Minutes of the Rector’s Meeting | St Petersburg University

The University’s staff and students are laureates of the Russian Academy of Sciences Prize

The results of the 2023 contest for young Russian scientists and students of Russian universities were announced at a guest session of the Praesidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences dedicated to the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the Academy. Among the laureates are an associate professor of St Petersburg University and three students of St Petersburg University. In total, 49 young scientists and 35 students became laureates of the 2023 contest, presenting a total of 62 papers in 21 fields — individually or as part of research teams.

The Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Young Scientists of Russia was awarded to Oleg Vereshchagin, Associate Professor in the Department of Mineralogy at St Petersburg University, Candidate of Geology and Mineralogy. He won in Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry and Mining Sciences with his research "Genesis, stability and structural typomorphism of a series of transition element minerals".

Mariia Dospolova, a second-year master’s student in the Advanced Mathematics programme, was the best student in the Mathematics category. The University’s student presented her work "Mixed volume of infinite-dimensional convex compact sets".

The medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences for the winner of the contest in the field of "Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry and Mining Sciences" was awarded to Sofia Demina, a second-year master’s student in the Structural Mineralogy and Materials Science programme at St Petersburg University, for her work "Red-emitting phosphors based on Ba-containing borates of rare earths". The winner in General Biology was Svetlana Malysh, a second-year master’s student in biology with the project "Molecular genetic analysis as a foundation for detecting entomopathogenic microorganisms of great practical importance".

International activities

The following events were recently held at St Petersburg University.

Visit of the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to St Petersburg University

A delegation from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, led by Minister Nguyen Van Hung, has visited St Petersburg University. During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of developing cooperation in education and training of highly-qualified personnel, creating joint academic programmes, and promoting the culture and national traditions of Vietnam. The visit of the delegation to St Petersburg University was timed to coincide with the Vietnamese Culture Days in Russia.

During the meeting, Comrade Nguyen Van Hung also expressed concern about the insufficient number of Vietnamese students studying at universities in the Russian Federation. In this regard, he suggested that the Rector of St Petersburg University consider organising joint projects aimed at attracting Vietnamese citizens to study at Russian universities. According to the Vietnamese delegation, such initiatives can help to strengthen academic ties between the two countries and promote cultural exchange.

Welcoming the guests, Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, expressed willingness to cooperate and suggested that the Minister help organising the work of a Russian language centre at Vietnamese educational institutions of general or vocational secondary education in order to prepare strong applicants for admission to Russian universities.

Additionally, Rector Nikolay Kropachev came up with an initiative to open a new academic programme to train managerial personnel in the field of culture, tourism and sports with a Vietnamese component in the interests of the Government of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He noted that for this, it is necessary to organise a meeting with representatives of Russian and Vietnamese companies to find out the employers’ requirements to educate professionals capable of meeting market demands.

Events at the St Petersburg University Representative Office in Spain

On 2 July, St Petersburg University and its Representative Office in the Kingdom of Spain held the online lecture "Summer in St Petersburg". It was delivered by Anastasiia Babaeva, Assistant Professor in the Department of Foreign Languages in International Relations at St Petersburg University. On 4 July, there was an online lecture on the work of Max Frei by Dmitrii Baranov, Assistant Professor in the Department of the History of Russian Literature at St Petersburg University. On 8 July, there was an online lecture on crime fiction. The lecture was delivered by Nina Shcherbak, Associate Professor in the Department of English Philology and Cultural Linguistics at St Petersburg University.

Events at the St Petersburg University Representative Office in Thailand

On 2 July, the St Petersburg University Representative Office in the Kingdom of Thailand held an online lecture from the Russian language course for foreigners, devoted to phrases-queries in the field of tourism. The lecture was delivered by Maria Nechaeva, Lecturer in the Department of Russian for Students in Humanities and Natural Sciences at St Petersburg University. On 9 July, there was an online lecture from the Russian language course for foreigners, devoted to phrases used by tourists visiting cafés and restaurants. The lecture was delivered by Olga Chikovani, Lecturer in the Department of Russian for Students in Humanities and Natural Sciences at St Petersburg University.

Agreement between St Petersburg University and Sultan Qaboos University (al-Seeb, Oman)

During the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement between St Petersburg University and Sultan Qaboos University (al-Seeb, Oman), the parties have discussed the relevant areas of collaboration in education and research. The inter-university agreement includes provisions for a wide range of joint academic and research initiatives. In particular, the partners plan to develop and implement joint research activities aimed at expanding knowledge in various fields, and to organise academic and students’ exchanges between universities to strengthen international relations.

The cooperation agreement will also cover educational projects, including the creation and implementation of joint academic programmes that focus on specialisations in the natural sciences and technology, and on the study of socio-economic systems and cultural specificities of the two countries. Additionally, the parties agreed to organise joint conferences; seminars; symposia; and other cultural and academic events.

Organisation of the teaching and learning process

Over the past week, 18 enquiries were addressed to the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities. The majority of enquiries relate to preparation of various documents. Interim assessment and final assessment are over. Students are on holiday.

Directors of institutes and deans of faculties have been instructed to pay attention to the issue of attracting staff to implement academic programmes in the branches of St Petersburg University in Tashkent (the Republic of Uzbekistan) and Cairo (the Arab Republic of Egypt).

Online School of St Petersburg University

The educational project "Online School of St Petersburg University" for Russian-speaking school students from all over the world is being implemented with the support of: Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation; Valery Falkov, Minister of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation; Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education of the Russian Federation; and Evgeny Primakov, Head of the Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo). The students will receive a Russian school certificate, which will enable them to enter universities in Russia without going through the procedure of recognising their educational documents. This project has no rivals. The training is free of charge for all enrolled. The school is run using extra-budgetary funds from St Petersburg University. According to Aleksandr Babich, Senior Vice-Rector for Youth Policy and Admissions at St Petersburg University, a few years ago, St Petersburg University’s specialists developed unique distance learning programmes based on Russian high school curricula. In 2018, the St Petersburg University Online School enrolled 70 students from Latvia, who studied three subjects: Russian; Russian Literature; and History of Russia. Currently, the St Petersburg University Online School offers classes in 11 subjects: biology; geography; natural sciences; the history of Russia; world history; literature; mathematics; social studies; the Russian language; physics; and chemistry. In 2024, more than 3,000 children from 25 countries are studying this curriculum. A year ago, on 1 September 2023, St Petersburg University opened the first fully-fledged university general education school for Russian-speaking students from all over the world. The St Petersburg University Online School project provides free education to students in grades 5-10 in the school academic programmes and secondary general education programmes using e-learning and distance learning technologies. Syllabi for 40 subjects have been developed in accordance with Russian educational standards. The University received almost 300 applications from schoolchildren from 44 countries. The competition was 3 applications per place. Following the results of the selection process, 120 students from 30 countries (including post-Soviet countries, Australia, Germany, Canada, Italy, the UK, the USA, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Finland, Türkiye, Romania, Israel, Indonesia, Cambodia, Cyprus, Mexico, and Nicaragua) were enrolled.

All 14 ninth grade students successfully passed the state exams and received the Russian Federation Certificate of Basic General Education. Tenth grade students will study in the 11th grade. Project participants who have successfully completed the online school and passed the state final exams in grade 11 will receive the Russian Federation Certificate of Secondary General Education. They will be able to apply for admission to universities in Russia without going through the procedure of recognising their educational credentials.

St Petersburg University is planning to expand its project for Russian-speaking foreign students "St Petersburg University Online School" to other universities in Russia. Currently, seven universities from different Russian regions have already agreed to join the project. Those wishing to study at Russian online schools have to pass two exams: in Russian and in mathematics. The admission process is underway. During the application process, about 150 applications from foreign citizens from 30 countries have been received for almost 40 places (fifth grade and others). Ranked lists of applicants are being drawn up.