The Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University and China University of Mining and Technology (CUMT) have prolonged the international co-operation agreement. Rector of the first technical university of Russia Vladimir Litvinenko and his colleague from China Song Xuefeng put their signatures on the document. They emphasised their mutual desire for closer integration.
Interaction between the two institutions of higher education should be brought to a new level. This concerns both the growth of academic mobility and the creation of collaborations for joint scientific research. This opinion was voiced more than once during the negotiations that preceded the ceremony of concluding the new agreement.
Both sides had plenty of time to identify the most promising areas where they could maximise results by combining their efforts. More recently, the Russian delegation visited Xuzhou, where CUMT is located, in order to listen to the opinion of the Chinese partners and to convey their own view on the further development of co-operation. The return visit also lasted for several days, which made it possible to find common ground and form a pool of projects, the implementation of which will be of mutual interest. Their substantive discussion took place on the eve of the signing ceremony.
For example, last academic year, five postgraduate students from the Celestial Empire underwent training at the Mining University. Within its framework, they performed a series of laboratory and computational experiments, as well as learnt the basic scientific competence "Philosophy of Science". According to Rector Vladimir Litvinenko, it was a positive experience for both them and the St Petersburg university. However, its scale needs obvious enlargement.
"We also need to establish an exchange of young teachers. I think it would be useful for them to plunge into an unfamiliar academic environment for about a month and learn about educational methods relevant to another country. This will allow them to gain additional pedagogical competences and broaden their horizons. It is clear that business contacts at the level of the management of our higher educational institutions and its leading professors should continue, but no less important are the horizontal ties of the new generation of teachers and scientists," emphasised Vladimir Litvinenko. He proposed to name this programme "School of Young Teachers" and start its implementation with the exchange of 20-30 teachers.
Another important element of academic mobility growth, as the rector believes, should be the exchange of heads of departments, as these people largely determine the policy of higher education institutions in specific areas. This means that they should be motivated to take part in integration processes. Without personal acquaintance with the goal-setting of the higher education community of the neighbouring state, educational and research programmes, which are emphasised there, it will be very difficult to achieve this.
"In my opinion, the optimal period of internships within the framework of the programme "School of Professional Heads of Educational Units" is about two weeks. During this time it is quite possible to get an idea of the academic environment formed at the partner university and to establish contacts with colleagues. As for postgraduate students, the most important thing is that they travel from China to Russia and back with specific tasks, have a good scientific background to solve them, and are set up for constructive co-operation. This is important for successful accumulation of knowledge, carrying out high-quality laboratory experiments and publishing joint scientific articles, which will outline not only the results of research, but also the methodology of their implementation", - said Vladimir Litvinenko.
CUMT President Song Xuefeng called the rector's proposals "an excellent idea" and assured those present that it would be quite realistic to start implementing it in the next semester. He considered the initiative to exchange young teachers particularly timely. After all, "it is they who in 20 or 30 years will be engaged in strengthening friendly ties between our higher schools, and it is necessary to prepare them for this mission already now".
"St. Petersburg Mining University is known as one of the world's leading educational institutions. We are proud of our co-operation with such a high-profile partner and look forward to taking it to the next level. It is gratifying that we were able to personally come to St. Petersburg to participate in the negotiations on the signing of the new agreement. Not only because we saw your wonderful city with our own eyes and were able to familiarise ourselves with your infrastructure. It was important because no amount of online communication, although it saves us a lot of time, will ever allow us to get the synergy that comes from face-to-face communication. I agree that we need to increase the mobility of students, postgraduates, teachers and scholars. This is an integral part of the principles that were formulated by the first persons of our states," Song Xuefeng said ahead of the signing of the treaty.
An integral part of the document was the harmonisation of the areas of scientific cooperation. Vladimir Litvinenko emphasised to the guests that universities should act as engines of economic development of their countries. Moreover, not only as suppliers of qualified personnel for industry, but also as major scientific centres that create innovations for implementation at specific production sites.
It is well known that the efficiency of generating new technologies demanded by business increases a priori in case of an interdisciplinary approach, and combining the efforts of different scientific schools almost always guarantees it. As a result, each member of such teams gets an opportunity to focus on a certain area within their competence and produce an optimal result.
During their visit to the city on the Neva River, scientists from the Chinese University of Mining Engineering and Technology had the opportunity to discuss with their Russian colleagues specific topics of joint research that could potentially interest both sides. The PRC representatives suggested developing such areas as deep coal processing and environmental monitoring, as well as assessment of the stress-strain state of the massif during mining operations and forecasting of rock impacts, aimed at improving the safety of miners' labour.
"I am sure that we can conduct joint research not only in the area of improving the efficiency of mining, although here we have the most obvious prospects, but also in other areas. For example, we can work on the development of mechanical engineering. No less important is co-operation aimed at improving the competences of existing specialists working in the mining industry and increasing the prestige of the industry, especially in the eyes of young people. The younger generation needs to know how important mining and mineral processing is for the sustainable development of our society," Song Xuefeng emphasised.
The parties also said that each of them will open a representative office at the partner university. These offices will be tasked with accompanying and supporting compatriots during their internships abroad, as well as coordinating academic co-operation and research. In addition, there are plans to create a Russian language centre at CUMT and a Chinese language centre at the Mining University. A roadmap with a step-by-step cooperation programme will be developed by 1 February next year.
