Society

To maintain continuity at each individual enterprise or institution, experts believe it is necessary for young people under 35 to make up at least 25-30% of the workforce. In the agro-industrial complex today, employees of this age account for only 16%. Among school teachers and the academic teaching staff of universities, it is 23% (for the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the comparable threshold for youth is not the generally accepted 35, but 39 years, since the training period includes postgraduate studies).

The Summer School for undergraduate and postgraduate students from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has concluded at the Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University. This is one of the most prestigious technical higher educational institutions in the country; among its alumni, for example, is Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and Alphabet.

The second Summer School of this year has concluded at Saint Petersburg Mining University. Its graduates were 48 students from ten Russian higher educational institutions. The geography spanned the entire country: from Chechnya to Magadan. Among the guests were Almetyevsk State Technical University ”Higher School of Petroleum,” Transbaikal State University, Southwestern State University, Donbass State Technical University, Millionshchikov Grozny State Oil Technical University, and others.

On July 4, the United States celebrates Independence Day. On this day in 1776, exactly 250 years ago, a congress of representatives from the thirteen American colonies of Great Britain approved the Declaration of Independence, which was prepared by a group of delegates led by Thomas Jefferson. The States gained political independence from the metropolis.

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University has launched the selection process for candidates to participate in the international professional retraining educational program ”Management of Subsoil Use Facilities.” The project is being implemented with the support of the International Competence Centre for Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO.

South Korea is the gold standard of automation; there is already one robot for every 10 employees there. In Russia, the coverage is 100 times lower, but it will still be impossible to keep the country within the previous technological paradigm.

One of the problems hindering the development of the engineering sector is the deep divide between high school and university: the dominance of the Unified State Exam (EGE) destroys systemic thinking and interdisciplinary connections, forming a fragmented, ”clip-like” perception among adolescents. Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University has developed a system of ”seamless” transition that synthesizes elements of both domestic and international educational models.

This spring, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University organized a series of international trips for its students, postgraduate researchers, and faculty members to partner universities and industrial enterprises. Two cohorts visited China: one traveled to Taiyuan in Shanxi Province, where nearly 40% of China’s coal reserves are concentrated, and the other went to Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province, which serves as a major hub for the mining industry’s scientific and technological centers. A third group flew across the ocean to Ecuador in South America.

At Saint Petersburg Mining University, the outcomes of this year’s first season of the federal project ”University Shifts” were finalized, featuring the participation of 45 tenth-grade pupils from the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics. The participants were able not only to rest but also to feel like students of a top-tier higher educational institution: to acquire new knowledge, interact closely with professors and university students, and—for some—to firmly decide on their future profession.

On the eve of Russian Language Day, a presentation session for students of the preparatory department for international students was held at the Center for Language Competencies of Saint Petersburg Mining University. Upon the completion of their one-year course of study, they demonstrated their proficiency in the Russian language within the conditions of a real conference, featuring a panel of judges and spontaneous questions from the audience.