Its origins lie in the opening of a branch of St. Petersburg University in the city of Perm. This decision of the Russian government was in tune with the strategy of the cultural and geopolitical development of the Urals economic region. The idea of a center of higher education in the Urals was supported by D.I. Mendeleev, A.S.Popov, D.N.Mamin-Sibiryak, A.G.Denisov-Uralsky [ru] and other outstanding public figures.