On Friday, October 22, St. Petersburg Mining University held a meeting of the Academic Council. The main issue on the agenda was a report by the rector Vladimir Litvinenko about the university's tasks for the current academic year. One of them is to continue modernization of the instrument and laboratory facilities, while at the same time transforming their functionality.
“Laboratories should be used not only as classes for group studies under the guidance of a teacher. Students should also have the opportunity to individually consolidate there their theoretical knowledge gained during lectures, and thus increase the level of their practical skills through the independent use of modern equipment,” said Vladimir Litvinenko.
He called unacceptable situations when laboratories are idle and are closed spaces. Their staff must not only ensure the continuous operation of these rooms but also create an environment of trust and guarantee equal access to high-tech equipment to all participants in the scientific and educational process who are engaged in field-specific research. And about 80% of all research should be devoted to obtaining new fundamental knowledge, and only the remaining 20% - to engineering services, which are provided as part of business contracts with partner companies.
It is equally important to change the meaningful content of production practical training. For young people, it is, above all, an opportunity to acquire additional skills that will increase their competitiveness in the labour market, rather than “a course of survival in extreme conditions.” That is why shortly the management of the higher education institution will approve a list of sites with a specific list of competencies that students must acquire or develop during their internships there.
Another current trend today is publication activity. After all, a scientific article is a result of research activity, proof that the scientist is actively engaged in it. As the rector emphasized, there have been some successes in this area. For example, three years ago the university had only four people whose citation index exceeded “2”. Now, on average, the university’s citation index reaches 5 in the Scopus database. Nevertheless, the growth potential still exists, and it is very high.
"The average citation rate at top technical universities abroad has been 9 to 12 per article over the past five years. We must reach this level soon. At the same time, I urge you not to chase the number. Two articles per year is an adequate indicator. But the quality of publications must be as high as possible. They should be read and referred to in the scientific community,” stressed Vladimir Litvinenko.
He also stated the need to increase the level of young scientists. From the very first day of their postgraduate studies, they should understand what scientific problem they are contributing to. Moreover, the emphasis should be placed on experiments and the interpretation of their results. That is, the choice of the topic for a PhD dissertation should correspond to the infrastructural capabilities of the university.
The rector reminded that the university administration makes significant efforts to motivate the faculty and postgraduate students to active scientific efforts, including that from the financial point of view. For success in one or another area, whether it is publication activity, fluency in a foreign language, or some other competitive advantage, financial encouragement is provided.
In the end, Vladimir Litvinenko told the attendees, that in December the program of St. Petersburg State Mining University's 250th-anniversary celebration will be presented for consideration by the Academic Council.
“Our anniversary is not an occasion to draw attention to ourselves. It is an occasion to pay attention to the problems of the mineral complex. And, above all, on the need to improve the quality of training globally. Today, unfortunately, the shortage of qualified engineers is a huge problem for the vast majority of countries in the world. In our country, for example, many specialized companies have up to 40% of vacancies, it too much," summarized the head of the oldest technical school in Russia.
It should be noted that in the course of his speech he also raised such topics as certification for the title of “Professional Mining Teacher”, the need to reduce the number of part-time employees, and several others.