Minutes of the Rector’s Meeting | St Petersburg University

The University staff and students chose a name for the planet dedicated to St Petersburg University

A minor planet in the asteroid belt will be named after St Petersburg University. An application with the name selected by the University staff and students was forwarded to the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences on 28 January. It will be further directed to the International Astronomical Union (International Astronomical Union | IAU) that will consider the application in the course of 2022.

The application suggests that the planet should be given the name Alma Mater 1724. The idea was informed by the fact that the words ‘alma mater’ have long been associated with the concept of a university, while the number points at the year of St Petersburg University foundation.

Giving the name of St Petersburg University to a space object is one of the events planned by the organising committee on celebrating the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg University to be held in 2024. The plan of events was approved on 24 September 2021 at the meeting of the Organising Committee (Dmitry Chernyshenko chairs a meeting of the Organising Committee for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of St Petersburg University) chaired by Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.

During the previous Rector's meeting, it was announced that the University staff and students should submit their proposals on the name of the planet as well as their opinions on the names suggested by the Collegium of Honorary Professors of St Petersburg University: Alma Mater 1724 and Petrocollegium. The first option of Alma Mater 1724 received support based on the submitted enquiries. A University graduate suggested one more version: Minerva (The University staff and students chose a name for the planet dedicated to St Petersburg University: Alma Mater 1724).

Vaccination against COVID-19

The meeting participants once again discussed the vaccination against COVID-19. Over the past week, the number of vaccinated students who recovered from COVID-19 within the last six months or provided medical exemption certificates has increased by 1.43% (from 40.08% to 41.51%).

The information on the students’ vaccination across the areas of study is summarised in the table below:

Area of study	Students with vaccination, recovery certificates, medical exemption certificates (as of 14 January 2022)	Students with vaccination, recovery certificates, medical exemption certificates (as of 21 January 2022)	Students with vaccination, recovery certificates, medical exemption certificates (as of 28 January 2022)
Institute for Competition Development and Antimonopoly Regulation	91.67 %	91.67 %	91.67 %
Physical Training (bachelor’s programme)	69.05 %	69.05 %	71.43 %
Asian and African Studies	67.35 %	68.99 %	68.93 %
Institute of Chemistry	66.52 %	66.88 %	67.52 %
Biology	54.35 %	54.43 %	54.64 %
Physics	52.97 %	53.53 %	54.08 %
Medicine	51.86 %	52.24 %	53.54 %
Mathematics and Computer Science	49.76 %	50 %	50.72 %
Institute of Pedagogy	46 %	50 %	50 %
Philology	47.61 %	47.94 %	48.37 %
Liberal Arts and Sciences	44.95 %	47.04 %	48.17 %
Institute of Earth Sciences	45.87 %	47.02 %	47.57 %
Institute for Cognitive Studies	44.44 %	44.44 %	44.44 %
Dental Medicine and Medical Technologies	35.87 %	36.55 %	43.84 %
Mathematics and Mechanics	41.13 %	42.56 %	43.73 %
Psychology	41.46 %	42.26 %	43.13 %
Institute of Philosophy	41.13 %	42.52 %	43.12 %
Institute of History	40.47 %	41.49 %	41.49 %
Control Processes	39.81 %	40.11 %	40.73 %
Management	34.11 %	37.1 %	39.77 %
Medical College	39.29 %	39.29 %	39.29 %
International Relations	36.8 %	37.47 %	38.22 %
Physical Education (non-university level higher education, excluding under age students)	21.21 %	28.06 %	34.82 %
Sociology	31.91 %	33.23 %	33.49 %
Political Science	31.96 %	32.9 %	33.26 %
Law	28.47 %	30.27 %	32.62 %
Arts	21.94 %	22 %	29.02 %
Economics	27.16 %	26.89 %	27.71 %
Graduate School of Journalism and Mass Communication	21.64 %	22.54 %	23.7 %
Total	38.89 %	40.08 %	41.51 %
Growth	1.29 %	1.19 %	1.43 %

The information on vaccination among the academic staff at the institutes and faculties is presented in the table below:

Subdivision	Total number of staff (full and part-time)	Vaccinated	Antibodies	Medical exemption	Percentage as of 21 January 2022	Percentage as of 28 January 2022
Academic Gymnasium	80	57	6	6	86.4 %	86.3 %
Faculty of Biology	324	279	20	6	93 %	94.1 %
Military Training Centre	34	29	3	2	100 %	100 %
Faculty of Asian and African Studies	150	127	10	10	98 %	98 %
Graduate School of Journalism and Mass Communication	119	89	13	10	94.1 %	94.1 %
Graduate School of Management	88	68	8	5	91.9 %	92 %
Institute of Earth Sciences	246	222	12	3	96.2 %	96.3 %
Institute of History	141	122	6	5	94.3 %	94.3 %
Institute for Cognitive Studies	14	12	1	1	100 %	100 %
Institute of Pedagogy	7	7	0	0	100 %	100 %
Institute for Competition Development and Antimonopoly Regulation	9	6	2	1	100 %	100 %
Institute of Philosophy	131	112	10	9	100 %	100 %
Institute of Chemistry	211	191	11	9	100 %	100 %
Department of Physical Training and Sports	53	41	5	7	100 %	100 %
College of Physical Training and Sports, Economics and Technology	78	59	8	7	94.9 %	94.9 %
Mathematics and Mechanics	329	260	22	4	86.6 %	86.9 %
Medical College	23	19	2	1	95.7 %	95.7 %
Faculty of Medicine	320	245	21	7	85.3 %	85.3 %
Applied Mathematics and Control Processes	210	149	18	9	83.8 %	83.8 %
Faculty of Foreign Languages	298	210	28	19	86.3 %	86.2 %
Faculty of Arts	103	88	6	4	95.1 %	95.1 %
Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science	118	94	3	1	82.9 %	83.1 %
School of International Relations	120	92	7	16	95.8 %	95.8 %
Faculty of Political Science	42	35	5	0	95.2 %	95.2 %
Faculty of Psychology	167	129	10	8	88 %	88 %
Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences	88	75	4	1	89.8 %	90.9 %
Faculty of Sociology	90	70	6	4	87.9 %	88.9 %
Faculty of Dental Medicine and Medical Technologies	90	54	17	2	81.1 %	81.1 %
Faculty of Physics	419	355	29	6	93.3 %	93.1 %
Faculty of Philology	456	357	43	21	92.3 %	92.3 %
Faculty of Economics	167	130	13	8	90.4 %	90.4 %
Faculty of Law	153	116	19	5	92.2 %	91.5 %
Total	4878	3899	368	197	91.4 %	91.5 %

As of 28 January, the percentage of vaccinated teachers exceeded 80% in all academic and research subdivisions and 90% in the majority of subdivisions. The overall number of the University staff vaccinated against COVID-19 exceeded 90% already in December.

Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, reminded that the services at the Rector’s Office are already working on the timetable of classes for the coming term. In the coming term, the format of classes in different subdivisions will be determined based on the proposals by the heads of the research and academic subdivisions according to the following rules: in those subdivisions where the percentage of vaccinated teachers exceeds 80% and the percentage of vaccinated students exceeds 40% the teaching and learning process can be organised in a hybrid format or entirely on campus, while in other subdivisions classes can be delivered only in a distant format. Currently, 19 subdivisions have reached the required indicators.

The heads of academic and research subdivisions shall continue explaining the need for vaccination to staff and students.

St Petersburg University students take part in providing first aid

Due to the escalation of the epidemiological situation in the city and increase in the incidence of the novel coronavirus disease, the administration of the Committee for Public Health at the Government of St Petersburg turned to the rectors of higher education institutions providing medical training with a request to forward their students to outpatient departments in St Petersburg to administer first aid.

Over 600 students of St Petersburg University work in the municipal healthcare system. Additionally, 167 clinical residency students, six students of the degree programme ‘General Medicine’ and ten students of the non-university level higher education degree programme ‘Nursing’ expressed readiness to work in the healthcare institutions during the pandemic.

The students have been directed to work in the outpatient departments of the Vasileostrovsky, Nevsky, Petrodvotsovy and Frunzensky districts of St Petersburg. Currently, the students are being distributed across the outpatient departments in these districts.

Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, pointed out that providing first aid in outpatient departments in St Petersburg can be treated as practical training and volunteer activity. According to Order № 7971/1 dated 12 August 2021 ‘On accounting the results of extracurricular activity by the students of St Petersburg University’ issued by the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, volunteer work can be counted as the learning outcomes being a socially important activity organised by St Petersburg University.

Current issues with organising the teaching and learning process

Last week, the Virtual Reception received 12 enquiries addressed to the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities. There were 19 enquiries registered in the catalogue of student enquiries.

The enquiries covered various topics, including the following:

Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, reported that a clinical residency student sent an enquiry to the Virtual Reception of St Petersburg University. The student was interested in the format of practical training for clinical residency students in view of Order № 349/1 dated 21 January 2022 ‘On the validity of Order № 7991/1 dated 13 August 2021 “On the format of classes in the 2021/22 academic year” starting 24 January 2022’ that establishes the learning format with the use of information and communication technologies. It was clarified that clinical residency students should study in accordance with the individual training plan developed on the basis of the curriculum of the Clinical Residency programme in the relevant speciality. The format of practical training is determined by the work format of the medical institution where the student receives medical training as part of the direct care. Thus, practical training of clinical residency students at clinical facilities of St Petersburg University is performed in the same format as the direct care.

Marina Lavrikova reminded that the format of implementing the disciplines within the academic areas in the spring term of the 2021/22 academic year will depend on the percentage of vacillated teachers (80%) and students (40%). The University observes all the requirements and recommendations by the state authorities in organising the teaching and learning process in view of the COVID-19 preventive measures. The teaching and learning process in the coming term will be organised following the COVID-19 preventive measures determined by the Recommendations on preventing the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in higher education institutions approved by the Chief State Sanitary Doctor of the Russian Federation on 29 July 2020.

As previously mentioned, the format of classes in various subdivisions that reached the established vaccination indicator of 40 % among students and 80% among teachers will be established at the beginning of the term based on the proposals from the heads of the academic and research subdivisions.

Marina Lavrikova underscored that all the information on changes to the teaching and learning process is published on the official portal of St Petersburg University in a timely manner. Current information on the format and start date of classes in every academic programme is published in the Electronic Timetable.

Based on the information from the majority of heads of the academic and research subdivisions, the winter interim assessment went in due order following the timetable.

The meetings with the representatives of the student councils were not held by some heads of subdivisions, while many subdivisions held such meetings.

At the meetings with the Student Council representatives, the Acting Director of the Institute of Philosophy, the Dean of the Mathematics and Mechanics Faculty, as well as the Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes informed the students of the format of studies from 24 January 2022 following Order № 349/1 dated 21 January 2022 ‘On the validity of Order № 7991/1 dated 13 August 2021 “On the format of classes in the 2021/22 academic year” starting 24 January 2022’. Further decisions on organising the teaching and learning process will be taken considering the level of vaccination among students and teachers. The Dean of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes pointed out that the Student Council should continue explaining the need of vaccination to students.

At the meeting of the Dean of the Faculty of Dental Medicine and Medical Technologies with the Student Council representatives, the students were informed that student teams are being formed to provide help in outpatient departments in St Petersburg. Students can provide help as volunteers or as medical workers on conditions determined by the medical institution. Such participation will be counted as practical training or volunteer activity. Participation of clinical residency students will be considered on an individual basis following their practical training and work.

The Dean of the Faculty of Psychology talked to the representatives of the Student Council of the faculty about the situation related to the enquiries from some students regarding their transfer to the distant format. The Dean specified that such students can take an academic leave if they have reasons that prevent them from learning in the classroom.

According to one of the students, when holding examinations among the students of the bachelor’s programme in ‘Psychology’, only one examination out of five was held, while the students were given advanced placement in other examinations. The chairperson of the Teaching Methodology Committee in the consolidated group of areas of specialisation and main fields of study 37.00.00 ‘Psychological Sciences’ clarified that the Quality Control Committee will monitor the assessment and consider this situation. The Dean will discuss this issue with the heads of the departments.

The Chairperson of the Student Council of the faculty said that according to some students, some teachers fail to respond to the e-mails of students with the questions on practical training. The chairperson of the Teaching Methodology Committee reminded that the students can send their enquiries in the Microsoft Teams section developed specifically for these purposes.

At the meeting, the Dean of the Faculty of Law and representatives of the Student Council said that allegedly during one of the examinations, students of law from two different groups were placed in one classroom. The Dean of the Faculty confirmed that placing students from several groups in one classroom during on-campus classes and assessments should not have occurred in view of the current anti-epidemic measures. An additional inspection did not confirm the information from the representatives of the Student Council: students failed to provide specific information on the time and place of this situation, while according to the timetable of the interim assessment, the examinations took place in a separate classroom for each group.

In view of this situation, Marina Lavrikova pointed out once again that students should turn to the Virtual Reception in a timely manner in order to solve current problems. They should address relevant University officials and provide exact information, including place, time, names of the University staff involved and other data required for the inspection.

According to the information from the students, some students had technical difficulties in inserting the information on the past disease and medical exemptions into their Personal Accounts. The Dean of the Faculty of Law said that it is possible to insert this information into the Personal Account. Indeed, students can insert the information on vaccination, past disease and medical exemption into the Personal Account. All this information is taken into consideration when calculating the percentage of vaccinated students in specific academic and research subdivisions. If students experience problems with inserting such information, they should turn to the head of the Academic Office for help. At the same time, statistics show that the majority of students successfully upload the data on vaccination, medical exemptions, and past disease to the Personal Account. The guide on inserting the data into the Personal Account is regularly forwarded to students’ e-mails with a link to the video specifying the technology of submitting the data on vaccination and a medical exemption through the Personal Account of a student of St Petersburg University.

Students asked how fast the group is transferred to the remote format with the use of information and communication technology in case of the disease occurrence in this group. Deputy Head of the Academic Office in the field of Law reminded that according to Order № 4430/1 dated 29 April 2021, students should immediately inform the head of the academic office in the relevant field about the COVID-19 case of a student or the persons, with whom the student had had contact within the prior 14 days, providing the following information: last name, first name, patronymic of the infected person and persons that had been in contact with the infected person, academic programme, year, cohort, group, date of infection, date and place of the last visit to St Petersburg University. As soon as the academic office specialists receive the information on the infection of a student, who had been in contact with other students, they take the decision on transferring classes and/or interim assessment to the remote format and introducing quarantine measures.

Current issues with organising the teaching and learning process as well as holding interim assessments were discussed at the meetings with representatives of the student councils and the heads of the Faculty of Physics, the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes, the Institute of History, the Institute of Philosophy. The meetings with representatives of student councils were also held by the heads of the Faculty of Philology, the Faculty of Economics, the Faculty of Political Science, the Institute of Earth Sciences.

Chinese version of the St Petersburg University Virtual Reception

The version of the Virtual Reception of St Petersburg University in Chinese on the official portal of St Petersburg University was developed and created by the specialists of the Public Relations Department and the University Information Technology Service on 1 November 2021. The service underwent technical testing for three months. Over 800 views of the page were registered during this time period, but no enquiries were sent through the service.

Similar to the English version, the Chinese version of the service follows the principle of one click. Unlike the Russian version, all enquiries are forwarded via a general feedback form rather than to a specific official.

The service has a simpler form due to the following factors:

technical characteristics of the St Petersburg University website versions in foreign languages
fewer enquiries in foreign languages than in Russian

Upon completion of all technical adjustments, on 31 January, a link to the service in the Chinese version of the website was placed in the menu to attract attention.

The information on launching the service on 28 January was published in the Chinese version of the website and distributed through the communication channels among the Chinese audience via mailing to partners, students and representative offices. The information was also sent to the chairperson of the International Student Club at St Petersburg University.

Work of St Petersburg University as part of the Global MOOC Alliance

On 11 December 2020, an online conference took place in Beijing, where the establishment of the Global MOOC Alliance (GMA) was announced. As a recognised leader at the online education market, St Petersburg University was the only Russian university to become a co-founder of this non-profit partnership (St Petersburg University is a co-founder and the first representative of Russia in the Global Alliance for Massive Open Online Courses). The goal of the Global MOOC Alliance is to popularise the best pedagogical practices in the development of online courses and foster bilateral and multilateral cooperation among the world leaders in this area.

According to Vladimir Starostenko, Director of the Centre of E-Learning Development, Member of the GMA Executive Committee, a stimulating scholarship programme was established together with Tsinghua University and XuetangX platform in 2021. This programme enabled the students of the St Petersburg University courses, including the students of the leading Chinese universities to compensate academic costs on condition of successful course completion. Following the results of the scholarship session, 114 students of Chinese universities took part in the programme.

Due to cooperation as part of the GMA and long-standing partnership between St Petersburg University and Tsinghua University, it became possible for the students of St Petersburg University to take online courses of Tsinghua University synchronously with the help of information and communication technologies in the spring term of the 2020/21 academic year and the autumn term of the 2021/22 academic year. This initiative was suggested by Professor Qiu Yong, President of Tsinghua University. Following the selection process on the part of Tsinghua University, over 150 students of St Petersburg University were enrolled both as non-graduating students and as students with a possibility of credit transfer. In the autumn term, five students of Tsinghua University did the courses of St Petersburg University in the same manner.

Currently, student exchange in the spring term of the 2021/22 academic year is being organised. There is a list of disciplines that the students of St Petersburg University can study as non-graduating students or as students with a possibility of credit transfer. The required information has been forwarded to the Academic Office and will be passed to directors and deans as well as forwarded to the e-mails of students studying at the programmes with a Chinese component.

For a year, Tsinghua University has offered the students of St Petersburg University to attend courses at Tsinghua University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Peking University as part of the Global Hybrid Classroom Initiative (GHC).

The teachers of the universities could also join the initiative and offer their courses to organise global online learning within the framework of the GMA cooperation. More detailed information and contact details of the secretariat can be found on the GMA website.

In December 2021, a regular meeting of the Global MOOC Alliance Board took place. The composition of the Alliance stayed unchanged, with 20 universities and educational institutions taking the lead in the sphere of online education worldwide. The Alliance continues to perform its key functions that include joint education, creating new opportunities, distributing new knowledge and promoting public initiatives in the sphere of online education. At the meeting, the participants raised the question of changing the name of the Alliance, since its activity is not limited to MOOC only. The new name – Global MOOC and Online Education Alliance – is aimed at reflecting the goal and essence of the member activity more accurately and fully.

At the Board meeting, Vladimir Starostenko made a presentation calling the colleagues to develop international quality standards for online courses to be further used by the members of the Alliance. He also raised a burning issue of using the system of video recording at the examination (online invigilation system) as well as providing for transparency and fairness during the online examination process.

Moreover, at the end of 2021, St Petersburg University put forward an initiative of revisiting the current partner agreement in the part of distributing the income from online products. In the course of the negotiations, the Chinese side accepted the proposal. Currently, according to the additional agreement signed by both parties on 12 October 2021, the income from implementing online courses and including online products of St Petersburg University in SPOC (small private online course) will be distributed in the 50/50 proportion.

State accreditation of the educational activity

Amendments to the Federal Law on Education regarding state accreditation of educational activity will come into force on 1 March 2022. In this connection, a new regulation has been developed. It will govern the procedure of state accreditation of educational activity.

The objectives of the new system are to simplify the procedure, make the criteria transparent, reduce the burden on universities, and optimise the labour costs associated with regular accreditation. Redundant and duplicative requirements are excluded from the accreditation procedure.

A number of academic programmes have been excluded from the state accreditation procedure, including aspirantura programmes (military aspirantura programmes) for training research and teaching staff. Requirements for implementation of these programmes are established by Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation № 2122 as of 30 November 2021 ‘On Approving the Regulations for Training of Research and Teaching Staff in Aspirantura Programmes (Military Aspirantura Programmes)’ and will come into force on 1 March 2022. Thus, from 1 March 2022, aspirantura programmes cease to be academic programmes. However, students previously admitted to aspirantura programmes continue their studies in aspirantura programmes for training research and teaching staff (until their completion).

The subject of accreditation expertise is the confirmation of compliance of the quality of education with the established accreditation indicators (rather than compliance with the Federal State Educational Standards, as it was previously). For this purpose, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, in collaboration with the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science (Rosobrnadzor), have developed the relevant indicators:

Order of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation № 868 as of 29 November 2021 'On approval of accreditation indicators on the degree programmes – academic programmes of primary general, basic general and secondary general education'.
Order of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation № 1094 as of 25 November 2021 'On approval of accreditation indicators for academic programmes of higher education'.

Indefinite state accreditation certificates for the declared academic programmes will be issued from 1 March 2022 on the basis of the accreditation expertise results.

Information on the educational system monitoring results, independent evaluation of the quality of education, professional and public accreditation, as well as information from higher education institution's self-evaluation reports are taken into account while conducting state accreditation of academic programmes. Monitoring of accreditation indicators will be carried out by the Federal Service for Supervision in Education and Science on a regular basis in order to continuously and systematically control the quality of education. These indicators are the basis for annual internal monitoring of the quality of St Petersburg University academic programmes in order to assess the effectiveness of their implementation.

Grant competition to support student scientific societies

Applications are being collected for the contest for grants in the form of subsidies from the federal budget to higher education institutions for the implementation of activities aimed at supporting student scientific societies. The contest is organised by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation.

Information about the call for applications is available on the Department for Youth Affairs page of the St Petersburg University portal (Grant Competitions for student scientific societies).

All higher education institutions in Russia which have student scientific societies will be able to apply from 25 January to 25 February 2022 to take part in a contest to support Student Scientific Societies, in which the Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education will allocate 100 million roubles in the form of grants.

The Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation plans to support up to 40 student teams, each of which will receive a grant of 1, 3 or 5 million roubles, depending on their experience and plans in developing student science. At the same time, a team applying for the maximum grant (5 million roubles) must include at least one event with international participation in its programme, while a grant of 1 million roubles may be limited to the regional agenda.

Applications will be evaluated on the organisational and research experience of the student teams, achievements in other similar contests, their development programmes and the ideas presented.

Aleksandr Babich, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Admissions, discussed the preparation of the University's application for the contest with the Presidium of the Student Council of St Petersburg University (Minutes of the meeting with the students – representatives of the Presidium of the Student Council of St Petersburg University) on 27 January 2022. Despite the fact that taking into account the opinion of the students’ representative body is not obligatory (according to the terms of the competitive selection), it is important for the St Petersburg University Student Council to be actively involved in the support and development of student science. As the issues related to student science are of great importance and significance, it is also important to actively involve the representatives of the University student scientific societies in the work of the Student Council of St Petersburg University. Aleksandr Babich said that a meeting with the representatives of the University student scientific societies on participation in this contest was scheduled for 2 February 2022. The chairs of the student scientific societies can send their questions in advance by e-mail to: prorector_priem_urm@spbu.ru.

Students wishing to submit their student scientific societies’ development project for the contest should send completed forms for their contest projects no later than 16 February to the Deputy Head of the Department of Youth Affairs in their respective areas of study or by e-mail to: urm@spbu.ru.

Participants in the meeting discussed the possibility of submitting an interdisciplinary application for the contest. After an exchange of views (speeches were made by Irina Balova, Director of the Institute of Chemistry, Tatiana Chernigovskaya, Director of the Institute for Cognitive Studies, and Mikhail Belousov, Associate Professor at the Institute of History), the Rector instructed the Chairman of the Standing Committee for Research of the Academic Council of St Petersburg University to discuss such a possibility with the participation of the chairs of the St Petersburg University subdivisions.

Moving of students across the halls of residence

Despite the fact that as early as October last year (Order № 10037/1 dated 20 October 2021) free moving across the halls of residence was expressly allowed, regardless of their location (for the students living in the halls of residence who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 or have suffered COVID-19 during the previous six calendar months, or have medical exemptions for COVID-19 vaccination), the false information that such moving is allowed only between the halls of residence in the Petrodvoretsovy District continues to be spread by some students on social networks.

Aleksandr Babich, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Admissions, noted, it was surprising that the University had recently received a request from the Student Council of St Petersburg University to allow such moving between all the halls of residence. The response to this request is posted by the St Peterburg University Virtual Reception (Moving of students across the halls of residence).

Аleksandr Babich suggested that directors of the institutes and deans of the faculties should convey this information to students when communicating with student councils, and also reiterate that false information about the University activities should not be disseminated on social media.

Conducting additional entrance examinations at St Petersburg University

Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, reminded that the issue of conducting additional entrance examinations had been recently discussed (Minutes of the Rector's meeting dated 17 January 2022). At that time, the willingness to conduct additional entrance examinations in the form of an interview in a distance format on the ethics of relationships at the University was expressed by Tatiana Chernigovskaya, Director of the Institute for Cognitive Studies, and Abdulla Daudov, Director of the Institute of History.

The Rector revisited the issue as planned. None of the directors and deans have expressed their willingness to conduct such tests so far. The Rector made a decision that the heads of the academic and research subdivisions who wished to do so could report their readiness to carry out such tests at any time.

St Petersburg University annual Andrey Pavlenko Research and Social Projects Contest ‘Life and Human Health: Modern Challenges’

St Petersburg University holds a contest of scientific and social projects ‘Life and Human Health: Modern Challenges’ dedicated to the memory of Andrey Pavlenko among University students. Order № 296/1 dated 20 January 2022 approved the Regulation on the contest and established a scholarship named after Andrey Pavlenko (St Petersburg University announces annual Andrey Pavlenko research and social projects contest).

According to Aleksandr Babich, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Admissions, the contest is held among the students of St Petersburg University in all fields of study and at all levels, regardless of the form and basis of the study. The contest is dedicated to the memory of Andrey Pavlenko, an outstanding humanist, surgical oncologist and Head of the Oncology Department at the University’s Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies, who departed this life in 2020 after a long struggle with cancer. The aim of the contest is to draw attention to humanistic ideas of physical, mental and social health.

To participate in the contest, it is possible to submit applications for support of projects that are only in the planning stage or for ones that are already underway. It is also possible to apply for encouragement of authors who have completed projects, as long as they were brought to a close no earlier than a year before the deadline for submission of applications to the contest.

A contest project can be carried out either in a single academic field or as part of a multi-disciplinary project.

The contest is being held in the following categories:

Recent or Ongoing Research in a Specific Field (a research project)
Applied Research in a Specific Field (a research project)
Technologies to Promote Preventive Information on Diseases / Health Threats (a social project)
Improvement of the Quality of Life and Human Health (a social project)

The authors of the winning and runner-up applications in each nomination will be awarded diplomas and commemorative gifts. The winners will receive a scholarship named after Andrey Pavlenko in the amount of 15,000 roubles per month (in equal parts for all students who are co-authors included in the author team, or in full for the sole author) for the period from 1 September to 30 June in a single academic year, in which the results of the contest are announced. The scholarship for the period from 1 September of the respective academic year to the month in which the results of the contest are announced, shall be paid in a lump sum.

For the 2021/22 academic year, the contest is scheduled to take place from 1 February to 8 April. Detailed information about the contest is available on the University portal. Applications for the contest will be accepted from 1 February to 13 March via a special online form on the St Petersburg University portal.

Assessment of the Technology Readiness Level created when performing Research and Development Activities

On 19 January, St Petersburg University issued Order № 241/1 'On evaluating the level of readiness of technology created during research and development work'. As explained by Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Research, in accordance with this local act, the heads of incomplete research and development projects must indicate the level of technological readiness of Research Activity / Research and Development Activity results when completing project information on the St Petersburg University Pure portal.

A nine-level TRL (Technology Readiness Level) scale is currently used in Russia and worldwide to assess the level of readiness of the technology created during research or research and development activity. Correlation with a specific Technology Readiness Level makes it possible to see how far the development has progressed in relation to the final product – a complete industrial design, and also helps in assessing possible risks for all participants of the process (executor, co-executing partner, customer/technology partner). Almost all major corporations in Russia and worldwide use TRL assessment in their activities.

The Technology Readiness Level at St Petersburg University will allow demonstrating the existing experience in applied research and the Technology Readiness Level developed by St Petersburg University when compiling the St Petersburg University competence package in a particular field to a potential customer.

Sergey Mikushev emphasised that many funds and programmes for support of scientific and technological developments implemented by innovation development institutions were already using the Technology Readiness Level scale values as an indicator to better position and rank the projects offered for support or as one of the criteria for participation in tenders. For example, only the projects whose current level of technology development for the proposed solutions was not lower than the TRL 7 were eligible to participate in one of the contests held by the Russian Foundation for IT Development for grants aimed at implementing domestic products, services and platform solutions created on the basis of ‘end-to-end’ digital technologies.

Attention was drawn to the need for information on the achieved Technology Readiness Level to be submitted to the Pure system of St Petersburg University by the heads of completed projects within five working days from the date of the work acceptance certificate approval.

Support measures for doctoral students

The St Petersburg University Strategic Plan focuses on developing staff potential and support for young researchers (in particular, doctoral students). On 5 January, Professor Vladimir Shabaev made a proposal to support doctoral students. Having analysed the current situation, Nikolay Kropachev, Rector of St Petersburg University, decided to allocate 30 flats in the Petrodvoretsovy District as service accommodation for doctoral students.

Sergey Mikushev, Vice-Rector for Research, held a discussion with the chairpersons of scientific committees, deans and directors of subdivisions located in the Petrodvoretsovy District on 19 January on the instructions of the Rector. Two issues were discussed: proposals for the eligibility criteria of young researchers and doctoral students for the provision of service housing, as well as proposals for the support of young specialists. An order is being prepared to provide housing for doctoral students.

It was emphasised at the meeting: service housing is serious support for doctoral students. It is necessary to work out an effective solution by joint efforts in order to attract the most promising young researchers to doctoral programmes at the University. This will require answering the following questions: what criteria should be used to choose doctoral students for service housing; under what conditions and for how long service accommodation should be provided. The draft order will be sent to directors and deans to make proposals for its adjustment.

St Petersburg University Centre for Dynamic Process and System Analysis

2011 saw the establishment of the Intelligent Logistics Centre in order to develop a scientific and educational environment for the development and application of new mathematical methods and software tools in the field of mathematical modelling and optimisation of logistics processes and systems. The centre is headed by Professor Victor Zakharov.

As explained by Vladimir Eremeev, Vice-Rector for Human Resources, during this time, various research and educational projects were carried out at the Centre. In particular, the research of the Intelligent Logistics Centre in modelling and forecasting of dynamics in coronavirus proliferation has resonated in society and mass media. The research resulted in the creation of a new virus epidemic mathematical model, demonstrating the high efficiency of the received prognosis (Mathematicians of St Petersburg University develop a new model for epidemics forecasting and learn when to expect the second peak of COVID-19; Expert: Daily increase of patients with COVID-19 in Russia may reach 65,000 by 1 February; A rise with a turn: Mathematicians come up with a new forecast for Covid cases).

The basis of successful work of the Centre is fundamental and practical results of long-term researches of the scientists of the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes in the field of modelling and optimisation of controlled and conflict-controlled dynamic processes and systems for various purposes. This activity has been supported both by St Petersburg University and Russian science foundations for many years.

In order to further improve and develop the expert and analytical activities of St Petersburg University, the Rector decided to establish the Centre for Dynamic Process and System Analysis as part of the University. The name of the centre, in the opinion of Professor Victor Zakharov, is more appropriate to the subject matter and the range of tasks that the scientists plan to tackle in the future.

Gratitude on the part of Andrei Fursenko, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation

It was announced at the Rector's meeting that a letter signed by Andrei Fursenko, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation, was received from the Presidential Administration. The letter expressed gratitude to Viktor Titov, Senior Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics, for his personal contribution to the implementation of the Year of Science and Technology in Russia and active participation in the activities of the Coordination Council for Youth Affairs in the Sphere of Science and Education under the Presidential Council for Science and Education.

The letter notes Viktor Titov’s personal contribution to the successful implementation of key events of the Year of Science and Education in the Russian Federation (such as the congress of young scientists) and expresses a wish for new achievements, large-scale projects and accomplishments.

The participants of the Rector's meeting congratulated their colleague on his well-deserved success.

Organising the work on processing, registering, storing and transferring the minutes of the meetings for archiving as part of the collection at the St Petersburg University Archive Depository

The documents of St Petersburg State University are a source of acquisition of the Archival Fund of the Russian Federation. One of the types of documents with a permanent storage period are minutes of meetings and appointments of the University officials, directors and deans of academic and research subdivisions, heads of structural divisions, chairpersons of advisory (collegial), scientific, expert, methodological, advisory and other bodies established at St Petersburg University (or under St Petersburg University).

Laura Useinova, Head of the Administrative Control Department, reminded that in order to arrange for the processing, registration, storage and transfer of the minutes into the archive of the St Petersburg University Archive Depository and appoint those responsible for the archives, Order № 473/1 dated 26 January 2022 ‘On the arrangement of processing, registration, storage and transfer of the minutes of the meetings into the archive of the St Petersburg University Archive Depository’ was issued. The order and methodological recommendations, in accordance with which it is necessary to draw up reports and meeting minutes, have been sent to all managers via the Electronic Document Management System ‘Delo’.

Holding the 3rd Winter School on Translation and Interpreting at St Petersburg University

The 3rd Winter School on Translation and Interpreting was held at St Petersburg University on 27-29 January. Over three days, 1,200 participants from 39 countries attended a series of daily lectures, master classes and training in a distance format, where they were able to update their knowledge in the subject area as well as expand their skills in different aspects of translation and interpreting. Two years ago, the 1st School on Translation and Interpreting was attended by 400 participants.

According to Svetlana Rubtsova, Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, the School was organised into 14 sections in different language groups: English, Italian, Spanish, German, Bulgarian, Dutch, Portuguese, Chinese, and Turkish to name just a few. They were moderated by professors not only from the Faculty of Foreign Languages, but also from other academic subdivisions: the Faculty of Philology and the Faculty of Asian and African Studies. Prominent translation theorists and practitioners, who have made a significant contribution to the development of the industry, were invited as speakers. In July 2022, the 3rd Summer School on Translation and Interpreting will take place (traditionally attended by professors from the Institute for Cognitive Studies).

A phenomenon of collective existence at the University was highlighted at the meeting. Previously, when foreign language teachers had been working as part of the Faculty of Philology for several decades, such events were not organised. However, now the research and teaching staff from various academic and research subdivisions of St Petersburg University have joined forces to initiate the School on Translation and Interpreting.