resource base for Cambodia.

President
Professor Lav Chhiv Eav

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