The Technical University of Košice was founded in 1952, but its roots must be sought much deeper in the past. As early as 1657 the Universitas Cassoviensis was established in Košice (Kassa), but technical education in the Kingdom of Hungary was only elevated to higher education level in 1762, when Maria Theresa - sovereign of Hungary - established the Mining Academy in Banská Štiavnica (Selmecbánya). This provided education and promoted research activity in a group of scientific disciplines ranging from ore mining through to production and processing of metal materials.