Nguyen Thang

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University continues to strengthen its partnerships with Chinese universities. The first stop of its delegation’s visit to the People’s Republic of China was the city of Qingdao. The working group, headed by Vice-Rector for Special Programs Marat Rudakov, met with the leadership of China University of Petroleum (UPC).

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University was visited by a delegation from one of China’s leading national state universities specializing in training personnel for the oil and gas industry. The purpose of the visit was to foster cooperation in the comprehensive study of the Earth’s evolution and deep geological processes.

On September 1, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University launched an educational program for representatives of African countries entitled “Management of Subsoil Use Facilities.” International internships and short-term courses are not new for this resource-focused university, yet this project is unlike any of its predecessors.

Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University was visited on a working trip by Olivier Houzé, President of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE). This organization is engaged in identifying advanced technologies in the field of hydrocarbon field development and operation, as well as attracting managers and engineers of the oil and gas industry to work on projects worldwide — including graduates of specialized universities. The purpose of the visit was to develop mutually beneficial cooperation.

Why should African students study ecology and petroleum engineering in Russian universities? Why do Chinese students come to Saint Petersburg to study economics? And most importantly, why does our country need this?

A meeting was held within the walls of Russia’s oldest technical university to discuss the interim results and future prospects of the pilot project aimed at improving the higher education system, carried out in accordance with Presidential Decree of the Russian Federation No. 343 of May 12, 2023.

The admissions campaign to Russian universities has concluded. This year, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University enrolled 2,355 new students. For the second year in a row, its applicants entered not bachelor’s programs, but programs of “Higher Engineering Education”, specifically designed to replace the now nearly abolished Bologna system.

In recent years, artificial intelligence has become a familiar phenomenon and has firmly entered everyday life. A bot can answer almost any question, explain a difficult topic, paint a portrait, create a music video, and even compose a song or a poem. Education has not remained untouched by this trend. In fact, neural networks first appeared in the mid-20th century and have been evolving for several decades.

Global sales of cryogenic fuel, primarily liquefied natural gas (LNG), reached 5.2 billion US dollars in 2024. According to estimates by the consulting company Market-Research-Intellect, annual turnover will approach 10 billion by 2033. Most importantly, experts predict a “paradigm shift” in the market: technological advances and changing consumer preferences will give a powerful impetus to this type of motor fuel.

What does a student expect from industrial training? Experience, the opportunity to become acquainted with real production conditions, and new, unforgettable impressions that will remain with them for a lifetime. When it comes to the most challenging climatic conditions of the Far North and a company of global renown, such expectations are justified one hundred percent.

At one time, river transport ceded its primacy to railways. Today, the fastest growth is seen in road transportation, which leads in terms of total freight volume. The quality and extent of road networks have long been among the key indicators of economic development for both countries and individual regions.

On Friday, August 1, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University held the closing ceremony of the Summer Schools, organized in collaboration with the International Competence Centre for Mining Engineering Education under the auspices of UNESCO. Since May, participants have been engaged in educational programs specially designed by faculty from Russia’s oldest technical university. Each session lasted two weeks.

The 16th General Conference of the Association of African Universities was held from July 19 to 25, 2025, at the main campus of the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University in Rabat, Morocco.

As part of its Summer Schools program, Empress Catherine II Saint Petersburg Mining University has welcomed its twelfth group of international students, postgraduate researchers, and faculty members for the current academic year.

The “Summer Schools” project for partner universities — primarily international — has been implemented by Russia’s oldest technical university since 2018. This summer, it brought together a record number of participants. More than 2,000 students and postgraduate researchers are taking part in the educational program in the city on the Neva, including participants from Donbas, Belarus, China, India, Iran, and several countries across Africa and Latin America.

“Theory without practice is dead, practice without theory is blind.” These words belong to Alexander Suvorov and are hard to dispute. Nevertheless, the Bologna Process, implemented in Russia since the late 20th century and replacing the Soviet education system, came quite close to this imbalance. The transition to a two-tier system of “bachelor’s – master’s” degrees and the significant reduction of specialist programs nearly dismantled the country’s engineering training framework.