Minutes of the Rector’s Meeting

Organising the activity at St Petersburg University in view of the amendments to the Resolution of the Government of St Petersburg ‘On the measures of countering the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in St Petersburg’ dated 13 March 2020

On 23 October, the Governor of St Petersburg signed Resolution № 795 ‘On the amendments to Resolution № 121 of the Government of St Petersburg dated 13 March 2020’.

The resolution stipulates that 70% of employees in the organisations of St Petersburg shall work remotely from 30 October to 7 November 2021. At St Petersburg University, 74% of employees worked remotely .

According to the resolution, shopping and entertainment centres except for the grocery and basic goods stores in St Petersburg shall suspend their operation from 30 October to 7 November 2021. The document suspends access to the libraries, fitness centres, aquaparks, swimming pools and other organisations providing services in the sphere of physical culture and sport. Conducting sport and physical culture events and providing services on organising recreation activities for children and youth in St Petersburg is also prohibited. Access to the University library and swimming pool has been suspended. Sport and physical culture events have been cancelled.

Senior Vice-Rector Elena Chernova reported that the resolution has a number of provisions that directly affect the University life. One of them is the transfer of all educational activity to distance learning for: academic programmes of secondary vocational training; degree professional training programmes; non-degree professional training programmes; and additional comprehensive degree programmes from 30 October to 7 November 2021. Distance learning is recommended for the academic programmes at universities.

The Senior Vice-Rector also reminded that the University shall organise its activity from 30 October to 7 November 2021 in accordance with Presidential Decree № 595 ‘On establishing days off in October — November 2021 in the territory of the Russian Federation’ dated 20 October 2021.

The following by-laws have been issued following the provisions of the above-mentioned documents:

• № 10486/1 ‘On organising extracurricular events from 30 October to 7 November 2021’ dated 28 October 2021
• № 10197/1 ‘On organising the teaching and learning process from 30 October to 7 November 2021’ dated 25 October 2021
• № 10275/1 dated 26 October 2021 ‘On the measures of implementing Presidential Decree № 595 ‘On establishing days off in October — November 2021 in the territory of the Russian Federation’ dated 20 October 2021’’

Elena Chernova added that last week the Governor signed another document regulating the working hours in the regional organisations starting 8 November 2021: the Governor’s Order № 820 ‘On the amendments to Resolution № 121 of the Government of St Petersburg dated 13 March 2020’. The resolution prescribes the following:

• starting 8 November 2021, operation of food service companies and entertainment events shall be banned from 11pm to 6am every day;
• people who are medically exempt from vaccinations against COVID-19 shall be required to provide a medical exemption certificate together with a negative PCR test taken within the last three days in order to enter the events requiring a QR code;
• people over 60 years old without vaccination against COVID-19 are recommended to stay at home or at the place of residence in case there is no urgency to go outside;
• employers are recommended to transfer the employees over 60 years old to a remote mode within four days and direct the employees with chronic conditions (in case they have no medical contraindications to the vaccine against COVID-19) to get vaccinated. Besides, the employers are recommended to provide two paid days off to the employees receiving the first and (or) second vaccine component on the day of vaccination and on the following day in case of both primary vaccination and revaccination.

All these decisions shall be strictly followed at St Petersburg University.

Current issues with organising the teaching and learning process

Last week, the Virtual Reception received 21 enquiries from students and teachers (including 11 enquiries on educational and methodological issues) addressed to the Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities. 19 enquiries were registered in the student enquiry register.

According to Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, the topics of the enquiries included the following: transfer to St Petersburg University; possibility to attend classes; possibility to receive a certificate confirming the authenticity of the St Petersburg University diploma; possibility to receive advanced training at St Petersburg University; classes in physical training and sport; conditions of studying at St Petersburg University for international students upon receiving Russian citizenship; time frame for winter interim assessment; actions of the University teacher; self-isolation and distance learning; acknowledgement of extracurricular activities; issue of certificates; the procedure for choosing a research supervisor; and studies for international students. All enquiries are being addressed and responded in a timely manner.

An aspirantura student sent an enquiry to the Virtual Reception about specific online courses included in the curriculum and their relation to the academic programme studies. The student refers to the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standards, while St Petersburg University implements the programmes of higher education including doctoral programmes based on the self-established educational standards that may exceed the federal standard requirements.

Marina Lavrikova reminded that the self-established educational standards at St Petersburg University was approved by Order № 7828/1 ‘On establishing the standard of higher education at St Petersburg University’ (with further amendments and additions) dated 9 August 2018 and was published on the University website (https://spbu.ru/sveden/eduStandarts).

According to the St Petersburg University educational standard, the combination of competencies for every academic programme includes universal competencies established by the University educational standard. The universal competencies established by the St Petersburg University educational standard is an indispensable part of all degree programmes including the aspirantura programmes. The competencies are formed by the common university disciplines implemented in the format of online classes in particular. The aspirantura applicants can learn about the St Petersburg University educational standards and teaching methodology documentation for each academic programme at the stage of application.

Thus, in order to receive the diploma of St Petersburg University, students should study and prove the acquisition of all the competencies provided by the St Petersburg University educational standard. The exclusion of obligatory disciplines forming the required competencies contradicts the current legislation on education and the University educational standard. When forming the University competencies, students have the right to attend online courses of the leading international and Russian universities. The online course assessment results can be transferred as the results of mastering a specific discipline in the curriculum.

Marina Lavrikova added that according to the information from the majority of academic and research subdivisions, the classes were delivered according to the timetable last week.

The majority of academic and research subdivisions held meetings with student councils, while some directors did not hold such meetings last week.

Thus, the Directors of the Institute of Philosophy, the Institute of History, the Institute of Earth Sciences, and the Deans of the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Faculty of Economics, the School of International Relations, the Faculty of Sociology, the Faculty of Biology, the Faculty of Philology, the Faculty of Applied Mathematics and Control Processes, the Mathematics and Mechanics Faculty told the Student Councils about the format of studies from 30 October to 7 November 2021. According to Order № 10197/1 ‘On organising the teaching and learning process from 30 October to 7 November 2021’ dated 25 October 2021, classes shall be held with the use of information and communication technologies during this period of time.

Marina Lavrikova mentioned that the Dean of the Faculty of Arts gave the Student Council representatives a task to raise awareness among the students about the importance of vaccination against coronavirus and the observation of all anti-epidemic measures.

The Director of the Institute of History explained the Student Council representatives the need to inform about the problems with organising the academic process on a weekly basis.

A student asked the Senior Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Economics about the procedure of taking decisions on the transfer to the vacant government-funded places in case of competition. The Deputy Dean reminded that such places remain vacant till the next scheduled meeting of the Central Transfer and Reinstatement Committee. The vacant places can be claimed by the persons seeking reinstatement, transfer from the paid to the government-funded place, and transfer from another higher education institution. If needed, an additional assessment may be held. Detailed information on the procedure of transfer and reinstatement can be found in the University resources.

The Acting Dean of the Faculty of Medicine told the Student Council members about the access to the Simulation Centre (the Centre of Medical Accreditations) at St Petersburg University as well as about the continuous collection of information required to establish the training plan to prepare the students for the Olympiads at the Centre. Besides, the students asked about the future format of practical classes in general surgery that used to take place at City Multifield Hospital № 2 for one of the groups. Recently, this hospital was assigned to provide help to the coronavirus patients. These issues are being resolved. The changes in the schedule of practical classes in general surgery are supervised by the Deputy Dean of the Faculty.

Last week, the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Senior Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Biology discussed with the students the issues of electing the new members of the Student Council.

Following the discussion at the Rector’s meeting and due to the current circumstances, the directors of academic and research subdivisions were given a task to provide Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities Marina Lavrikova with the information on all issues related to the teaching and learning process organisation before 7pm on a daily basis. The Rector underlined that this information should be forwarded as soon as possible. He reminded that in the spring of 2020 during the emergency transition to the distance learning, such a measure helped to solve many extremely important issues.

The Director of the Information Technology Service Sergey Sevryukov spoke about the issues of organising the teaching and learning process. He said that 35 hybrid classrooms will be opened at the University by the end of the term (Minutes of the Rector’s meeting dated 20 September 2021). Such classrooms enable the teachers and students to make the transition to a new level of studies with the use of information and communication technologies. Hybrid classrooms unite the teaching and learning process participants in the University building with those outside the University. The equipment provides for equal participation of all teaching and learning process participants and enables the students to interact with the teacher.

The classrooms to be equipped for a hybrid format were selected by the University Information Technology Service together with the directors of institutes and deans of faculties. The main criteria are the acoustic and lighting conditions to create efficient multimedia audio and video interaction as well as the audience capacity.

The selection of classrooms to be re-equipped started at the beginning of the year. At the end of October, the specialists of the University Information Technology Service already completed the design, tender documentation, procurement procedures and started the supply and mounting of the equipment. Sergey Sevruykov noted that despite the interruptions in the equipment supply caused by the coronavirus restrictions, all the necessary equipment has already been received by the University and is being mounted in the classrooms at the moment. Next week, despite the days off, the work will continue.

The directors and deans were asked to provide proposals on the equipment for a hybrid format and other classrooms in the University buildings.

Expulsion of students due to violating the legislation of the Russian Federation and St Petersburg University by-laws

On the night of 18 September to 19 September, in the halls of residence in the Petrodvortsovy District in St Petersburg, a group of students violated at length the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation including: the silence regime at night; ban for drinking alcohol in the territory of an educational organisation; and the current anti-epidemic measures.

Aleksandr Babich, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Admissions, reminded that this incident was discussed at the Rector’s meeting held on 20 September. It was noted that the students found guilty of violating the legislation and the University by-laws will undergo disciplinary measures including expulsion from St Petersburg University.

At the Rector’s meeting held on 1 November, Aleksandr Babich reported that relevant breach reports were drawn in relation to the students that had violated the current legislation of the Russian Federation and the University by-laws. Based on these acts, the students were imposed disciplinary action following the established procedure.

Aleksandr Babich clarified that according to the current legislation, the severity of the disciplinary violation, reasons, circumstances and previous conduct of the student including their psychological, physical and emotional condition were taken into consideration when choosing the disciplinary measure.

Aleksandr Babich said that the students were detained by the law enforcement officers and held liable for misdemeanours provided by the Administrative Offence Code of the Russian Federation, namely: drinking alcohol in prohibited areas (article 20.20); being drunk in public places (article 20.21); disorderly conduct or violation of public order, showing disrespect for the society (article 20.1); and insubordination to the lawful order of the police officer (article 19.3).

It was noted at the meeting that the students did not contest the decision of the law enforcement, since no information of the kind was received from the students and law enforcement. Aleksandr Babich also emphasised that the students had been warned about the illegal nature of such conduct not only by the authorised officials at the University, but also by the Student Council at St Petersburg University (Official Group of the Student Council on the VK website).

Based on the combination of the above mentioned circumstances, six students were imposed the disciplinary measure of expulsion and one student was reprimanded (How many students have been expelled from St Petersburg University for disorderly conduct?; Have the students violating public order been punished?).

The meeting participants underscored that several hundred students violated public order in the halls of residence on the night of 18 September to 19 September. At the same time, according to the posts by students on social networks, the detained students were not the most active breachers of public order, while the most active ones hide and keep silent refusing to confess voluntarily.

The Ethics Committee decision on doctoral student Aleksei Pachin

At the Rector’s meeting, the decision of the Ethics Committee on the actions of Aleksei Pachin, a second-year doctoral student in Economics, was reported (Minutes of the Rector’s meeting dated 4 October 2021). The Ethics Committee of St Petersburg University resolved the following: ‘It has been decided that the actions of Aleksei Pachin fail to correspond to the high status of the student at St Petersburg University’. The complete text of the decision is published on the University website.

Operation of the Pure system

To increase the efficiency of the research and development activity, it is required that all the participants of the research and development process including research and teaching staff, early-career researchers, students, administrative personnel shall timely receive and send current information at every stage of the research life cycle from the competition application to the project report submission. The Pure system is a tool of information exchange and research management at St Petersburg University. It serves as a single source of all the data on the research process in the organisation. The Pure system unites publications, research projects, data on the researchers, faculties, collaborations, grants, reports, etc.

According to Vice-Rector for Research Anastasiia Iarmosh, creating, filling and maintaining such a centralised system of control and monitoring requires organised work on the part of both research and teaching staff and administrative subdivisions (the Research Support Service; the Centre of Expert Advice; the Research Park; and the Scientific Library to name just a few). The quality and completeness of the input data will directly affect the quality of the decisions taken including the incentives based on the publishing activity data and attracted funding.

Anastasiia Iarmosh reminded that today all the staff data required for the research activity analysis are imported to the Pure system from the SAP and ‘Learning’ system at St Petersburg University including the following information: full name; position; expiration date of the labour agreement with the organisation for employees; full name of the student; and academic programme. The information on the applications, publications, participation in the events (conferences, symposia, etc.), decorations should be inserted into the Pure system independently and in due time by the employees and students. Аnastasiia Iarmosh added that it is possible to import publications from external online sources to the Pure system (detailed step-by-step guide can be found here). Library workers shall verify the information on publications uploaded to the Pure system by research and teaching staff. The information on the grants and agreements shall be inserted by the workers of the Research Support Service, the Research Park, the Centre of Expert Advice following the instructions and data on the competition and negotiation results.

The Pure system at St Petersburg University is an analytical tool for the information analysis within the following major blocks.

1. Publication activity of the University employees and students

There is an option of extracting and analysing qualitative and quantitative indicators of the publication activity by the University employees and students per year and per quartile (according to Scopus), as well as various metrics (SJR, JSR, etc.). There is an option of creating rankings per department/faculty/institute with the data for each research and teaching staff member (age groups, positions, h-index, etc.), forming analytical statistics based on the overall number of publications and specific indicators.

2. The information on the participation in research competitions by the University employees and students.

There is a possibility to analyse quantitative indicators of the employee’s and student’s activity in specific competitions and in general including age groups, subdivisions, and positions. For example, based on the data export from the Pure system it is possible to create rankings per department/faculty/institute specifying the number of submitted applications for the early-career researcher’s competition to the Russian Science Foundation.

3. The information on the grant activity of the University employees and students funded by Russian and international research foundations, St Petersburg University (as part of internal competitions)

Within this block, it is possible to analyse quantitative and financial indicators of the competition activity results by the employees and students in specific competitions and in general (per age group, subdivision, position, scope of the attracted funds and other indicators).

4. The information on the concluded contracts for research and development activity, expert activity, services, cooperation agreements performed by the University employees and students.

In this block, there is an option to analyse quantitative and financial indicators of the attracted funds (per age group, subdivision, position, scope of the attracted funds and other indicators).

Information on other types of research activity performed by the students and employees at St Petersburg University

Within this block, there in an option to analyse information related to research activity: data on the decorations and awards, participation in research events including conferences, symposia, etc.

The option of using the data from the first, second and fifth blocks for analysis depends on the completeness, timeliness and accuracy of the information inserted by the employees and students of St Petersburg University. It is directly related to the incentive measures determining the priority in funding allocation.

Anastasiia Iarmosh said that a comparative analysis of data from the Scopus database and the Pure system is performed for the publications by the employees of the academic and research subdivisions in 2020. The total number of publications reflected in the Pure system is 3,338. At the same time, a comparative analysis showed that the research and teaching staff failed to insert the information on 571 publications listed in Scopus in 2020 into the Pure system.

Answering the questions of the Rector’s meeting participants, Anastasiia Iarmosh noted that the information on the publications and comparative data between Pure and Scopus was taken as a model. In case of a deeper analysis, it may occur that many publications of the University employees in 2019 and earlier have not been introduced into the Pure system. Thus, all the publications of 2020 should be inserted into the system first and then the data from the previous years can be completed.

Following the discussion, it was decided to forward links to the updated instructions on filling in the Pure system profiles to the corporate e-mails of the University employees by 8 November. The directors of the academic and research subdivisions will also receive the relevant staff lists with the Scopus publication data in 2020 timely reflected by the staff members in the Pure system.

The directors of the academic and research subdivisions were given a task to organise work with the staff members on updating the data on publications in the Pure system. The research and teaching staff failing to insert the data on their publications in the Pure system will not be recommended to receive bonuses for publications activity, attracting grants, extracurricular and other activity at the end of the year.

Visit of Consul General of the Republic of Cyprus Kyriakos Pogiatzis to St Petersburg University

Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs, reported that on 28 October St Petersburg University was visited by Consul General of the Republic of Cyprus Kyriakos Pogiatzis dedicated to his appointment.

During the meeting of Consul General Kyriakos Pogiatzis with Rector Nikolay Kropachev the following issues were discussed:

• opening a representative office of St Petersburg University in Cyprus
• opening new testing centres of St Petersburg University in Cyprus
• developing joint academic programmes based on the double degree model in the field of tourism attracting the largest tourism companies in Cyprus and Russia
• developing the division of the Byzantine and New-Hellenic philology at St Petersburg University
• creating online courses together with the leading university of Cyprus in the Greek language and history, and within the framework of the academic programme in Tourism.

According to Sergey Andryushin, special attention was paid to the possibility of concluding direct agreements with the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture and later with the Ministry of Culture that will become an independent state authority in 2022.

Consul General Kyriakos Pogiatzis underscored that cooperation between our countries is based on the bilateral agreement on mutual recognition of education, qualifications and researchers between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Republic of Cyprus valid since 2017. There is also an agreement between the Council of Rectors of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region and the Council of Rectors of the Republic of Cyprus. During the visit, Rector Nikolay Kropachev noted that St Petersburg University has the right to perform nostrification of academic credentials independently.

Since the Government of the Republic of Cyprus pays special attention to culture, the meeting participants discussed: the prospects of tentative cooperation between one of the Cyprus museums with St Petersburg University in general and the staff of the Department of Museum Management and Historical Monuments Preservation headed by Mikhail Piotrovsky in particular; and establishing contacts between theatre academies in Cyprus and the Faculty of Arts at St Petersburg University headed by Valery Gergiev.

Rector Nikolay Kropachev shared information about the double degree programmes with international partners and suggested that Mr Pogiatzis investigate the issues of creating a double degree programme in the field of tourism with one of the leading universities in Cyprus. Such a joint academic programme can be created with the participation of the employers both in the Republic of Cyprus and in Russia that can later seek high quality human resources. It was decided to discuss with the directors of institutes the prospects of creating a degree programme following the double degree model in collaboration with the universities and tourism companies of the countries with developed tourist sector.

Consul General Kyriakos Pogiatzis made a remark on the wonderful view opening from the reception hall of the Twelve Collegia building and the classic silhouette of the building outside and inside. In response, Nikolay Kropachev told Mr Pogiatzis that before there used to be a map of the world in the White Hall made from various wood types that had been presented to the University by its graduates. On that map, Cyprus was divided into the Southern and Northern parts. When this detail was noticed, it was decided to take the map down. The Consul General thanked the Rector for this decision. However, at the end of the meeting, he noted that St Petersburg University scientists have joint publications with two universities located in the northern part of Cyprus, which means that these universities conduct educational activity illegally. Sergey Andryushin, Deputy Rector for International Affairs, said that St Petersburg University has no agreements with these universities, while the publications should be the result of participation in international projects and conferences. The Rector requested that Sergey Andryushin investigate the situation and examine if the use of St Petersburg University affiliation is legitimate in such publications.

Sergey Andryushin also added that Consul General expressed interest in the Rector’s Room and asked for the permission to visit it, since it used to be the office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire. The Rector and the Consul General visited the room and took a joint picture near the historical fire place.

Publication of the works by the researchers of St Petersburg University in the Springer Nature Publishing House

The Springer Publishing House issued the first volume of the ‘Rational and Applied Mechanics (in two volumes)’ textbook by St Petersburg University. The book was written by the following authors:

• Nikolai Polyakhov (17 December 1906 — 27 January 1987), Honoured Scientist of the Russian Federation, Doctor of Engineering, Professor, author of 62 research articles in hydro-aeromechanics and theoretical mechanics
• Sergey Zegzhda (3 March 1935 — 1 October 2015), prominent scientist in the field of nonholonomic mechanics and hit theory, author of over 70 publications including two monographs
• Mikhail Yushkov, student and follower of Nikolai Polyakhov, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Professor in the Department of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics at St Petersburg University, world famous specialist in nonholonomic mechanics, research organiser, author of over 130 research publications

Along with traditional sections on theoretical mechanics, the book covers a wide range of specific issues including: dynamic stability; non-linear oscillations; dynamics and statics of the Stewart platform; mechanics under random forces; control theory elements; connection between nonholonomic mechanics and control theory; physical hit theory; and aeronautical dynamics. The book is aimed at university students in the field of mathematics and mechanics. It can be of interest to doctoral students and specialists in analytical mechanics.

According to Senior Vice-Rector Elena Chernova, the history of this book started in 1985, when it was first published by the Leningrad State University Publishing House. The book was granted the First Prize of the University. In 2000, the book was reissued by the ‘Vysshaya Shkola’ Publishing House (Moscow). The third issue was published by the Yurayt Publishing House (Moscow) in 2015.

In 2020, the team of authors at St Petersburg University together with scientists from other Russian research institutions headed by Mikhail Yushkov and Petr Tovstik (28 December 1935 — 30 December 2020) prepared for publication the 4th issue of the book adding a section on applied mechanics.

Elena Chernova said that the colleagues addressed the St Petersburg University Publishing House with a request to publish the 4th edition at the University and give the rights for the current and the subsequent publications to St Petersburg University forever. A licence agreement was concluded with the authors and negotiations with the Springer Publishing House were initiated about the publication of the English translation performed under the supervision of Mikhail Yushkov.

As a result, the rights for publication of the English translation were acquired by the German publishing house from the University in 2020. In 2021, the University received the first payment in the amount of 1,200 Euro from Springer. 10% royalty fee from the sales of the printed book will be directed to the University from now on.

For a year, the St Petersburg University Publishing House coordinated the work between Springer and the team of authors on the pre-printing treatment and issue of the first volume: concluding the contract between St Petersburg University and Springer; proof-reading; introducing corrections; and shipping personal copies to name just a few. In September 2021, the English translation of the first volume was published by Springer in the Foundations of Engineering Mechanics series.

Vladimir Babitsky, Editor of the Foundations of Engineering Mechanics series, wrote the following in the book review: ‘This fundamental and thoroughly prepared course of rational and applied mechanics reflects high teaching standards of the professors of St Petersburg University. The main distinguishing feature of the course is the wide scope covering both classical problems of mechanics and new research fields emerging during the application development. It also provides rich material to develop various specialised courses. Although the main content of the course is aimed at doctoral students, many sections can be studied at the bachelor’s level. The course has no analogues in the English literature in terms of the material scope. Upon publication, these books will take an important place in the libraries of the world largest universities.’

14books have already reached the University and the required number of books will be passed to the Scientific Library of St Petersburg University

Publication of the second volume of the book in English (Volume 2. Special Problems and Applications) is planned for the end of the 2021 and the beginning of 2022. During the same time period, the 4th Russian edition of the book ‘Rational and Applied Mechanics (in two volumes)’ will be published.

Elena Chernova also said that the publication of the works by St Petersburg University teachers in foreign languages will be performed on a regular basis. Negotiations with the Palgrave Macmillan Publishing House (a part of the Springer Nature Holding) on publishing the ‘Proverbs are Never Neutral’ monograph in English have been successfully completed. The Executive editors of the monograph are Marina Kotova, Doctor of Philology, Professor in the Department of Slavic Philology at St Petersburg University, and Outi Lauhakangas, a famous Finnish folklorist, paremiologist and sociologist. This monograph was one of the winners of the monograph competition at St Petersburg University in 2020 and was recommended for publication in an international publishing house by the expert publishing council.

The income from this type of activity will be distributed in the proportion of 80 to 20 between the authors and the University. The director of the St Petersburg University Publishing House is expecting further proposals from the University researchers.