The Turkmen Academy of Sciences was founded June 29, 1951, and includes the unique Desert Institute among its 26 scientific research institutes, as well as the State Seismological Service, 17-degree-granting schools, two medical research centers, a library, and two print shops. The Academy of Sciences is the only institution in Turkmenistan accredited to award postgraduate degrees. In 2019, President Berdimuhamedov decreed that state funding of the Academy of Sciences would end within three years. Prior to founding of the Turkmen Academy of Sciences, local scientific-research institutes, all located in a single two-story building, were subordinate to the USSR Academy of Sciences.