Nguyen Thang

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?

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University cooperates with colleagues from the Islamic Republic across a dozen areas. These include general academic internships for students, “summer schools” and programs devoted to the study of culture and history, joint cross-publication of scholarly articles, and regular seminars.

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).

The 71st season of the Russian Antarctic Expedition (RAE) became a record in terms of the number of participants from the Polar Team of Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University. This is explained by the increased scope, nature, and level of the planned work. Nine people remained at Progress Station, while two headed to Vostok. Although the main tasks this year are associated with the Antarctic coastline, the importance of continuing research deep in the interior of the continent is beyond doubt.

Article 13 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation establishes a mandatory norm: no ideology may be instituted as state-sponsored or obligatory. The Constitution was adopted following a nationwide referendum in December 1993.