Ulyanovsk State University (USU) was established in 1988, initially a part of Moscow State University, the highest-ranking Russian educational institution. In 1995, the higher educational institution was reorganised, and in 2017, it became a flagship university, serving as a centre of innovative, technological and social development for the region. Very few Russian universities can claim that they adhere in their work—all major activity areas included— to the standards laid out in the international quality management system (ISO 9001:2015). USU is amongst them, being the university capable of addressing large-scale challenges.
In his interview with Forpost Press, Professor Boris Kostishko, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics, Rector of Ulyanovsk State University, talks about school spirit, lifelong learning and an innovative approach to building a system of individual academic paths.
Mr Kostishko, Ulyanovsk Oblast ranked 8th amongst regions broken down by their scientific and technological development (RIA Rating) in 2020. A decent result, but does USU have ambitions to further facilitate the growth? How can this be achieved?
We recently won the competition of the federal Priority 2030 programme, and we also adopted a new programme for the university's development. Our programme involves the transformation of the university. We understand that Ulyanovsk Oblast has accumulated many problems, reflected in the university. The pandemic, the crises and the international situation are taking their toll. Ulyanovsk State University programme "unlocks" the bottlenecks, and if we implement it, we will cope with some of the regional problems, probably already in the next five years.
Your university was created as a branch of Moscow State University. You have been developing on your own for a quarter of a century now. Are the scientific and educational links with the former parent organisation preserved?
USU still keeps the spirit of Moscow State University. What does it consist of? It lies in the relationship between people, freedom, intra-university democracy. In old times, universities emerged as autonomous organisations; they even had their courts. USU retains this autonomy. Of course, we don't have our court, but we have quite a lot of freedom. When the university was established, each scientist who came here brought their scientific direction and worldview.
The university has several divisions of secondary vocational education. Today, this segment is growing in popularity, in reform. What should be the SVE of tomorrow?
It should be part of the system of continuous education, a platform for gaining experience and practice before entering higher education. Graduates of specialised secondary educational institutions come to university more prepared than yesterday's schoolchildren. We consider our colleges as a link to lifelong learning. Graduates of SOKOL College of Ulyanovsk State University enter the university to study economics and law. At the same time, graduates of the music school study the faculty of culture and art and medical college graduates enter the medical faculty, respectively.
Let us return to the regional rankings. Ulyanovsk Oblast ranks 69th in Russia in terms of housing rental affordability. Only 31.5 per cent of young families can afford rented flats, and inadequate income levels complicate retaining talented young people in the region. What can you counteract this objective negative factor?
There are two factors here. First and foremost: the region must be attractive. So far—alas—in terms of career building and other prospects, Ulyanovsk Oblast is losing out to its neighbours (Samara Oblast and Tatarstan). The second factor: universities must also become better. Ulyanovsk Oblast has decent universities; the educational system is balanced. In some areas, we overlap; it is regular competition. But universities have to offer even more to applicants to prove that we are better than those considered "more prestigious". We must give young people the opportunity to get a competitive education in the region with the prospect of further employment and social guarantees. This task will be solved within the framework of the Priority 2030 programme.
There was a Student of the Year competition, and Arina Treskova from Ulyanovsk State University won first place in the "Chairperson of the Student Council" category. It is high praise for the role of student government in the life of the university. What know-how in this area can you recommend to other universities?
Our main idea is to give students freedom of choice when building their educational trajectory. Many universities engage in flexible educational paths, but our concept is slightly different.
Imagine: you have been admitted to the university. At this point, we already have some information about you - a "digital footprint of an applicant", your "portfolio" (e.g. information about whether you are a "physicist" or a "lyricist"). We do psychophysiological testing - we determine who you are: a leader or not, how resilient you are as a person, and so on. It is a digital portrait of a student. It is constantly changing - based on how you passed your exams, what activities you participated in, what you gave up, and what you write about on social media.
At the same time, employers provide us with a portrait of a reference graduate based on a set of parameters. Depending on all this, we offer you appropriate courses.
Of course, the student has the last word. If you want to develop something you think is missing, you can switch to a different trajectory, and your portrait will change.
In principle, creating digital portraits and organising educational trajectories is impossible in manual mode without using new technologies. First of all, big data and artificial intelligence. The entire life of the university, all management processes over these years should switch to an open digital platform, which we will constantly improve and reconfigure.
What plans does USU have for participation in the Nedra consortium?
First and foremost, this cooperation opens up excellent prospects for us in the scientific and innovative sphere. The priority research areas at USU are photonics, nuclear medicine, smart manufacturing and robotics. We received big orders under Resolutions 218 and 220 of the Russian Government [on the rules for granting subsidies to develop cooperation between universities and scientific institutions and enterprises to create high-tech productions (No. 218), and on attracting leading scientists to Russian universities and scientific organisations (No. 220)]. Numerous articles have been published in highly respected journals (particularly Nature). We implement various projects - for example, we made robots for the Kurchatov Institute, Rosatom, cooperated with RIAR [Research Institute of Atomic Reactors], Sosny company, and the Institute of Radiation Materials Science. We work with waste, which is an up-and-coming area today. We attract the world's leading scientists. For three years, colleagues from Belgium who work in nanophotonics came to us; together, we created five laboratories.
I am confident that cooperation within the consortium will expand our contacts with colleagues and research areas.
