Near the birth place of Iran’s late leader, Reza Shah the Great, Reza Shah Kabir University will be Iran’s first school of graduate studies. RSK is designed to meet the demand of the nation’s university system for qualified faculty, to offer research facilities, and to provide an international orientation. The eventual 500 yearly graduate students will reduce Iran’s dependence on foreign universities for the training of university faculty and will increase the research capability of the nation. The university’s main thrust will revolve around the sciences, social sciences and humanities, and research, with the first of the three development phases to begin in 1980.