University Council Reviews Year and Plans Ahead

The meeting addressed educational, international and project activities

On December 26, the final meeting of the University Council for 2025 was held at the Polytechnic. Vice-Rector for International Cooperation Anna Zotova summed up the university’s international activities for 2025. She noted a significant improvement in indicators for the export of educational services.

“Currently 1,048 foreign nationals are studying at the Polytechnic. The most popular programs among international students remain the Institute of Oil and Gas Technologies, the Institute of Automation and Information Technology, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, and the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport,” Zotova explained. “The geography of foreign students continues to expand. Next year, students from Bangladesh and Mali will join us.”

Discussing key areas of work for the coming year, Zotova specifically mentioned:

• developing joint educational programs in English with foreign universities;
• preparing joint grant applications;
• involving international students in research activities;
• creating a digital database of foreign alumni.

Director of the Center for Engineering Entrepreneurship and Innovation Ella Gereikhanova reported on the results of the “Project-Educational Tracks” program and noted a steady increase in participants and the innovative ideas they propose.

“This year we changed the format of the educational program. Now our students can choose between two tracks: project and educational,” Gereikhanova emphasized.

She reported that 10,463 students joined the project track. They are working on 987 projects, of which 540 are coursework projects and 447 are innovative projects. The educational track attracted 238 participants, with 14 projects already implemented. In addition, 37 promising developments are being worked on at the university’s branches in Novokuibyshevsk, Syzran and Belebei.

The council also decided to prepare licensing documentation for new educational programs:

• a program in 27.03.05 “Innovation Studies” (specialization “Innovation Management”), to be implemented by the Syzran branch of the Polytechnic;
• a program in 26.03.02 “Shipbuilding, Ocean Engineering and System Engineering of Marine Infrastructure Objects” (specialization “Shipbuilding and Ship Repair”), to be opened at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport (FMMT).

The latter program drew particular interest.

“Shipbuilding is now actively developing in the Samara Region,” said FMMT Dean Konstantin Nikitin. “The commissioning of new vessels naturally requires qualified personnel. The nearest university preparing shipbuilders is in Nizhny Novgorod. Since 2022 we have run a continuing professional education program in shipbuilding. However, after talking with representatives of specialized enterprises, we realized there is a need to train students at the higher-education level. Shipbuilding graduates are in demand not only by factories in the Samara Region but also in neighboring regions.”

In addition, Director of the Institute of Continuing Education Svetlana Yefimova announced the opening of an additional educational program for children, “After-School Group,” at the university’s House of Scientific Collaboration.

Tags: University Council, International Cooperation, International Students, FMMT, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Transport, Syzran Branch, Samara Polytechnic, Institute of Continuing Education, Polytechnic Students, Educational Program, DNA (faculty), House of Scientific Collaboration, ICOE, Project-Educational Tracks, Shipbuilding