St Petersburg University and the Republic of Indonesia develop academic cooperation
St Petersburg University has held a ceremony to sign a cooperation agreement with Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia) to develop cooperation through academic and student exchanges.
Sergey Andryushin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at St Petersburg University, welcomed the colleagues and said that the University is the cradle of oriental studies in Russia. "The Faculty of Asian and African Studies at St Petersburg University was established by Decree of Nicholas I of Russia in 1854. For several centuries, the University has been building a dialogue based on respect for the diversity of cultures with eastern partners, in particular with the Republic of Indonesia," he said.
In February 2024, a cooperation agreement was signed with the consortium of Indonesia Cyber Education Institute on introducing the online courses from St Petersburg University on their resources.
Cooperation between the universities is well underway. Lecturers from St Petersburg University are delivering lectures about Arctic research at Universitas Gadjah Mada. As part of the current agreement, researchers from St Petersburg University will help colleagues from Indonesia expand the field of research in this direction.
During the discussion, a proposal was made to open a representative office of St Petersburg University at Universitas Gadjah Mada. "The main focus of the representative offices is to organise lectures, seminars, round tables and contests for students and other interested people. Events can be held both online and in-person with the experts and staff of St Petersburg University," said Sergey Andryushin. Today, representative offices are open in the Republic of Korea, China, Spain, Greece, Italy, Iran, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan.
In 2018, a protocol on student exchange was signed between St Petersburg University and the University of Indonesia. In 2022, a cooperation agreement was signed with the University of Muhammadiyah Malang.
Seventeen citizens of the Republic of Indonesia are studying at the University in various fields of study. Students study management, political science, international relations, psychology, and law. "In 2024, St Petersburg University became the main partner in the student exchange programme ‘Indonesian International Student Mobility Awards’ (IISMA) of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. We therefore expect that at least 25 more students from Indonesia this year will be able to study at St Petersburg University,"added Sergey Andryushin.