Minutes of the Rector’s Meeting

Valerii Zapasskii, a scientist of St Petersburg University - laureate of the Russian Federation National Award

Valerii Zapasskii, Leading Research Associate at the Uraltsev Spin Optics Laboratory, St Petersburg University, became a laureate of the Russian Federation National Award in  Science and Technology (Valerii Zapasskii, a scientist of St Petersburg University, becomes a laureate of the Russian Federation National Award). The award ceremony was held on 12 June in the Kremlin.

The prize was awarded for very important fundamental research in physics – for the creation and development of a new scientific direction – spin noise spectroscopy. The work of Valerii Zapasskii is of great importance for the development of technologies. In particular, it is used in the development of quantum computers (From a note in a diary to a state award: Valerii Zapasskii is awarded the Russian Federation National Award).

Doctor of Physics and Mathematics Valerii Zapasskii is a graduate of the Faculty of Physics of Leningrad State University. Since 2005, he has been working at St Petersburg University on a permanent basis: first as an employee of the Department of Photonics, and since 2011– a Leading Research Associate at the Uraltsev Spin Optics Laboratory, St Petersburg University. It was established at the University within the framework of the mega-grant of the Government of the Russian Federation.

The scientific activity of Valerii Zapasskii has been recognised by scientists all over the world. His work played a key role in the formation of a new direction in the field of nuclear magnetic resonance-spin noise spectroscopy. The new method of physical research makes it possible to observe the movement of elementary magnets of the medium (atoms, electrons, atomic nuclei, etc.), without exerting an external influence on the medium. The first experimental demonstration of the principle of registration of spin resonance was carried out by Valerii Zapasskii together with the physicist, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Eugene Alexandrov in 1981. In the early 2010s, this direction was actively developed at the Uraltsev Spin Optics Laboratory, St Petersburg University.

The colleagues congratulated Dr Zapasskii on the well-deserved award.

Current issues with organising the teaching and learning process

Over the past period, the Virtual Reception received 38 enquiries from students and teachers including eight enquiries on educational and methodological issues addressed to the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities and Teaching Methods. 67 enquiries were sent to the e-mail of the Vice-Rector.

There enquiries on various topics: the procedure of transfer and reinstatement to St Petersburg University; the possibility of obtaining the vaccination certificate from the personal file of the student; the possibility of obtaining a copy of the curriculum; disagreement with the test results in the subjects taught in the format of online courses; changing the format of the interim assessment in the field of study; disagreement with the examination score within the framework of the interim assessment in the field of study. Checks are carried out on all enquiries of students with the participation of employees of various services of the University. Responses are sent in a timely manner.

The procedure of taking tests in the online course format has already been discussed at the Rector's Meetings several times. In response to the majority of enquiries from the students who received a negative conclusion from the proctor, and on the results of tests in the subjects taught in the format of online courses the following responses were prepared during the past week.

According to clause 4.2.9 of The Academic Regulations for bachelor’s, specialist’s, master’s programmes and programmes of middle level professional  education at St Petersburg University, approved by Order № 470/1 dated 29 January 2016, the test and examination tasks are performed by the student independently. The use of technical devices, pre-prepared materials, as well as consulting with other students during the test (examination) are the grounds for removing a student from the test (examination) with the grade 'failed' ('unsatisfactory').

The rules of taking the final testing of the online course (hereinafter referred as the Rules) ' Business Fundamentals' and other online courses at St Petersburg University are displayed in the section 'Final assessment'.  According to clause 6 of the Rules, a student should only look at the screen during the final assessment. It is not allowed to look away from the screen for more than five seconds, and it is also not allowed to stare at foreign objects for long periods of time (five seconds or more). In addition, the student should not enter into conversations with third parties during the testing, use reference materials (books, cheat sheets, notes), cell phones, calculators, or tablets. It is allowed to use only the computer that is directly used for the operation of the Examus extension (clause 11 of the Rules).

At least one day before the final testing in an online course, the relevant rules are sent to the students' email addresses for mandatory viewing. The students are also informed of these rules immediately before the start of the final testing on the applicable assessment home page.

During the students' final testing in the online course, specialists-proctors recorded systematic and prolonged staring away from the screen area. At that, these violations were recorded when answering closed questions that do not require the use of paper for calculations. Thus, violations provided for in clause 4.2.9 of the Academic Regulations have been recorded.

The assessment of the video recordings by professional proctors and the finding of violations of the procedure for taking the final test is grounds for assigning a negative proctoring status. The results of proctoring, issued by specialists-proctors, are sent to the staff of the Academic Affairs Department for registration of the results of the test.

Also, to prevent new violations and to remind the students again about the need to follow the established rules while performing the certification tasks, additional emails of explanation were sent to students. Following the legislation on education, a student can retake the test/examination at least twice.

According to information from the majority of heads of academic departments, the interim and final assessments are held according to the schedule with the help of information and communication technologies and/or a mixed format.

Two groups of fourth-year law students were transferred to ICT due to confirmed cases of COVID-19 among the students. There have been appeals from the economics students for a change of grade for the examination paper. Following the audit, the examination results have been canceled, and the students have been assigned to retake this examination. The first-year bachelor students in international relations continue to apply for permission to take an exam in one of the disciplines in the distance format. A decision was made to change the format.

On 9 June, the Director of the Institute of History met with the chairman of the Student Council of the Institute. The students complained about the procedure of conducting an examination by one of the lecturers. The claims will be submitted by the students in writing. The heads of some academic subdivisions did not hold meetings with student councils over the past week.

In the period from 7 to 11 June, 1,020 students in bachelor’s, specialist’s, master’s, and secondary vocational education programmes defended their graduation projects:

№	Field	Secondary vocational education	Bachelors and specialists	Masters	Overall
1	Biology		15	49	64
2	Asian and African Studies		0	29	29
3	Journalism and Mass Communications		0	87	87
4	Earth Sciences		28	39	67
5	Arts		20	16	36
6	History		72	30	102
7	Mathematics and Computer Science		0	13	13
8	Mathematics and Mechanics		18	23	41
9	Medicine (secondary vocational education)	7	0		7
10	Political Science		51		51
11	Control Processes		50	20	70
12	Psychology		70	52	122
13	Sociology		40	25	65
14	Dental Medicine and Medical Technologies		7		7
15	Physics		22	26	48
16	Philology		0	152	152
17	Philosophy		32	27	59
	Overall	7	425	588	102 0

The meetings of 231 State Assessment Committees took place:

№	Field	State Assessment Committees on the state examination	State Assessment  Committees  on the  graduation project defences or the final State Assessment  Committee	Total
1	Biology		11	11
2	Asian and African Studies	6	6	12
3	Journalism		9	9
4	Arts		7	7
5	History		26	26
6	Mathematics and Computer Science		2	2
7	Mathematics and Mechanics		9	9
8	Medicine	2		2
9	Medical College		2	2
10	Management		2	2
11	Earth Sciences	1	25	26
12	Political Science		6	6
13	Control Processes		14	14
14	Psychology		27	27
15	Sociology		9	9
16	Dental Medicine and Medical Technologies		3	3
17	Physics		12	12
18	Philology		20	20
19	Philosophy		11	11
20	Chemistry		4	4
21	Law	1	16	17
	Total	10	221	231

From 1,020 graduation project defences, 801 people (78.5%) were graded as ‘excellent’, 178 people (17.5%) – ‘good’, 35 people (3.4%) – ‘satisfactory’, and six people (0.6%) – ‘unsatisfactory’:

		Secondary
№	Field	vocational education		Bachelors and specialists				Masters				T o t a l
		good	excellent	unsatisfactory	satisfactory	good	excellent	unsatisfactory	satisfactory	good	excellent
1	Biology					4	11		1	5	43	64
2	Asian and African Studies								2	10	17	29
3	Journalism and Mass Communications								5	19	63	87
4	Earth Sciences					6	22		1	3	35	67
5	Arts					2	18			2	14	36
6	History				5	13	54		1	7	22	102
7	Mathematics and Computer Science										13	13
8	Mathematics and Mechanics					3	15		1	3	19	41
9	Medicine (secondary vocational education)	4	3									7
10	Political Science					16	35					51
11	Control Processes				1	12	37			3	17	70
12	Psychology			1	4	9	56		2	4	46	122
13	Sociology				3	14	23			8	17	65
14	Dental Medicine and Medical Technologies				1	3	3					7
15	Physics						22			2	24	48
16	Philology							5	7	18	122	152
17	Philosophy				1	2	29			6	21	59
	Overall	4	3	1	15	84	325	5	20	90	473	1020

Students filed seven enquiries to the appeal committees:

• following the results of the final state examinations: 2 – from master’s students in in International Relations, 2 – from master’s students in Law
• following the results of the graduation project defence: 2 – from bachelor’s students in Political Science, 1 – from a master’s student in History

A positive decision was made on two appeals.

Using the results of The Three University Missions ranking

Examples of the use of the results of the Moscow International University ranking ‘The Three University Missions’ for students and staff at St Petersburg University were considered. Since 2019, the results of the Moscow ranking are taken into account at St Petersburg University along with the results of the international rankings QS, THE, and ARWU, when: transferring to the University for the final year; crediting the study periods and the results of completed online courses; and  selecting the academic mobility projects and expert candidates for the dissertation councils established according to the rules of St Petersburg University (for each defence) (Presentation).

On 24 April 2021, at the meeting of the working group of the Russian Union of Rectors on strategic academic leadership, the Rector of St Petersburg University Nikolay Kropachev made a presentation on the practice of St Petersburg University on the use of the results of the Moscow international ranking ‘The Three University Missions’. The initiative to take the ranking into account in the activities of Russian universities was supported by many participants of the meeting. The speakers noted that while the heads of other universities are encouraging the ministries and the government to use the Moscow ranking when conducting grant competitions, ministerial rankings, etc., St Petersburg University has been using the results of the Moscow ranking in its work for several years. It thereby shows the ministries and the government the specific opportunities for their application.

Taking into account the data of the World University Ranking (U.S. News Best Global Universities)

At the state level, five university rankings are recognised as world-class to implement the state policy of the Russian Federation. To the three rankings of world universities (QS, THE, and Shanghai: QS World University Rankings, The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, Academic Ranking of World Universities), two more have been added: the world ranking of U.S. universities News Best Global Universities and the

Moscow International University Ranking 'The Three University Missions'. The by-laws  of St Petersburg University have been amended and supplemented following the norms of Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation326 dated 5 March 2021.

Given the increasing importance of the U.S. News Best Global Universities ranking, it was decided to take into account the data of this world ranking when determining the leading educational organisations of the world that have international recognition. On the instructions of the Rector, the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities and Teaching Methods issued Order № 5603/1 dated 27 May 2021 to make the appropriate amendments to Order № 9978/1 dated 11 October 2019 'On consideration of the Moscow International ranking “The Three University Missions”'.

In particular, considering the changes made, the name of Order № 9978/1 from the date of publication of Order № 5603/1 is considered to be set out in the following wording: 'On consideration of the World University Ranking (U.S. News Best Global Universities), the Moscow International ranking 'The Three University Missions', and the facts of educational organisations entering among the top 300 according to any of these two rankings are taken into account in cases if the educational organisations have been listed among the top 300 according to the international rankings: The Academic Ranking of World Universities, The Times Higher Education World University Rankings, and QS World University Rankings, established by the norms:

• clause 7.2.4 of the Academic Regulations for bachelor’s, specialist’s, master’s programmes and programmes of middle level professional education in St Petersburg University, approved by Order № 470/1 dated 29 January 2016 (on transfer to the final course)
• clauses 1, 2 of the Procedure for crediting the results of completion and training periods at St Petersburg University for organisation of academic mobility, approved by Order № 8330/1 dated 17 October 2016
• clauses 1, 3 of the Procedure for crediting the results of the completion of online courses by students of St Petersburg University, approved by Order № 8852/1 dated 08 August 2017

'New' rankings U.S.  News Best Global Universities 2021 and the Moscow International   ranking 'The Three University Missions 2020' (only the 2020 and earlier rankings have been published) is compared with the current list of educational organisations that issue documents on education and (or) qualifications, recognised in the Russian Federation, approved by Order of the RF Government № 798-r dated 20 April 2019 (set forth according to the old rules of the previously valid Order № 660 dated 5 August 2013, which required that a foreign university should be included in top 300 lists of at least three rankings at the same time).

A series of webinars for teachers of the Leningrad region

For the development of cooperation between St Petersburg University and the Leningrad region based on a previously concluded cooperation agreement (Support for talented children and the introduction of robotics: St Petersburg University and the Leningrad Region expand cooperation) in the period from 3 March to 2 June, a series of webinars was held for subject teachers of secondary schools of the Leningrad region. 15 remote lectures were held. The speakers of the webinars were leading specialists of St Petersburg University in pedagogy and psychology, including Professor Elena Kazakova, Director of the Institute of Pedagogy (Presentation). This event was held in coordination and cooperation with the Committee of General and Vocational Education of the Leningrad region. More than 230 school teachers of the Leningrad region took part in the webinars.

During the webinars, employees of the Institute of Pedagogy introduced students to the current and modern teaching tools and methods. The classes covered such topics as: the psychology of dialogue; the development of communication skills in the modern multicultural environment; and digital education. Elena Kazakova also acted as a curator of the methodological part of the event. The organisational and technical side of the webinars was carried out by the staff of the Language Testing Centre of St Petersburg University.

The first part of the webinar cycle (from 3 March to 21 April) was devoted to the analysis of topical general issues in pedagogical practice, as well as working with gifted children. The second part (from 28 May to 2 June) was devoted to a more detailed analysis of lessons in various subjects, as well as ways of teaching the school disciplines in the modern realities.

Currently, the webinar recordings are being edited to make them freely available.

Medals of the Russian Academy of Sciences – for young scientists of St Petersburg University

On 25 May, the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences summed up the results of the contest for awarding medals of the Russian Academy of Sciences with prizes for the young scientists of Russia and students of higher educational institutions for the best research projects (following the results of the 2020 contest). Among the winners of the contest are eight young researchers of St Petersburg University (research areas are chemistry, geology, international relations, and philology):

• in the nomination in general and technical chemistry – to Daniil Ivanov, Aleksandr Mikherdov, and Anton Rozhkov for the series of works 'Nonclassical non-covalent interactions as a universal tool for creating new functional supramolecular systems and materials'
• in the nomination in physical chemistry and technology of inorganic materials – to Viktor Vorozhtsov (co-authored with Vadim Popkov from the Ioffe Physical-Technical Institute) for a series of works 'Phase formation under conditions of limited mass transfer: structure, thermodynamic and functional properties of oxide systems'
• in the nomination in geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and mining sciences – to Artem Borisov for his series of works 'Crystal-chemical analysis of anhydrous sulphate mineral species'
• in the nomination in world economy and international relations – to Kirill Serebriakov for his bachelor’s degree thesis 'Advocacy groups in modern political and administrative institutions of the People's Republic of China'
• in the nomination in literature and language – to Vlada Chernysheva for her master's thesis 'Verb categories in works by late Latin grammarians'
• in the nomination in mathematics – to Aleksei Kulikov for his paper 'Fourier interpolation and time-frequency localisation'

Over the past five years, scientists of St Petersburg University have annually become laureates of namede prizes of the Russian Academy of Sciences in various fields:

geophysics, chemistry, mechanics, biology, psychology, history, the Russian language, and literature. They have been repeatedly awarded the gold medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The number of winners of the Youth Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences for research projects has increased fourfold since 2017!

The number of the named RAS awards received by scientists of St Petersburg University (2017-2021):

Year	Number of awards	Award winners
2021	4	Boris Golitsyn Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Grigory Gurin, Pavel Konosavskiy, Konstantin Titov Vasily Klyuchevsky Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences — Boris Mironov
2020	4	Nikolay Zelinsky Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Valentin Ananikov Sergei Rubinstein Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences –Irina Mironenko Alexander Veselovsky Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Aleksei Sirenov Friedrich Tsander Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Alexey Tikhonov
2019	4	Petr Rebinder Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Anatolii Kuchma, Aleksandr Shchekin Vladimir Dal Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences– Valerii Mokienko Sergey Lebedev Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Aleksandr Iakimanskii
2018	1	Aleksandr Andronov Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Aleksandr Fradkov
2017	3	Aleksei Severtsov Prize of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Andrew Ostrovsky
		Nikolai Vavilov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences – Sergey Inge-Vechtomov Gold Medal of the Russian Academy of Sciences for outstanding achievements in the field of promotion of scientific knowledge – Tatiana Chernigovskaya

The number of RAS awards for young scientists for the best research projects (2017-2021):

Year	Number of awards	Winners
2021	8	in the field of physical chemistry and technology of inorganic materials – Viktor Vorozhtsov, in the field of general and technical chemistry – Daniil Ivanov, Aleksandr Mikherdov, Anton Rozhkov in the field of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and mining sciences – Artem Borisov in the field of the world economy and international relations – Kirill Serebriakov in the field of literature and language – Vlada Chernysheva in the field of mathematics – Aleksei Kulikov
2020	5	in the field of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and mining sciences – Olga Iakubovich in the field of mathematics – Ivan Bochkov in the field of oceanology, physics, atmosphere, and geography – Aleksandr Fedorov in the field of development and creation of devices, methods, technologies of the scientific and applied significance – Andrei Shishov in the field of agro-industrial complex – Ekaterina Ivanova
2019	1	in the field of history – Valentina Chikina
2018	1	in the field of geology, geophysics, geochemistry, and mining sciences – Elena Zhitova
2017	2	in the field of technical chemistry – Svetlana Katkova, Mikhail Kinzhalov

Compensation of expenses for the publication of scientific articles

Since 2014, St Petersburg University has been taking measures to compensate for the costs of publishing scientific articles. The rules have not changed for two years. The University research staff, authors (co-authors) of scientific articles are reimbursed if the article belongs to the first and second quartiles of WoS and/or Scopus – after presenting documents on costs. The latter circumstance was emphasised in particular. Compensation cannot be paid without presenting a cost document.

The first was Order № 5076/1 dated 25 September 2014 'On payment for additional services when publishing scientific articles'. These measures are part of the system for stimulation of the publication activity and improvement of the quality of scientific publications of St Petersburg University staff. Over time, St Petersburg University as a scientific organisation achieves some goals and sets new ones for itself. That is why, based on the effectiveness of measures and the clarification of goal setting, the requirements for articles also change. Every year, the issue of compensation is discussed at the Rector's meetings (Minutes of the Rector's meeting dated 16 November 2020, dated 3 June 2019). In 2020, 42 applications were submitted, six of which did not meet the competitive criteria (for example, the journal did not correspond to Q1 or Q2; the specified affiliation with St Petersburg University did not comply with the rules for specifying affiliation – Order № 5805/1 dated 23 July 2015 'On the form of specifying the affiliation of authors in scientific articles' and amendments thereto № 1758/1 dated 21 March 2016; or the published results were obtained with the financial support of several grants, from which funds can be used to compensate the expenses). As a result of the consideration of the submitted materials, 36 applications were supported, for which 28 academic workers received compensation (some applications were submitted by the same employees). The total amount of payments is about 1.8 million roubles. The amount of payments ranges from 6 to 180,000 roubles.

Recently, Order № 5836/1 dated 31 May 2021 'On the rules for compensating academic staff of St Petersburg University for the costs of publishing scientific articles' was issued, which continues the logic of continued acceptance of applications throughout the year until 6pm on 3 December 2021.

Violations committed by students of St Petersburg University

In January-May 2021, 43 students violated the by-laws of St Petersburg University (January –5; February – 5; March – 7; April – 21; May – 5). By level of education: secondary vocational education – 3; bachelor's degree – 32; specialist’s degree –1; master's degree –6; doctoral programmes – 1. By areas of study:

• mathematics and mechanics – 7
• international relations – 6
• applied mathematics – control processes, sociology – 5 each
• Earth sciences – 4
• philology, physical education (secondary vocational training) – 3 each
• biology, management – 2 each
• Asian and African studies, journalism, history, medicine, political science, economics – 1 each

Types of violations (some students violate several provisions of different rules):

• clause 4 of Order № 7541/1 dated 31 August 2020 'On the need to use the personal protective equipment on the territory of St Petersburg University'; clause 2.2 of Order № 2726/1 dated 6 April 2020 'On approval of the safety standard for the activities of St Petersburg University, including sanitary and hygienic safety to counteract the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in St Petersburg'; clause 2.1.2 of the Internal Regulations  for Students of St Petersburg University, namely: to comply with the requirements of by-laws  in the field of education regulating academic and research  processes, their organisation and conduct; the University Charter; these Regulations; the Academic Regulations; the rules of accommodation  in halls of residence and boarding schools; and other by-laws  of the University on the organisation and implementation of academic activities, the legitimate requirements of academic  and other employees of the University – 12
• clause 6.1.2 of the Internal Regulations for Students of St Petersburg University and clause 1 of Order № 11725/1 dated 28 November 2019 'On the prohibition of smoking in the buildings and on the territory of St Petersburg University', namely: smoking tobacco and electronic cigarettes in buildings and on the territory of St Petersburg University – 7
• clause 10.2.8 of the Rules of Accommodation in the Halls of Residence of St Petersburg University, namely: illegally bring unauthorised persons into the hall of residence and/or leave them overnight, or provide living space for third parties to stay in; clause 2.1.11 of the Internal Regulations for Students of St Petersburg University, namely: comply with the established University access regime, including not to transfer the pass, including the electronicmagnetic one (student card, ID), to other persons and not to use the pass (student card, ID) issued to another person – 6
• clause 10.2.7 of the Rules of Accommodation in the Halls of Residence of St Petersburg University, namely: commit actions that do not correspond to the moral and cultural traditions of St Petersburg University, and generally accepted moral and ethical standards – 4, namely: drinking alcoholic beverages, fighting, rudeness towards other students and staff
• clause 10.2.1 of the Rules of Accommodation in the Halls of Residence of St Petersburg University, namely: move without permission from one accommodation unit to another in the halls of residence of St Petersburg University, and move inventory from one accommodation unit to another – 3
• clause 6.1.9 of the Internal Regulations for Students of St Petersburg University, namely: violation of the peace and quiet at night, clauses 10.2.5 and 10.2.10 of Rules of Accommodation in the Halls of Residence of St Petersburg University: committing acts that create excessive noise in the accommodation and violate the legitimate interests of other residents – 2
• clauses 2.1.9, 6.1.3 of the Internal Regulations for Students of St Petersburg University, namely: to be disciplined, to observe cleanliness and order on the territory of the University, to exclude the use of alcoholic and low-alcohol beverages – 1
• clause 10.1.3 of the Rules of Accommodation in the Halls of Residence of St Petersburg University, namely: non-compliance with the rule on the maintenance of residential premises – 1
• clause 2.3 of the Internal Regulations for Students of St Petersburg University, clause 10.1.9 of the Rules of Accommodation in the Halls of Residence of St Petersburg University, approved by Order № 8468/1 dated 28 August 2019, clause 4.3 of the Residential Tenancy Agreement in the St Petersburg University hall of residence, namely: non-payment of rent and utilities for more than six months

Disciplinary sanctions for these violations were issued to 15 students (11 admonitions, 3 reprimands, 1 expulsion). One student is on academic leave until 17 May 2022 and will be subject to a reprimand order after coming back from this leave. Another student was expelled with effect from 12 May 2021 due to academic failure pending the opinion of the Student Council of St Petersburg University (on a reprimand).

Full sets of documents for issuing disciplinary penalties have been prepared for 26 students and are currently being reviewed by the Student Council of the University, whose opinion will lead to the issuing of orders for disciplinary action.

Tuition fees at St Petersburg University

In response to questions in the Virtual Reception about the tuition fees at St Petersburg University, it was previously explained that the cost of educational services increases annually due to inflation. Only in 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic, no increase was made. However, this year there is no financial opportunity to keep the tuition fees at the level of 2019.

In the academic year 2021/22, an increase in tuition fees for the second and subsequent courses will be at the official inflation rate of 3.7%, as established by Federal Law № 385FZ dated 8 December 2020 'On the federal budget for 2021 and the planning period 2022 and 2023' (Article 1, clause 1) in strict conformity with the requirements laid down in article 54, clause 3, of Federal Law № 273-FZ 'On education in the Russian Federation' dated 29 December 2012 (On tuition fees  in the academic year 2021/2022)

For example, the cost of full-time study in the bachelor's programme in History in the 2020/21 academic year was 208,700 roubles per year, and in the 2021/22 academic year (according to Order № 5877/1 dated 31 May 2021) it is  216,400 roubles per year. Thus, the cost growth is 3.69 %, which does not exceed the official inflation rate.

It should also be noted that, according to clause 4 of the Rules for Paid Tuition Services (approved by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation № 1441 dated 15 September 2020) and the provisions of Order of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation № 278 dated 9 April 2021 'On approval of the Procedure for determining fees for individuals and legal entities for services (works) related to the main activities of federal state institutions under the jurisdiction of the Government of the Russian Federation, rendered (performed) by them in excess of the established governmental assignment for the provision of public services (performance of works), as well as in cases determined by the federal laws, within the established governmental assignment for the provision of public services (performance of works)', the cost of education for the academic programmes implemented at St Petersburg University should correspond to the level of standard costs for the provision of similar educational services within the framework of the governmental assignment.

Back in 2010, the tuition fees for places on a contractual basis in some academic programmes of St Petersburg University (Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Geology, etc.), were reduced by several times! In fact, in previous years, training in these programmes was conducted at the expense of fees received from students of other academic programmes (mainly in Economics, Law, International Relations, Management, etc.).

In connection with the above, St Petersburg University is forced to gradually bring the tuition fees for the implemented academic programmes to the level of standard costs for the provision of similar educational services within the framework of the governmental assignment. The equality of the cost and regulatory costs for educational services should be achieved by the admission of 2023.

Termination of the contract between St Petersburg University and the Alumni Association

It has already been reported that on 7 June, the Collegium of Honorary Professors heard about the activities of the St Petersburg University Alumni Association (Minutes of the Rector's Meeting dated 8 June 2021). The Collegium of Honorary Professors of the University adopted recommendations: to establish a new Alumni Association of St Petersburg University and Leningrad State University (to form an appropriate committee for this purpose), to start work on terminating the University contract with the former association.

The meeting participants noted that the University and the association have not held any joint events for many years. The Alumni Association does not participate in organising any significant events at St Petersburg University (Career Day, Applicant's Day, the Matriculation Ceremony, Open Day, University’s Birthday, student start-up contests). In addition, hundreds of extracurricular (cultural, sports, scientific) events are annually held at the University. The Alumni Association does not participate in organising any of them.

The University annually hosts more than 350 extracurricular events for students (in person, with the help of distance technologies or in the mixed format). These include: more than 170 cultural, creative, and educational events; more than 20 traditional student holidays and festivals; more than 60 sports and recreation events; more than 40 scientific student events and meetings of student scientific societies; more than 30 volunteer and socially oriented events of various directions; and more than 20 patriotic events. Almost every student of St Petersburg University takes part in these events – from a high school student to a doctoral student, as well as applicants and graduates. Also, more than 500 career guidance events are held annually (including online presentations).

The University's regular partners in extracurricular activities include: the Council of Rectors of the North-West Federal District; the Council of Rectors of St Petersburg and Leningrad region; the St Petersburg Government Committee on Youth Policy and Interaction with Public Organisations ; the St Petersburg Committee for Physical Culture and Sports; student sports federations; the Student Rowing League; the National Student Football League; the Association of Student Sports Clubs of Russia; the Association of Moral and Spiritual Enlightenment 'Pokrov'; the Association of Lawyers of Russia; the Youth House of St Petersburg; the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs of the Russian Federation; the Russian Geographical Society; Administrations of Vasileostrovsky, Petrodvortsovy, and Admiralteysky Districts of St Petersburg; and others. The Alumni Association does not participate in organising  the above events for students (About the participation of the Alumni Association in the events of St Petersburg University).

The St Petersburg University Alumni Association implements a scholarship programme to support talented young scientists and students of the University. In 2021, 22 students in 13 areas of study became scholarship holders. The stipend is 20,000 roubles per month.

The University students receive various stipends. For example, St Petersburg University, with the support of the Endowment Fund 'Development of St Petersburg University', has established and annually assigns more than 17 types of personal scholarships. Every year, more than 170 students in all fields of study become their scholarship recipients. New types of scholarships are regularly established. The amount of scholarships ranges from 10,000 roubles per month to 100% of the annual tuition fee on a contractual basis at St Petersburg University (from 70,000 to 433,000 roubles per year).

In addition, the University's regular partners (Rosneft, Gazprom Neft, Yandex, Huawei, Vladimir Potanin Foundation, VTB Bank, Viking Bank, Biocad, Vernadsky Foundation, Anatoly Sobchak Foundation, Analit-Shimadzu Foundation, UniChance Foundation, Bangladesh Consulate, the Graduate School of Management Charity, Jet Brains Company, the Home Towns Foundation, Russkiy Mir Foundation, and others) award over 340 scholarships to undergraduate and postgraduate students each year.

There were no proposals and recommendations from the Alumni Association regarding the members of the councils of academic programmes, State Assessment Committees, Teaching Methodology Committees, and other committees. It should be noted that there are more than 1,700 employer representatives on the councils of academic programmes, more than 1,850 on the State Assessment Committees, and more than 100 on the Teaching Methodology Committees. The University conducts joint educational and methodological activities with various partners, but no joint events were held with the Alumni Association (Termination of the relationship with the Alumni Association).

It was also noted that under the agreement, St Petersburg University granted the Alumni Association the exclusive right to sell souvenirs with the University's logo. However, customers do not receive a receipt from the Alumni Association of St Petersburg University but from a certain OOO '1724'. At the same time, the CEO of that private company is an employee of the Association, and he owns 75 % of the company. Representatives of the Association never discussed with the University the issue of transferring the right to sell souvenirs with the University logo to third parties. The Association must submit a report to the University on the licence agreement. The Association did not submit such a report (About the sale of souvenirs with the symbols of St Petersburg University by OOO '1724' on behalf of the Alumni Association).

An analysis of the association's website and other social media resources for the 'pandemic segment' (July 2020 to February 2021) shows that the Association does not adhere to a position of announcing and publicising the University events. The share of University activities and events among all publications on the Association's website is 3.3 %. It can be concluded that the information policy of the Association does not meet the tasks set and is not friendly towards St Petersburg University.

At the same time, the Department for Alumni Affairs continues to work at the University. Since 15 June, Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs has been appointed Acting Head of the Department.

During the documentary check of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation at the St Petersburg University Alumni Association it was revealed that the association's activities, given the nature of the revealed violations, contradict the fundamental rules of the University life and the basic cooperation principles underlying the agreement between St Petersburg University and the Alumni Association dated 26 November 2014 concerning the joint preservation and development of the best traditions of the University. Consequently, on 10 June 2021 the Association was notified about the termination of the agreement effective from 9 July 2021 following clause 5.2.