The history of BSTU dates back to June 1, 1930 when on the basis of Forestry Faculty of the Belarusian State Agricultural Academy the Forestry Institute was formed; its official opening was held on October 1, 1930 in the city of Gomel. The newly-born technical higher educational institution of the Republic faced the task of training the engineering staff for forestry, forest and woodworking industries.

In 1934 the Forestry Institute was renamed into Belarusian Forestry Engineering Institute and was given the name of S.M. Kirov in 1935.

In 1941 at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War the Institute was evacuated to the city of Sverdlovsk and became a part of the Ural Forestry Engineering Institute. After liberation of Gomel from German fascist invaders in 1944 the Institute was re-evacuated to Gomel. In August 1946 the Institute was transferred to Minsk.

Its reformation in 1961 into Belarusian Technological Institute was inspired by an intensive development of the Republic’s chemical industry. It was put in charge of training engineers for chemical industries. Later it was given the name of Belarusian Technological Institute named after S.M. Kirov.

   

On October 20, 1980 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR the Institute was awarded the Order of Red Labor Flag with its 50th Anniversary and for its achievements in training highly-qualified engineers and researchers.

Real flourishing of the Technological Institute started at the end of the 1980s: science began its new development, new graduate programs appeared, material and technical facilities improved, laboratories were equipped with unique equipment. In 1993 the Government of the Republic of Belarus granted the Institute the status of the University (Belarusian State Technological University).

   

The scope of technological education offered by the University enlarged greatly, i.e., the University began training specialists in the field of printing industry and equipment, data processing and publishing, petrochemical synthesis, paintwork materials, industrial ecology, bioecology, certification, automation of technological processes, biotechnology, medicinal drugs, perfumery and cosmetics, energy-efficient technologies, management, marketing, etc.

In 2005 by the decision of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Belarus the University was granted the status of a leading higher educational institution in the field of forestry, chemical and printing industries.

In 2007 by the decision of the Council of the Governments of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Belarusian State Technological University was granted the status of a basic higher educational institution of the CIS in the field of forestry and forest industry.

In 2009 BSTU was the first among the national educational institutions to introduce the Quality Management System holding two Conformity Certificates – National Conformity Certificate of STB ISO 9001-2009 and International Conformity Certificate of ISO 9001:2008.  

In 2010, on its 80th Anniversary, the University was awarded the State Flag of Honour for its outstanding sociocultural achievements and advanced practices of training professionals for the national economy and industry.

 On April 20, 2011 Belarusian State Technological University was granted the Governmental Prize for Quality Management.

In March 2015 the University was accredited for another five-year period and certified as an educational institution of a university type.

On April 11, 2016, the Faculty of Printing and Publishing was renamed into the Faculty of Print Technology and Media Communications.

In December 2016, Belarusian State Technological University and Tajik National University founded a joint BSTU-TNU Faculty of Chemical Technology. The Faculty aimed to train professionals for Tajikistan in such study programs as Chemical Technology of Organic Substance, Materials and Products, Technology of Electrochemical Productions, Environmental Protection and Rational Utilization of Natural Resources, Physical-Chemical Methods and Devices for Product Quality Control.

Since 2017 the University has been expanding its scientific and business cooperation networks by building on the existing partnerships and establishing new contacts. The University created a good platform for networking opportunities and annually holds a number of large-scale events, among them:

- V International Water Forum “Water Resources and Climate”, October 2017;

- I International Science and Technology Forum on Chemical Engineering and Oil and Gas Processing “Petrochemistry-2018”, November 2018;

- International Research and Practice Conference “Nature Management and Environmental Risks”, June 2019;

- Joint Meeting of the Higher Academic Council and the Presidium of the Academy of Mining Sciences, September 2019;

- International Research and Practice Conference “Current state and development prospects of technology, hardware and facilities, environmentally friendly nature management and processing of mining waste in the Eurasian economic area”, September 2019;

- II International Science and Technology Forum on Chemical Engineering and Oil and Gas Processing “Petrochemistry-2019”, October 2019.

On January 9, 2018 Belarusian State Technological University, Vitebsk State Technological University and Mogilev State University of Food Technology signed an Agreement on the Joint Educational, Scientific, Production and Technology Cluster.

On April 19, 2018 the Republican Applied Research Centre for Petrochemical Technologies and Production was founded under BSTU to address the needs of petrochemical industry of Belarus, to improve its efficiency and to provide scientific support to the enterprises of Belneftekhim Concern.

In 2020 the University started enrolment in two new graduate programs, i.e., Industrial Water Treatment and Forest Engineering and Logistic Infrastructure of Forest Complex.

In the year of 2020 was marked by the 90th Anniversary of the University. During the anniversary-dedicated Innovation Week (November 30 – December 4, 2020) BSTU hosted a number of eminent events:

- II International Applied Research Conference “Current problems of forest protection and ways of addressing them”;

- II Student Olympiad “Quality Management”;

- Applied Research Conference “Development of Innovative Education Model University 3.0”;

- III International Science and Technology Forum on Chemical Engineering and Oil and Gas Processing “Petrochemistry-2020”;

- International Conference “Innovative Silicate and Refractory Non-Metal Materials and Goods: Properties, Structure, Ways of Production”.

During the Innovation Week the University proudly unveiled the renovated Museum of History and Education and Museum of Nature in Negoreloe Forestry Experimental Station.

The Ministry of Architecture and Construction of the Republic of Belarus awarded the BSTU academic community with an Honorary Letter on the occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the University.