Society

On Thursday, February 26, a decree of the President of Russia was signed on the creation of the ”National Center for Personnel and Scientific Support of the Mineral Resources Complex ”Corps of Mining Engineers”.

At Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University, the short-term internship program “International Engineering Practice 2026” has been launched. The internships will be delivered in the format of summer schools hosted by the University’s international partner institutions. Students who pass the competitive selection will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the academic and research environments of China, India, Iran, and Latin American countries.

On the Ice Continent, the polar team of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University is summarizing the first results of its completed fieldwork. Geologists, geophysicists, and drillers begin analyzing their findings while still in Antarctica, then continue during the long journey home, although the main body of scientific interpretation will, of course, take place at the university.

Technical inspection of a 220-ton haul truck; driving and maneuvering; loading and unloading into a crusher; dumping to a spoil heap; braking—these and other operations are practiced by students of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University as part of the additional professional competency (APC) “Cat Open-Pit Haul Truck Operator.” The training, however, takes place not at a mine, but in a classroom of the Competence Center for Mining Haulage Systems, equipped with Caterpillar heavy-equipment simulator trainers.

Improving higher education is impossible while the school system remains at a dead end. Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University consistently draws the attention of the public and the country’s leadership to this problem—thereby provoking dissatisfaction within the tutoring community: a high-quality school system would deprive them of their “bread and butter.” At times, open resistance emerges from education entrepreneurs. A recent example is an appeal to the President of the Russian Federation by a Saint Petersburg Russian-language tutor, Roman Minasyan.

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University has signed an international cooperation agreement with one of India’s most prestigious universities, the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.

In the foreseeable future, India intends to make a strategic shift—from serving as a global supplier of talent to becoming a “magnet” that attracts gifted students from all parts of the world.

Most of the Antarctic field season is already behind them, yet even now it is clear that within the relatively short summer period, the researchers have managed to accomplish a great deal. On the eve of the expedition, the Rector of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University and Scientific Supervisor of the university’s project “Comprehensive Geological and Geophysical Studies of the Deep Structure of East Antarctica” outlined for the team the key tasks to be addressed by Russian scientists:

After the extended New Year holidays, the first working week has finally commenced. Unlike the majority of Russians, the Polar Team of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University resumed its duties in the very first days of January. The intensive schedule of tasks assigned to the scientists leaves little room for lengthy rest. This season marks the start of the practical implementation of the long-term research project “Comprehensive Geological and Geophysical Studies of the Deep Structure of East Antarctica,” supervised by the University’s Rector, Vladimir Litvinenko.

Participants in the international educational program “Management of Subsoil Use Facilities” at Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University completed a one-week off-site internship in the city of Almetyevsk (Republic of Tatarstan).