Society

In early April, a delegation from Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, led by Vice-Rector Evgeniy Lyubin, visited Pyongyang. During the visit, the parties agreed on the conditions for training Korean specialists in Saint Petersburg under the postgraduate program “Modern Techniques and Technologies in Mining and Oil and Gas Engineering”, as well as for several dozen students under basic higher education programs.

The aggression of the United States and Israel against Iran may appear to be a gross geopolitical miscalculation on the part of both Washington and Tel Aviv. However, at the same time, it is far from accidental, as it represents the logical continuation of a series of trends that matured in world politics during the post-Cold War period. These trends emerged from the decision of the U.S. and the West as a whole to preserve and perpetuate their global hegemony as a mode of existence for their civilization.

The Council of the European Union for Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs held a regular meeting to discuss the return of retirees to the labor market. The “silver transformation,” as the trend of population ageing is called in Europe, is draining highly qualified personnel from industry. The inflow of young people is insufficient to compensate for these losses: 77% of companies report that the shortage of qualified personnel is hindering the attraction of long-term investment.

Why do young researchers in China and Russia face fundamentally different challenges? What led the Celestial Empire to technological leadership, and Russia’s first engineering university to top positions in international educational rankings? Which scientific fields interest candidates of sciences in both countries today?

The International Scientific and Practical Dialogue on Defining Methodological Approaches in Postgraduate Studies, titled ”Step into Science,” has commenced at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University. To take part in the discussion and exchange experience, 30 young researchers from Taiyuan University of Technology—one of the Mining University’s principal partners among engineering universities of the People’s Republic of China—have arrived in Russia.

Participants in the international program Management of Subsoil Use Facilities at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University completed an interactive course under the guidance of former Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl. This experience enabled them to receive an impartial assessment of the development prospects of the African continent from a well-known diplomat, expert in international relations and the global economy, and head of the Geopolitical Observatory for Russia’s Key Issues (G.O.R.K.I.) at Saint Petersburg State University.

Namibia, a country in southwestern Africa with a population of about 3 million, has in recent years become one of the most attractive destinations on the continent’s investment map. With a GDP of approximately 30 billion dollars and a per capita income of around 11 thousand dollars, the country demonstrates steady economic growth, largely thanks to its exceptionally rich mineral resources.

The season of the 71st Russian Antarctic Expedition became exceptional in many respects. It marked the drilling of the first research wells at Progress Station and the first Russian studies in Antarctica using the method of magnetotelluric sounding. But there is yet another reason that made the current expedition special. This year, a woman joined the Field Team of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, which has been conducting research at the polar stations of the White Continent for more than 70 years.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Gabonese Republic, Sosthène Ndembe, paid a working visit to Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University. The country is implementing a program aimed at developing domestic mineral processing capacities and therefore needs to strengthen its human resource potential.

By Presidential Decree of February 26, 2026, the ”National Center for Personnel and Scientific Support of the Mineral Resources Complex ”Corps of Mining Engineers was established on the basis of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University. Among the tasks assigned to the university are the organization and conduct of scientific research and design work at the Russian Antarctic research station Vostok, as well as scientific research in the field of deep metageology. Why was the role of chief coordinator in these areas entrusted to the country’s first technical university?