The article is devoted to the experience of studying the history of Nosov Magnitogorsk state technical University. For the first time in Russian historiography, Doctor of Historical Sciences, leading researcher of the Nosov Magnitogorsk state technical University. V.V. Filatov is carrying out a project to study the history of the development of the university during the 1930s-2000s by decades. The purpose of this article is to study the experience and practical significance of the implementation of such projects in historical science. The first nine monographs on the period of the 1930s-1960s are analyzed. It is revealed that the author, based on an extensive range of sources, managed to reflect in his research both the positive and negative sides of the formation of a university in the single - industry town of Magnitogorsk. The study of educational and scientific activities, personnel, financial and economic policy, and the daily life of an individual institute allows us to determine the main trends in the development of higher education in the Soviet period.