Tatra T3RF. Metro Samara Metro is a single-line underground rapid transit system. Opened in 1987, its only line has been expanded through 2015 and currently has 10 stations. Gallery Education Samara has 188 schools of general education, lyceums, high schools, and the college of continuous education (from primary up to higher education). Samara is a major educational and scientific centre of the Volga area. Twelve public and 13 commercial institutions of higher education as well as 26 colleges. Samara is the home of Samara State Aerospace University (SSAU), one of Russia's leading engineering and technical institutions. SSAU faculty and graduates have played a significant role in Russia's space program since its conception. Samara is also the hometown of Samara State University, a very respected higher-education institution in European Russia with competitive programs in Law, Sociology, and English Philology. Scientific research is also carried out in Samara. The Samara Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences incorporates the Samara branch of the Physical Institute, Theoretical Engineering Institute and Image Processing Systems Institute. Major research institutions operate in the city. Samara State Technical University (SamGTU) was founded in 1914. There are 11 faculties with over 20,000 students (2009) and 1,800 faculty members. On campus, there are four dormitory and ten study buildings. Samara State Academy of Social Sciences and Humanities was founded in 1911 as Samara Teachers Institute. Currently, the academy offers 42 various specialisations in its 12 faculties. Honours The asteroid 26922 Samara was named in honour of the city and the river on 1 June 2007. Notable people Mimi Kagan (1918–1999), modern dancer, choreographer; born in Samara. Boris Kuftin (1892-1953), archaeologist and ethnographer Maria Kuncewiczowa (1895-1989), Polish writer and novelist Dmitry Muratov (born 1961), Russian journalist, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (born 1991), professional tennis player and multiple junior Grand Slam champion Pavel Romanov (1964–2014), Russian sociologist and ethnographer Sergei Alexander Schelkunoff (1897–1992), a mathematician and electromagnetism theorist, contributed to antenna theory Dmitry Shostakovich (1906–1975), composer and pianist, lived in Samara during WWII where he finished his Symphony No. 7 Aleksey Nikolayevich Tolstoy (1882–1945), a Russian writer of science fiction and historical novels. Dmitry Ustinov (1908-1984), Soviet Defence Minister, Marshal of the Soviet Union International relations Samara is twinned with: Hefei, Anhui, China (2015) Heihe, Heilongjiang, China (2012) Krimml, Salzburg, Austria (2010) Palermo, Sicily, Italy (2008) Stara Zagora, Stara Zagora Province, Bulgaria (1992) Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (1992)