Rector of St Petersburg University: ‘It is the duty of strong universities to help the whole country’
Roman Golubev, Minister of Education and Sports of the Republic of Karelia, has paid an official visit to St Petersburg University and met with Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University. The parties discussed possible areas of cooperation in scientific and educational spheres.
Opening the meeting, Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev noted that the University is interested in developing partnerships with employers from different cities and regions of Russia. 'I believe that the task of strong universities is to help not only the region in which it is located, but the whole country,' said Nikolay Kropachev. 'We are ready to go beyond St Petersburg and are open for cooperation with the regional authorities and representatives of relevant ministries.'
During the discussion, he spoke about projects implemented at St Petersburg University which facilitate work in various areas of the University life and could be developed across the country. These include CryptoVeche, a blockchain system for secure remote voting, which is suitable for all levels of elections, as well as polls and public opinion surveys. Using the multifunctional payment system, the University students and staff can pay for tuition and participation in conferences, as well as for visits to the University museums, whose collections include more than three million exhibits. St Petersburg University also has introduced a digital system for managing research infrastructure, as envisaged by the national project 'Science'. The platform facilitates management of the entire scientific complex, keeping records of equipment and estimating its capacity. Since 2016, the diplomas of St Petersburg University of Higher Education contain a QR-code. It makes it possible for a potential employer of the University graduates to see: where they did their internships; what penalties or commendations were issued to them during their studies; and the graduation project and its reviews. Nikolay Kropachev noted that all the projects have been thoroughly tested and the University is ready to recommend them to other higher education institutions in the country.
Aleksandr Babich, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Admissions of St Petersburg University, told the guests about the University's efforts to identify and support talented schoolchildren.
The University' s partners include three of St Petersburg's largest institutions working with gifted children: Saint Petersburg City Palace of Youth Creativity, the Academy of Talents and the Quantorium technopark.
Aleksandr Babich, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Admissions of St Petersburg University
'Moreover, St Petersburg University actively cooperates with 29 out of 62 regional centres for identifying and supporting talented schoolchildren, formed on the model of the Sirius Educational Centre,' said Aleksandr Babich.
Aleksandr Babich also noted that the University actively cooperates with the centres for identifying and supporting talented schoolchildren in the Northwestern Federal District. The University has a long-standing partnership with the Laplandia Centre in Murmansk and the Intellect centre in the Leningrad region. The University' research and teaching staff led by Elena Kazakova, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy at St Petersburg University, developed the teaching methodology documentation which helped to obtain the status of a regional Sirius centre. At the same time, the University works extensively with the Sirius centre itself, organising thematic subject sessions and developing a methodological framework for working with gifted schoolchildren. The University participates in project sessions within the Grand Challenges programme, employing mentors and tutors from its high-level academic staff. Additionally, children from regional centres can visit the specialised resource centres of St Petersburg University Research Park designed for schoolchildren. Here students together with a mentor or school teacher can develop an individual research project and work on modern high-tech equipment. Concluding his speech, Aleksandr Babich noted that the University is interested in concluding a cooperation agreement with the Resource Centre for Development of Further Education ‘Rovesnik in the Republic of Karelia and is ready to share its expertise in working with gifted young people.
Another area for cooperation with educational institutions in Karelia could be the development of joint degree programmes of higher education.
Svetlana Begeza, Senior Deputy Vice-Rector for Academic Activities of St Petersburg University, presented the double-degree programmes implemented with Russian and foreign universities and spoke about the capabilities of the University to develop non-degree programmes. St Petersburg University offers a wide range of non-degree programmes in a number of fields: from medicine and biology to sociology and psychology. Altogether there are over 800 programmes, and each can be customised to meet the requirements of clients, among which there are educational organisations and public authorities. Approximately the same number of programmes are in 'idle sleep mode' and can be launched rapidly on request.
On a separate note, Svetlana Begeza discussed the development of online courses.
At present, the University ranks fifth in the number of courses on the Coursera platform among all educational organisations in the world and first among Russian universities.
Svetlana Begeza, Senior Deputy Vice-Rector for Academic Activities of St Petersburg University
'In March 2020, in connection with the transition to distance learning, St Petersburg University offered all students free access to its own online courses, and they became extremely popular. Today many universities across the country are incorporating St Petersburg University courses into their educational process,' said Svetlana Begeza, Senior Deputy Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of St Petersburg University. During the meeting, representatives of the University came up with a proposal to the higher educational institutions of Karelia offering cooperation in developing and launching online courses on various subjects.
One of the subjects for discussion was the practical training of students in the home region. Currently, St Petersburg University has 13 cooperation agreements with employers from Karelia, but the numbers of students who take advantage of this opportunity are low. According to Elvira Zeletdinova, Acting Vice-Rector for Academic Activities and Teaching Methods, cooperation in this direction can be expanded in order to motivate students to seek employment in their native region after graduation. In particular, she proposed that practical training of students should be organised to the needs of enterprises and government agencies of Karelia by concluding contracts with individual employers. She also said that St Petersburg University is actively developing a programme to support student start-ups, many of which are implemented as small innovative enterprises upon completion of the competition. Students often choose challenging projects for development, so businesses in Karelia could act as customers for the projects by suggesting research ideas to the University students.
Anastasiia Iarmosh Deputy Vice-Rector for Research of St Petersburg University, spoke, among other things, about the Centre for Expert Advice of St Petersburg University, which has been functioning for more than ten years. 'The key feature of the Centre is the availability of the largest expert base in Russia, which provides flexibility in forming expert teams for any customer, as well as the ability to carry out expert examinations in different fields: from science and technology to linguistics or law,' she said. One of the most recent large-scale contracts of the Centre for Expert Advice was a complex examination of the territory of the Kurgalsky Nature Reserve.
Participation of specialists in urban planning and design in creating a comfortable environment in the regions could also become an area of cooperation. As Anastasiia Iarmosh pointed out, the University has experience in addressing such challenges: for example, as part of a graduation project, one of the students conducted a comprehensive design solution for the municipality of the village of Ilyinsko-Podomskoye in the Arkhangelsk region.
During the meeting, the parties also discussed cooperation in such areas as: exploratory activities; projects on analysing the quality of wastewater treatment plants; the development of tourist routes in regions of cultural and natural heritage; and the integrated study of territories protected by UNESCO.