It was founded in 1958 and specializes in technical sciences (including information and communication technologies) and chemical, electronic, and agricultural engineering.
[2] The announcement by Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov of Russian government plans for an eventual merger of the university with Tambov State University was met with a protest rally and march by TSTU students, parents and faculty in October 2012.
[4] The university publishes its own theoretical and applied multi-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal, Transactions of the TSTU (Вестник ТГТУ).
[5] Its Centre for International Specialist Training (CIST) runs a specialist training course, "English for Students, Lecturers and Administrators of Technical Universities", developed within the framework of TEMPUS (Trans-European Mobility Programme for University Studies).
CIST also developed two five-year degree programs using English as the medium of instruction ("Computer-Aided Design Systems" and "Economics and Business Management"), which enrolled their first student cohorts in 2005.