St Petersburg University expands cooperation with Korean universities

The meeting participants discussed: the promising fields of cooperation; holding joint educational, cultural and research events; organising academic exchange; and a possibility to open a representative office of St Petersburg University at Daejin University.

Deputy Rector for International Affairs Sergey Andryushin greeted the colleagues and said that St Petersburg University is the oldest university in Russia founded almost 300 years ago.

Today, it is a classical multi-profile university representing almost all research fields from arts to nuclear physics. I believe that it will be a good foundation for further fruitful cooperation with Daejin University.

Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs

‘In 2009, St Petersburg University was granted a special status allowing for significant autonomy in comparison with other universities of Russia and a wide range of possibilities for international cooperation. All of it helps the University to develop its research, academic and cultural potential,’ noted Sergey Andryushin.

Over the past 15 years, St Petersburg University has created the Research Park with modern infrastructure allowing for the development of research. The laboratories at the Research Park have been headed by prominent scientists including Fields medallists and Nobel prize winners. Today, St Petersburg University has about 590 international partners including universities, leading research and development institutions, representatives of business and culture. Over 5,000 foreign students from over 100 countries study at the University. Six representative offices of St Petersburg University and over 100 centres for testing in Russian as a foreign language operate abroad.

Sergey Andryushin also said that a joint campus of St Petersburg University and Harbin Institute of Technology will open in China this autumn. Academic programmes in mathematics, physics and chemistry will be implemented there. Moreover, a branch of St Petersburg University will open in Uzbekistan in 2022 and in Egypt in 2023.

Thank you for accepting the proposal to hold the meeting. I believe that it is very important to renew cooperation and create new partner ties in the post-pandemic era.

Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs

Kwon Ho, Dean of the School of International Cooperation, Director of the International Relations Office, made a presentation about the university history and possibilities. Daejin University was founded in 1992. Currently, it provides training in 40 various fields of study to about 11,000 undergraduate students and 700 students in the programmes of post-graduate professional training. The university has seven colleges specialised in IT technologies, global trade and industry, humanities and art as well as other fields of study. Professor Kwon Ho also noted that Daejin University is located at the foot of the mountain, which makes the local scenery famous for its distinct beauty in every season. Professor Kwon Ho invited the delegation of St Petersburg University to visit Korean university expressing readiness to open a new international representative office of St Petersburg University at Daejin University.

Sergey Andryushin accepted the invitation to open a representative office at Daejin University and emphasised that it will stimulate the development of cooperation between the universities attracting the attention of researchers and teachers. He suggested that an agreement of cooperation and protocols of exchange should be elaborated as a first step.

A new online course at St Petersburg University: "Korean for Beginners" in Russian

Tatiana Ryazantseva, Acting Head of the International Research Support Department at St Petersburg University, and Veronika Koytova, Head of the International Academic Cooperation Department, spoke about the procedure of academic exchange. For many years, Korean universities have remained among the most reliable partners of St Petersburg University in the field of student mobility. Before the pandemic, St Petersburg University accepted about 30 students from the Republic of Korea interested in studying Russian every year. They were offered a special course in Russian as a foreign language. The students specialising in other fields had an opportunity to master academic programmes in English and Russian. At the same time, students at St Petersburg University show growing interest in studying Hangul and programmes with a Korean component. In 2022, despite the coronavirus restrictions, 24 students and staff members of St Petersburg University have been able to travel to Korean universities under exchange programmes.

Kwon Ho, Dean of the School of International Cooperation at Daejin University, said that the university has experience in academic exchange with colleagues from China, Japan and the USA. However, it is mostly interested in increasing student mobility. Currently, there are three possible formats to organise it: free of charge studies at the cross-university exchange programmes; fee paying studies; and 2+2 system studies, when a student attends lectures at Daejin University for two years and then spends two years at one of its international partner universities. Today, about 650 international students study at Daejin University including 30 exchange programme students. According to Professor Kwon Ho, the number of participants of these programmes will grow in the future. Many academic programmes are taught in English. However, if students demonstrate a sufficient level of proficiency in Korean, they can choose any specialisation.

At the end of the meeting, the parties expressed interest in developing cooperation and organising work in the direction of common interest. Sergey Andryushin thanked Korean colleagues for the proposal. In the near future, standard drafts of agreements will be forwarded to the representatives of Daejin University on the part of St Petersburg University for further consideration. The sides will also start joint preparations of documents required for successful implementation of the Korean partner initiative.