Minutes of the Rector’s Meeting | St Petersburg University

International activities

The following events were recently held at St Petersburg University.

Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, awarded a state honorary distinction of the People’s Republic of China

Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, has been awarded the People’s Republic of China’s highest state honorary distinction for foreign nationals. The award was presented by Shen Yiqin, Member of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. The distinction is awarded to foreign nationals who have made outstanding contributions to China’s national development, modernisation, and progress. St Petersburg University is the most "Chinese" university’ in Russia that actively promotes cooperation between the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China. In China, for example, a joint campus of St Petersburg University and Harbin Institute of Technology will open this year in the centre of Harbin. In September 2022, 150 students began their studies in the main buildings of Harbin Institute of Technology in joint academic programmes. This year, there are already 438 students. During his visit to Harbin Institute of Technology in May 2024, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin noted that the educational centre being created will become a leader in Russian-Chinese science and education cooperation in the near future. St Petersburg University also has a Representative Office in Harbin.

As part of the visit, a state reception was held in Beijing with Ms Wang Xiaoping, Minister of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China. The Minister and the Rector of St Petersburg University discussed opportunities for further cooperation and implementation of joint projects aimed at addressing key challenges and strengthening the human resource potential of China and Russia.

Negotiations were also held with Nie Shengkui, Head of the Labor Relations Department of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of the People’s Republic of China, and the administration of Harbin Institute of Technology.

Event at the St Petersburg University Representative Office in Spain

On 1 October, St Petersburg University and its Representative Office in the Kingdom of Spain held the online lecture "Kazimir Malevich. The end of painting — black on white". The lecture was delivered by Anna Nikitina. Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at St Petersburg University.

Cooperation agreement between St Petersburg University and Amity University

A cooperation agreement has been signed between St Petersburg University and Amity University (the Republic of India). The text of the agreement can be found on the St Petersburg University portal in the list of Partner Universities in the International Cooperation section.

Organisation of the teaching and learning process

Over the past week, 36 enquiries were addressed to the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities. The majority of enquiries relate to preparation of various documents, and transfer to St Petersburg University. An analysis of the information on the organisation of the teaching and learning process provided by the heads of academic and research subdivisions has been carried out. Classes are held in due order according to the timetable.

Over the past week, meetings were held with student activists: group heads, and representatives of student councils and student scientific societies to name just a few. They discussed issues with organising the teaching and learning process. The meetings were held at: the Graduate School of Journalism and Mass Communication; the Institute of History; the Institute of Philosophy; the Institute of Chemistry; the Faculty of Biology; the School of International Relations; the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes; the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences; the Faculty of Sociology; the Faculty of Physics; the Faculty of Philology; the Faculty of Economics; and the College of Physical Training and Sports, Economics and Technology.

The Government of the Russian Federation signs a resolution to establish the Neva Delta Innovative Science and Technology Centre

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin has signed a resolution to establish the Neva Delta Innovative Science and Technology Centre, as proposed by St Petersburg University. The resolution, prepared by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, outlines the Centre’s territory, the guidelines for the tenants, and the Centre’s key focus areas. St Petersburg University has been designated as the founding institution for the Neva Delta Centre.

The key focus areas of the Innovative Science and Technology Centre include: ecology; human life safety; and green agro- and biotechnologies. The Neva Delta Centre will also prioritise the creation of innovative systems based on new structural and technological principles: pharmaceutical products; equipment and materials for Arctic conditions; autonomous power sources; and platforms for analysing, modelling, designing, and monitoring complex systems and processes, as well as development of advanced technologies for the oil and gas industry.

More than 40 companies have expressed interest in operating within the Neva Delta Centre. Major business leaders have also expressed their intent to invest in the Centre’s infrastructure development. Thus, within the framework of the project, it is planned to build laboratory buildings; pilot-line production facilities; a computer centre; and certification and logistics hubs; along with engineering and transport infrastructure. By 2038, the implementation of the Neva Delta Innovative Science and Technology Centre project is expected to generate over 7,400 new highly-skilled jobs.

To date, agreements on the Neva Delta project implementation have been signed with the governments of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region, St Petersburg State Marine Technical University, and major businesses, including partners of St Petersburg University: Gazprombank; Gazprom Neft; VTB Bank; Kaspersky Lab; AFK Sistema; Alrosa; United Shipbuilding Corporation; and others. In accordance with federal legislation, the project participants will receive tax incentives as a support measure. Thus, through the joint efforts of state authorities and the University’s partners, favourable conditions will be created for top scientific research aimed to address pressing national challenges.

The territory of the Neva Delta Innovative Science and Technology Centre in the Pushkinsky District is adjacent to the Moskovskoe Shosse (M10 highway) and Iam Izhorskoe Shosse, the entrance to the Neva motorway (M11 highway). The planned infrastructure developments in the nearby territory include: extending Kolpinskoe Shosse; constructing a high-speed tram line "Kupchino — Shushary — Slavyanka"; and building a passenger railway station of the Moscow — St Petersburg high-speed railway. Work is also underway to expedite the construction of an underground line with stops at the Neva Delta Centre and the Area of St Petersburg University Development (campus).

By 1 January 2025, the Neva Delta Innovative Science and Technology Centre at St Petersburg University will expand to include territories of St Petersburg State Marine Technical University in the Vyborgsky District of the Leningrad Region and an industrial site in the Tosnensky District of the Leningrad Region.

Competitions for grants from the Russian Science Foundation for fundamental and exploratory research

The Russian Science Foundation (RSF) has announced a call for applications for grants for fundamental and exploratory research, including a competition for the extension of projects previously supported by the RSF:

Competition for individual research teams (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 13 November 2024)
Competition for individual research teams — extension (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 23 December 2024)
Interdisciplinary research (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 13 November 2024)
Genetic laboratories (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 13 November 2024)
Genetic laboratories — extension (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 23 December 2024)
World-class laboratories that are part of the presidential programme (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 13 November 2024)
World-class laboratories that are part of the presidential programme — extension (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 23 December 2024)
Research conducted using the scientific infrastructure established as part of the presidential programme (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 13 November 2024)
Research conducted using the scientific infrastructure established as part of the presidential programme — extension (RSF applications will be accepted until 5pm on 23 December 2024)

A new feature of the competition campaign is the acceptance of applications via the updated IAS RSCF information system.

According to Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Research, letters with additional information on the application procedure will be sent to the academic staff of St Petersburg University, and to doctoral students. Information on how to apply for competitions to extend current grants will be sent individually to the heads of relevant university projects.

Smart Sustainable Development Laboratory

St Petersburg University has established a research and education centre — Smart Sustainable Development Laboratory — on the basis of the Graduate School of Management at the University. The Laboratory specialises in: consultancy and scientific research in the field of sustainable development of towns and regions; and training of representatives of regional and municipal government bodies.

The research team of the Graduate School of Management at St Petersburg University (GSOM SPbU), which forms the main expert staff of the Laboratory, is studying the reasons for the emigration of young people from monotowns and is developing a methodology for retaining and attracting personnel for backbone enterprises through human-centred development of the areas of presence.

Anastasia Golubeva, Associate Professor of St Petersburg University, Head of the Department of Public Administration and Academic Director of the bachelor’s programme ‘Public Administration’ at the University, specialist in the digital transformation of public services, author of scholarly publications on the involvement of the population in urban development, was appointed as the Head of the Laboratory.

In 2023, St Petersburg University developed and tested the PUSK programme for the professional development of municipal management teams in the monotowns of Novotroitsk and Cherepovets.

Smart Sustainable Development Laboratory is already working with PJSC Severstal, Ural Steel, the Leningrad Region Centre of Excellence, and the Leningrad Region Committee for the Preservation of the Cultural Heritage. Academic partners include the Institute of Design and Urban Studies at ITMO University, the National Research University Higher School of Economics, and Moscow State University.

In 2024, as part of the Urbanist Summer School, students worked with GSOM SPbU professors and industry practitioners to develop conceptual master plans for the Bolshie Luchki District in the Leningrad Region. In 2023, they developed projects to increase the tourist attractiveness of Vyborg, Staraya Ladoga, and Shlisselburg.

The Laboratory’s staff intend to continue with projects such as the Urbanist Summer School, Urbanist Day and the People About the Town lecture series. The Laboratory supports the People in the Town media channel on urbanism and is preparing the panel "Public sector issues: smart sustainable towns: challenges and opportunities" at the GSOM SPbU Research Conference "Economics and Management" (EMC). Its tasks also include: the introduction of practical cases into the academic programmes of GSOM SPbU; the participation in the organisation of internships for students interested in territorial management and urbanism; and the development of relevant and highly demanded topics for term projects and graduation projects (Smart Sustainable Development Laboratory opened at St Petersburg University).

All-Russian scientific and practical conference "The family as a subject of law"

On 2 October, the All-Russian scientific and practical conference "The family as a subject of law" was held at St Petersburg University. The focus of discussion at the conference was a proposal formulated by Sergei Belov, Dean of the Faculty of Law at St Petersburg University, at the conference held on 25 June this year. This earlier conference reviewed the work of a consortium of scientific and educational institutions on the analysis and evaluation of Russian legislation for the embodiment of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values. The proposal was that, in order to defend the value of a "strong family", the family itself, should be given the status of a subject of law. This would mean directly assigning certain rights (particularly property rights), duties (e.g., in the area of taxation), and responsibilities (such as maintaining family members) to the family unit itself.

The conference on 2 October was attended by Vsevolod Vukolov, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Russian Federation; Aleksandr Shchipkov, Rector of the Russian Orthodox University of St John the Theologian; representatives of traditional Russian religious associations — the Russian Orthodox Church (the Education Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Legal Department of the Moscow Patriarchate), the Spiritual Administration of Muslims, the Traditional Buddhist Sangha and the Jewish Community; and representatives of Russian law schools.

At the meeting, Sergei Belov noted that given that the purpose of granting the family legal status is to strengthen its support, which is particularly important in view of the fact that 2024 has been declared the Year of the Family in Russia, it is crucial to understand how effective such a legal measure will be. Answering this question requires a comprehensive analysis by specialists from various fields: sociologists, psychologists, economists, and many others. A legal solution aims to address a social problem, and thus requires discussion involving representatives from various expert groups at a dedicated round table or conference.