Polytechnic University was the first among Russian technical universities to hold mutual international accreditation of international educational programs

On October, 20 the Resource Center of International Activities of SPbPU began the mutual international professional-public accreditation of international educational programs of Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University.

For the first experience of the international accreditation have been selected three international educational programs (IEP), which are currently being implemented in SPbPU: a Bachelor double-degree program with the University of Mikkeli, Finland, in the major in "Building" (ICE); a Master double degree program with the Brandenburg University of Cottbus, Germany, in the major in "Metallurgy" (IMMET); international educational program in the major of "Management" (IIEM).

The Rector of the Polytechnic University A.I. Rudskoy said: "The internationalization of the educational process is an important part of the development strategy of our university, and the development and implementation of international education programs play a key role in the internationalization and enhances the competitiveness of the university in the global market of higher educational institutions". Andrey Ivanovich also highlighted that SPbPU considers the international professional-public accreditation of IEP of the Polytechnic University an important tool that allows the university in cooperation with the world's leading accreditation agencies to evaluate the quality of these programs, their competitiveness, and, most importantly, to get recommendations for their improvement.

The accreditation of submitted programs was conducted by the National Center of Professional-Public accreditation of the Russian Federation (Nataccredcenter) together with the German Institute for accreditation, certification and quality assurance ACQUIN.

"Many leading universities of Russia go through the process of accreditation of educational programs. But there are very few examples of accreditation carried out both by Russian and foreign agencies. Among the technology universities the Polytechnic University is the first institution of higher education which goes through such accreditation," said V.G. Navodnov, the director of Nataccredcenter. The final part of the accreditation, which will be held on October 20 – 22, was preceded by the annual pre-operation of all parties. The university conducted the procedure of self-examination and studied its strengths and weaknesses on the submitted standards, and the two agencies were coordinating these standards, as each country and each agency has its own specifics.

The choice of the German accreditation agency is not a fluke. The Polytechnic University has been historically connected with Germany. In the first years of the Polytechnic University a significant part of professors were invited from Germany, and vice versa, many Russian scientists, completing an internship in Germany, returned to work in the Polytechnic University. The brightest example is the famous academician A.F. Joffe. "In the first 10 years the Polytechnic University had three working languages - Russian, German and English. And now, in a modified form, we are coming back to this work format," said A.I. Rudskoy.

Today, the Polytechnic University collaborates with more than 40 universities in Germany, with five of which we signed an agreement on strategic partnership both in the framework of educational programs and research activities. German students make up the largest group of foreign students participating in exchange programs and double degree programs in a foreign language of SPbPU (about 150 students per year).

"So far we have presented three international educational programs for the accreditation. Two of these programs are double-degree. The negotiations of designing similar programs are being conducted with the University of Stuttgart, the Leibniz University of Hannover and the Technical University of Munich. After the first graduation we will be able to carry out the accreditation of these programs," said Andrey Ivanovich. "We also want to expand the range of international double-degree programs, especially in the major of engineering sciences".

The accreditation of programs confirms the desire of SPbPU to improve the quality of IEP in accordance with the requirements of European Standards and Guidelines (ESG). The certificate of accreditation of the international program, issued by the European accreditation agency, is a testament to its high quality. It increases the competitiveness of the program on the international market of educational services.

Currently, the Polytechnic University worked out 21 Master IEPs, 3 Bachelor IEPs in English, as well as 24 double degree programs, which are implemented in Russian, German and English. These programs are being prepared for accreditation in the next three years, during which the practice of IEP accreditation will become the norm and will be the key to guarantee the quality and competitiveness of international educational programs. As the head of the department for international accreditation of the Institute for accreditation, certification and quality assurance ACQUIN Dr. Shtefan Handke said, "accreditation is not just a test, but also a great opportunity to bring together the scientists from different countries."

The material is prepared in collaboration with IIEP and SPbPU media center